An eye for an eye

[Cyanic he/him]

Quote

alright!

Araha got angry at this clearly not-sane woman, another one of the people that tormented her friend for most of her life. She stomped toward the woman, raising her fists. "Don't think you can just walk away from us. You're one of the reasons for my friend's burdens, you took someone's life and tried to own it because what? You believe your child could come back?" She growled, she'd been angry before, but she'd never lectured someone, "your madness does not excuse your actions," she gritted her teeth, "I feel pity to whoever had the misfortune of being your daughter."

[Silva]

This was all becoming very interesting indeed. While Pry pitied this woman for the loss of her child, she herself would be quite broken if any of her siblings were dead, she knew the dead should stay dead. Pry listened to Araha reprimanding Damaya's mother. It should have made her feel satisfied. Instead it only made her uneasy. The last thing this woman needed to be told is that she was wrong. She knew she just wanted to feel success - that something had gone her way. One daughter literally dead and the other not following in her footsteps at all. She needed some reassurance. But unfortunately, she wasn't going to get any.

Pry ran her fingers through her hair thinking, while acting without planning had worked before, she didn't want to press her luck.

What would you do if you were her? How would you feel if your daughter brought home friends who were here to destroy what's most precious to you? she asked herself. You would feel betrayed, yet she seems all to happy to reaccept Damaya. Something is even more off than we can see. We're missing something. Something big. 

Except try as she might, Pry couldn't figure it out. She needed more facts and events. She needed context. Because without context she knew there would be no way to come out of here with a peaceful solution. Already things were in thin ice and Pry was going to do her best to make sure that ice didn't crack.

[+Sorana she/her]

"You don't know my daughter! None of them. I would do anything to protect them, to save them."

The woman screamed and Damaya interrupted her, her voice shaking and accusing.

"You attacked the Waystop! You sent soldiers to kidnapped me! You..."

Her voice broke and she pressed a hand against her face, turning away.

"Don't cry."

The woman's voice turned soft.

"It was never my intention that they hurt you. That they kidnap you. I only wanted to ensure that you can come back here. Your father even asked his friends, for help. But I know, these Chaos guys seem to be scary."

For a moment her face was peaceful, then it turned again, determination crossing her features.

"Alas like I said. I would like to have Nera back. Your father even left me this ritual to perform and then I can hold her in my arms again."

Smiling at Araha she added.

"Would you like to donate your blood first?"

@Silva

@Cyanic

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by Sorana

[Cyanic he/him]

Araha saw Pry stepping up but not saying anything so she continued: "If your daughter is what you want, why don't you just meet with her. She probably misses you too or something." Araha said close to monotone, "Damaya is not your daughter," she said, "she was a girl on the street that you subjected to your stupidity." Araha said, all the anger and frustration and annoyance just leaving, she was still focused enough to fight, sure, but she wasn't really sure what she wanted to say.

Well besides the fact that this woman clearly needed to die for Damaya and the woman's own sake. If she died, then she might meet her daughter again, maybe... Araha wasn't sure if there was an afterlife really. She wasn't sure what she was doing right now, if this was justice, or anger, or mercy, or whatever it was. All she knew was that she continued to stand ready for combat.

[+Sorana she/her]

Quote

Sry, I've been really busy these past days and I wanted to take some time to write it, and not do it between tons of other things.

The woman shook her head at Arahas's reply.
"You are rude small one. you should learn to control your emotions, and make sure you stay polite at all times. It is important to show respect for your betters."
she sighed exaggeratedly.
"But I can understand that this is hard to learn. My Damaya also had a hard time to learn how to control her emotions. She always lets herself be influenced by them."

Slowly, stepping deliberately she walked over to Pry, and smiled at her.
"You are so quiet. I need to thank you again for reminding me of my roses. You see I have this great plan all laid out and ready. I will summon a demon and let him eat my Damaya's soul. Then I will use your blood to call back the soul of my dear Nera, my daughter not only in name, but also in blood. I will offer her my Damaya's body and I promise I will bury yours. What do you think of that? Are you confident enough to go first?"

@Silva

@Cyanic

Edited November 4, 2018 by Sorana

[Silva]

Pry smiled sweetly in response, picking her words carefully. Her sympathy for the woman only went so far. "What a generous offer, truly, but I must decline for your own good. If you do as you plan to, wouldn't she no longer be related to you by blood? After all, it'd be my blood your using. She'd be of my blood - not yours. She might wind up as obstinate and stubborn as Damaya. We wouldn't want that, would we?" She glanced at Damaya nervously. Distractions would only work for so long.

[Cyanic he/him]

At the woman's words and threat of her friend's life and soul, Araha got even angrier. She wanted to tell the woman that she had tormented Damaya enough, that Nera wouldn't even want to come back here, and especially not through those means. Instead, she surged in the stormlight and lashed herself forward toward the woman several times. Falling heavier than a boulder with both feet flying toward the woman. Hopefully the woman wouldn't even be able to see the attack coming and Araha could crush her, or knock her out.

[+Sorana she/her]

Damaya stared at Pry in response and only then realized, that she had simply stood there, stared at the woman. Do something, she needed to do something. She was to one to solve this. She turned to the woman, feverishly tried to think of something and then Araha knocked her out. It took her a moment to understand, what happened, that the woman was lying there, unmoving.

"She saved me. Back when she fetched me from the street she saved me."
Damaya told noone in particular and then walked over to a guard and grabbed a knife.
"And then she, they, ..."
she stopped unable to continue. They knew, the woman had talked about it. She touched her arm, remembering the pain, the way she had blackened out again and again. Slowly, deliberately she walked over to the woman and knelt down next to her, the knife in her hand.
"If I kill her, it's over."
she whispered.
"Then she will never hurt me again."
She looked down at her hands, at the blood clinging to them, at her skirts also stained with blood. She had already killed today, and it hadn't changed anything. Feeling empty she left the knife on the ground and simply knelt there, staring at her torturer.
"But it won't change anything. I won't forget what happened."
straightening she looked at Pry and Araha, unsure what to do.
"Can I risk to let her live? Can I leave? How do I know, that she doesn't go on with it? That she doesn't abducts the next urchin?"

@Cyanic

@Silva

 

Edited November 4, 2018 by Sorana

[Silva]

Pry bit her lip in thought. There was no way to ensure Damaya's "mother" wouldn't try anything again - at least none she could imagine. But was death the answer? Pry shook her head to herself. Killing never would solve problems. But would it be the way to solve this one? It would definitely be the easiest way. Except it wasn't the right one.

She's tortured and ruined lives to help her own. Basically killed them and I'm still hesitating in thinking she should die? Pry thought. Life has value, but does she deserve to be the owner of something so precious? She almost gave Damaya a gesture to indicate that she believed killing her was the best course of course. Yet she didn't. For if she doesn't own it, no one will. Why throw away something of value because of the past? Why? There's no reason to other than the assumption she'll repeat her mistakes. There is no way to know she won't. There's also no way to know she will. Pry's mind kept circling, not getting anywhere. She knew death wasn't the right route, but nothing better came to mind.

 People can change. she told herself suddenly. People can change if they see reason to. Not unless they see reason. She's never seen reason - what she's done has always worked.... It hit Pry then. Everything clicked into place. The servant helping her earlier. The lack of people around the house. The fear has kept them obedient. If that vanished, they would do what they knew was right. Like not let this woman leave the property. Not give her opportunity to harm others, but still keep her alive. She'd have to adjust - become content with just her roses and home. Again Pry almost reached a conclusion, but something stopped her. She couldn't condemn a person to a life of solitude. That was almost not a life at all. But still a life! one side of her mind argued. A pitiful one! shouted the other. You'd rather die than experience that! While that was true, the two sides kept warring. Who's to say she wouldn't prefer that? No matter what, some part of her would remain unhappy. She just had to figure out which part was stronger. Somewhere she already knew, it now was only a matter of admitting it. Which was a pretty big commitment.

Quote

Heh. Sorry it's long and reaches no conclusions, but that's just Pry. She's never gonna be able to pick. Though both sides are pretty interesting on a morality scale.

 

[Cyanic he/him]

Damaya had dropped her knife, she looked like she was about to kill the woman, but then hesitated. This whole day would have given anyone quite a bit of physical and emotional exhaustion. This was especially true for Damaya.

Araha walked over to her friend and knelt down beside her, embracing her again. "Give your burdens to me, Damaya. You've suffered enough already," she said, still hugging her, but trying to stand up, picking Damaya up with her. She hugged tighter, leading her friend to Pry @Silva. She spoke to the misting in a quiet voice: "Please make sure Damaya doesn't see this," she said, leaving her friend in Pry's care.

She walked back to the woman, picking up the dropped knife. She started breathing rapidly. "Ran... I'm about to kill someone again," she spoke quietly, her sister remained large and in her woman form but split from Araha. She held Araha's hands. They were shaking as she gripped the dagger.

"Are you killing her out of vengeance? Or anger?"

"I... I don't know..." Araha responded, thinking, "that's not the only reason, but I suppose I am."

"What is your other reasons, then?" Ran continued to ask in a quiet, tender voice.

"I want to take away Damaya's burdens by making her stop existing. I need to kill her so that she can't cause harm to anyone ever again... and I want her to meet her child again. If there is a place where the dead go, her child will be there. I ...don't know if a place like that exists."

Ran gripped Araha's hands tighter, or as tight as she could in her semi-corporeal form. "Then that won't break our oath... but that's not really what you're concerned about for the moment, is it, Araha?"

"...no," she replied,

"Then do what you feel is necessary." Ran put an arm around Araha, and let go after a while, standing back up.

Araha turned the woman over, making her face down. A swift strike, something that will not cause pain. You'll meet your child again, and you'll stop tormenting Damaya, she repeated in her head. She positioned the woman so that her head was facing downward and Araha positioned the dagger to the back of her head. Her breathing quickened, and she held her breath. She brought the knife up, then back down as hard as she could into the woman's head. She hyperventilated, slashing the knife through the other parts of the head, wanting to make sure that she killed the woman so that she didn't have to suffer being paralyzed or brain-dead. Araha was breathing faster than she ever head, a hot pain in her chest as she thoroughly killed the woman.

Blood and some innards splattered Araha's hands and arms, but it was over, finally over. She stood back up, gagging, but she didn't vomit. She dropped the knife. It clanged on the ground. Tears were forming in her eyes, it was mixed emotions, from the horror of killing someone in that way, to the relief of Damaya's torment finally being over. She closed her eyes and let the tears flow. Just standing with bloody hands.

She hoped Damaya didn't see that. She didn't need to see more of that.

[+Sorana she/her]

Quote

Oh wow  - that I hadn't expected...

 

Damaya followed Araha over to Pry, too caught up in her own thoughts, only relaxing when she found a solution. She would let her live, she would let her live and she would check back on her regularly, make sure that she didn't start again. Maybe she would organize her someone to talk to, to get better, so that she could tend to her roses.
"What do you want to...?"
she started to ask and turned around in time to see Araha slam the knife down. For a moment her world froze and she could do nothing but stare while Araha killed the woman. Her mother. She is not your mother, she told herself and yet, she was, she had been in a twisted kind of sense.
"Why?"
she whispered and stared at Araha as she straightened, stood there crying. She knew she should walk over, comfort her, but she couldn't. Instead she walked to one of the guards and fetched his cloak and then softly spread it over the corpse. Feeling empty she touched the hair of the woman that had saved her, that had despite everything raised her, that had hurt her so often. She allowed herself that moment and then stood up again. She needed to function again, sort that out and then she could take more time for herself.

"I need to thank all of you for stopping those Chaos guys to kill me. And to come down here and all that."
She hesitated for a while, she had nothing really to give them.
"I'm sorry I don't have anything to give to you. If you want to, just look through the house, take whatever you want. I don't plan to take the business over and I don't need it. I will be upstairs, I need to find a good solution for their servants."

@Gancho Libre

@Silva

@Cyanic

Edited November 6, 2018 by Sorana

[Cyanic he/him]

Araha wiped her eyes and watched Damaya head upstairs. She saw Damaya's eyes when she addressed the group, they seemed empty. And the way Damaya looked at her was... different.

She shouldn't have done what she just did, it wasn't her own decision to make, she should've left it in Damaya's hands. Even if she couldn't risk her friend's state getting worse, she just robbed Damaya of her right to agency. She walked over to Deras, and whispered, "make sure she's safe," in a quiet, almost monotone voice, though the regret or just general frustration was evident in her voice.

"You'll be alright?" Deras asked in an equally low voice.

"No, but leave me be for now, okay?" She told Deras with a forced smile and he nodded, walking away and toward the stairs.

As he passed the Anti Chaos group that the Skybreakers sent in, he and Derek nodded at each other as Deras climbed up the stairs. The Returned Skybreaker remained in the basement as the other two of the group went up with Deras.

Araha found herself a corner, she curled up into herself and let the tears flow again, "I'm sorry..." she whispered, she wasn't sure who she was sorry to, but she was, "I'm so sorry," she repeated, hugging her legs to her chest and burying her face there. She imagined a peaceful resolution where they would rescue Damaya and they'd embrace again and be happy and everything would be alright, but this wasn't that. She'd just killed another person and not even someone actively trying to kill them, she might have just been insane and couldn't do what she said she could, and now Damaya might want nothing to do with Araha.

She could feel Ran's arm around her and the occasional "shhh" coming from her sister, but she kept her head down, continuing to cry. She had killed the woman because it was necessary. That was what she thought, but was that really true? She didn't know what to believe anymore, not right now at least, so she just continued to cry.

[+Sorana she/her]

Coru curled himself around her arm and buzzed slightly. Damaya stopped walking up the stairs and the she heard it sobbing. Araha.

"She killed her."

She whispered and then with an angry sound turned around and searched for her friend. Kneeling down next to Araha she pulled her close.

"It's alright. Don't worry. You were right to do it. Thank you."

Coru buzzed again and she knew what he would tell her later. Lies. But right now the lies were important. She needed them as much as Araha did.

"I'm not angry Araha. Just let me sort this out and then we can leave. I heard of an expedition and I want to join it. Come on, let's get you to the laundry to clean you up."

She helped her to her feet.

"I need you, Araha."

And that was the truth.

@Cyanic

Edited November 6, 2018 by Sorana

[Cyanic he/him]

Araha had a blank look on her face as Damaya told her that she wasn't angry, she was both confused and still not really sure what was happening, but Damaya's words were comforting nonetheless. She got up as Damaya helped her and lead her to the laundry room to clean up, it felt like a dream, like it wasn't real. She walked with a blank look, like she was on autopilot, Ran followed behind in her woman form, floating.

After she was cleaned, she look toward the person that cleaned her, Damaya, her friend, probably her best friend. The sight of her was comforting in itself, and Araha brought up her cleaned hand to Damaya's cheek, feeling if it was real. It was. It was smooth and soft. She lingered for a bit, looking at the cheek, then into Damaya's green eyes.

"Damaya..." she whispered as she pulled her friend into an embrace. "Damaya, I'm so sorry," she said weakly, still hugging her. How many times had she almost lost her friend? During the attack when she was knocked out, when she offered herself to free Araha from her captors, when the chaos perpendicularity opened, though she wasn't in direct danger, that was just thanks to Deras, and when she was taken and almost killed if not for the space marine woman that saved her. Araha was so happy and relieved that Damaya was still here and that she was still speaking with her, maybe she was still angry, but that was okay, friends can be angry at friends.

She loved her friend, so much, and she didn't want to lose her again. Her embrace tightened as she cried into Damaya's shoulder, "I'm so happy you're still here!" She yelled out, tears obstructing the words. This was the first time she really really cried, just let her emotions go and letting them do whatever the hell they wanted. No depths and no frozen over lake, just tears of relief and happiness.

@Sorana

[+Sorana she/her]

Damaya let Araha cry, held her close. She waited until the woman had calmed down a bit, then led her to a table and gently pushed her onto a stool.
"Wait here. I need to sort some things, pack what I need. And I want to stay around in case Pry or Riathor need something."
For a moment she felt bad, to be the first one to leave the cellar, but then she pushed the thought away. It didn't matter anymore.

Damaya walked up to her room and quietly sat down on her bed. She knew that she hadn't really grasped what happened, that would come, later, once she knew everybody was safe, once Araha had calmed down, once she was gone from here. For a moment she sat there stared at tha familiar wall, at her wardrobe, at everything that contained her old life. Then she got up again and stepped out of her soiled dress. Quickly she dressed in something clean, still a dress but a better fit for travel. Then she packed whatever she thought she could use, including an empty to use as a diary. Money, she needed money as well. It didn't take her long, she couldn't carry that much, so there was no need to pack everything. When sh closed the door behind her, she felt strange, as if someone had closed a book, without starting a new chapter. For a moment she hesitated, she could stay here, take over the business, build a new life - then she shook her head. This place held to many memories. She knew what she would do with the house, she would move somewhere else. Quietly she walked back down the stairs and talked to one of the few servants that was still here. Hopefully the man would tell the others what happened and what she had planed for this place. Then she sat down next to Araha.
"I am ready. I will wait for Pry or Riathor, see if they need anything. Then we can go. I need to make a short detour first - alone. And then I will join the expedition. If you feel like coming, I would be happy, but a no is alright. I need to get away from all that for a while."

@Cyanic

Edited November 6, 2018 by Sorana

[Silva]

She stared at herself in a puddle of spilled water, not knowing why she felt as she did. She should have been grateful Araha had done as she had, but Pry knew taking comfort in death wasn't right. Which was why she wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. It was a mix ofmany things and was tearing her in so many different directions.

[Gancho Libre he/him]

Riathor stood still for a long time.

He didn't feel... ready to leave yet. There was still something he had to do.

He reached his arm out, hoping against hope.

The shardblade did not form.

He sighed. He didn't know why he had been directed here. Something was going on.

He couldn't leave yet. The others would be going somewhere, an expedition of sorts. He didn't know the details.

He wasn't sure he shouldn't join them.

[+Sorana she/her]

Damaya smiled at Araha:

"Stay here. I'll be back."

Then she turned and walked back into the cellar. Pry and Riathor were still down there and she somehow felt responsible for them. And doing something was better, than thinking about what had happened.

"Hey. I am sorry for leaving you like that. I needed a moment."

She smiled, but she knew the smile didn't reach her eyes. Carefully avoiding to look at the corpse she looked at them.

"Thank you again for coming here. If there is anything I can do to help you, just let me know."

@Gancho Libre

@Silva

[Gancho Libre he/him]

Riathor cocked his head. "Well, I'm not sure why I'm here, but I don't think I'm done yet. Wherever you're going next, can I come too?"

[Cyanic he/him]

Araha sat as Damaya tended to different things that she needed to tend to. Different thoughts were still ringing through her head, but she was calmer now. She just stared at the wall, waiting for Damaya to come back and finding her center again. She breathed in and out. Ran was by her, mimicking sitting on the table in her small woman form. Damaya had said she would go somewhere before she left for that expedition that was apparently happening.

She wondered where Damaya heard about the information when she was here all this time. Maybe it was just known information and she was just left in the dark or something like that. This world seemed that way sometimes, inconsistent, she noticed it more clearly now, but she can't completely remember exactly what sorts of inconsistencies were there. Maybe like that one time she asked to borrow Deras' shardblade and she didn't hear the screams of the spren in the blade? Or that one time when she ...died? but didn't? When they were attacked by those balls of tentacles. She shook her head.

Fortunately, Deras entered the room, distracting her from her strange thoughts. "How doing?" Deras asked in his usual efficient sentence.

"better, thank you," Araha responded. She still had to determine just what she really felt about this intriguing man.

"Anti-Chaos Group cleaning out house, talking to servants." He told her.

She nodded, "I see," she stared at the Lifeless man, "umm, can I borrow your shardblade?"

He also nodded and summoned the blade, flipping it over and pointing the hilt toward Araha. She gingerly placed a finger on the hilt and the screams rang out in her head, she flinched and retracted her hand, panting. That was definitely another inconsistency. Why didn't it happen earlier but it did now? "That's enough, thank you," she told him and he de-summoned the blade, "so it's finally over, huh? Where are you going after this?"

"Doubtful. More people need help," Deras replied, "I go where people need help." He told her. That was an admirable trait of his, she blushed slightly, then more as she thought of what she was going to do next.

"Deras, can you come closer? And take off your helmet?" she asked him. He stood there for a while then did as she said. She reached up and put her hand on his face, blushing all the while. He was definitely handsome, he was grey right now, but she suspected he had dark Alethi skin when he was still alive.

"You're well, Araha?" He asked,

"Y-yeah. Just trying to find something out," she replied. She had a crush on him definitely, but a relationship wouldn't work, not because he was Lifeless, but because they both had places they needed to be. Hers was with her best friend, Damaya. Maybe in the future if everything worked out. Storms, she didn't even know if he felt the same way or could feel the same way, but for now she could do this.

She pulled Deras closer and put her lips on his. He leaned back momentarily, then surprisingly, he returned the kiss. Araha blushed and broke away, completely red. Her first kiss, and it was in the strangest of situations. It wasn't really much of a kiss since Araha had no experience with that sort. "Sorry..." she said.

"As am I," he replied, "unsure what came over. Just triggered feeling, not memory, just feeling," he told her, "but you're amazing woman, might why it triggered feeling," he told her and she chuckled. Was that his attempt at flirting. "Did you find out what you were looking for?" Deras asked in a complete sentence.

"I think so," she was at least sure that she liked him.

"Glad to help." He nodded,.

"So..." Araha begun, not wanting this moment to be just awkward silence, "'til next we meet, Deras?"

"We will," he smiled this time, that was a rare sight, "it will be a good meeting."

She blushed again, not sure if that was meant as a friendly statement or a flirty one. It was just a crush anyway and that was alright even if they didn't meet again, "I can't tell what you mean sometimes," she told him with a smile and he nodded.

"Good to keep ambiguous," he said as he put his helmet back on and walked out, "good bye, Araha. Thank you for the training." He told her, still speaking in complete sentences.

She guessed she didn't really need to call in the Anti-Chaos Department, but still it was good to be prepared. She took a small sphere-looking object from her pocket and examined it. She wasn't sure where she got this, or how the information got to her, yet another inconsistency, but she was a bit relieved that she didn't have to use this distraction. She pocketed it again, waiting for Damaya.

[+Sorana she/her]

1 hour ago, Gancho Libre said:

Riathor cocked his head. "Well, I'm not sure why I'm here, but I don't think I'm done yet. Wherever you're going next, can I come too?"

Damaya stared at him for a short while, surprised that he didn't knew why he was here.
"Of course. I wanted to join the expedition, as soon as everybody left here. We can go there together. Araha wants to come as well."

[Silva]

Pry didn't directly speak. She still was caught in thought - sorting things through, though she did look up. Finally she spoke.

"I've got nothing to do," she said. "So if you need anything I can do, I'm happy to help."

[+Sorana she/her]

9 hours ago, Silva said:

Pry didn't directly speak. She still was caught in thought - sorting things through, though she did look up. Finally she spoke.

"I've got nothing to do," she said. "So if you need anything I can do, I'm happy to help."

Surprised Damaya looked over at Pry and then nodded.
"I don't know what is needed on that expedition, I've never been on one. But I felt like it would be a good place to go. So I think we see what they will need and how we can help. I can a boat to take us there."
She turned around, waited for them to come, so that she could close the front door. She made sure to stop by Araha and tell her, that she was ready to leave.
"Let's go?"

Quote

I will move her first to the Harbour and then to the "Exploring the other side of the world thread".

@Gancho Libre

@Cyanic

Edited November 7, 2018 by Sorana

[Gancho Libre he/him]

Quote

ok.

Riathor nodded and followed.

This was the best thing for him to do. He could feel it.

[Silva]

Quote

Sorry it took a while to respond.

Pry followed as well.