Closed City of Chaos (Fallon)

[Ayviss]

70th of Winter, 514 AV

The weak rays of sunlight illuminating the streets created an illusion that Sunberth was a calm and safe city. Even though Ayviss had lived most of her life inside a house, she still knew, like anyone else, that Sunberth was the complete opposite of safe. And yet, out on the streets, she felt better than when she was in the false safety of the house. It had taken some time, but finally, she was allowed to leave the house on her own. She felt good. It was great to be alone, doing whatever she wanted to, without the constant presence watching her. Of course that she still had to restrain herself. She was still a slave. But not for so long. Soon enough, she would be her own master.

Right then, though, she just wanted to get to the library. There was some things she needed to research. However, as the half blood looked around, she found out she had no idea where to go. The streets were often unknown to her, but in the moment she truly had no idea where to go. The woman stopped, pressing her lips together and trying to figure a way out. The street was wide, leading to several smaller ones, probably alleys, and continued straight forward. She had no idea on where to go, though.

Hollard had given her instructions on how to reach the library from his house, but when she thought about it, there was no way of knowing if the information was true. Ayviss had tried hard to follow the instructions carefully, but, on the street she were in, said instructions didn't make sense anymore.

Groaning, the woman felt the urge to punch her owner in the face. What was he trying to accomplish giving her wrong information? To see if she cared enough to search for a way to go back home? With a grunt, Ayviss crossed her arms, thinking. She truly needed to go to the library, so she could always ask for directions, but still... She didn't trust anyone not to try and rob her. She had only a dagger on her person, absolutely no money, but the dagger was precious to her, and the last thing she wanted was to lose it.

Sighting, feeling defeated, she looked around, trying to find a not so suspicious person to ask. There were very few on that street, perhaps because it wasn't a main one, or simply because it was still Winter, and it was really cold outside. Or perhaps it was both. Ayviss knew too little of those aspects of the city to guess correctly.

With the corner of her eye, she saw a tall and bulky man leave one of the smaller alleys. Her lips pressed together again when she saw the red stains on the man's shirt and hands. Her own hand searched for the handle of her dagger, and the woman hoped she wouldn't have to use it. She was still terrible with the weapon, but it was her only protection.

Slowly, she began to walk forward, trying to get away from the man and at the same time keeping him in sight. Ayviss felt fear wash over her when she saw the man look at her, smile, and start to follow.

x

[Fallon]

It was with a raised brow Fallon looked upon the frozen corpse that lay in the gutter. The spine of her notebook was curled back upon itself, her gloved hand holding onto a stub of a quill nib and pulling out the few little scratches of words here and there upon the page. There was a distinct chew upon her lip, her toe giving the man a small nudge in the leg. It simply sagged, then rolled back to where it was - lifeless and dead. With another lean down she gave a peer at the pale skin, sapped, pasty and distinctly dead. Eyes gave a blink, a lower crouch as she stepped around to the other side, stepping over the legs and the slumped form.

It was a quiet alleyway in honesty, very rarely did it receive any form of traffic through it - the few steps and the slumped form showed that much. She gave a lean down to his face, a gentle sniff through the cold to the scents that may have lingered. There was no sign of immediate decay, apart from the blackening tip of the extremities along the nose tip, ears and fingers - she quickly noted down that perhaps there was frostbite involved on the page - and then lower. The thin layering of morning frost did little to aid her, the dark fabrics bleached in colour but absent of any other deathly shades.

Turning back to the previous page, Fallon looked at the string of notes that were there, brief fleeting descriptions as she tallied them up. Middle-aged, male, enough beard to be noticeable and protect the cheeks from the cold. She spied the empty brown bottle of something, the lingering chilled scent of some strong alcohol resting there. It was disappointing really, she had been sent to go and find someone's partner and instead found only a corpse that had frozen in the bad weather.

Exhaling, she let the plume of white tremble out and downwards, and pressed her form upwards. The book was slapped shut, ink and quill sealed and withdrawn back into the safety of her folds. From there the coat was brought in around her, held tight by her belt and usual weaponry that hung off it. Nothing more could done here except be the bringer of bad news, and so she peeled herself away and back into the street itself, hunkering down as she stepped into the twisting streets that made up Sunberth proper, flittering back and forth out of the cold to somewhere warm as quickly as possible. No one wanted to be exposed to such elements if they could help it.

Unless of course, there was to be some kind of dark consciousness upon the individual. And it such - when she saw a lumbering shape peel out from one of the alleyways that gave her a moment of pause. Red, smothering, her eyes gave a flicker, her shoulders squaring down as she peered upon them. How many lurkers had been in the area this season she dared not think of, but this winter they appeared to be coming out in full force. In her small experiences it was better to deal with them quickly, nip the bud early before it spread out of control and became a dangerous force to be reckoned with. It was at a slower and more steady pace that Fallon followed, hand moving back underneath the cloak and into position ready to draw. No, trail him for a while and see where the situation ended up - and silently pray that it was just a small misunderstanding that would quickly be looked over.

[Ayviss]

It soon became painfully obvious that the man wouldn't simply go away. The cold and piercing wind bothered her, but right then it was almost forgotten in face of a threat she wans't sure how to deal with. If she kept walking, he would eventually reach her. Her eyes quickly searched for a way to escape, but she didn't know those alleys, and it would be stupid to simply go in one of them without knowing if it would be a dead end. The half blood would have to turn and fight, or at least distract him a lot so she could run. If she could catch him by surprise, maybe she could escape. Otherwise... Her hand finally closed around the handle of her dagger, and she kept it here as she turned in her heels to face the man.

Ayviss knew that it was a fight she couldn't really win. The man was bigger than her, stronger, the muscles visible even beneath the clothes, and she wasn't an expert in fighting, nor with her weapon. And, to make everything better, she didn't even know where she was, while the man obviously felt at home in the cold streets. And yet, she needed to do something, anything, to at least have a chance of escape. The antecipation was making the half blood anxious, and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself. It was better to face an inevitable threat as soon as she could, specially since it wasn't like she was going to get better at fighting anytime soon.

"Can I help you?" she asked, making an effort for her voice to remain steady. The woman didn't smile, though, simply kept staring at him, anger visible in her eyes, a futile hope that the man would back down.

"Oh, you definitely can." the man answered, his smile broadening. The fact that Ayviss could see clearly the red stains, and so close, only added to her uneasiness. His smile was also unsettling, and the half blood tried to fight against the fear that threatened to consume her. If she knew what he wanted, it might make everything more tolerable. But what if he would only kill her? It was Sunberth, after all, and for all Ayviss knew, people didn't need an excuse to kill.

Her grip on her weapon became even stronger, as a way to assure herself that it would all end well. The woman kept staring at him, waiting for the man to get closer. He walked as if he was sure she couldn't take him. It was true, but it also gave her a slight advantage, because she certainly wouldn't just give up. The problem was, she would only have one chance.

"What a pretty face li..." his speech was interrupted by a quick and clumsy swing of the half blood's blade, and Ayviss could feel the resistence of the dagger cut through something. There was no time to wait and see if she had managed to hurt him, or if she had only cut through his clothes. Ayviss turned again, this time away from the man, and tried to run.

A strong hand closed around her wrist, pulling her back and making her yelp with surprise and pain. The man turned her to face him, his face approaching hers, and when he spoke Ayviss could feel the strong stench of alcohool. Just what she needed. A blood stained, drunk and violent man.

"Your petching whore!" the man growled at her, his free hand curling into a fist, probably to hit her. Ayviss took a deep breath.

It took all her courage and all her strength to kick the man's knee. The action earned her a cry of pain, but the man didn't let go. She could see the blood start to stain her own wrist, and it only made her kick and twist her arm even more, attempting to free herself. The grip, however, was only getting stronger, despite the grunts of pain she could hear coming from the man.

x

[Fallon]

Fallon kept her steps going, the stalker becoming the stalked. Her fingers gave a wrap around the kukri hilt, her eyes staring forward onto her target - to use a tulwar in such a confined space would be foolish. Whatever he was following he did not seem to be giving up on any time soon, his entire gate suggested he was in chase of something even if there was no running involved. And all the while Fallon followed behind, occasionally turning her head back to catch a glimpse of what was going on behind her. Who knew what troubles were following her these days, nowhere was safe and that notion pressed right into the back of her mind constantly.

Looking once more, she gave a pause when he stopped. A quick step to the side and into the shade, black pulled up around her as she spied what his target was from a different angle. A woman, Fallon reasoned that much by shape alone, though she seemed to be about the same height - if not slightly taller than herself. Her eyes gave a small pinch, the lean trying to stand up to the bigger brute on whatever was to come. Perhaps, in some regards Fallon would have left her to it - if it was not for that nervous attempt to keep a steady voice. It was because of such a noise that Fallon continued her slinking, steps slow and steady.

The smallest clink of steel as she drew the kukri out, keeping the sharp edge hidden beneath the folds of her cloak. Her nostrils gave a flare, the green-blue orbs keening down upon him. She could smell the blood, she could smell the death and decay as he came ever closer to his own prize. Fallon gave a small pull into a door archway, eyes counting out the steps she had to travel in which to intervene. She heard the response, the picking up of an answer lathered in something dark that she did not want to think too long on. He came in closer, within reaching distance of the other, hand raised to come at her as she gave a slash out with her dagger.

It was then that Fallon's own steps became quicker, firmer as focused only on closing the own gap between them. She watched the grabbing hand, the coiling back of the fist as she began her struggle it was with a final inhale that the Red Wolf stepped in, the rumblings of a growl clawing its way up her throat. She stepped in between them the best she could, the left hand came out to greet the man's coiled fist as she braced against it, the right with the kukri darting out up towards the throat. Fist met her palm, the her own arm jarring back in recoil as she tried to hold it back. Feet dug in, knees bending as she braced herself down and looked upon the man, the edge of the kukri caressing the skin of his throat.

With a firmer press she released a growl, words sapped of warmth as the rough tones of her Bitzer persona, "Let her go and back off," she pushed the fist away then, her eyes burning at him. She stood her ground, "Or I will act." She would, she had no choice really on the matter, she had to maintain the iron face of the leader of the Scars when in public. Make him stand down, make him relinquish the idea and that it was not worth the trouble. She heard the grunts of pain as the woman continued her struggling, her gaze watching the man as he seemed to calculate the next move and decide against it. It was with that in mind that forced Fallon into reacting. It was the kukri that pulled away, turning in her grip and coming against his gripping arm, intending to slash and draw blood as an encouragement. He gave a shout in retaliation, fist coiling back once more to strike at her. It was the left then that moved down to one of the tulwars, a quick draw out so the pommel smashed into his, gut and the blade came out between them diagonally - pommel high and the inner curve near snug against her she spoke once more, "I won't ask again. Let go and leave."

[Dravite]

Ayviss

XP Award:

• Observation: 2
• Socialisation: 1
• Rhetoric: 1
• Planning: 1
• Running: 1
• Unarmed Combat: 1

Lore:

• Sunberth: houses won't keep you safe
• Ayviss: Loves the feeling of being alone
• Library: For research and learning
• Following instructions isn't as simple as it seems
• Sunberth: Beware of a man with blood on his hands
• Observation: Scanning ahead
• Unarmed Combat: A large man will overpower a young girl
• Rhetoric: A well planned distraction
• Sunberth: Death is expected here
• Observation: The smell of alcohol

Fallon

XP Award:

• Writing: 1
• Detection: 1
• Planning: 1
• Weapon, Kukri: 1
• Tracking: 1
• Stealth: 1
• Unarmed Combat: 1
• Logic: 1

Lore:

• Observation: Using sense of smell to detect lingering scents
• Observation: The smell of alcohol
• Planning: Dealing with things before they become a problem
• Observation: Drawing comparisons
• Stealth: Concealing a weapon

Notes: Hello again! It’s a shame this thread was discontinued as I found it quite interesting. I wasn’t going to award points for Ayviss, but she hasn’t been gone that long so I went to the trouble. I gave you both what I could find skill and lore wise. Let me know if you think I have missed anything here and be sure to edit your grading request!
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