WrathofaShardKitten

Evelyn sat, back against a wall, legs drawn up against her chest, forehead resting on her knees. A ray of weak sun had found it's way into the room - something more like a closet than a room, really - and shone gently upon her. Her phone lay to one side, screen dark. She'd turned it off after the first text. She just . . . Evelyn couldn't deal with it right now. She'd tried, earlier in the day. Her first class, she'd done alright. Done alright faking it. Then it had been time to go to the library, and something had just sort of broken. Normally, the library would have been the best thing in the world, but not now. Not today. Not after last night. So, she'd ditched them, slipping away unnoticed into a quiet corner of the school. Also by her side, next to the darkened phone, lay a notebook. It was held to a certain page by a pencil. On it, she'd written five words. "I want to go home." It had been alright, in the beginning. She'd wanted to come so badly. They were discovering new things. The amplifier? Something that let Elantrians use the Dor outside of the UK was a big deal. Then there had been the thing with her parents. She'd hoped she might find answers about whatever happened to them, and she had. Not a solution, but answers. Her mentor had vanished, but it had still been alright. Things hadn't really sunk in at that point. She hadn't known what had happened. It had still been a kind of mystery, and she had friends! All of the radiants had been so awesome. Then there was the night of the dance. They'd fought the voidbringers, and things hadn't really gone their way, but they'd won! Sort of. She'd been able to help. They'd all helped each other, and they hadn't been alone. Then there had been last night, and something had broken. She'd been all alone, with nothing but the flames, dancing in the night. She was alone again now. Alone with her thoughts. She'd run away again. She always ran. She ran from her problems and she fled from her fears, but looking at the words she'd written in the notebook, Evelyn knew she couldn't run. She couldn't leave them all. Nym, Shanna, Cassie, everyone. She wouldn't leave them behind. Even if they'd be better without you? A traitorous thought asked. Maybe. Evelyn wasn't strong like them, she knew, but maybe she could be strong for them. If she could help, in any way, she would. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. She smiled faintly, raising her head from it's resting place on her knees and drawing the notebook to her once again. There was more to write. Just three words, but they were important. "But I won't." The marks were strong and bold, far different from the pale, shaky letters that made up the previous sentence. Evelyn had a smile when she left the room, backpack slung once more over her shoulder. It was a faint smile, true, but it was a smile nonetheless. She'd turned the phone back on. She wasn't going to run any more. If they needed her there, then she'd come.

Kira looked up when Faith mentioned her, a faint smile on her face. She'd gotten distracted watching Lyssa, who was currently getting way too excited over the bus. "Look at how many colors it has! And it has so many shapes, and it has flowers on the side!" "Hmm? Oh. Yeah." She climbed onto the bus after Wita and Marcel, still smiling. It felt weird to smile after everything that had happened that night, but Lyssa was weird too, so maybe that made sense somehow. "Sorry. I got kind of distracted. Nice bus, by the way." A gasp signaled Lyssa's entrance to the bus. "The inside is cool too! And they have plants, and paintings, and music, and Kira, do you think they might like gardening?" Because that was clearly the most important question.

The police man raised his gun and fired. Only the stormlight she held stopped Kira from getting shot. Without it, she would have frozen. She started moving as soon as he raised the gun, dodging to the side. It still almost wasn't enough. The wind of the bullet's passage made drifting stormlight swirl in it's wake, and Kira's heart started to pound. She could feel every beat. The police man fired again, and Kira flinched, moving too late to dodge this one. Luckily for her, the policeman's aim was thrown off as fright took hold. He'd fired as he ran, retreating, and the bullet missed. Kira watched as the man fled, heart pounding. She'd almost died. "Kira?" Lyssa asked. Kira didn't respond. "Kira. You did it." She finally shook herself out of whatever daze she'd been in. "Yeah, I. . . Did it?" I did it. She took the bag of gemstones from her side with fingers that felt numb, breathing the rest of her stormlight into the gems. Kira was left feeling dizzy as the light left her. So much, gone so soon. She pressed her hand against the wall using it to both support her self against the sudden loss of strength, and to guide her in the darkness. She headed for the window, peering through it to watch as the police car drove away. Lyssa had followed Kira, vines weaving around things on the floor. "Kira, you did it. Aren't you happy? You did it, and it was exactly like you said!" "I. . . Of course I am. It's just. . . I just. . ." I'm scared, too. She couldn't say it, but her hands still trembled on the window sill. Someone had shot at her. Someone had tried to rob them, earlier. "There's so much. . ." She fell silent. Lyssa, not really sure what to say, just twisted around Kira's finger, circling it so she would know someone was there. Kira always had Lyssa. "Kira?" Marcel called. "Oh! I forgot about other people. I wonder how Wita's doing. She's nice," Lyssa said. "Kira, is everything alright?" Kira glanced at Lyssa once again, wrapped comfortingly around her hand. "Yeah. I'm here!" She said more loudly. "The policemen are gone."

Evelyn hurried to the car, smiling at Cassie and Nym, and got in. She didn't really care where she sat, so she ended up in the middle-ish, but a bit closer to the back.

Evelyn headed upstairs when Nym started talking with a new person. She dropped off the blankets, slid the books they'd been reading back onto the shelves, grabbed the aon paper and her book-bag, and headed back down the stairs. She'd used the paper again last night to create another bracelet with the first functioning pain aon she'd designed. The paper had been surprisingly useful. Nym was already heading out the door by the time Evelyn got back downstairs, conversation apparently over. "Hey! Wait up." She grabbed a couple pieces of fruit from the kitchen and started towards the door. @Ookla the very snazzy

Wouldn't he be able to see that she's glowing? It's also dim enough that he'd be able to see. Kira finished the last few steps of the routine she'd learned - the surge she'd used earlier making her motions strangely smooth and gliding - and stopped, looking at the officer. Her irises had turned the clear-white color of diamonds, creating a rather discomforting sight. Especially with the stormlight still streaming off her.

Evelyn had stood and started folding the blankets. She looked up as Nym approached, flashing a tired smile. "Yeah, sure thing. Couple of things, though, I'm not sure how long it'll last, and I'll need to grab the paper for it from inside first. I don't know it well enough to draw it from memory yet." She yawned. "I could probably use it, too. Did you know there's supposed to be school today?"

Evelyn couldn’t make herself sleep that night. She knew she should, but she just … couldn’t. She eventually gave in and switched on the light, intending to read her book, but she realized she’d left it downstairs. Sighing, she headed downstairs to grab her book, flicking on the occasional light so she wouldn’t bump into anything, but keeping as many off as she could so as not to disturb anyone. She found the books on the couch where she’d left them, but something made her turn and look out the window. There was a figure there, sitting on the ground. Evelyn’s thoughts immediately turned to voidbringers, but it didn’t look right. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Nym. She must not have been able to sleep either. Evelyn shrugged, grabbed a couple of blankets as well as the books, and headed out. She could head back in if Nym didn’t want company, but it would be nice to have someone to talk to otherwise. Besides, it looked cold, and blankets were always nice. Especially fuzzy ones. Those were the best. She sat down next to Nym and silently handed her one of the fuzzy blankets, the book Nym had been reading, and a quick smile. It was good to have company, even if they didn’t talk.

Kira turned as the door burst open, instinctively using some stormlight to slick her feet and dimming the light slightly. The policeman stood in the doorway, arm raised to shield his eyes. Kira's thoughts turned immediately to the scene Lyssa had drawn, with the policemen running away, and she giggled. There was something about the stormlight that made consequences seem unreal, a sort of heady sensation of power. It didn't actually seem very safe, now that Kira took a second to think about it, and she returned some of the stormlight to the gems she carried, dimming the light further. She still held enough stormlight that it streamed from her in pale whisps, but it was no longer blinding. Enough stormlight that she wanted to move, to race, to fight. Music still played in the background, and so Kira did none of those things. She danced instead. Why not? She enjoyed it, and the stormight pushed her to move, though she made sure not to step towards the policeman.

Kira turned to the door as the police knocked once more, preparing – Out of the corner of her eye, Kira saw Lyssa staring at her expectantly and couldn’t hold back a smile. “What?” “I’m just so excited!” Lyssa spun in place, vines twisting over each other. “I’ve never seen a ghost before!” “I’m not a ghost, Lyssa.” “Sure you are! Those policemen will think you’re a ghost, and what’s the difference? If they think you’re a ghost, then I’ll know what a ghost looks like. And then they’ll be like ‘whaaaa! A ghost! Quick, we need to run away and hide.’ And then you’ll all be like ‘Yay! They’re all gone!’” Lyssa illustrated this to great effect with her vines, including two policemen who appeared the be running away, and the rest of them all standing with a speech bubble above their heads that read, “yay!” Kira couldn’t help it. She laughed. It would have been pleasant, but it echoed strangely, overlapping and creating strange resonances. Lyssa laughed too, and scrawled a question on the floor. “Ghost?” Kira grinned and nodded. She twirled, sucked in a large breath of stormlight, and exploded with light.

It was easy for Evelyn to find her paper of designs. Still on the table in her room, where she’d left it. She drew the aon she’d designed, one of the ones meant to counter pain, in the center of the room and felt an immediate easing of the pain in her back. She breathed a silent sigh or relief and began working on the other idea she’d had, looking for something about the right size and shape to use in the bracelet. It was the same thing she’d been working on before the wedding, though she’d gotten a bit sidetracked with helping make the food. Evelyn still couldn’t find anything that fit the description she’d created, though she did find some clay she could mold into the right shape. It only took a few minutes to create the right shape and to copy over the aon Evelyn had chosen earlier, but it was strangely soothing to create. It took her mind away from what had happened, allowing her to do what she loved. She was humming softly and had a slight smile on her face by the time she finished the last curves and lines of the aon. Checking over the aon once more, she couldn’t find anything she’d missed. Satisfied, Evelyn changed the clay to glass and began work on the other elements of her bracelet. Which was basically just using some fancy string to tie it onto her wrist. It didn’t take long for Evelyn to thread the string through the holes she’d made and tie it on her wrist, and then she was ready. She dismissed the aon she’d drawn in the center of her room. Heat. Heat on her wrist, coming from the bracelet. The faint smile from earlier vanished. Evelyn grabbed the aon from her wrist, yanking it off and hurling it against the wall. Too late. Burning. Heat. The same horrid prickling sensation. Red light. The voidbringers’ scream. They all came rushing back, stealing with it the calm she’d felt mere moments before. She was once again curled into a ball, hands rubbing up and down her arms, trying to force away the visions her mind presented her. “Go away,” she whispered it over and over again. It was a long time before she could hear it over the phantom screams in her ears.

Kira froze when Marcel offered her the stamp and scalpel. A bloodsealer. Marcel was a bloodsealer. It had been strangely easy to forget with everything else that had been happening. She didn’t know much about bloodsealers, Lyssa being her only source of information on other investitures, and a rather unreliable one at that, but they were supposed to be bad. They could do things to you with your blood - Marcel had done things to the thief earlier with bloodsealing, and he’d screamed – and now he was asking Kira for blood. Her gaze flickered upward to meet Marcel’s eyes. They looked sincere. Concerned. She noted the comforting hand on Wita’s shoulder, and made her choice. Kira took the scalpel from Marcel, pricking one of her fingers and squeezing a couple of drops onto the knife. She returned it to him quickly with a sharp nod. Perhaps one of gratitude or acceptance. It was easy to see the red eyes, the seals and the knife, but he was more than just a bloodsealer. He was a Marcel, too. Hopefully she’d made the right choice. “Hurry. Hide.” She turned back to the door, taking a deep breath of stormlight, preparing for her plan.

"It's fine. I can do it." It was probably a bit late to back out now, and the idea did seem like it might work. "Did anyone see a good place to hide? Somewhere without windows? It would probably be best if the police couldn't see you." It would also be good in case the police started shooting. Kira didn't want anyone else to get hurt on accident. @Eluvianii @Sorana @I think I am here.

That happened, though I'm not sure if it changed with the poll. As for the way we've been doing polls, I think that the way we've been handling it is good. I like having the polling options above for a vote. I've never had a problem with missing one. I have had times when I've wanted to add clarification and reasoning behind my vote option, but I haven't because I ended up thinking that the matter was already decided. I'm glad that I know I can do that now, and I'll try to add that to voting when I think of something I want to bring up. Hopefully that helps with some of the things you've been debating

"Well," Kira started hesitantly, "stormlight makes me glow. Like, a really weird, eerie glow. So . . . I might be able to scare them away if I use stormlight to . . . make them think I'm a ghost. See?" She breathed in a small amount of stormlight, just enough to make her glow slightly, and used a slight amount of abrasion to glide gently across the floor. "If I'm convincing, then they might be too scared to investigate." And if they do what I think they're going to do, which is panic and shoot me, then I should be able to use progression to heal myself. "But like I said" - she drew the stormlight back in and returned it to the gems she carried - "I would reeeeealy rather not use that plan."

Kira nodded and reluctantly placed her finds in the box, trying to make sure they wouldn't get lost. "I second leaving. Did anyone see a back door we could use? Maybe in the kitchen?" It was easier to hear a slight tone of fear in her voice with the lights off. "I really hope the answer is yes, because otherwise, I have a really stupid idea that I really don't want to use."

Evelyn nodded and watched as Nym walked away. Okay . . . First step, stand up. Second step, go upstairs.Third step, draw the aon. Then you can find something to put the design on. It sounded so simple when she put it like that. Almost simple enough to actually do it. She got up from her seat, moving slowly to try to prevent what had happened before. It worked. Whether that was because it actually hurt less, or because standing slowly have her a chance to acclimatize to the pain, Evelyn had no idea. Either way, when she stood up, she didn't have the same fierce - she had to forcibly stop herself from thinking the word "burning" - pain as she'd had before, and was able to make it up the stairs to her room.

There were only two things inside the envelope. The first was a piece of copper that had been engraved into a picture of Big Ben. Kira took this in her hands, examining it. The front was carefully engraved, but the back - when she turned it over - was almost completely smooth. There was just one spot, close to the top of the piece, where someone had pushed something through, and then bent it down to hold it in place. She bent over it and started trying to pry the piece of metal up. Her fingers couldn't get a good enough grip, and when she tried using one of her fingernails as leverage, she just ended up stabbing herself on the pointy bit. "Ouch!" "Are you okay?" Lyssa had been off playing somewhere, but she came zooming back now. "What happened? Was it the spider?" "I'm fine. No, it wasn't a spider. I was just trying to lift this up and stabbed myself on accident." "Oooooh. You shouldn't stab yourself Kira, especially when you don't have any stormlight to heal it. Why don't you use your knife?" "Because I lost my knife. In that alley, remember?" "Nope! Why don't you use someone else's knife?" "Because I'm not with the others right now, and don't even know that they have a knife?" It was a good suggestion, though . . . maybe she should wait until she'd looked over everything here to try to figure it out. It's not like it would hurt . . . Lyssa beamed, and Kira stared at her. "Were you reading my thoughts again?" Lyssa didn't answer, just laughed and raced away. "I bet she was." Kira muttered, putting aside the copper piece and picking up the only other thing that had been in the envelope. It was a picture of a man and a woman. The man was clearly recognizable as Christopher, the man from the alley, and he was hugging the girl with a huge smile on his face. As for the unknown girl, she was smiling up at him adoringly. "They were brother and sister," Kira whispered. Then she blinked in surprise. Why had she said that? Maybe just wishful thinking, imagining what it would be like to have Issac and Summer home, but it sounded right. Brother and sister. Christopher had a sister. A sister who no longer had him. Did she know? Lost in thought, Kira accidentally dropped the picture, and it fluttered to the floor. She didn't notice immediately, and it took another "What's that?" from Lyssa to make her look down. "It's a picture. Of the man who died." "Oh." Lyssa seemed to shrink a little at the mention of Christopher, then she came around to look at the picture. "Then why are there words on it?" "What?" Kira glanced down at the picture for the first time since it dropped and realized that it had flipped upside down. There were indeed words on the back. She snatched the picture back up and began to read the word's he'd written in cramped ink upon the back. Hey, Sis. Sorry I'm not around anymore. I mean, I wasn't around much before, but even less now then I was then. Or maybe not Maybe I'm even here more now than I was before, when I was always distracted with 'important work.' I know now that the work I was doing then wasn't all that important. What should have mattered more to me was the people I knew deserved my allegiance. You. The people who helped us when we were kids. In the times I couldn't find work to support us. The ones that kept me from being sent away to the army, so I could look after you. This work - the work I was doing now - was actually important. I started it because I wanted to help the people who'd helped us so many times, but I ended up believing in it for myself. I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for not being there more. I can only hope you'll remember me fondly. Or . . . or remember me at all. If I can, I'd like to ask you to do one thing for me. Could you return the copper piece to it's owners? Tell them I’ve learned a lot from it. I always meant to, but I never had enough time. Thank you. I love you. ~Chris Kira's eyes began to blur with tears as she read. This was a man who loved his sister. Who'd worked hard and wanted to return. The last message to his sister, and he'd asked her to remember him. But how could she remember Christopher when she didn't even know what had happened to him? Those thugs had been planning to get rid of the body and make sure no one knew of Christopher. Kira's breathing quickened, and she was surrounded by an ethereal stormlight glow. No storm yet, but the promise of one. People shouldn't just vanish. Here one day, gone the next. Forgotten. Lost in time, as Summer and Alex had been. "People don't just vanish. At least, not when I'm here. I will remember those who have been forgotten." She'd said the words. There was a bright flash, and a sudden rush of stormlight. Lyssa was spinning around Kira, utterly delighted. "You said the words! Yay. Yay. Yay. Yay Yay! Did you ever notice how 'Yay' sounds like a nonsense word? Not like your words! They're the bestest words ever! Except for the next words, which are even better." Kira couldn't help but smile back. "Yes, I said the words. Now come on, let's see if the others have found anything." She stood, collecting the picture and copper piece and breathing her stormlight into the gems she carried before exiting the room. Kira walked into the room where the others were, and that was when she heard the sirens. "What's going on?" @everyone

"You swore an idea during the battle? Congrats. I'd be happy to help you figure out what you can do." Evelyn stood, and the ache in her back that had been growing steadily worse suddenly flared. She winced and sat carefully back down on the arm of the couch for a moment. "I think there's something I need to do first, though. Also, I probably wouldn't be the most help in a sparring match. I'm not very good with offensive aons or weapons."

Evelyn turned a page in the random book she'd picked up, not having read any of it. The action was mainly just to make Nym think that she was fine and reading. She stared at the page for a few more seconds, then looked up to see if Nym had noticed. Apparently she hadn't. Nym was still staring intently at her own book, and kept shifting her weight around like she wanted to move. "Look," Evelyn said, putting her book down, "Do you want to do something else? If I'm being honest, then I'm not exactly in the best frame of mind for reading. Since you're staying her, I could help you find a room for tonight if you want. Or we could train, or . . ." she shrugged, unable to think of anything else.

"It's fine." It was true. What Nym had said was fine. It was the memories that were the problem. Memories of the red light, the crackling flame, the screams- Evelyn hurriedly picked up a book and started reading. Well, a kind of reading. She only got past a couple of words before ending up staring at the page, trying hard not to think.