Roleplay

Aysin cried out as the fire starting to spread, stepping away and trying to stamp it out unsuccessfully, eventually tearing off his outer cloak not to be burned alive. Athus took several steps back, surprise showing behind his eyes before amusement lit up there. He looked across at Hythen, who was trying hard to hide his smile and stifle the laughter. Aysin cursed them. "I swear I'll kill you and your f**, Athus, if it's the last thing I do." He turned and marched back to his horse, his clothes still smouldering, but it stepped to the side at the smell of smoke and he lost his balance and fell onto his face.

Athus started to laugh, and then he couldn't stop. He looked across at Hythen, whose amusement lit up his expression. "Screw money," Athus was talking through his laughter, not trying to stifle it anymore. "I'm happy with you and a show like that."

"Don't let him get to you," Hythen said warmly as he managed to stop laughing long enough to talk. "What's a university education anyway? Pay thousands to read the same books you can at home."

Athus managed to calm himself down and straighten up a little, still smiling. "Why do people like that always get everything given to them?"

"You can bet your a** his money got him where he is, not his brains."

"'Had to make do'. Look at him, nobody in their right mind would care to go within ten metres of the man."

They were enjoying themselves, the escapade having brightened the mood considerably. They were likely to question how the fire had happened, but for now, they were just enjoying its aftermath. Hythen looked up as June addressed them, warmth in his expression. "We should speak to Garn before he can get up off his face. Unless you want to go back to rest," he gave them the option a little worriedly, as though uncertain whether he'd bothered them with the proposal.

Tem leaned into June, grinning. "That was much better than a punch," she leaned in and kissed June fully, right in front of everyone, as though defying the venom spat at the married couple by Aysin.

He stood up again, glad to see the kid was still alive. They die so easily sometimes. He got up, and faced June. Right after Thalia give her name, he said, "I suppose I haven't introduced myself either. I'm Raphael." He doesn't like giving more than that often. As he left those two for their conversation, he leaned against a nearby wall, his mind zoning into his thoughts and out of the reality world.

Then the word of the villages perishing startled him, and he looked up. He swore under his breath, those clans are just destroying their own name, branding themselves as monsters. As he followed the others to the room, he nudged Thalia, who was on the sofa. "Well, you coming?" , and went into the room, looking to see if she followed him.

As he listened to the situation, the conflict seemed more serious than he thought. The old dwarf he met earlier, they were saying he was in charge. He sighed. That creature doesn't even care about attacking or defending, thinking Colsar will always be safe. The others seems to look at Athus and Aysin with interesting looks. He wondered what they did in the future. All of a sudden, Tem punched Aysin, who was being a b***sh** to Hythen and Athus. But a better way to say, she set him on fire. He looked at Aysin amused, it was quite a sight. Then again, the bas**** did deserve it. He tried to stifle a laugh, but ultimately failed. A wild laugh it was, but he eventually regained his posture again.

The Whisper chuckled. "I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty much the king of card games over here. Even though I've only been alive for a day or so." Thalia raised an eyebrow at the Whisper. "I seriously doubt that," she countered teasingly. The Whisper snapped its fingers. "Alrighty then, the moment we get our hands on some cards, you and I will settle the score," it replied, grinning. They both turned their attention back to June when she began the ultimately short meeting.

They heard her plan and nodded. Call smiled a little, having heard the last part of what June said. At least he finally had a use of some kind to the team, other than just being another body to carry around like it used to be. He remembered when they all went to Visage, with him barely able to move, due to a broken rib. It seemed that he had a new weak spot, which was his ribs. He seriously hoping none of his future enemies find out about that. He didn't want them to know about his Mark, either, but that thought was wiped the second it came.

They all looked at Hythen as he came in, saying that there was news from the main regiment. Call's heart nearly stopped beating in his chest. Torvald led the main regiment, didn't he? He really didn't want to see his face again, but the group had to go. He moved to get up, but his spinning head forced him back down. He grit his teeth, hissing. He felt so useless right now, despite knowing he had a use in the group by bonding with Athus. He watched as Raphael approached Thalia, nudging her. He couldn't help but smile. It seemed as though Thalia had a friend. She definitely needed one should Call suddenly be separated from the group again.

Raphael looked like he needed a friend, too.

Thalia looked up at Raph as he nudged her, asking her if she was coming as well. She smiled up at him and nodded, pushing herself up. Before Callum could even try to get off of the sofa again, she stopped him, holding a hand out in front of him. "Uh-uh," she chided, shaking her head. "You need to rest. You're in no condition to do a lot of walking, not after a fall like that." Callum looked at her as if to protest, but he didn't say anything. He just sighed and let his head hit the sofa again; he had lifted it earlier when he attempted to stand. The Whisper glanced at him as well. "She has a point, kiddo," it agreed.

"Let's go see what this is about," Thalia said, sparing Callum one last glance and offering a reassuring smile before following Raph out the door and to where the rest of the group was going. As the Whisper slowly floated out of the house, it stopped when it got to Lucine, who was still there. It looked at her, then back at Call. "He needs to rest," it told her. "I treated his bruises, though I will have to apply a warm compress to them later. He really wants to see you... he had quite the nightmare."

With that, it left the house, leaving Lucine to either take care of Call or follow the rest of the group to wherever this news was being delivered. It knew of the nightmare he had; after all, they were connected. It didn't experience the nightmare, but it knew... and it wasn't pleasant, not in the least bit. It remembered him telling it about what he had learned, about the Clans, about how they lynched mages out of superstition, at least, the human ones. It hissed under its breath. If any of those Clans even thought about touching Call, they had another thing coming. It would come for them and rip all of their heads off.

It shook its head as it floated after the group, ending up in the square. It looked at Thalia, who was standing near Raph, looking a bit concerned. It could tell she hadn't wanted to leave Call back at the house, but all the same, he needed to rest. It couldn't help but glare at the man on the horse, who was Aysin, to its knowledge. It growled immediately when a proposal was announced to sell the city to Torvald's army. Thalia grit her teeth, feeling the same thing everyone else in the group was most likely feeling; anger. No way were they going to give up the city, no way, no how. If Call were present, he would've felt a more intense hatred, considering he knew who Torvald actually was in this time period.

The Whisper remained silent as Aysin proceeded to be a b**ch to Athus and Hythen, followed by Aysin suddenly being set on fire. It couldn't hold anything back, it couldn't stifle its laughter. It cackled, floating a few inches above the ground, clutching its stomach as it laughed, its head hung back and eye closed. Its laughter blended with June's drawn out laughter, making sure to insult that a**hole as much as possible. Even though he had threatened Athus and Hythen, it was still laughing. It could hear Thalia chuckling a little, amused by the sight. The Whisper found it even more hilarious... because it knew who had summoned the flame.

Good one, June... good one.

"That was hilarious," Thalia commented in between giggles, unable to stop herself from laughing hard after Raph failed to do so as well, laughing along with him. "That a**hole deserved it," the Whisper added on, opening its eye and looking at Athus and Hythen. It floated a little closer to them, summoned its cane and twirling it. "I hope none of you mind if I just go ahead and call him A**in," it added, cackling again. "Get it? Because he's a TOTAL A**HOLE!" It continued laughing, thinking it wasn't going to be breathing for long if it continued, yet it continued nonetheless. "My goodness, if I-" Another laugh. "-don't stop laughing-" Yet another laugh. "-I'm gonna die of a heart attack," it managed to finish, taking deep breaths. "Phew... that was a riot. I enjoyed that thoroughly. Especially when he fell on his face. B*stard should think before he speaks."

It paused as Athus made a remark of how no one in their right mind would go ten meters of Aysin. It laughed. "Well, I guess I'm not in my right mind, 'cause I want to get up close and personal with that dumba**," it remarked with a bit of a dark tone. "Especially if he decides to touch anyone in my squad or try to take this city by force. I'll show him a thing or two. Or three. Or a million. I bet he'd like a million." It knew Call had never personally met Aysin, but if they did happen to meet, and Aysin laid a hand on him...

That man was going to die.

It would make sure of that.

---

Call watched as most of the group left the house. The moment he saw Lucine, he wanted to get up and run to her. He sat up in the sofa, immediately feeling as though a hammer was striking his head repeatedly. "D**n, that hurts," he muttered under his breath. He had to go and be a klutz, didn't he? He sighed and looked at Lucine again, his orange eye closed, while the grey one remained open. He slowly lowered himself back down on the sofa, trying to allow himself to relax. "Hey Lucine," he greeted quietly, turning his head to look at her. He smiled, despite him having painful bruises. He would be fine; he remembering being worse off multiple times before.

"Wonder what's going on out there..." he said out loud, talking to himself as well as Lucine. He hoped it wasn't anything too bad. He hoped everything and everyone was okay.

Athus saw Tem kiss June before looking away for decency, blushing a little. He wished he had to courage to do that sort of thing with Hythen, but he would keep his personal life behind closed doors; Aysin explained why pretty clearly. The attack on his education had stung. Athus had always wanted to aspire towards university, but he had never had the money or the chance; wars followed the Disaster and he had needed to spare every coin he earned firstly towards his family's land and then towards Hythen and himself, once they were gone.

He did his best with tattered old books, journals, that sort of thing. But soon enough they would have to start selling them, if they didn't want to become homeless. They had rent to pay, and the prices of food were too steep to balance out both. Even if they weren't, and these were functioning times, he could barely support both of them on his wages. And now, while the war was on, half the army wasn't even receiving the paycheck - of course, they had their excuses, 'lost in the post', 'trade routes hijacked', all that sort of thing, but the real reason was Torvald was too busy scrapping in the north to bother about regiments other than his own.

He knew a university education wasn't vital, but it still stung.

He listened to the Whisper thoughtfully. He didn't know what it was, but he wanted to find out. It was fascinating, especially in its appearance, and the connection it seemed to share with Call. Perhaps it had something to do with the brand. He wouldn't push the boy. It might contain bad memories for him, and the last thing Athus wanted to do was distress him.

Hythen listened to the conversation, sobering up from his laughter a little. He sighed. "Aysin is a Captain to Torvald. He thinks he's above anyone and everyone, and Torvald does nothing to reign him in. He was born with money and connections. That just happens for some people."

"I'll bet he'll demand twice his share of a month's rations for one night," Athus said bitterly. "And they'll give it to him, because he's their connection to the army, and the army's the only thing between these walls and the clans. Did you hear him? Talking about the dwarves as though even just one of them isn't ten times the man he is."

"Can you imagine if I wasn't human? He already thinks we're the scum of the earth."

"If you want to be, go for it. I'd love to rub it in his smug face."

Hythen laughed, a little bitterly. "I hate the world sometimes. The scum rises to the top. I suppose that's the way of it."

"Then we should be glad we're not at the top with them," Athus glanced at him, affection in his eyes. "We're poor as s*** but at least we have decent company."

Hythen smiled a little at that. "Speaking of company, you're welcome to stay as long as you need to," he spoke to the group in general. After the Aysin incident, something seemed to have changed in Athus' attitude to June; he was much warmer than he had been, and was almost acting like she was just one of the group. "I'll register you as staying with us so we can get rations for you," Hythen continued, "otherwise you'll be short of food, I'm afraid. Well, we are already, but even more short, I mean."

"Do you ever wonder what it must be like inside Torvald's mind? What does someone get out of that kind of vindictiveness? Is power all he really cares about? It must be a lonely life."

"I suppose people sink to those kinds of levels when they've got nothing else," Hythen mused.

"You think we would? Say, if I didn't come home from the war..."

"No." Hythen said firmly. "I think you'd have to be evil. Truly evil, to take it out in genocide, or even just murder."

Athus nodded quietly, thinking it over. It was a heavy question, when it was considered. He hoped he would always come home.

Lucine was already halfway down the steps by the time the Whisper passed her, floating along. She hiked up her long skirt so she would have the ability to walk a little faster, and followed the floating entity out the door, ready to make it to Athus’ house. Her mind was running rampant, hoping that Callum would be okay. That was all she needed. She just needed him to be okay.

Lucine saw Athus’ house, with the others standing around out front. The majority of them were there, sans June and Tem, who were probably inside. They were the leaders of the group after all, so it made sense they were inside. Callum wasn’t with them, obviously, he must have passed out inside or already She sighed and walked up to the group, before pushing past them all in order to get inside faster.

Her attention immediately turned to Athus, who was carrying Callum into the living room. Callum was limp, and even from where Lucine was standing she could see the bruise on his forehead. She inhaled sharply- Callum must have hit his head hard. She wondered what had caused him to faint- it was probably another nightmare. She was about to rush towards him, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around, looking to who had pulled her aside. It was the werewolf from earlier, towering over the short girl and smelling of alcohol. Lucine looked up at her, worry and fear in her tired yellow eyes. The woman looked solemn, holding Raven and taking a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak.

“I need to talk to you.” Lucine heard her say. She whipped her head back to Callum, where everyone had started to crowd around him. She wanted to go to his side and be the one to fuss over him, but she sighed and looked back to Felicity, giving her a small nod. The werewolf led her to the side, putting Raven down.

“Do you know Callidora?” Felicity asked. Lucine froze, and then gave a small nod, looking up at Felicity with even more concern. There was no way that necklace wasn’t her sister’s now, and Callidora would never give it to anyone. Something must have happened.

“She happens to be my sister,” Lucine replied, tilting her head slightly and once again looking back to where Callum was. She inhaled sharply and looked back at Felicity, who now looked like she was about to cry. The next thing she knew, the werewolf had flung her arms around Lucine, telling her she was sorry. Lucine stiffened.

“What are you sorry for?” Lucine asked, cautious as the werewolf drew back. Felicity wiped her eyes and sighed, looking down at the girl.

“My name’s Felicity, Felicity Harris.” She told Lucine. Lucine was only slightly annoyed- Callum was lying on the couch half-conscious and she was about to hear the life story of a werewolf. However, the next line Felicity spoke make Lucine freeze up again.

“I am- was- Callidora’s girlfriend. Kinda. Nothing was like really official but we had a child together and-”

“You had a what the wh- What do you mean was, miss?” Lucine was now curious and concerned. Callidora had a girlfriend? A child? This didn’t really seem right. Of course, Lucine had no idea what she had been up to in the years they didn’t see each other. For all she knew, Callidora could have done a number of things.

“Yea, the thing about that is… she’s….”

“She’s what? What is she?” Lucine asked, beginning to become impatient. She didn’t know why she cared so much about what had happened to Callidora, but she cared more at the moment about Callum. Usually she had more patience than this. Maybe it was because Felicity was a werewolf.

“Dead.”

The world stopped. Frozen. The word, the single word entered Lucine’s brain through the combined force of both her ears, and nestled itself right at the center, practically screaming. Callidora. Dead. Lucine’s hand went to her mouth, as she inhaled a sharp amount of air, as though she would stop breathing at any moment.

That was impossible. Callidora wasn’t dead. Callidora couldn’t die. She was the most immortal person Lucine knew. Nothing could kill her. Callidora had probably walked right up to death and killed it before. She began to shake her head.

“No..” Lucine stated, trying not to shout, “No, that’s not true. It can’t be. That just happens to be impossible.”

“I’m sorry, kiddo..” Felicity said, reaching out to place a hand on Lucine’s shoulder. The girl was shaking madly, fighting back a sob. Felicity felt odd- she knew that the sisters hated each other, yet Lucine was here with tears in her eyes. Felicity gripped the young girl’s shoulder.

The tears started spilling, and Lucine couldn’t stop them. She had to get to Callum, she had to make sure he was okay. She had to make sure the only person she had left wasn’t about to leave her too. The world was still stopped, it felt like nothing was happening but her being here talking to Felicity. The werewolf drew back, looking at the others.

“I’m supposed t’go talk about savin tha future.” She said to Lucine, the girl nodding with her teary eyes. She wiped them quickly on her sleeve, though it was very obvious she had been crying. She felt like collapsing, but she had to stand and be strong. For Callum, she would.

“Come talk t’me later.” Felicity told her, and Lucine nodded again, seeing Felicity flash a small little smile “I’ll tell ya all abou’cher niece.”

The werewolf left her standing there, and the loneliness set in as soon as someone was no longer near. She felt herself back up against the wall, her hand still on her mouth. She didn’t notice which direction Felicity went. Taking a deep, shaky breath in an attempt to calm herself, she attempted to make it look like she hadn’t been crying, however that was hard to achieve. She sighed and entered the room where the others were, hanging back a little so as not to barge in. They were all talking about something, but she wasn’t listening.

She looked up when the Whisper came up to her, wiping her eyes again. She listened to the status update, giving a small nod. He had a pretty nasty nightmare again- Lucine sighed. She wished she could just make all his nightmares go away, but she doubted that. As the others left the room, she approached the couch quickly, kneeling next to Callum and giving him her weakest smile yet. She wouldn’t tell him what happened- right now making sure he was okay was more important.

As soon as she saw him, the bruise on his head, and heard him mutter how it hurted, the tears started again. She couldn’t stop them, and she cursed herself for being a crybaby, whispering “Sh** sh** sh**” under her breath. She would collect herself.

She wiped her eyes again, sighing and looking down at Callum, touching one of his hands. “Hello,” She said, trying to keep her voice calm. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him close, but that might disturb him. Besides, he had just had a nightmare and fainted, and Lucine was making everything about her. She sighed.

“Are you alright? I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.. I’m so sorry.. I’m-” Her voice cracked again. Why was she being like this. This was absolutely pathetic. She took another deep breath.

“I heard you had a nightmare-” She continued, trying to keep her voice calm, “I’m so sorry… god***it Callum, I’m so sorry” It was hard to keep composure, even though she desperately wanted to. She felt like she was going to choke.

She took another deep breath, and sighed, stopping herself before she apologized again. She managed to regain her composure and looked down, feeling insanely embarrassed. She then looked up and at the bruise on Callum’s forehead.

“That looks like it hurts quite a bit, love.. How did you manage that? Did someone hurt you? I’m so-” She stopped herself before she apologized again, “I’m here now. I’m right here.”

---

Felicity looked at the girl sadly as she watched her reaction to the bombshell dropped. She didn’t want to tell her, not in the current situation, but the girl had a right to know asap. She felt bad though, especially since Lucine was Callidora’s sister. Even though they had been anything but close, Lucine still seemed insanely upset by the news. Felicity didn’t really expect this reaction, and therefore was a bit confused on what to do.

She decided to leave the girl alone for a moment- she had to join up with the others anyway. Joining the group, she listened to them talk about the boy, whipping her head around when Hythen entered. There they go- off to figure something else out. She filed out of the house with the rest of the group, giving Lucine a sad look as she went. She felt attached to the girl now. This kid was, in a way, her own family. Felicity would keep her safe.

She followed the rest of the group, joining the crowd, where Aysin sat upon his horse, giving his little speech about war affairs. Felicity listened curiously, maybe it would give some info about when exactly they were.

She was, however, pretty soon distracted by how much of an a**hole this guy was, coming from a gal who hung around pirates and murders. She wanted to go at this throat- why the h*** did he think it was okay to say s***? She shook her head, balling up her fist. She would step in if she had to.

Her eyes, however, widened when she saw Aysin had been lit on fire. She tried to keep herself from laughing, but she couldn’t. The jerk deserved it. She punched the air, continuing to laugh. Her laughter did die, though, and she looked around at those in the group.

She was a bit worried for all of them. Whatever they were back here to do, wasn’t going to be easy.

Call could immediately see that there was something wrong with Lucine. She looked as though she had just finished crying, and even now, she was trying to keep her composure. He was concerned about her, and he was unable to hide that concern. It swam in his eyes, able to be seen clearly. He could see her weak smile, as well as the tears brimming in her eyes. It made his chest feel like it was twisting and wrenching. He wanted to know what was wrong.

He gripped her hand as she touched his, greeting him in response to his greeting. He could hear her muttering curses under her breath. He knew how concerned she was about him. She probably blamed herself; they had split up so that Lucine could take care of his younger self, after all. But he was eternally grateful for that, either way. He wondered if his memories would rewrite themselves to where he met his girlfriend when he was three. His mind would make it to where she hadn't aged one bit by the time he reached the age of seventeen.

Okay, stop thinking about that... comfort Lucine, you helpless boy.

He kept himself from flinching at the thought belonging to him, not the Whisper. The Whisper was with the rest of the group, who were somewhere else at the moment. Right now, it was just him and Lucine... well, Raven too. The pup barreled over to them and hopped up on the sofa, settling on top of Call's chest and looking at him with big eyes. He ruffled her head, scratching her behind her ears, just as she always liked. She yapped happily, wagging her tail before hopping off of him and exploring around the otherwise empty house, leaving him and Lucine with each other.

She was apologizing, over and over, thinking his injuries were her fault. He was the one who fell down the stairs... he probably would've fallen down either way, regardless of whether or not Lucine was there. He had been tired, not to mention, a bit frightened. He was still shaken up by his nightmare, prompting him to wonder if it was more than a nightmare. He quickly erased the thought, trying not to think about it anymore. That wouldn't happen, it couldn't happen. Lucine would be there for him, and he would be there for her. He was sure of that.

He nodded as she mentioned having heard of his nightmare, though, he wasn't sure if the Whisper told her what the nightmare was about. He wanted to be the one to tell her. He wasn't too keen on keeping secrets from his one and only love. He decided to try and sit up, now that Lucine was here. He tried to push himself up, only to loosen his muscles and remain in a lying down position. He took a deep breath and looked over at Lucine. Even though he was only able to see out of one eye, he could still study her beautiful yellow eyes perfectly. Those eyes would always be a relief to see... he would forever love those eyes.

"Love..." he murmured, stroking her hand. "Nobody hurt me... I'll be okay. A couple bruises aren't as bad as... well, a molten metal wound." She was looking at his bruise. He wondered how bad it actually looked. He was relieved to just be seeing her again, right here, next to the sofa he was lying on. He shifted and craned his neck to kiss her, hoping it would help. It was helping him right now. He was sure it would help Lucine. When he pulled back, his eyes returned to hers, looking deep into the yellow orbs.

"Lucine... is there something wrong?" he asked softly, continuing to stroke her hand comfortingly. "...Look... you don't... you don't have to tell me what's wrong... but either way, I'll be here for you. I love you."

---

The Whisper listened as Athus and Hythen talked s**t about Aysin, laughing a bit every once and a while. It enjoyed indulging in that very thing. That would be its new hobby; making fun of A**in the a**hole. It looked at them as the group was welcomed to stay with the two. "Ah, that would be lovely," it told them, grinning. "Thank you both."

"Though, you don't need to get rations for me," it added quickly. "I'm a being that doesn't have to eat or drink anything to survive, so I'm all good. That's one less person you have to feed, eh?"

He laughed some more as Athus and Hythen continued to talk. Raphael must admit, that face fall was just hilarious as f***. When the two welcomed them all to stay and Whisper finished, he added on, "Don't worry about me, no need to get rations for me." He'll improvise on that part. At least he can withstand the hunger for up to a week. Still, he'll have to figure out a way at one point .. . He pushed them away. Focus on the present. "Now that's two less people to feed."

If that Aysin come back again, he swear he'll beat the s*** out of that bas****. talking about such things as if being human makes him a higher being. He would've kicked in the a** if he wasn't set on fire first.