all I can breathe is your life
Delphine
Korbin Hale
Healer / Bartender

Age: 25 | Height: 6'3in (190 cm) | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Halo
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#15
KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
It wouldn't be the same though. Only a new thing made in the semblance of something old. Somehow, he doubted that Morgan would resurrect the cold imerious image of Halo the Palace had tried to paint. While impressive and domineering, the building had been a false representation of his homeland. More an echo of Neron, built to give him an elevated seat. Any new infirmaries would have to be placed elsewhere. As for the materials... not everything could be replaced there either. Not when nothing grew in the land.

His snort was soft, a mere exhale of breath, but it carried enough. "Not yet, you mean. Don't have to say it, I hear the implication." Folding the cloth to find a clean spot, he dabbed at his eyes again. It was no longer cool, and soothed less than before, but still it was better than the sore burn of air against irritated skin. He had cried too much lately. Too hard. The idea that he might yet become that kind of monster made him want to weep all over again.

"Mh. But you're doing it. You're with Noah, right? So how did you do it? Let him help, not hate him for trying to fix you. Not hating yourself for giving in?"

He did. Even now, Korbin resented every second he spent here, like this. Felt weak, pathetic, a pushover who couldn't hold his ground. He had hurt her to keep her away from him, and yet here he was now. Talking like it was the most natural thing, when it was not. It was not. There was no trust, no loyalty, nothing to prove she wouldn't take everything he said here, every weakness he showed, and use it against him for whatever gain.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
Played by: Vee Offline
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#16
delphine
Delphine inhaled quietly, "I think... as long as you know what you could become and you care about what you could become, then you'll never really become a monster. My..." She drifted into silence for a second, chewing the inside of her cheek.

"My brother knew and enjoyed it. My... husband did too. They were too different flavors of monster, though. They knew, and they let it happen." Some might say Bellamy Rowan had enjoyed his power. She certainly would.

The only two men Delphine had never been able to manipulate, to wrap around her little finger. And they'd both used her for their own gain.

When he spoke of Noah, she huffed and shrugged. "Sometimes I hate myself, for letting him help but... Korbin, I hit rock-bottom years ago, a man gave me drugs to be his good little pet, and..." Her lips curved in a sad smile, "I let him, because he had power, and protected me from another man. Finding Noah..."

How did she explain?

"Finding Noah is like... a breath of fresh air. When the portal tore me away from my homeland, dropped me here without my husband... I was free? But I was... afraid of my freedom, so I took my children and we locked ourselves up tight in the most isolated spot we could find." Her smile is rueful. "And... Sometimes I hate Noah because he wants to help, hate myself because I let him. But mostly... mostly, I'm just glad he's there."

Northwind was where it had been safe. But Northaven, oh, Northaven had started out wonderfully. She'd lost her parents, yes, and her brother had hold of her for ten years, yes. But she'd met Neron--and then she'd lost Neron, because of that same brother. Years alone, until a man cloaked in shadows decided she was good enough, to be his pet...

"He doesn't... use me? Or blame me, for the things I've done. It feels... nice, that someone can forgive me for everything, and mean it." She had, after all, run to Noah to seek help.

Just like she'd willingly ended up in Bellamy's arms; he'd been powerful enough to take her away from Alder.

But the only thing Noah could do was... well, she couldn't very well run from herself. The only thing Noah could do was accept her.

She held the tea out again, "It's going to get cold." Though if it did, the kettle was back over the fire, warming.
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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#17
KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
He could almost admire it. The way she was able to talk about her own past, like it had no power over her. Clearly it had, and the effects of whatever fucked up shit she had been through were still there, and yet, Korbin could appreciate the reasoning. By owning it, by admitting to it, by not trying to pretend that it was anything but what it was, it couldn't become a weapon in someone else's hands.

In that same line of thought, it became almost... refreshing. To hear her admit that he had the beginnings of that monster in himself. Maybe it was like the hunt of the raven. If he accepted that it was cruel and callous to chase down an animal and peck it to a bloody pulp in order to eat, and a part of what it meant to be raven, he could fly without concern, and sweep down on prey when it was necessary. It had taken Korbin years to accept it, but... now he hunted as the bird, because the bird needed to survive. There did not seem to be a reason for the bitter violence in his blood, but... if he could find it? If he could channel it, put it to use... Then he would be a monster but one who did not cause pain indiscriminately.

There were gradients of black, even in the void.

Unfortunately, her talk of Noah and what they shared only left Korbin more miserable. Reminded him of all he had lost in Weaver. The camraderie, the trust, the wordless understanding. Familial love and affection, the pride and protectiveness of siblings, the humor and the bickering... even the times when he couldn't stand the sight of her and the fights that had left him wishing to be anywhere esle but in her presence; it was all gone now. Mere memories, shadows, echoing in the hollow cavity of his chest.

Gone, she was gone, gone, and he was alone. Bitterly, coldly, even more so here in the presence of this stranger.

Korbin took the cup from her hand and drank the bitter brew in one, not caring that the contents scalded his tongue and burned the throat on the way down. It was not a taste to linger over, and he desperately wanted to escape the clawing ache that was building up again.

"If you hurt him, I'll make you wish you never set foot in Halo," he croaked, a raven's menacing caw, full of snarling teeth that had no real context with what she was saying. Except... she was broken too. And their kind of shards were sharp, cutting deeper than any blade. Soul hurt, the crushing, bleeding kind... Noah deserved better than that.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
Played by: Vee Offline
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Posts: 402 | Total: 840
MP: 655
#18
delphine
Delphine stared off, as he downed the drink. When he spoke, her lips curved into a wicked smile. "If... I hurt him, I want you to put me down. I... if I hurt Noah Olson, I think that it would mean I'm a monster." She didn't mean the sort of hurt where she might mess up by accident, but that intentional, 'I want to destroy this man' hurt.

"You should lay down, on a cot." She nodded to one of the many cots around the room, hands clasped against her lap.

Silence grew, and she murmured, "Yes, if I hurt him, I want you to make me pay for that crime."
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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#19
KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
There came no objection from Korbin, no protest against the brutal retaliation she demanded in case such hurt would be delivered. His silence was a mute acceptance, a wordless vow, a pact sworn in shadows and firelight... It was ironic. Mere days ago - a week, two? - he wouldn't have cared about Noah's eventual pain or lack thereof. Would have been fine with causing it himself to escape. Things had changed again. Snowdrifts piled up and eroded under the merciless passage of wind, leaving nothing untouched. Already he was different from the boy who had been happy and safe under his sister's wing, daring to dream of ever after. Who would he be when the sun returned? A season from now, a year? Would he live to light a candle for her, to make a lantern in her name?

"Here is fine," he said, refusing the bed. Already his thoughts were growing hazy, muddled with the soporific effects of the brew. He was so exhausted, so spent; it wouldn't take much to push him over the edge into sleep. Whether the dreams would leave was another matter. Fire kept haunting him, fire and ice and a pool of crimson in the snow, the quiet grunts of a man as he slowly choked in Korbin's arms.

"So many shadows... They keep whispering. Sweet nothings, and you wanna listen, but you shouldn't. 'Oh Mother, it's the Eirachi calling.'"

The half chuckle sounded bitter, and with it Korbin fell quiet. After a while, his head began to droop, chin falling down to the chest. The lines of his face smoothed, turning it less haggard, less harsh. In the simple act of falling asleep he turned back from monster into a boy - just a boy - with unkempt hair and dirty clothes, and eyes that were red rimmed from crying.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
Played by: Vee Offline
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Posts: 402 | Total: 840
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#20
delphine
Delphine had no idea Korbin had killed a man, just like she had no idea Noah had done the same. She did not know what haunted her blue-eyed man, but she helped how she could.

He insisted that where he was, was fine, and she relented. Once he fell asleep, his words haunted her briefly, but she moved to claim a blanket, to settle across him.

Of course, once he was asleep and covered, she sought someone to watch the fires in the building in his stead. And she checked on Noah, before returning to the herbs she had been working on.

Quiet, steady, keeping an eye on Korbin.
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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#21
KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
For maybe an hour or two the boy did not move or wake, sleeping like one dead to the world. But gradually, as time wore on, the dreams came slipping back. Disjointed, scattered images full of twisted emotions. Scenes and memories replayed but distorted, until happy recollections turned into nightmares and things that had brought him grief and discomfort suddenly elicited a dark and delirious enjoyment. Every animal ever hunted, every training spar gone wrong, mistakes and damages done replayed but amplified until he seemed to have made them all deliberately.

In his dreams, Korbin slowly grew into the monster he feared, and as his body twisted and misaligned, so too did his soul. And the thing that made him struggle and toss, and eventually claw his way back into wakefullness, was the malice that seemed to awaken and take hold inside him. A cruel and malicious intent, from without and within; it lingered as he sat up, breathing hard. Drenched in sweat and shivering uncontrollably.

The herbs kept him from shaking off the sleep, kept trying to drag him back down into that pit of terror. And what could he do? What could anyone do to help him against his own mind?
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
Played by: Vee Offline
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Posts: 402 | Total: 840
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#22
delphine
The work was calming, familiar. For an hour or two, she spent time chopping, grinding, separating, creating herb pouches, medicines, labeling... until she was interrupted by the boy.

Because that's all Korbin was. A boy, who had lost everything.

She moved forward with another cloth, soaked and rung out, and settled next to him. "It's okay, Korbin." She hummed softly, "I'm going to wipe your face down with a rag, okay? No healing." She patted his forehead with the rag, humming a lullaby that the children had once enjoyed under her breath.

Delphine's touch was gentle, as she reached to gently wrap her arms around the boy. She didn't announce it, and knew from experience with him how that might go, but she would take the risk. She'd hug him, and if that went well, she would rock with him, still humming.
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: 5,767
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#23
KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
His body was numbed by the herbs, mind half gone even though he was no longer asleep. Or was he? It was a twilight zone where he was aware of the room around him, yet unable to affect what happened. The arms and legs would not cooperate, and the force that propelled him to sit upright soon faded, making him slump back against the wall.

Korbin was vaguely aware of Delphine approaching him. The cool damp cloth against his face was a shock that almost shook the sleep away; he flinched away from it, and again when she put her arms about him. It felt... wrong. Awkward, uncomfortable. Like wearing someone else's coat, or pulling on a shirt still damp after being washed. Korbin wanted to pull away, but the disconnect between mind and body rendered him speechless.

The rocking made him want to scream in frustration. Even more so when the sleep crowded in on him again, a cloying sticky darkness that failed to offer any real rest. It was... humiliating. To be treated like a child when he was not. To be helpless in the hands of someone he didn't like, let alone trust. If he could he would have torn free, left the room, taken back every query for assistance ever made. Told her not to fucking touch him.

But he couldn't move. And the darkness claimed him again, to more restless tossing and churning of black visions.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
Played by: Vee Offline
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Posts: 402 | Total: 840
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#24
delphine
Once the young man had fallen back to sleep, she carefully laid him back against the wall, pursing her lips. She'd definitely broken a rule there. But he needed sleep, that much she knew.

She stayed seated, for a minute or two. "You're not a monster, Korbin... not unless you want to be. You control your dreams," she didn't know if he'd hear her or not, but she returned to her duties, humming to herself.

She'd go to wander the halls, peer at the people--some asleep, others awake, stretch her legs before she returned to the medical station. Someone was keeping a check on the fires, thankfully.
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: 5,767
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#25
KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
Korbin slept. It was no peaceful sleep, nor was it deep. Whether it did any good was hard to say, and when he woke up alone in the dark room he felt worse than he had before, if that was even possible. There was a foul taste in his mouth and he had a splitting headache that set white lights flashing before his eyes as he sat up.

It took him some time to get his bearings. The fire had almost gone out, and in sheer instinct he dragged himself over to the hearth and  began to stack wood on the smoldering embers. One log at a time, he stacked them up and added some kindling, blew until a flame appeared, and then he just sat there. Staring numbly into the fire, as if waiting for it to tell him what he was supposed to do now.

The fire did not speak. It never did, these days. Not since Weaver left. With a shudder, Korbin reached for the blanket and drew it about himself, huddled in and almost about to drift off again.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
Played by: Vee Offline
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Posts: 402 | Total: 840
MP: 655
#26
delphine
When Delphine returned to the medical station, she carried a fresh kettle, for coffee. And a pitcher of water. "Korbin? Are you thirsty?" Her hair was tousled, her clothes wrinkled, sometime in the hours he'd slept she'd wandered back to bed, trusting she'd hear any disturbances from next door easily enough.

She sat the kettle and pitcher down, stretching and yawning. She was still sleepy, could certainly crawl back into bed with Noah, but first she wanted to check on the boy. "Or hungry?" The bread was cold now, but still just as good, not yet stale. She'd procured some honey to go with it.
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: 5,767
MP: 0
#27
KORBIN
But what does it take to break you, to awake you?
To make you bow and spit it out?
As the door creaked open, Korbin turned his head slightly, watching her enter from the corner of his eyes. She carried kettle and pitcher, spoke of food and drink and he had to think, focus on his body to find an answer.

"No," he said quietly.

Drowsy, out of sorts. It was the herbs that did it. Normally he was quick to wake and an early riser, but here in the gloom of a room without windows, and with night reigning surpreme outside, time had lost all meaning. Chills kept running up and down his back, and the warmth radiating from the rising flames did little to stave them off. Did he have a fever again? Wouldn't be the first time. How long since he had a drink?

Couldn't tell. Too long. The shakes might start again soon. He would have to go back to the bar. Just for a quick look, to relieve the chef.

Slowly, gingerly, he got to his feet. Managed to raise all of his considerable height into a semblance of steadiness, and let the blanket fall to the floor. He turned, and headed for the exit.
Doesn't matter if I hate you or embrace you
Nothing makes you turn around
Delphine Mountrose


Age: 30 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 23 - Luck: 10 - Int:
POE - Regular - Galah
Played by: Vee Offline
Change author:
Posts: 402 | Total: 840
MP: 655
#28
delphine
Delphine watched him, furrowing her brow. She followed him, stopping in the doorway. She wanted to say something, but... there wasn't anything she could really say that would help the situation. So, she watched him leave, before she returned to tidying the room, setting the kettles on one table and straightening the newly sorted herbs and poultices, before she moved back to the room she shared with Noah.

It'd be good to get some more sleep, even if that was the last thing she wanted to do. She was worried about the raven but... Perhaps there was no need to worry; he'd slept, after all.

-FIN-


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