[Flashback] Abandoned (Solo)

[Cailet]

Timestamp: Immediately following There is no place like Home, Late Summer 497 AV Place: Lhavit “We are going to leave the cart here. Grab the important stuff.” And again the girl was left alone with the horse and the cart as her mother and the man disappeared through the gates into Lhavit. To be left behind was her life. “I guess you’re staying too, Wisp. Make sure no one takes our stuff, and try not to bite anyone.” They had been accepted into the city as visitors, though Cailet didn’t know how long they were going to be staying for. Gathering her meager possessions, as well as her mother’s valuables, Cailet set off through the gates and into the shining city. It was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen in her entire life. In fact, the little girl was shocked into complete inaction, standing there in the gateway with her brown eyes big and wide, her mouth hanging agape. Her reaction was not uncommon, as the travelers had finally come upon the city at twilight, when Lhavit was just getting ready to shine. Since the people of Lhavit catered to a schedule different than the rest of the world, travelers arriving at dusk or later were not met with dark, empty streets. Quite the opposite, actually. But to a child of seven faced with a wildly different atmosphere, it was hard to concentrate. Jostled and shunted to the side as she simply stopped in her tracks and stared, Cailet hardly noticed anything that was going on around her; she was much too focused on the skyglass buildings that suddenly surrounded her. The city was almost otherworldly in appearance and Cailet had to tilt her head back as she tried to glimpse the top of the nearest building. Its peak sat nestled far above among the stars that caused its very walls to glow. “Move aside, little one!” The harsh cry spooked Cailet, who had lost herself among the skyglass spires. Forgetting all about her mother and the man as well as the bags she carried for them, Cailet let herself get swept away with the crowd that flowed towards the Surya Plaza. It was only then, as she was bumped around and nearly trampled multiple times, that the little girl realized that she had never seen a city so alive at night. Not only did the building sparkle, but their people seemed to have an unnatural amount of energy. More quickly than she could have thought, the crowd merged with the one already milling around the plaza, perusing shops and socializing. Deciding that it was time to find out where exactly she was and where she could find her mother, Cailet spotted a man not too far away, walking towards her. “Excuse me, where-” But the man she was trying to address kept on walking, apparently not having heard her. So she tried again, cautiously approaching a woman who stood outside one of the shops. “Hi, can you..” “Dear, where are your parents? You better go find them, you’re too young to be off alone.” But I’m always alone Cailet started to say, going so far as to open her mouth for a reply, but the woman had already turned away. Amanda stirred in the back of her mind, working into the girls consciousness as if to remind her that she was not alone… ever. She gave her attempts at communication a few more shots, but found herself ignored by most of the adults. Perhaps that was where she was going wrong. Although she had experienced more in her short years than normal children, Cailet was just that in the eyes of these strangers: a child. Perhaps she had to try another tactic, and ask someone her own age where she was. Moving from shop to shop and keeping her eye out for not only other children but also her mother and/or man, Cailet soon found herself lingering at almost every window, gazing longingly at the beautiful things for sale. Of course, she couldn’t afford any of it but she soon found herself wishing she could. With the lifestyle that she had, Cailet had little time or need to fantasize about material things. Her mother would never buy her something frivolous or any kind of toys. “Children should be able to amuse themselves” Florena always said whenever Cailet had asked for something. Despite a life of hard knocks and living with the bare minimum, Cailet found this disregard for material things quickly evaporating. She wanted something to call her own, and any of these pretty things in the shop could be it. Midnight was fast approaching, and distracted by all the plaza had to offer, Cailet hadn’t even begun her search for her mother. As the crowds slowly thinned as people disappeared for their midnight rest, the girl was left wandering around the empty plaza, even more lost than before… and starting to panic.

[Cailet]

The laden packs that hung from both her shoulders began to weigh more with each step as Cailet trudged through the unfamiliar streets. It was well into the rest hour now, and she was alone. Unaware of Lhavit’s weird time schedule, Cailet didn’t know that there was only less than a bell before the streets would fill again; to her, everyone had gone to sleep. And she was still panicking. “She’s going to kill me! She’s going to kill me” She muttered to herself as she dashed up and down the glittering streets. The little girl’s breath was coming in labored pants, her face flushed and her back stooped with the weight of her bags. She looked like a tiny, elderly woman shuffling along. “I have to find her… help me find her!” For the first couple months that Cailet realized she was not alone in her own mind, she shunned the very thought of Amanda, ignoring her presence completely. Though the mysterious little girl was nothing more than a voice in her head, Cailet refused her numerous attempts to talk or provide advice. Either discouraged or just biding her time, Amanda had been quiet for weeks. But now, here alone with no one else to turn too, Cailet actively sought her constant haunter. Silence rang heavy in her ears. ”Help me!” She hissed again under her breath, angry tears standing in her eyes. “Amanda! HEL-“ “Well well, what do we have here?” “A scrawny brat, by the looks. Who you talking to, brat?” “What’s in the bag, girly?” Cailet’s slouching run skidded to a halt as fast as her sentence had upon hearing the voices. Male, by the sound, and older than her. There, in the middle of the street, Cailet froze like a scared rabbit. “Ha!” Came a bark of laughter from the shadows again. There was an alley way to her right, a slim passage between two of the beautiful spiraling towers. “Look, she thinks if she doesn’t move we won’t see her. It’s okay, little dearling…” the scuffle of feet and the two teenage boys stepped out towards her. “N-no. Go away!” Fear turning to anger, Cailet started to back up as they approached. They were hugely tall and muscley compared to her tiny, childish frame. “Leave me alone!” She tried to sound tough, but her voice was no more than a squeak so high in pitch that it cracked. The laughter was harsh as the boys closed in, backing Cailet against the nearest wall. The one who asked about her bag made a grab for it, yanking it roughly from her shoulder and sending her sprawling to the cobbles. The other boy simply laughed and stood his ground over the prostrate child while his friend rifled through his newly acquired loot. If you’re not going to do anything.. Came the snarl from the back of her mind. Without notice, Cailet’s mind went blank. All of the fear evaporated and it was as if Cailet was watching herself from outside her own body. She could no longer feel the rough stones of the street beneath her palms or the warm tears that had begun to spill down her cheeks. Without willing her muscles to move, she saw herself stand and face the boys, her tiny hands balled into fists at her size while an angry grimace creased her childish features. In a tone that Cailet had never remembered using herself, she saw her body turn and face the bigger of the two boys. “Give that back.” “Ha, look at her Rori, going to fight back, is she?” Came the disbelieving laugh before they turned back to their prize. Still watching from above, Cailet heard rather than felt her fist connect to the side of the sneering boys neck. The blow glanced off at a weird angle, since she was so small in comparison and had to jump to even reach over his shoulder. It was a loud slap of skin on skin and a few moments of stunned silence before the boys shook off their surprise and were spitting with fury. “RUN! RUUN!!!!” Cailet wanted to scream at herself, trying to make her legs move, to turn and bolt away across the plaza. But she wasn’t in control of her own body and there she stood as if stuck in cement as the teenagers descended upon her. “How…dare you…” The first punch landed in her stomach, though still she felt nothing. Whatever was controlling her kept her upright, though she knew she should have been curled in a ball on the ground. The second punch came from behind, the second boy aiming for the softer spot of her skull right above the ear. Cailet felt that one, the blow jarring her back into her body. Having been suspended in nothingness, the pain that she returned too was unbelievable. Unable to even cry out let alone think straight or try to escape, Cailet fell once more to the cobbles, her head fit to explode. Blackness lingered on the edges of her vision, and she only barely saw the boot that sent her over into unconsciousness.

[Cailet]

The pain was so intense that upon waking, Cailet didn’t realize she had passed out. She tried to open her eyes, and couldn’t. There was the metallic tang of blood that mingled with the taste of dirt on her tongue, though when she tried to spit the taste from her mouth her lips didn’t respond properly. They felt huge, twice the size of normal, and she ended up just dribbling crimson spit down her chin. Unable to see, Cailet instead tried to hoist herself to her feet. That was a mistake, as an intense pain in her stomach sent her right back to the cobbles. The boys had done a number on her slight frame, leaving her helpless and sprawled in the street. But she was in the middle of the plaza! Surely someone had to have seen here. Were these people so cruel that they would just step around a beaten child? Was this so common that no one gave it a second look? All at once, Cailets immature mind jumped to the wrong conclusion. She was going to die. She was definitely going to die. Painful sobs shook her small frame, intensifying not only the pain in her head, but every other place she had been hit as well. Her unseeing eyes burned as salty tears forced their way from beneath the swollen lids, breaking the crust of blood that had sealed her eyes shut. “Nooo…” Came the little whimper as Cailet took in her surroundings. She was, of course, in a dark alley. The boys weren’t dumb enough to leave her where anyone would find her. But still, she couldn’t hear the sound of voices or any type of movement nearby. “Where am I? Help!” No one would hear. Her voice cracked when she tried to raise it above a whisper before sending her into a coughing fit. The bloodied spit that landed on her palm when she finished brought more stinging tears to her eyes. “Momma…” And, with no other options left to her, Cailet simply sat down and cried; it was a logical move for any child who has been torn from their parents and put into a scary situation would make. But for a child who was well aware of the loveless relationship between mother and daughter, Cailet was scared indeed if she was calling for her mother, absent from her life in so many ways, for help and protection. ------ Wake up. Wake up up up up up upupupupupup Roused by the annoying, persistent whisper, Cailet uncurled from the fetal position she had fallen asleep in, tucked away at the very back corner of the alley. It was a silly decision on her part, though she didn’t see it that way, to go further into the deep shadows that lingered at the back of the alley instead of out into the street where everyone could see her. No one can help if they don’t know you’re there. But the shadows comforted Cailet, gave her a sense of security as she crawled and scooted her way into them; they felt like a blanket wrapped tight around her when she finally gave into sleep, her back pressed against the shadowy walls of an ever-glowing building. Bleary eyed, Cailet peered around her alley. There was nothing there, no danger, no change…so why did she need to wake up? Still hurting, still scared, Cailet simply turned her face back into the shadows and tried not to cry. Stop being a baby, and get to your feet…Fine. I’ll do it. And once again, the pain was gone. Cailet felt her head turn, scanning the alley. Her vision was still horrendous, limited to a squint by the swelling of her lids…but the pain that had accompanied every blink, every flicker of movement her eyes made was no longer present. Bidden by some other force, Amanda to be specific though Cailet hadn’t quite let her mind make the proper leap to that conclusion as she was still denying the haunting girls existence within her, she stood and strode towards the mouth of the alley. Yes, strode…shouldn’t she be limping? But there was no pain, not now. The absence of all her hurts allowed Cailet to think a little clearer, realize her foolishness. Of course she shouldn’t be sititng at the back of the alley, crying. What was that going to accomplish? How many times had her mother and whatever man accompanied her at that time left her to herself in the middle of a forest or a town to fend for herself? How was this any different? By the time that realization struck, Cailet was standing in the middle of an unfamiliar street. Well, they were all unfamiliar and looked very different in the daylight then at night… Daylight. How long had she been in the alley? Panic started to well up in her chest, threating to choke her, when an invisible presence pressed it back down into her stomach and smothered it there. No time for that came the high pitched quip in her head, catching Cailet off guard. We need to be found. We need to get help. Feet that were no longer in her own control took her off down the street with a confidence she knew she did not possess. The sudden plural didn’t slip past her either. Confused and completely out of her element, Cailet was taken by surprise when her body was suddenly consumed with a searing pain, her legs crumpling uselessly beneath her and sending her face first into the cobbles. “Child! What’s wrong?” Strong hands were under her arms, lifting her from the ground. From there she was cradled to a warm body, only for the first time realizing how cold she had been. Her possessor had abandoned her at the appearance of this stranger, tears of renewed pain trickling down her cheeks; all of her hurts felt intensified after her momentary reprieve from them. “I asked what was wrong.” The voice was definitely male, his tone firm but slow. He was used to getting answers. Wishing she could see his face, Cailet only whimpered and buried her face into the strangers chest. “We will find who did this.” We are safe now.

[Cailet]

“I don’t know who they were. They were big, and mean, and stole my stuff.” With as much impatience as her little voice could muster, Cailet sighed as she looked up at her inquisitor, clearly frustrated at being asked this same question again. “Well, you have to give me something to work off of, or you might not get your stuff back.” “I don’t care about my stuff. I just want to find my mother before she gets mad at me.” “Where is your mother?” “If I knew do you think..” “Cailet, tone.” A petulant pout and Cailet pressed her lips together, refusing to say anything further. With a sigh, the man that sat across the table from her pushed a bowl of food in her direction. Ravenous, Cailet snatched up her spoon and began shoveling the stew into her mouth. It hurt to eat, her lips still swollen and split in places. Bruises had begun to bloom all over her body, but the man who rescued her had brought her to a healer first, and the little girl was relieved of most of her pain. “I’ve explained to you what the Shinya are capable of, Cailet. We aren’t magic and we can’t just…” “But you are magic!” With a flourish, the girl extended her hand and pointed at the stool next to where she sat. It toppled without any contact with her hand, but she had in fact simply kicked it over with her foot. The Shinya got the point none the less and smiled slowly. He had started to explain the ways of the city and his job in an attempt to make the girl comfortable and calm down enough to give him the answers he needed. “Yes, projection. But what I mean is that we can’t just make these boys appear. They could be hiding in any of the shadows or alleys in fear of news of their crime reaching our ears.” We want our stuff back was the whisper. “We want our stuff back” Cailet echoed. “We?” A confused look puckered the Shinya’s lips and he tilted his head. “I want my stuff back.” She quickly correctly, not looking up and diving back into her food, unsure as to why the "we" had slipped out so easily. “You might not get it back, Cailet.” An exasperated sigh, and the man leaned back on his stool, tilting onto two legs and resting his back against the wall behind him. “Where was your mother staying?” “I don’t know. They left without me when we got here. An inn I suppose, since our cart was left outside the gate.” “Cart?” The stool slammed back down on all fours, a crease appearing between his brows. “I was on duty near the gates this morning...There is no cart outside the gates.” ----- “They t-t-took Whisper with them!” Cailet grabbed the railing, looking down over the parapet to gaze down at the gate that marked the city entrance. “They aren’t going to take caaaaaare of h-h-him!” Breaking down into a hiccupping sob, the girl threw herself away from the edge and collapsed in a dejected puddle on the walkway. Her mother and Man had left her behind, and taken her only friend with them. Cailet had been alone most of her life. This final, decisive severing from her mother had barely made a dent in her day, as sad at that was. To find that her beloved horse was gone, however, had reduced the girl to a quivering mass more acceptable for a child who had just been abandoned by her family. There was a pain in the Shinya’s eyes that was past the ability of words. Slowly, he knelt down next to Cailet and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. There was something different about this child, he knew. Something worth protecting. He had seen a spunk and determination in her from the first moment that he laid eyes on her broken form crumpled on the stones at his feet that very morning. Cailet was exactly what they looked for in youngsters that were sent to join the Shinya order. But this was not that time for that. A child was a child, no matter how hard of a life they had seen. They needed coddling and love, too. Scooping up Cailets prostrate form for the second time that day, her savior and protector cradled her in his arms and slowly made his way back down the streets, ignoring the strange looks of passerby’s. His bed would suffice for now, until he could find Cailet her own room in the Pavilion. By the time the covers were tucked up and around her chin, Cailet was already deep within her dreamland, unaware that by losing one family she had gained another.

[Duality]

Cailet +1 Unarmed Combat +3 Observation +1 Intimidation +1 Rhetoric Left Behind Again, Getting Mugged and Beat Up, Not In Control, Faking Projection, Losing Everything but Gaining a New Life None This was a very entertaining short story of your character's start in Lhavit. You work with the second personality really well. I found the way you write very enjoyable to read, it really led me along. There wasn't much to give XP over, however. Still, good work! PM Me for Any Concerns Over This Ruling!