[Inclement Weather] The Nightmare Never Ends (Kovac)

by **Lavira** on August 30th, 2013, 2:20 pm

The chimes would pass in relative quiet until night fully embraced the summer-warmed city. It was coming on midnight now and Vira had been asleep for some two hours and at some point during this, Kovac must have drifted off as well. She had been still and quiet the entire time since fading into slumber, until now...

Falling...

Falling forever and ever....

And He stands upon the edge staring down at her, a grape-colored piece watching with an unapproving frown before something catches his eye and a grin splits his face and causes his eyes to shine with an all too familiar glint.

And as she falls, her heart breaks for she is screaming, begging him to turn back, to save her. "YOU WERE THERE! YOU SAW!!" But he does not, he simply walks away and her eyes find something new, something frightening to focus on: the ground, racing to meet her and claim her life. She can see it clearly, every detail, every smoldering crevice. She can see the spirit waiting at the bottom (Andry, his name is Andry) with arms raised asking if she is going to join him.

Her body hits the rocks and pain erupts. Oh what a pain it is. A pain that sets her very soul on fire and sends her-

-whole body to trembling violently upon Kovac's chest. Her fingers had knitted into the sides of his hair as she lay there and her breaths came in shallow, ragged grunts. The grip on his hair was tight and tears could be seen streaming from both eyes as she remained locked in the never-ending nightmare. Her jaw had dropped though lips remained sealed, as if in a shout or a yawn that was trying to be contained; and with her head so fiercely pressed against his chest, he could surely feel that unreleased cry as it built and built in her throat between the hyperventilating huffs, broken by each inhale and exhale that prevented it from truly coming out. She was-

-clinging to a rock, her broken fingernails plying for a grip that would not last. She could feel herself slipping, feel Andry waiting below for her to fall so he could take her. She wasn't ready to die, though! Why did he have to abandon her?! The boom of thunder released the rain from the sky and it fell like a wave upon the cliff she clung to, forcing her fingers to slip a little more each time until one by one she held by nothing more than her pinky to the rockface...

"HELP!" She screamed as the rain threatened to wash her final grasp away and send her plummeting to her doom. The thunder rolled through the heavens and lightning flashed. As it did, she could see him standing there again, a demeaning grin upon his lips and his eyes alight with mischief and condescension as a prettier piece clung to his side, knee rubbing at his groin and a hand twirling across his chest. Garren stood there, sneering at her before a foot rose and fell upon her clinging digit and forced her to drop.

She was-

-screaming. Full on screaming now, her mouth open and jaw locked in place as the wail of the girl trapped in the dream belted through the room, startling even Tulaj from his doze over the doorway.

by **Kovac** on September 3rd, 2013, 7:10 pm

Kovac had tried to stay awake, stroking Lavira's hair and brushing along her skin as she slept. The Chiet was breathing deeply, the subtle rhythm of her respiration ushering the Avora closer and closer to slumber. The man looked down at the girl as she lay with him, arm draped across his chest. The night had ended up kind of like he had hoped, and yet very much different. He would have admitted there was part of him that would have certainly allowed the date to progress to this place, in bed with the young woman for more carnal purposes. Now, he even felt a bit ashamed at that confession. He had in fact ended up in bed with Lavira, bodies close, sharing affection. But this was a variety Kovac was not used to. This was an act of compassion, though not selfless. He was comforting a troubled friend, but the Avora also found comfort and pleasure in the arms of the half-blind falconer. As Kovac pondered the irony of his current situation, his eyes slid shut and his hands ceased their comforting caress.

Kovac stirred slightly as Lavira began to squirm against him, trapped in her nightmare. The hunter was still bound by his own groggy sleep when the woman's fingers flexed and gripped his hair, rousing him to a startled, foggy consciousness. Then came the scream. The loud sound released a burst of fear and adrenaline that shot Kovac to full lucidity, Tulaj echoing the girl's mournful cry with his own screech. Kovac took the girl's hands in his and pried her fingers from his mane. "Vira!" He barked. One hand released her to rest on her back and shake her. "Vira, wake up, wake up!" The Avora slipped to the side and leaned on his elbow, continuing to jar Lavira as he looked down at her. "Come on, you are alright, you are here, in your room."

x

by **Lavira** on September 3rd, 2013, 7:50 pm

~Falling and falling and falling. Her hands flailed above her, reaching desperately for anything but the walls of the chasm grew wider even as they grew narrower before she was turning. The ground was rushing up to meet her and she knew there was nothing to save her. He'd let her drop. He'd let her drop like some pathetic piece of shyke not even looking back, not coming back. And it broke her heart. The ground was coming faster now and her mind reeled in pleas that she did not want to die, not like this. It was too ironic to die from falling!

And then she hit the ground and-...

Her breath froze in her lungs, locked by a constricted throat. Rolled onto her back with the man trying to rouse her, body shaking and eye rolled back in her head still. Far in the back of her mind, she could hear him like talking, or was he yelling? She could feel him shaking her, but the entrapment of the dreadful dream prevented her from rousing just yet. And then, like a switch, she was awake.

The teen stared through him at first, as if still seeing nothing but the deadly retreat of the skies or the ground rushing to embrace her and gobble up all of the splat she would make. Focus came slow as her throat loosened and allowed breaths to return (albeit short and panting), and when her eye found his face, there was a moment of relief mixed with ashamed dread that found its way through that green-gold orb. She rolled away from him and right off the edge of the bed, yelping and half-curling in on herself when she hit her side, a hand slithering to press upon it.

Her movements were clumsy and jerky from there as she scrambled away from the bed and to the chamber pot, gasping until the covering was shoved off and the sour contents of her stomach were expelled into it. Her head hurting, Vira remained over the container until the heaves finally stopped some five chimes later. Her whole body was sore by then, exhausted, as she shifted to the side, simply sprawling down beside it with one hand over her mouth and the other between the ground and the marring of her right side. The hand covering her mouth served only to muffle the sobs that pumped like a water from a well into the curve of her palm, eyes clenched closed and the stone floor beneath her head darkening by combination tears and sweat. Pain and humiliation that he should find her like that, she wanted nothing more than to lay there and cry for a while.

by **Kovac** on September 5th, 2013, 8:37 pm

Kovac had not seen a nightmare like Lavira was suffering. She was shuddering, breathing in starts and stops, making strangled noises. He continued to shake her, more frantic himself at the horrifying sight. Finally, her eyes shot open and she sucked in a deep breath. But fear and dread still swamped her seeing eye, and as if the sight of him was frightening, she rolled away from him, and to the floor with a thud.

Kovac, on his hands and knees upon the bed, leaned over to look at her, she looked hurt, but would not stay still. "Lavira, Lavira!" He called, a bit of fear tinging his own voice. She scurried across the floor and heaved into the chamber pot, a vessel in which he had done the same countless times after binge drinking. The poor thing remained hunkered over the pot, her torso convulsing as her stomach tried to empty itself until the strong scent of bile proved there was nothing left to vomit.

As Lavira hunched in the corner wretching, Kovac slowly, quietly slid from the bed and padded closer to her. He felt for her, a strange feeling, but certainly from the heart. Crouching, he reached out a hand to brush deep crimson locks out of her face, tucking them behind her ear and out of the way. He offered no words, none came to him, nor did he touch her further until the girl rolled to her side, a pitiful heap, weeping on the cold hard floor.

Kovac could hardly stand to see the young woman that way. He had to do something. Kneeling next to her, carefully, Kovac slid a hand under the crook of her knees. The other slide around her shoulders. Gently, he lifted her onto his lap. The Avora cradled Lavira, arms protectively around her. He found himself rocking slightly and whispering to her. "Its alright Vira, I am here, I won't leave you." Kovac tried to be strong, but the violence of the event had startled him, and deepened his concern for his young friend.

x

by **Lavira** on September 5th, 2013, 9:14 pm

She couldn't even fight him off as the sobs wracked her and he scooped her off the floor. But he did little more than settle her in his lap and hold her, the way a father might his frightened daughter. He spoke little besides soft words of comfort in an effort to chase away the hauntings that filled her mind.

The girl just cried. It was all she could manage right then, her free hand finding itself resting in a fist with knuckles horizontal with his chest and the other still pressed upon her aggravated side. Some of the scarring still had stitches and she was lucky not to have torn them open from the fall out of bed. At some point between the tears and the sobs, Vira rotated to hide her face against his shoulder and muffle the distressed cries and hide her blotchy features. Why should she do this to him? For that matter, why should he remain? He had no reason to even be here, and to see her like this, see a glimpse of the damage that had been done...The lessening sobs briefly rose in intensity for a moment before tapering off slowly, allowing her to speak.

It was harder to do than she thought, her words coming haltingly between hiccups. "You c-can leave, K-k-kovac...I'd understand. Y-y-ou have no obligation to do th-this..." Her mind screamed her shame and could not be hidden from her strained features.

by **Kovac** on September 13th, 2013, 1:33 pm

Soft words broken by snubs and sobs spilt from the girl's young lips. Kovac had only done what came to him. The hunter did not know how to comfort, let alone rehabilitate someone who had suffered the physical and emotional trauma on the scale that Lavira had endured. Somehow, his atrophied sense of goodwill guided him to hold her, to whisper encouragement. Now, with the woman in his arms, broken in body and spirit, the Avora could not bring himself to abandon her.

"No Vira, I am not leaving you." He replied in a hushed tone. Kovac knew it was not simply a duty to humanity that kept him there. He had grown fond of the falconer. To see her crushed, helpless and hopeless, and now shamed by the baring of her grievous wounds, brought even the sybartistic mongrel to a humble place of compassion.

Scooting back, Kovac leaned against the wall, reaching to move the camber pot and its contents further away from them, but within reach should Lavira need it again. After craning his head to examine the healing wound in her side, Kovac wrapped his arm around the falconer again, his head leaning back against the rock. The Avora fumed at the unfairness of the whole thing. Not for him, but for Lavira. The woman he had met at the archery range was spirited, motivated and fearless. What god would do this to her, when she had already had to overcome so much, her body already scarred, sight stolen, fated to live below what her mind and heart were capable of. Then there was Garren. The Akalak had irritated the Avora since he and Aidara had accompanied him on a lumber trip. The outsider had reeked of insincere flattery, and had apparently duped the young Lavira with his freakish charm. How easy it would have been to put an arrow through Garren's neck out there in the woods. Kovac would have done it then for the way the giant fawned over Addy and marginalized Kovac in front of her. Now, the archer wished he had shot that arrow to prevent the Akalak from rending apart the heart that pounded in the shuddering chest of the woman he now held in his arms.

Kovac's eyes closed, his hand still stroking Lavira's sweat-drenched hair, fantasizing about shooting that fateful arrow.

x

by **Lavira** on September 15th, 2013, 1:58 am

And so she would stay, curled in the Avora's lap, her weeping slowly receding into silence until once again she had drifted off to sleep. It was more rested this time, though troubled dreams made her tense often it was nothing like that which had woken the mixed blood. She would sleep until dawn, whatever internal clock she had rousing her just before it to dress and brush out her hair, release Tulaj for the day, and ready for work.

As her sandals were slipped on, Vira using the bed for this and a finger to draw the heel-strap over the achilles, the teen looked to the pot that still held the heaves from the previous night. She would need to clean that, but it could wait. What mostly caught her attention was Kovac, a frown furrowing her brow as she peered at him. If he still slept, her single-eyed stare would go unnoticed.

Why is he still here?

The thought echoed through her mind for the longest time before she answered it in a low whisper.

"Because I needed him. But why him? I could have just sat in the aeries like I do...why did I let him take me out?"

She closed her eyes and bared her teeth in a grimace then, leaning gingerly to the right as if to bend the pain out of her side.

Because I needed a friend...But he's just a teacher who didn't even remember who I was, why would he want to call me friend? Why would I want him to, for that matter...

Again, she answered her own thoughts, speculating aloud. "There is something I'm not seeing here..." She could already admit his rugged charm and handsomeness. But Vira was a little weary of pushing the envelope here as she continued her road to recovery.

Rising, the Chiet donned the bay-eagle feather decoration between her shoulderblades (the effort of angling herself to get it secured causing a few sounds in itself) and then moved to where Kovac lay or sat. She knelt before him, reaching to cup his cheek and jaw in the palm of her hand. Her thumb would trace the outline of his features a brief moment before she placed a light kiss onto his brow and straightened, leaving with many a complex thought in her mind.

He is easier to talk to than some I have known, though...I have needed that now more than ever...Perhaps it would be nice to see him again. Maybe. We'll see.

With those thoughts, the woman left him in her quarters, closing the door quietly behind her. He could find his way out, she imagined.

by **Wrenmae** on October 30th, 2013, 7:53 pm

XP Award!

Lavira:

XP Award:

Socializing 3
Dancing 2
Observation 2
Falconry 1
Storytelling 3
Rhetoric 3

Lore:

Location: Inclement Weather
Dancing: Lose yourself in the beat
Kovac: Vantha mother
Chemar: Kovac's dream expert friend
Kovac: Musician
Sickness from too much alcohol

Notes: A little sparse on the lore...I felt a lot of it was personal, stuff that I couldn't just lore-ify. If you think I missed anything, let me know.

Kovac:

XP Award: