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ASHƎ
if you think i'm pretty, you should see me in a crown
She braced her arm against the wall and looked into the rubble, taking a moment to catch her breath after that brutal blow and assess the situation. Taking stock of her own injuries, she had blessedly escaped anything more than what would be scrapes and bruises and broken ribs. With a groaning growl, the wolf girl straightened and smeared away the dirt on her face as she approached both Zariah and Samuel. Samuel she helped dig out of the rubble, studiously ignoring the prideful Launelyn at this point but for a mildly grateful glance at helping the Ascended. ”You’re both alright?” she asked, not allowing herself to be bothered by anything Zariah did or said - if she wanted to be an idiot and do shit just for the sake of pride and “hierarchies” that no longer existed, she could dig her own damned grave. Knowing everyone had gotten away more or less okay, they began their ascent once more. The further they climbed, the higher Ashe’s dread rose. They had lost Aedion… but that could hardly be the worst that was waiting for them. And while some might consider the next trial to be easier than the last, Ashe… At first she’d paused with knees bent and sword drawn at the sound of voices and people laughing. Seeing them, they were all so relaxed upon this next platform, happy even. She didn’t recognize any faces.. or… No. The assassin went entirely still, her face falling as she gazed upon those who looked back at her: Jasper, her late fiance, murdered by her Master. (a lake of red, a turned over chair, a severed arm, empty sockets) MJ, the only bloodfiend she ever trusted. (missing posters, never found, a note from her Master that said he'd never be found) Trusten, her father who had been killed by her Master before even Jasper. (cold mud and soil, rot, maggots crawling through flesh) Felicity and Isabella, the little girls she’d dragged from the explosions. (suffocating heat, burning lungs and eyes, the stench of burned flesh from the bodies in her arms) And… ”Ronin,” she breathed, heart thundering in her chest. That fast, the world slipped, swallowed up by the abyss that lived in her. The people she’d lost... everyone she failed to save and protect despite fighting with everything she had for them. It hadn’t been enough. Ashe’s feet moved of their own accord, and she tightened her grip around her shortsword to hide the way her hands started shaking. She kept glancing at every shadow, as if she expected the ghost of her Master, of Harkon or Vaego to come strolling towards her, to lay claim. They all smiled at her, as if they’d been waiting for her. ”What… What are you doing here, Ronin?” she asked, her voice distant. It couldn’t be him. He couldn’t.. he couldn’t be right there. Ashe is freaked the hell out and has approached the ghosts of her loved ones and asked what they’re doing here. your silence is my favorite sound watch me make 'em bow one by one by one
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