Actions speak louder than words (Usually)
Nikolai Moriya
Scholar /Bookseller

Age: 28 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 16 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Blackbird Offline
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Posts: 328 | Total: 3,391
MP: 0
#1
Nikolai
Not all truths
Belong to the light
Nikolai's arms ached as he carried the person to the cave he'd found. It wasn't much but it was shelter and far safer than just staying out in the open. Gently laying them down he mustered up the courage to look at their neck. The Ascended instantly felt sick. Although he'd left clean incisions from his fangs, they were deep. Too deep. That explained the worrying amount of blood loss and their loss of consciousness.

Nikolai only knew basic first aid, but he had to do something. He had bandages in his bag, a habit he'd developed while still an Accepted. He was grateful that it'd stuck after his Ascension. Taking the bandages, he tore them into strips and began to tend to their injury. He did his best to put enough pressure to limit further bleeding while not hurting them.

Once their injury was tended to, Nikolai sat back against the wall of the cave to wait. There was nothing else he could do besides send a quick prayer up to the Voice that the person would survive. Eying them he felt fluid buildup in his eyes again and he hastily rubbed them away with his arm, refusing to give himself the release of tears. He didn't have the right. "I'm so sorry." The words where hardly a whisper, likely inaudible to the unconscious Attuned.
Some lie in wait
For you to step into the shadows
Azure Evren
Pickpocket

Age: 22 | Height: Tall-ish | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: - Strg: 9 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 10 - Luck: 5 - Int:
Played by: Nell Offline
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Posts: 36 | Total: 163
MP: 85
#2
How can you remain, Staring at the rain, Maddened by the stars?

It was one of those nights. Azure's rest hadn't been peaceful. She'd shiver in her sleep. From time to time she'd jolt and mutter, incoherently and loudly, before slipping back into restless unconsciousness.
When the thick fog of sleep finally parted, as suddenly as it had come, exhaustion lingered. Like she hadn't slept at all. Like her mind had trapped her in a nightmare too persistent to escape. She must have rolled out of her blanket. And she'd let the fire go out.

Azure opened her eyes to the cold and dark. In the corner they caught only the inkling of dawn, the faintest of lights coming in from the right. It was the deep, dull ache in her forehead that made her squint. Then there was the stinging in her neck, the strange smell, and a distinct presence.

And then, like a bolt of lightning, memories of the night rushed in. In torn bits and pieces she put together what had happened before the world had gone black and her hand jolted up to her neck in panic. When the tips of her fingers touched fabric, she froze for a beat, her mind sluggishly trying to make sense of this fact. The hand lingered, protectively pressing against the bandages. The pulse of pain that came with the touch made her jaw clench.

She saw him then, in the corner of her eye, a dark shape on the cave wall, little more than a shadow. And the fear stepped back in. It was as if it had never left, but waited, like the third presence in the damp cave, beside the unconscious girl and the watchful Ascended.

She watched him through heavy lids as she recognized the strange smell she'd woken up to. It was the smell that drenched the snow when her father would come home from the hunt. The smell that scattered when he'd cut into an animal, revealing the meat below. It wasn't as heavy as it had been, but it lingered. On her clothes, in the ground, on the figure just a small distance away, shrouded in darkness. She shivered. Gods, it was cold in this place.

"Where am I?", she quietly asked. What was happening? What did the Ascended say just before she'd passed out? Azure couldn't remember.
Azure
Nikolai Moriya
Scholar /Bookseller

Age: 28 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 16 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Blackbird Offline
Change author:
Posts: 328 | Total: 3,391
MP: 0
#3
Nikolai
Not all truths
Belong to the light
Nikolai had heard the change in heartbeat, but it was Azure's sudden question that sent a bolt of equal terror and relief through him. Swallowing harshly, he turned to her, still trying to control his emotions. "In a cave. Not far from where you were camped. A mile or so? I brought you here so that we wouldn't just be out in the open while you recovered."

The Ascended wrapped his arms around himself, hunching in as the weight of the situation crushed him. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt anyone." Nikolai turned his head away to wipe away the fluid that was beginning to drip from his eyes. "I'm such an idiot." What kind of Ascended forgot to get their fluids replenished in time?

Letting out a shaky breath that he didn't need, Nikolai turned back to Azure. She deserved an actual explanation. "I lost track of time, procrastinated on it if you will. Regardless, I went to long without replenishing my fluids at one of the shrines." He bit his lip, looking down in shame. "I was trying to get there before I completely lost it and ran into you on the way."

Nikolai's voice cracked, "I lost control. I'm so so so sorry."
Some lie in wait
For you to step into the shadows
Azure Evren
Pickpocket

Age: 22 | Height: Tall-ish | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: - Strg: 9 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 10 - Luck: 5 - Int:
Played by: Nell Offline
Change author:
Posts: 36 | Total: 163
MP: 85
#4
How can you remain, Staring at the rain, Maddened by the stars?

Azure cautiously pushed herself off the ground, drawing her legs close against her body. She touched her neck again, as if to make sure the bandages were still there, and not a figment of her imagination.

When the figure in the dark wiped his face a memory clicked into place. An image of the Ascended's eyes welling up with fluid while blood red lips spoke rushed apologies. A strange sight. Azure listened to him ask forgiveness now, staying quiet, watching carefully from behind her lashes. She hated this. He'd just torn into her throat because he'd failed to do the only thing Ascended are required to do to and now she looked at him, huddled in the dark like a wounded beast, and she felt unmistakable traces of... sympathy.

That was just another thing to be mad at him about.

She'd let his apology hang in the air before deciding to speak. "So you brought me to the dankest cave you could find?" Bitter sarcasm came through her words, but quickly subsided into something of a grumble. She rubbed her arms, desperate for a little warmth. "So, are you gonna get some firewood or are you gonna leave me to expire?" Despite her words, her tone had lost some of its sharpness. The truth was that she could use his help, even though she felt indignant about asking for it.

It was only then that she noticed that the curse that had been binding her tongue wouldn't have normally allowed her to speak so freely. A weight lifted, but her situation was too precarious for her to enjoy it.
Azure
Nikolai Moriya
Scholar /Bookseller

Age: 28 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 16 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Blackbird Offline
Change author:
Posts: 328 | Total: 3,391
MP: 0
#5
Nikolai
Not all truths
Belong to the light
Nikolai flinched at the harsh words before glancing at the cave and realizing that Azure was right. This really was a shit place to have chosen, but he had panicked and had nearly zero survival knowledge even before he Ascended, so who could blame him. "Ah, shit." The Ascended then saw how clearly cold the woman was and felt another sting of guilt.

"Fuck. Yah, I'll go get some." Standing up, Nikolai took off his jacket and placed it a few feet from Azure as he walked past her and out of the cave. "I hope that helps for now." The Ascended tried to broadcast his intentions clearly so as not to scare or startle her and kept as much distance between them as possible as he left.

Quickly finding dry wood suitable for a fire and a piece of stone flint, he returned to the cave. Nikolai dropped to a knee and placed them down on the ground before skidding them over to Azure, along with a sheathed knife to strike the flint with. "This should work, right?" The Ascended then backed away as soon as the items were placed, not wanting to invoke her wrath or scare her.

Returning to huddling in his corner of the cave, Nikolai eyed his companion warily. Sending a glance at flammable materials, he couldn't help but gulp, "Please don't set me on fire. I probably deserve it, but still."
Some lie in wait
For you to step into the shadows
Azure Evren
Pickpocket

Age: 22 | Height: Tall-ish | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: - Strg: 9 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 10 - Luck: 5 - Int:
Played by: Nell Offline
Change author:
Posts: 36 | Total: 163
MP: 85
#6
How can you remain, Staring at the rain, Maddened by the stars?

She watched suspiciously as he dropped the garment down, and scrutinizing eyes proceeded to follow him out of the cave. As soon as he was out of sight she leaned forward and pulled the jacket to her, threw it around her shoulders. She drew her legs close to her body and wrapped herself up. For a while, it was all she could do. The jacket itself was cold, as if it had been hanging on a rack.

Then, when some warmth returned and the ache in her toes was no longer dull when she stretched them, she stood up on numb legs and walked wobbly steps to the mouth of the cave. Azure saw the forest before her, thick and ancient. When she looked up she couldn’t tell whether it was whispers of moonlight or sunlight that found their way through the thick canopy.

A hand searched the inside of her vest finding her water flask. When she leaned her head back to empty it she saw the cave spin and decided, despite considerations, to sit back down inside. She sat with her back to the cave wall, leaving little room between herself and the exit. The songbird wrapped the jacket as far around her body as it would go and waited.

The thing that rubbed her wrong about all this wasn’t the immense weakness she felt as all grip she had on her life spilled into nothing in the sight of one hungry monster. It wasn’t the sickening weakness running through her body, not knowing whether she would run a fever, vomit, or both. It wasn’t that this attack interrupted what was to be her repentant return to the Grounds, her plea for forgiveness. It was that she couldn’t, despite strained effort, muster enough hatred for the man who’d done this to her.

The moment the dark haired creature appeared back in her sights, Azure’s eyes narrowed, fixating on his every move. She didn’t let surprise or relief show when he laid out everything she needed. The girl immediately grabbed the knife, slipping it out of its sheathe in a rapid motion. She didn’t respond to his inquiry, deciding instead to give him a half aborted eye-roll and begin building the fire after setting the knife close to her reach.

It was his request that caught her completely off guard. It was the first time she looked at him without disgust marking the creases of her eyes. Instead, there was surprise, confusion and a hint of incredulous amusement. She broke eye contact, disliking this moment of sincerity. She snapped the branch in her hand to size and pointed it at him. ”We’ll see about that, mosquito boy.” She then threw it onto the fire and picked up the knife, striking at the flint.

Soon enough, smoke rose from the pile and embers danced their way around the wood. “You’re not very good at this Ascended thing, are you?” She prodded, testing him. Wondering whether the repentant visage would melt under her biting tone, and he would reveal a face far more dangerous, and far easier to strike back against.
Azure
Nikolai Moriya
Scholar /Bookseller

Age: 28 | Height: 6'1" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 16 - Endr: 16 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Blackbird Offline
Change author:
Posts: 328 | Total: 3,391
MP: 0
#7
Nikolai
Not all truths
Belong to the light
Nikolai flinched at the nickname, equally offended as he was remorseful. But if she was feeling secure enough to insult him, that was a good sign, right? Though the fact that his fear wasn't negated made him gulp. The suppressed offense reared its head at her next words, however. Nikolai opened his mouth, ready to rebuttal it, but slammed his jaw shut before he could.

Swallowing to suppress his anger, Nikolai settled on scowling. "I'm not that bad at it. I just forget to eat. I had the same habit as an Accepted." The words are grumbled out with more annoyed offense then bite. In any other circumstance the young Ascended would have gone off on the Attuned. But even he had enough tact to keep his mouth relatively shut in these circumstances.

It was true however, his bad habit. Nikolai couldn't begin to count the times he'd gotten carried away reading when he was an Accepted, only to realize when he stood up and the world whirled that he'd forgotten to eat again.
Some lie in wait
For you to step into the shadows


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