one for sorrow
Elena
Korbin Hale
Healer / Bartender

Age: 25 | Height: 6'3in (190 cm) | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 19 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#1
Lonely shadows following me
Lonely ghosts come a-calling
He stared at the reflection in the mirror. The fresh ink was stark against the pale skin of his chest. Black on white. Or would be, once the furious red flush of irritation had settled down. Three ravens were flying in a circle over the space where his heart should be. It was beating still, somewhere beneath tissue and bone, but the central patch of skin was empty. The wing tips were connected, beaks turned inward, protecting what was left of him. Cutting his heart off from everything else.

Or so he had requested. But there was a gap between two of the birds. The wingtips didn't align properly, and the circle was made incomplete. Korbin's jaw tighened as he turned the mirror back and forth.

"This is not what I asked for," he said tersely.
"I know. It's what you need," the tattoo artist replied, and calmly kept cleaning off his tools.
"Fill it in," Korbin demanded. His voice was rough, eyes bloodshot and puffy. It was late, shop hours long since over. But this was not the first time a Hale came knocking in the night, and the man was used to it. Weaver had been the more frequent customer though.
"No," came the steady answer.
"Then I won't pay," Korbin snapped, hackles rising. He threw the mirror down on the work table. It cracked, fine hairline fractures spreading from a corner. A hundred small versions of himself stared back when he rose and looked at it. He should feel sorry, but even as he searched his mind, no remorse could be found.
"I didn't expect you to," the man replied, unphased. Setting the needles and ink aside, he rested work worn hands against the knees and followed Korbin with steady gaqze as he pulled on shirt and coat. He said nothing even as the young man stalked off to the door and pulled it open. Then came a quiet; "May she burn brightly."

Korbin slammed the door behind him and left the house. It was only words, but they brought the pain rising like another tidal wave, and he felt as though he was drowning. It never really stopped, but there were moments where it mellowed, almost bearable. Then a word or an image rose up in his mind, and brought it all crashing down over him again.

He stalked through the streets in the cold night. Every pile of snow was calling for him, beckoning. It would be very easy to just sit down, close his eyes and let the cold do its worst. He wanted to, but there were too many people moving about. Someone would inevitably find him in time. Some might take the new tattoo as a sign that he was recovering, but it was not. All he sought from it was the pain, the needle, a moment's distraction. Now it was over, and he had to find something else.  

He went to find the tavern. The old one. Korbin couldn't look at the Kraai anymore. Couldn't stand to see people move behind the bar; he kept seeing Weaver. Every dark haired girl, every person moving with confident strides... but it was never her.

Pushing open the door, his entrance drew a few glances, but the old men and stubborn traditionalists that frequented it were as quick to look away as everyone else when they realized who it was. Ignoring them, he stalked up to the counter and ordered a drink. One turned into several; Korbin threw them back with the grim determination of someone who planned to get shitfaced as quickly as possible.
Thousand voices dead at my feet
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Elena Rimewind
Tanner

Age: 59 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 0 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 5 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#2
ELENA
we had discovered
an accursed country.
Hunting during Deepfrost was impossible. Between the cold and the snow, the likelihood that one would die before even seeing prey was high. So, in a way, the tragedy of the previous weeks couldn't have come at a worse time. People were trapped together indoors with little escape. The usual Deepfrost activities were barely distractions, the destruction of the Palace and the death of the guards -- family and friends to many -- and Warden Weaver Hale weighing on minds which had little else to occupy themselves with.

So it was no surprise that the tavern was more active than usual. More people needed and wanted to drown the sorrow, the frustration, and the resentment rather than deal with them. Elena wasn't one of those people, usually -- not now at least. But she had her souls to mourn and it air of sorrow brought up memories that still made her leg ache as if freshly mauled.

She noticed the Hale boy coming in, looked up at the slam of the door, as many did. She even went back to her quiet drink for a while. He deserved to forget for a while as much as anyone there did. More than most. But she felt her gaze returning to the young man time and time again until, with a sigh, she pushed to her feet and walked up to the bar counter, bone cane thunking on the floor in counter-point with each step.

She stepped up beside him and knocked the head of her cane on the counter. "Another drink, please." Her mug filled, she remained by Korbin's side in silence for a moment, watching him out of the corner of her eye, noting the anger in his eyes and the way he slammed back each drink. After a few moments, she turned to look at him straight on and said, "This isn't the best place to stay the night. Might want to make sure you're conscious enough to walk to your bed."
we had found
the home of the blizzard
Korbin Hale
Healer / Bartender

Age: 25 | Height: 6'3in (190 cm) | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 19 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
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Posts: 1,102 | Total: 5,771
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#3
Lonely shadows following me
Lonely ghosts come a-calling
These were not Weaver's fancy drinks, that one lingered over to savor the taste. It was pissy, sour, burned like nettles in the throat, but it set the blood buzzing far quicker. As his stomach began to burn, the head turned lighter. In between one drink and the next, Korbin could almost pretend that he was alright.

Then the weight of it all came crashing back down, and he downed the next glass. Waiting for oblivion to set in.

But even here there were busybodies, and Korbin turned slowly towards the woman when she addressed him. His blue eyes appeared almost black in the dim light as he looked her up and down. Her face was vaguely familiar; one of the tanners, if he recalled right. Not one he usually traded with though.

"Bedlice need drink too. Thought I'd make them do cartwheels for their trouble." The smile he attempted was a mockery of what it had used to be. Too wide, too many teeth, and it stopped dead at the eyes. "Besides, I burned my bed. This is better than the elder's lodge."

Turning back to the bar, Korbin tapped the counter for a refill.
Thousand voices dead at my feet
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Elena Rimewind
Tanner

Age: 59 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 0 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 5 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#4
ELENA
we had discovered
an accursed country.
Burned his bed? Oh. News of the fire had spread like news always did through such a tight community, but there had been so many rumors tossed around, Elena hadn't put any stock into any one being the true story. It seemed, however, that the saddest was indeed true. That Korbin Hale had set his own house on fire.

The corners of her mouth tightened, but not to the point of grimacing. This was the sort of pain she knew. Self-destructive and horrible. Pain that cared nothing for the people around them or even the person feeling it, only for what had been lost.

Elena looked down at her drink, taking the pressure of her gaze off the grieving young man. The temptation was there to tell him that she understood his pain. His loss. But she hadn't appreciated that when she'd been grieving and she certainly wouldn't inflict it on someone else now. Instead, she offered, "I wouldn't say 'better'. You could have a bed to yourself in the elder's lodge. No crawling companions required."
we had found
the home of the blizzard
Korbin Hale
Healer / Bartender

Age: 25 | Height: 6'3in (190 cm) | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 19 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
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Posts: 1,102 | Total: 5,771
MP: 0
#5
Lonely shadows following me
Lonely ghosts come a-calling
Lifting the new drink to his lips, he sipped this one. It was not a taste to linger on, but that seemed reason enough to take it slow. Really savor how pungent and awful it was. The woman was still there. Still talking.

"I get tired of pity parties real quick," he muttered in reply, not bothering to turn towards her this time. "Would rather take the bugs than all that dewey eyed concern."

There were too many eyes watching in that lodge. Too many helpful hands, and gentle suggestions. Wasn't it time to wash up? Wouldn't he eat something? How about setting that tattered coat aside, at least to have it mended? They were oh, so helpful and oh, so nice, and it made his throat burn with the urge to scream.

So instead Korbin came here. People might stare just as much, but with his head halfway down a beer-keg, no one asked how he was feeling today. Usually, no one tried to help either.

"Shouldn't you be off somewhere?" he suggested pointedly, and quite deliberately turned so that his back was turned towards her. A cold sholder, if ever there was one.
Thousand voices dead at my feet
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Elena Rimewind
Tanner

Age: 59 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 0 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 5 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#6
ELENA
we had discovered
an accursed country.
Oh, those were sentiments Elena could sympathize with. For all that she was a decade removed from her own tragedy, the memories of those terrible weeks afterwards -- the pity, the sad glances, the I understand's -- would stick with her forever. She snorted softly at Korbin's bitter words, amused despite the horrible sadness of it. No, those who hadn't lost someone who was the center of their world would never really understand. And even those who had didn't always remember how much those words of 'empathy' stung before they used them on others.

Elena could see Korbin out of the corner of her eye, watched him turn, but didn't turn with him. "Hmm. I'm comfortable right here, actually." As if to emphasize the point, she leaned one elbow on the bartop, raising her mug with the other hand. "But a toast to telling people to where they can shove their oh-so-helpful opinions." And at that she knocked back a swig of her drink.
we had found
the home of the blizzard
Korbin Hale
Healer / Bartender

Age: 25 | Height: 6'3in (190 cm) | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 19 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,102 | Total: 5,771
MP: 0
#7
Lonely shadows following me
Lonely ghosts come a-calling
The young man did not exactly groan out loud when the woman decided to linger, but there was something in his slow outpour of breath that had the hallmarks of a frustrated sigh.

"Suit yourself," he muttered under breath, and returned his focus to the drink in his hand. Korbin did not join in with the toast, or try to strike up more conversation. As a matter of fact, he seemed determined to pretend Elena wasn't even there at all. Childish, perhaps, but Korbin couldn't care less. His only goal with his stay here was to drink himself into oblivion.

With a bit of luck, he might actually be able to sleep then. Sleep without dreaming, without remembering.
Thousand voices dead at my feet
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Elena Rimewind
Tanner

Age: 59 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 0 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 5 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#8
ELENA
we had discovered
an accursed country.
Elena had't expected Korbin to join in on the toast. Would have been surprised if he had, really. And this should have been a sign to walk away, to take her damn opinion elsewhere, just as she'd claimed others should. Yet, something made her stay. After a few moments of sipping her drink in silence, listening to the low murmur of conversation around her, she sighed.

"The last time I downed the drink as hard as you, my Captain nearly kicked me out of the Shields. I was hovering between hungover and drunk for a week. Nearly broke someone's arm while sparring." Her memories of those days were scattered, of course, but she remembered the pain going deeper than the physical each time her thoughts started to clear. Aloud, she added, "But, it hurt too much to be sober."
we had found
the home of the blizzard
Korbin Hale
Healer / Bartender

Age: 25 | Height: 6'3in (190 cm) | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 19 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,102 | Total: 5,771
MP: 0
#9
Lonely shadows following me
Lonely ghosts come a-calling
There was a moment of blissful silence where he was left alone, but it did not last long. Soon the woman was going off on an anecdote, that sounded dangerously like one of those 'when I was young' type stories, and though he tried not to listen, she was sitting too close and talked too loudly to completely shut out.

So far, she had no punch line. No moral to shove down his throat. Korbin pursed his lips, waiting, but when nothing more came, he couldn't help but respond to her.

"Is this your way of saying that you know what I'm going through?" he asked, with a slightly dangerous bite to his voice. "If you do, I really don't see why you think talking is going to help. But if this is some kind of cautionary tale about what I might stand to lose, don't bother. There's nothing left that I care about."

It could have sounded whiny and petulant, if it wasn't for the stark clarity of his eyes as he shot her a glance. Korbin was keenly aware of what his situation was like, and his drinking was done with perfect intent. Methodical, purposeful... indeed meaning to reach that very state she had mentioned as soon as possible.

And he was getting there. Could feel it, by the burn in his gut and the way the room had begun to swim before his eyes. Soon he would order a bottle and retreat to one of those crappy rooms, and keep drinking until he became well and truly unconscious. All in all, an evening well spent.
Thousand voices dead at my feet
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Elena Rimewind
Tanner

Age: 59 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 0 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 5 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#10
ELENA
we had discovered
an accursed country.
She did know what he was going through, understood loss in a very personal way. The grim reality was that many had, with life the way it was in Halo. Still, the way Korbin was dealing with it was similar enough to her own experience that a part of her ached with him. The shadow of her own loss was close enough that she knew that it would be hitting her like a club once she was alone. "You're right. That's probably exactly how it feels right now. And is probably going to feel for a long time." Her voice was low enough that he could ignore it if he wanted to.

She finished off her drink and gestured for another, though it would definitely be her last.  "If you want to consider it a 'cautionary tale', then it's to watch out for your own damn self, if nothing else. Rage will make you do dumb things."
we had found
the home of the blizzard
Korbin Hale
Healer / Bartender

Age: 25 | Height: 6'3in (190 cm) | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 19 - Dext: 17 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,102 | Total: 5,771
MP: 0
#11
Lonely shadows following me
Lonely ghosts come a-calling
Korbin had no intention of stopping. There was a room upstairs with his name on it, and this conversation brought him only more of a headache than he'd had before.

"Do I look like I care what happens to me?" he half slurred, his tongue not quite able to keep up with the thoughts. "Or anyone else? Save yourself the trouble and don't get involved. I've too many busybodies bounding after me already." Didn't need another hypocrite pretending to care, didn't care for the advice given. He wore the meddling of others on his fucking skin now, like a brand that screamed 'don't listen to Korbin, his wishes don't actually matter'.

All he wanted was to turn his back on the world that had robbed him of all that mattered. Why was it so impossible for others to leave him at it?
Thousand voices dead at my feet
Now I'm gone, now I'm gone, now I'm gone
Elena Rimewind
Tanner

Age: 59 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 0 - Strg: 12 - Dext: 5 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: mercedes Offline
Change author:
Posts: 20 | Total: 256
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#12
ELENA
we had discovered
an accursed country.
Had she met Korbin before he started drinking, she might have been able to talk to him. To convince him to maybe take it easy on himself. But he was hurting and self-destructive and nothing she could say in that moment would change that. She'd seen people fall like this -- had fallen herself -- too many times to not realize how much she would hurt herself in the process of trying to help him. It wasn't a matter of not knowing him well enough so much as knowing herself well enough. Of knowing that Korbin had fallen once and she was not someone who could catch him when he eventually fell again.

"Alright." She straightened up, turning her head to look at him properly. "I will give you one real piece of advice--", though she could almost guarantee he wouldn't remember it, or act on it if he did, "Find a friend, Korbin Hale. Don't be alone. I would have let the damned ursur eat me had I been alone." Only the fact that she hadn't been alone when the ursur grabbed her had saved her life. She picked up her mug and began to walk away, the old ache in her scarred leg making her limp more pronounced. "Find someone who will drag you to safety when all this is over."

And with that she went back to her table near the fire, hoping to drink down some of the pain that her encounter with the mourning young man had brought to the surface.

~fin~
we had found
the home of the blizzard


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