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Post by Alexandra Caim on Oct 31, 2017 20:51:37 GMT
History won't
It was like a nightmare. Some horrible, twisted nightmare that none of them could wake up from. But no, it was real. The exhaustion bleeding through to the redhead’s very core provided very damning evidence that, yes, this all had actually happened.
Not to mention the numerous bite marks, gashes, and other wounds that littered her body.
Somehow, someway, they had survived. And by they, Alex could only refer to a scant few others. The rest…
A scream came from the kitchen, as apparently a dog had gotten through the window to enjoy the meal of an unsuspecting civilian.
Her hand clenched the spear tightly in her grasp. They’d managed to survive, but at what cost? The sound of that scream kept echoing- an endless loop reminding her of her failure to protect the one it came from. To say the redhead was taking it hard was a gross understatement.
From Daniel’s insistence they’d moved on once the feral hounds and their leader had been disposed of. The further away they got from the center of the Downtown district, the less rioting any of them saw. Eventually, however, they needed to take a break. Fortunately at this point they had managed to get themselves out of the district and away from most of the trouble. As they did stop within one of the alleyways, Alex essentially collapsed to the ground. The wall of one of the buildings was the only thing keeping her upright at this point as she caught her breath.
That had been…harrowing. So much violence in such a little amount of time. Most of the rioters had resembled the hounds more closely than they had actual human beings. Swept up in a “protector” mode, Alex had been able to deal with it fairly well. It wasn’t until they had a moment to breath that everything was coming crashing down on the redhead.
She leaned her head back against the wall and clenched her eyes tight. Images flashed by behind her eyelids, and she had to open them. It was no use. Each moment in that hell was replaying itself as perfectly as a movie. Gods above, how many times had she been close to dying in the past few minutes? Minutes? How long had it even been since the rioting had started? It felt like an eternity, yet she could still see the sun within the sky. And off in the distance, she could still heard the outcries of those still fighting. Still dying.
This is madness.
With a shuddering sigh Alex finally let go of her spear so it rested against the wall beside her. She didn’t even realize how stained it was until she meant to reach up and get some stray hairs out of her eyes. Gods. It was about as crimson as her hair. Green eyes were wide as she froze and stared. Helpless. Shell-shocked.
What did she just do?
498 | Daniel Caim | Takes place directly after the riots ulla drag me down |
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PLAYED BY Subject D-2
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Post by Daniel Caim on Nov 2, 2017 15:22:36 GMT
“ The Righteous Side of Hell." Conflicted and struggle had been constant forces in Daniel’s life. Between hunting rogue magi, the riots, and his work as a mercenary and part-time investigator, the old wolf had seen and experienced more than his fair share of battles and skirmishes. The patchwork of old scars and burns were more than enough evidence of that.
This . . . this was something else entirely. Looking back on the day’s events was like taking a step back in time to the first Magi Riots. The sight of falling bodies with blood spilling from gapping wounds; the distant rumble of explosive ordinance and weapons fire; and the smells.
Always the smells.
The smell of burning. The smell of blood. The smell of death.
Even here—in a place far from the worst of the fighting—there was no escaping the smell. He was covered in blood, some of it his while most of it wasn’t. Scratches and bite marks peeked through tears in his clothes and the acrid scent of gunpowder seemed to follow him wherever he went. He was tired and he could see the hints of exhaustion in what remained of their group. The battle against the zero magi and their pack of feral mutts took its toll on them all and they’d lost a few people in the process. It was nothing Daniel hadn’t seen before; losses were something to be expected in situations like this one.
But Alexandra…
Daniel couldn’t imagine what she was feeling now that the danger was over. Sure, she’d performed admirably during the fight and he couldn’t have been more proud of her, but the adrenalin would be starting to wear out. After that came the realization of what had just happened, what had just been done. He could tell from a glance that the weight of her actions was beginning to settle squarely on her shoulders.
The old wolf ignored his own exhaustion and quickly went to his little girl’s side. He placed a hand firmly on Alex’s shoulder and gently shook the shell-shocked red-head.
“Lexie,” Daniel said softly. "I need ya to look at me and tell me if you're hurt."
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PLAYED BY West
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Post by Alexandra Caim on Nov 2, 2017 17:33:35 GMT
History won't
Whose was it? Hers? The hounds’? The zero magi they’d found controlling them? Someone else’s?
She had no answer, and that only made it feel even worse. Her hand began shaking- starting out with minute tremors from the sheer amount of adrenaline that she’d been pumped full of only mere minutes ago, and getting worse the longer she stared.
Another hand rested itself firmly on her shoulder and shook her. The unexpected touch was enough to snap her out of it. Wide green eyes turned away from the scarlet stains to look at Daniel with a gasp. The intake of oxygen made her realize she’d been holding her breath until then. ”Dad?” The redhead breathed, the word coming out in more of a rushed exhale than anything.
I need ya to look at me and tell me if you're hurt.
Oh. Right. That was…probably important. Still in something of a state of shock, Alex looked over herself. The cuts and injuries that were obvious to anyone looking at her now finally made themselves known to the one with them. And the blood. So much blood. Too much. Whose was it?
”I-I….Yes. I-I mean I….I-I don’t...” The redhead stammered, staring now at all the wounds. She wasn’t ok. Or she shouldn’t be. Where did she get all of these? There were bite marks and scratches that clearly came from the hounds. Yet there were other marks she had no clue about how she received them. Bruises and gashes that had either dried up or still trickled little amounts of blood. Too much. Where did all this come from? When she was leading other groups through the rioting to try and get them to safety? But surely she would have remembered getting this many injures. Yet her mind offered nothing.
Her heart was hammering now, though they were nowhere near the danger they’d previously been in. The shakiness wasn’t going away even though she should have caught her breath by now. Unconsciously one of her hands went to her father’s on her shoulder. She squeezed the appendage, clutching onto it like a drowning man would a raft in a storm. Almost painfully so given her strength, but the redhead wasn’t aware. ”Dad." Her voice came out as soft as a whisper and pleading. Desperate, but she didn’t know what for.
ulla drag me down |
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PLAYED BY Subject D-2
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Post by Daniel Caim on Nov 3, 2017 22:31:19 GMT
“ The Righteous Side of Hell." “It’s me, Lexie,” Daniel said. “I’m here.” The old wolf’s heart broke seeing his little girl so distraught. She didn’t deserve to be anything but happy and yet here she was barely able to process what happened, let alone speak. He almost envied her in a way; the first time he’d been in combat had been far less jarring and even afterwards there hadn’t been this much emotional turmoil for him. One could almost regard him as a monster in comparison.
Alex definitely wasn’t a monster.
“Lexie, you’ve gotta breathe, alright? Don’t think about anything else. Just in and out.” Gods, this was horrible; everything about this was just wrong on every level. Alexandra shouldn’t have ever been put in a situation like this. Everything he’d ever done since adopting the girl so long ago had been in pursuit of that goal: to give her a better life than he could’ve ever asked for. Yes, he’d trained her to fight, but it had only ever been a precautionary measure so she could defend herself. And yet she was her in the middle of what could only be described as a warzone, and his failure to protect her from that was unforgivable for him.
Damnit!
DAMNIT!!
Daniel grimaced at the strength behind the vice gripping his hand. He holstered Black Hammer for what seemed like the first time that day and wrapped his little girl in a tight hug, heedless of any stares he might’ve drawn. “It’s alright, baby girl. Your big bad wolf is here and he ain’t goin’ anywhere, ya hear?” Daniel hadn’t spoken to Lexie like this in a long time; not since . . . gods, how long had it been? |
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PLAYED BY West
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Post by Alexandra Caim on Nov 5, 2017 5:31:30 GMT
History won't
Breathe.
In. And out.
She was doing her best to listen to that advice. In and out. Subconsciously she did so; making sure she kept breathing. But the shock had already started to settle in. The dawning horror that came with the realization of one’s own actions. Try as hard as she might, the images were replaying in her head as clearly as a movie. Only she wasn’t in control of the remote.
Then there was warmth. Not the slick and liquid kind like what stained nearly every portion of her. The solid, tight feeling of the embrace gave Alex something to- quite literally -hold onto. And hold on she did.
Alex threw her arms around her father in return. Her grip was just as tight, if not tighter, than Daniel’s own. As though he was the only thing keeping her grounded there for the moment. It didn’t matter what others might have thought because the redhead didn’t even register anything else for the moment. Instead she buried her face into her father’s shoulder and held on: practically clutching at him to keep him there.
The shakiness had gotten worse. What had once been minute shivers had evolved into full body quivering. Almost like she was freezing despite the warm body holding her. Now and then there were spikes to the shivering; little jolts of the redhead’s body. A wetness began to seep outwards on the spot Alex had buried her face into. A few hiccups and sobs, muffled yet there, managed to escape the girl despite herself.
Your big bad wolf is here and he ain’t goin’ anywhere, ya hear?
Oh, how desperately she needed to hear that.
She stayed this way for a while. She didn’t want to but right then and there she felt so…Vulnerable. Helpless. Shaken. The redhead rarely ever let her bad emotions show, if she could help it. But the events she just went through didn’t exactly allow her much time to react to it and cover it up.
Alex had killed today. Perhaps even worse than that: she’d failed to prevent others from being killed.
A scream came from the kitchen, as apparently a dog had gotten through the window.
For a moment her grip on Daniel got even tighter. Fear shot through her; an irrational dread that suddenly her father would be gone too. As the seconds passed and the form she held didn’t go limp or vanish from her arms, the redhead relaxed slightly. However, the memory wasn’t going anywhere.
”I-I f-failed them, dad.” The words, already said softly, were muffled further by the shirt. Alex shook her head, not pulling her face away from where it was currently buried. ”I c-couldn’t h-h-help them. It’s my fault. It’s m-my fault.” She brokenly sobbed, voicing her grief into Daniel’s shoulder.
ulla drag me down |
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PLAYED BY Subject D-2
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Post by Daniel Caim on Nov 9, 2017 19:02:46 GMT
“ The Righteous Side of Hell." There wasn’t anything Daniel could think to say as Alex threw her arms around him and wept into his shoulder. He set his face into a blank mask while she cried and gently petted her head. The way she shook was heartbreaking to the old wolf and the worst thing was that he felt so . . . helpless to stop it. Still, he held on; it was the only option left to him at this point. Daniel narrowed his eyes at his little girl’s expression of her guilt. She blamed herself for the deaths of those civilians in the kitchen. She blamed herself for not being able to save them from their unfortunate fate. He could understand the sentiment because it was one that he was forced to come to peace with multiple times in his career as both a hunter and as a mercenary. People died and sometimes there wasn’t anything you could do to stop it. It was something that every warrior needed to accept any time they entered a combat situation. The boy’s head parted ways with his shoulders amid the frightened shrieks of a girl robbed of protection. She tried to run, but Daniel’s boot found her leg and the crunch of snapping bones echoed. The hunter pressed his knee into her back, deaf to her crying. His hand rose and fell and again the wall was coated red.
The old wolf shook his head—both to free himself of the memory and to assure Alex that she was wrong. “Ya did everything ya could, Lexie,” Daniel said. “Ya can’t always protect everyone all the time and a lot more folks would’ve died without you. Try ta remember that, alright? It’s what your old man has ta do all the time.” It was hard to sleep some nights even when he did. |
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PLAYED BY OOC NAME
PLAYED BY West
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Post by Alexandra Caim on Nov 15, 2017 1:47:14 GMT
History won't
For a while all she could do was hold on. It was as though all the other functions in her body simply stopped. Every ounce of training; every speck of previous bravery; every pinch of adrenaline fueled action. All of it was gone. Right then and right there Alex’s world narrowed down to the man she was currently clinging to and the images viciously replaying themselves in her head.
Whose was it?
Daniel was making sense, of course. She couldn’t protect everyone. How could she ever do something like that? It was a foolish, practically vain thought for her to have. She knew that. Alex knew that. Yet even so…A moment passed where she gripped him even tighter, teeth clenched in frustration. But I could try. It went through her mind repeating over and over. I could try harder. Get stronger. Be better. Do better. It had been the first time she’d ever gone into something like this, and her ill-preparedness had shone. Lost lives. Alex wouldn’t let it happen again. She’d damn near try her hardest to make sure of that. Maybe she couldn’t say everyone, but hell would freeze over before the girl didn’t at least give it a shot. ”….I-I know I…..I j-just…..I-I can’t help b-but think I-I could’ve….that I could’ve done…..” Better. Something. Anything.
Yet thinking about that brought up something else she only just now realized as the fighting was over and she had a moment to breath.
Whose was it?
Half of the people she’d mowed down in her retreat, she hadn’t checked on to see what she’d done. They’d been focused on getting out of there. Keep moving. Stay away from the worst parts of the rioting. But it was no secret the girl was exceptionally strong, and far better trained than most of the rioters that had attacked them. She knew just where to hit. And that applying the right enough amount of pressure could be all it took. With the zero magi behind the dogs, there wasn’t even uncertainty involved.
A sound of abrupt pain got ripped from her lips. Muffled, perhaps, but very much obvious. My back. Horrific pressure was suddenly making every nerve and axon scream in agony near her shoulder blades. Where was this coming from?! Her mind pulled up a blank in the face of the horrendous sensation. It felt like something was literally trying to claw its way out of her skin. Coupled with her dawning horror on what else she might have done, the emotional and physical agony left her beyond terrified. It felt like she could barely even breath. ”D-“ She tried, but the word cut off as soon as it formed, replaced with a low whine of hurt as whatever was causing this felt like it shifted below the surface- bringing about another terrible surge from overstimulated pain receptors. The embrace she had with her father became even more desperate- more clinging as though that might take away whatever this pain was.
ulla drag me down |
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PLAYED BY Subject D-2
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Post by Daniel Caim on Nov 17, 2017 3:42:20 GMT
“ The Righteous Side of Hell." Daniel could tell that his advice wasn’t having the effect he intended. Alex was still blaming herself for the people that died today, and probably the ones she personally killed or maimed. After all, he’d not train her to be gentle when she struck; he trained her to strike for the vitals, to defeat her enemies so completely and thoroughly that they couldn’t possibly be a threat to her again. However, training for a fight to the death and actually putting that training into effect were different matters entirely. The pained noise he heard from Lexie set his heart to racing faster than anything in this world possibly could. He pulled himself from the embrace and looked at her with wide eyes. Something was causing her pain and he couldn’t see what was causing it. The beginnings of panic started to set in alongside that realization. What the hell was he supposed to do here!?! The old wolf couldn’t stop his hand from rising into positions before striking Alex across the face. “Look at me, Alexandra,” Daniel shouted. “I ain’t gonna let you do this ta yourself.” Gods, how long had it been since he used her full name? Years easily. The last time he’d done so was likely when she’d burned herself cooking one day. And his face… it was locked in almost the exact same expression he’d worn. Anger, concern, and fear all blended into one as he gripped her arms. “If ya do that…” His grip tightened. “…if ya do that you’ll never forgive yourself. It'll just tear you up inside.”
Two bodies hidden in the rubble. Hair red as rage mingling with pools of crimson blood. A small child, scared and alone. A scarred young man with a smoking gun in his hand.
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PLAYED BY West
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Post by Alexandra Caim on Nov 17, 2017 4:40:46 GMT
History won't
Slap!
A new stinging sensation suddenly whipped Alex’s head to the side. Green eyes went wide. The sheer agony of whatever was happening to her back seemed to flinch itself from the abrupt strike.
Look at me, Alexandra.
Her gaze shifted over towards the one who’d hit her. Newly stunned, but recognition was swiftly returning to the expression. Dad. And he looked so concerned. So angry. So…scared. It was such a startling expression to see on her father. One rarely given witness to but for a handful of times. It quickly brought Alex back down to reality.
She was starting to scare her own father with what was happening. True her revelations had taken their toll on her, and still were, but now she was starting to see it wasn’t only her.
She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t fall apart. Not here, not now. What had transpired affixed a dark and heavy weight to her mind and heart, but it was to be dealt with at another time. A time when she was alone, so that she wouldn’t have to see an expression like that. To cause an expression like that.
Green eyes closed. The fearful, panicked look to the redhead’s face faded as it hardened. Her jaw clenched. A hand went to her face to briefly cover it and rub the side of it. As though she could massage away the emotion to it. One side still stung smartly, and a trickle of renewed red dampened her hand as it passed the reddened cheek. Inhale. Exhale. The pain in her back slowly subsided to a dull throbbing ache as her heart rate decreased.
When Alex opened her eyes again, her expression had returned to the neutral face she’d worn through the fighting. Mask put in place. Stone wall up once more. Her gaze returned to Daniel and she managed to flash him a small smile. There was no warmth in the expression, just gathered reassurance.
”Y-You’re right I…Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.” The girl said quietly. ”I….Know I couldn’t have saved them but I just…wish I could, still. But you’re right I shouldn’t…” She paused for a moment, looking away as she breathed in deep. Inhale.
A scream came from the kitchen, as apparently a dog had gotten through the window to enjoy the meal of an unsuspecting civilian.
Exhale. ”I shouldn’t tear myself up over it. Only do better next time.” As some strange, niggling feeling in the back of her head told her. Next time? Gods forbid a next time should ever happen. And yet…there was something in her very soul that left that feeling as a fact rather than a thought.
”We should probably move on soon, right?” The redhead asked, feeling some strength gradually return to her from her brief rest. Her protector mindset had been reset. ”I do want to check on who we have.” Left. The word soundlessly followed the sentence, haunting her still. ”We’re both trained for something like this, especially you. But the others…” Alex looked around them at the civilians they’d managed to bring along. Were they ok? That was more important. They’d gone through hell, after all.
ulla drag me down |
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