Ashetta had been… relaxing. Relaxing, because for the first time she could ever remember, she felt at ease. Enough to lounge across a rooftop, one leg dangling over the side of the roof and her arm cast over her head. She was riding a euphoric high that was dangerously close to crashing, and she clung to its pinnacle, willfully ignoring the thread of the dark that could no longer be held back by the constant war her life had been up until a few days ago. She certainly didn't have to worry about that for very long.
The raven-haired girl gave a sharp gasp when she just was suddenly.. not… on the rooftop… is that where she had been? Was she on her way home from Cel's place? Going to train? Ashe couldn't remember.
It didn't matter. Not as she sat bolt upright, one hand on the satchel she carried after finishing her shift, the other groping for Reckoning at her side. The sword was her newest companion, acquired only days before under.. strange circumstances. It had been days, hadn’t it? Or weeks? Months? She stumbled to her feet as the scent of the coming fall was violently replaced by the taste of ashes on her tongue, brimstone burning in her nose. Her heart started racing in her chest, and she felt.. something behind her. A door shutting, but there was no sound. She didn't bother looking back, only ahead as she shouldered her satchel and held Reckoning before her.
Dread coiled in her gut at what she beheld.
Ashe made her way forward, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she took in her surroundings with swift efficiency. She recognized others… where were they? Where was the wall? The town? Not even these ruins looked like Northaven, and that towering spire left her feeling unsettled as she moved forward, boots crunching over rubble.
Then she spotted a flash of brilliant red hair, and in the same moment, she spotted more familiar faces. Ashe let out a breath and jogged forward, shaking away the dizzying feeling of everything being wrong and strange. Things felt different, beyond the desolation and confusion. She made herself ignore the icy claws of panic, keeping her electric blue eyes locked upon the group of her family, her friends.
”Mom!” Ashe immediately called when she was in earshot ofVervain , and she immediately threw her arms around her mother when she reached the small group if she allowed it. She'd hang on a moment, her sword behind the huntress's back, and she breathed her in. Something deeply familiar and safe in this place that was the opposite of those things.
She’d release her, eyes wide as she glanced between Remi ,Celosia , Ronin , and even Loren … fear clawed at her chest, and there was something reassuring about Ronin's call. Others would follow him, go to him. All she wanted was her family. Ashe turned eyes that had suddenly hardened to her mother. ”Papa?” she questioned, her panic ebbing into a steely resolve. Surely her mother knew where Devrum was. ’Alistair!’ she cast out with her mind. The bond was still strong, clear.. but where was he? Her husband, her father... they had to be here. Either here, or safe at home. There was no other alternative allowed into her thoughts.
The raven-haired girl gave a sharp gasp when she just was suddenly.. not… on the rooftop… is that where she had been? Was she on her way home from Cel's place? Going to train? Ashe couldn't remember.
It didn't matter. Not as she sat bolt upright, one hand on the satchel she carried after finishing her shift, the other groping for Reckoning at her side. The sword was her newest companion, acquired only days before under.. strange circumstances. It had been days, hadn’t it? Or weeks? Months? She stumbled to her feet as the scent of the coming fall was violently replaced by the taste of ashes on her tongue, brimstone burning in her nose. Her heart started racing in her chest, and she felt.. something behind her. A door shutting, but there was no sound. She didn't bother looking back, only ahead as she shouldered her satchel and held Reckoning before her.
Dread coiled in her gut at what she beheld.
Ashe made her way forward, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she took in her surroundings with swift efficiency. She recognized others… where were they? Where was the wall? The town? Not even these ruins looked like Northaven, and that towering spire left her feeling unsettled as she moved forward, boots crunching over rubble.
Then she spotted a flash of brilliant red hair, and in the same moment, she spotted more familiar faces. Ashe let out a breath and jogged forward, shaking away the dizzying feeling of everything being wrong and strange. Things felt different, beyond the desolation and confusion. She made herself ignore the icy claws of panic, keeping her electric blue eyes locked upon the group of her family, her friends.
”Mom!” Ashe immediately called when she was in earshot of
She’d release her, eyes wide as she glanced between Remi ,
