Trapped in by a Tempest [Roy Kingsfield]

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on February 28th, 2014, 2:55 am

The woman shrunk back at the harsh words the man spoke to her. She couldn’t criticize anything, though. She wasn’t much better than he was. She kept trying to understand what made her obligated to say such words to him.

A part of her knew she didn’t mean it, but another part of her knew that it would hurt him. The latter portion of her thoughts were correct. Her words cut him like a knife, much like he had done to the empty vessel of the man lying bloody on the floor a few feet away from them.

She bowed her head and stifled a few more sobs. She was weak and she had no self-control. She knew she wouldn’t last in this world all alone. She knew that she had grown up faster than she should have. But she also knew that life wasn’t fair. It played nasty games with an individual until eventually they crack from under the pressure. Was Lenz soon to crack too?

The woman dared to look at Roy, his expression hostile. She was able to picture froth coming from his mouth if she could, but tried not to. This would only give her more anxiety than she already had.

“You don’t give one shyke about other people.” She cringed at his words. She understood his anger, but she didn’t understand how touchy he reacted.

Ever since she could remember, Lenz has always been considerate of others. She knew when they were feeling terrible or when they hurt, but she never knew how much. She always ended up pushing someone over the edge with her words.

She was a terrible person like that. But isn’t everyone in some distinct way?

Lenz knew she was in a very bad situation when the man suddenly stood up. She tried to cry out in disagreement, but her words were hushed over the dark tone he gave her.

“Now you understand why people don’t help other people out here.” She had managed to learn this firsthand the very next day she had arrived in Sunberth. A wonderfully critical woman with words like a dagger had spat at her with rage. She was as testy as Roy was acting just now.

“ You don’t think I feel guilty enough? You don’t think I am beating myself up over and over again on the inside?” Lenz bowed her head again, giving double takes at the man over her shoulder. Her head swayed on a needle as she tired from all the enemies she was making.

She admitted she wasn’t the best person to be around, and the truth was, she was more compatible with kids. She had always been easier with children than she was with people her own age. This was a flaw in her personality and it was one she despised every waking minute of the day.

“Enjoy your stay.”

She tried to will herself to lose control, but this was something she just couldn’t do. She had had episodes in the past where she had become so infuriated that she had pounded on another person with harsh words and few physical actions, but this was random. It couldn’t be acted upon on the spot.

“No,” she said, her nose wrinkling in disgust. “I won’t enjoy my stay.”

She was acting like a child now, and she knew it, but she persisted her point, without a clue in her mind where she was taking this. Why not make another full blown enemy?

“I’m sorry if my words are offensive. Sometimes I’m about as stupid as a newborn child, but you know we’re aren’t all perfect,” she muttered loud enough that her voice echoed over to where Roy now stood.

“I could have just let you die right there on the floor after you killed that man, but I didn’t. Think of that as my act of gratitude. I am thankful of you for saving my life, so don’t you think otherwise.”

She was on a roll now, spitting out things here and there. Her eyes were narrowed slightly now as she stared down her oppose with vigorous distaste. She wished with much of her heart that it hadn’t come to this.

“I didn’t have to wrap that bandage around you. I didn’t have to go over to that stinky, gross, dead body and rip off the fabric to stop you from bleeding out. But I did.”

She was near close to adding more; preaching to him about whether or not he had ever thought about that or not, but she remained silent. It was best to not thrown more tinder on the fire that was already burning between them.

She decided to try water instead as she calmly stated, “We all have different ways of showing things,” before getting up and tentatively walking over to the man again.

She wiped the blood from her chin with one hand and outstretched her other without hesitation. She took a deep breath and gulped the cold winter air that surrounded her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her locks of red hair falling in front of her eyes. “Can we start over?”

by **Roy Kingsfield** on February 28th, 2014, 4:42 am

Day 85 of Winter in the Year 513 AV

Roy leaned his head against the cold wood. The rough texture pricked his skin as his forehead rested on the surface. He could feel the chill seeping into his skin and he focused all his attention on it. He could feel the anger getting out of control.

Her voice cut through the chill silence. He couldn’t quiet decipher her tone, it wavered at the start but grew in strength as she became more and more adamant about her stance. He refused to listen at first but realized he was being childish. He scowled and listened to her retorts.

He tried to hold onto his anger as he heard her reasoning. A few of the things she said irritated him but he could feel the anger slipping away. They were both in a tight spot and both of them had gone through a lot in the past twenty-four bells. And she was right, she did keep him from bleeding out. Had she not, he could have been in a lot worse shape.

As much as he would have preferred staying angry, he knew he couldn’t afford it. His stomach rumbled loudly. He realized they had been trapped in here for a long time now and had gone without food or water. He hadn’t paid much attention after all the chaotic events that had occurred but after taking a few moments to think, he realized they really needed a way out. More so than even before. He could feel the weakened state of his body from the lack of nourishment, the freezing cold and especially the knife wound he had received.

He knew Lenz couldn’t be faring too much better. He hadn’t realized it until now, but both of their mental states had begun to fray and tempers were short. He knew if they were going to make it out before dying of the cold or lack of water, they needed to work together.

He forced the tension out from his mind and focused at the job at hand.

“Alright, Lenz. You’re right, let’s start over. I’m sorry. Everything that has happened…”

He lifted his head up from the window and gingerly turned to lean against it, facing the woman. “…has left me feeling pretty crazy. I shouldn’t have yelled. You…you didn’t deserve that. We both said things we didn’t mean.”

But that was a lie. He did mean the things he said and he was pretty sure she felt the same way. But now was not the time to say it. They needed to be a team. And that meant laying aside their differences and working together.

“So yeah, let’s start over.”

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on March 1st, 2014, 1:27 am

A smile pranced around on her lips. She hated it when someone stayed mad at her and even more so when she was angry at someone else for a long period of time. She just didn’t like the tension that hung in the air when those types of feelings arose.

"Good," she said, her smile spreading.

"Good."

Although Roy didn’t accept her handshake as a means for truce, she didn’t mind. He shifted positions against the wall he leant on as Lenz heard his calming words.

“I shouldn’t have yelled. You…you didn’t deserve that. We both said things we didn’t mean.”

So the two started over. Lenz gave the man a nod before turning around. It was an unusual thing to do, especially after just reaching level grounds with someone who had been made an enemy not more than a few moments ago, but Lenz was determined.

She began to fight with her mind to try to find a reasonable escape. Her emotions were as finicky as Roy hinted to and she was exhausted. She wished more than anything to be back in her tent, sleeping on her bedroll as she snuggled up with her warm and comfy winter blanket.

Just thinking about doing such a thing cast a warm sensation over her body. Some feeling returned to her fingers as she tried to tug at the boards that were nailed to the windows.

Who even did this to windows anyways? she began to complain to herself as she struggled to rip the wood from the wall. It wasn’t going to budge and the woman knew that.

She turned toward the man who still stood on the other side of the room. He looked rather baffled at what she was doing, but then he understood. She was trying to find a way out.

Suddenly she heard a loud growling sound. She whirled around with her eyes widened in horror, trying to locate where the noise had originated from. It came again, only louder before Lenz looked down at her stomach and blushed, her cheeks brightening to a cherry red.

She giggled to herself as she realised that it was just her stomach grumbling, much like Roy’s had a few chimes ago. It was relieve that flooded through her body. She thought for the worst, thinking it was some sort of beast coming to finish the two off.

That would be quite unpleasant.

Frustrated, she gave up and wandered over to another window on the other side of the room. She passed Roy as she walked, a sad grin beaming at him through her messy curls.

There was a part in her that doubted her survival, but the other half guaranteed that they would survive this situation and get out of the building they were trapped in with their lives. Hopefully with every limb still attached as well.

She threw up her arms and latched her fingertips onto the sides of one of the wooden planks and began to tug. Eventually she felt some sort of movement, causing hope to grow in her heart at the thought that the panel was giving way.

She was terribly wrong, however as her hand slipped, a part of one of her nails ripping clean off. Blood seeped out from under the rest of the nail that was still intact, a droplet of blood hitting the floor where she stood.

She quietly cried out in pain as she stuck her finger in her mouth, looking over her shoulder at the man. His eyes were on hers and for some reason she couldn’t dare to look away.

She was not easily swayed as she continued to pull and tug at the wooden boards with her other fingers until something budged. There was a loud sound, like a tornado was touching down from right over head. Then, suddenly there was a flash of white that came crashing down ontop of her.

The ceiling opened up, the wooden panels from overhead having weakened from all the weight of the snow. It had piled up over the days she had been in here and now it had taken too much.

Instinctively she jumped out of the way, dodging a few large chunks of stripped wood, finding a spot where she was least vulnerable to the hectic mess that was forming before her eyes.

She closed them soon after, shielding herself with her arms from all the shrapnel that propelled themselves at her body. She felt sharp pain in her lower legs and upper arms as a few nails serrated her flesh. She kept her balance and maintained her defensive position, though, never faltering in her stability.

Soon the ruckus was over. A cold breeze wafted in the room, sending gooseflesh to erupt up and down her skin. She shivered from the bone chilling wind as snow caressed her ankles. Her pants had come up during all of the commotion.

She dared to open her eyes to see that dim light was filtering in from a large gaping hole overhead. She looked down to see how much damage she had been given. She noticed a large cut on her lower right leg, a few smaller ones littering her right. She searched her arms to see that they were both covered in small cuts with a few bruises forming in different places.

The worst she attained happened to be the nail that had stuck itself in her upper thigh through her pants where it demanded to stay put. She was more than willing to agree, for taking it out would cause severe pain to radiate up the rest of her leg and up her side.

She gasped, fighting for air to reach her lungs. She hadn’t even realised that a large wooden plank had toppled onto her. She was pinned to the ground, with enough room for her chest to rise and fall slightly, but not enough for her to escape.

Her mouth was dry; almost too dry to call out for help, but she managed to let a few words escape through her teeth.

“Roy,” she whispered, licking her lips and coughing slightly. Dust, snow and other rubbish had entered her mouth and lungs. She would have brushed away some rubble from her face had she been able to, but for now she just rested, hoping that Roy hadn’t skipped out on her, running for his own life.

Hadn’t the two come to terms? Weren’t they going to help one another through this? Sure they had had their differences and just recently a heated argument, but hadn’t that all been arranged?

She tried his name again, a little more force put into her voice as she yelled, “Roy!”

She only hoped that he was still here, if not still alive from the terrible impact that had just occurred.

OOC :

by **Roy Kingsfield** on March 15th, 2014, 3:12 am

Day 84 of Winter in the Year 513 AV

It seemed as if the two were back on friendly terms. He knew that they needed to be, otherwise they wouldn’t survive this snow in. A small smile came to his lips as he heard her stomach rumble. He wasn’t the only one whose stomach was rebelling.

He sighed as he watched her move about the room. He felt the same restlessness as she did. They had been trapped here for too long. They needed a way out. He didn’t know if it was the gods answering his prayers or dumb luck when the ceiling caved it. Regardless, he wasn’t expecting it.

He wasn’t paying attention to Lenz’s doing but as she yanked at the boarded up window he saw dust fall from the ceiling. He looked up. “Lenz don-“ but he was cut off as the ceiling suddenly exploded and it came crashing down.
Roy dove away from the wall, dust and snow flooding into the room. He coughed violently, blinded by the chaos of the cave in. He was half buried in the freezing element, his thin clothing doing nothing to stop the chill from overcoming him.

“Lenz!” Roy called out, coughing, waving his hand in front of his face, trying to clear the dust from his view. He heard her shout and he struggled to free himself. He gasped in pain as the scab that had begun to form cracked and blood started seeping through the bandage again. He placed his hands on the ground and started dragging himself out from under the snow.

Inch by inch, he managed to pry himself out from under the snow, the ice slowly breaking up as he kicked his legs violently. He ignored the pain in his side, hearing the pained voice of Lenz. He finally broke free and staggered to his feet. Lenz was a little ways away, buried under snow and a piece of ceiling, keeping her from escaping.

“Lenz!” he shouted out her name again as he leaned against the wall, pushing himself forward. He gripped his side, hoping to stem the flow of blood. “Are you okay?” He finally made it to the woman and rested both hands on the piece of debris.

“Alright, I’m going to lift on three. You are going to need to try and wiggle free. Ready?” Roy took a deep breathe, bracing himself as he prepared to lift the object off of her.

“One.”

He exhaled, trying to ignore the pain in his side, knowing the exertion was going to do a number on him.

“Two.”

Roy planted his feet in the snow, shifting them, trying to get a firm stance.

“Three!”

Roy heaved upwards, grunting under the weight. Veins bulged in his neck. Chords of muscle stood up from his body as he struggled to raise the piece of debris. Inch by inch, he lifted it. He couldn’t even spare the breath to tell her to crawl out. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold it there. His fingers started to slip.

“H-hurry…”

If she didn’t slip out from under the ceiling he was going to crush her underneath it.

NoteSorry for the long delay. I've more or less retired Roy for the time being. So it's takin me a little bit to get around to replying. But I'll finish up this thread with you, pronto!

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on March 16th, 2014, 2:24 am

It was steep, the gaping maw that had formed over the woman’s head. It taunted her with its teeth, the boards and nails that jutted out from all angles. She had enough time to observe the destruction that had been caused by her hasty movements before hands grasped the sides of the board that held her captive underneath it.

“Thank you,” she murmured, dust coming out of her mouth as she did. She coughed, trying to free her lungs from the foreign invaders that had corrupted it.

“Thank you,” she whispered again, looking into the other survivor’s eyes.

She was entirely thankful, incredibly grateful that he stuck around, let alone survived that terrible disaster. She was banged up pretty harshly; she could only imagine how he was doing.

“Are you okay?” he said, acknowledging her consciousness. Lenz nodded vehemently. She was somewhat alright, apart from the piercing pain the nail was giving her, lodged in her upper thigh.

“I’m fine,” she muttered through grit teeth as she tried to help him lift the heavy plank from off of her.

Suddenly a brilliant plan had formed in the woman’s head. If there had ever been insults given to people with red hair, they were about to be shoved into the ground, dust flying into their faces and everything.

Apparently Roy had the same idea that had popped up inside her mind. He was willing to heave the giant mass of wood off her fragile body on the count of three.

She waited impatiently as he said the first two numbers, anticipating being free with much hope. It was as if she was being given a gift for helping around the house and was about to open it. Her hands were already hovering above the bow that tied the present together

Her eyes fluttered from one side of her head to the other as her heart beat in rhythm to the man’s breathing. She closed her eyes and inhaled a large gulp of frigid air. It scraped against the lining in her lungs, but it felt wonderful all the same.

“Three!” he announced loudly.

Lenz immediately thrashed her legs, trying to grip onto anything that would allow herself to hoist her body out of the predicament she had been put in. She found another plank, debris littering its surroundings and pulled herself out by her foot.

The edge of the board scratched against her ankle. She could feel blood slowly spilling out of the wound she had just received. She used her arms to wriggle out; her torso contorting into odd fashions as she finally was free.

She let the breath she had been holding exhale, her shoulders dropping from the worried tension that had been built up inside her. She was saved! She was free and alive, somewhat still intact as she had hoped she would be.

However, one look at the man who’s voluntary duties were the reason she was alive, and she gasped. Blood had started to seep through the makeshift bandages she had wrapped around him.

His abdomen was started to sprout red colours, blood blossoming through the hand that held it with pressure.

“I’m okay,” she told him, her breathing rapid and unstable. “But you aren’t.”

How strange. The last time she had said words similar to those the two had gotten into some sort of tumult. Now, she knew that the both of them needed to escape from the wreckage of this building. She needed to take him to her tent and help him get patched up or at least someone close where she could get a good look at his injuries.

“We need to get out of here,” she said, taking the lead. She grabbed his hand without warning and tugged on it.

He was slightly off balance, probably due to the amount of blood he was losing. He wasn’t doing a very good job with applying pressure to his wound. She would help him with that once she had better supplies and a better area to work.

It was weird to her. The thoughts of the previous few days spent in this old, run down building came to her in a tempest, much like the one she had diligently tried to avoid during the first day.

She didn’t have much knowledge in medicine, yet her instinctual thoughts pointed her in the right direction. ‘Grab something to wrap around the wound. Apply pressure to cease the bleeding’, it had told her.

These were all obvious things to do, something any one probably would have done. It was common sense, and she happened to be calm enough to listen to the voices in her head and do what they commanded of her to do.

“Everything is going to be alright,” she told him as she tried to seek out a decent way to escape.

She wasn’t given many options. There were no alternatives, let alone any easy ways to maneuver. Everything took some sort of skill in climbing, and she had never scaled anything large than a small hill. These routes were steep and dangerous, sharp objects daring to rip through flesh and create gaping holes in her skin.

“I think this way looks the safest,” she said, leading Roy to the right, ducking her head to try to avoid the detritus that had initially made her more despondent. She held her head higher now, though. Her spirits were no longer dejected now that she still had eight lives left. Or was that reference only meant for cats?

She trampled over what appeared to be a broken table and let go of the man’s hand. She placed her hand on a wide board and heaved her left leg up. She was rewarded with a searing pain manifesting itself up her thigh.

She cried out and fell back down, her head hitting the floor fairly hard. She blinked frantically, panic bubbling up inside her stomach. She felt queasy, mainly due to the impact she had just received, but nonetheless she managed to keep down the contents that were threatening to expel out her mouth.

She just lay there for a few moments before mustering up enough strength to maintain a seated posture. She was about to cry, my, she was close to letting those tears fall down her cheeks and mar the dust that had collected on her face. However, the dam never broke. She was unphased, more so was she shocked.

“Do you have any wonderful ideas? Any tactics on how to get out of here?” she asked Roy, looking up at him with squinted eyes.

“Please tell me you do.”

She feigned a smile and waited.

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on April 9th, 2014, 6:50 am

When Roy didn’t respond, Lenz stuttered. She paused and looked him over. He was still holding his wounded side, his face contorted into a mask of pain. She sighed, concern hinting at the breath that expelled out from her nostrils and open mouth.

Thankfully, she didn’t need much unput from the man. An idea had formulated in her mind for the time being and she clawed at it like a wet and desperate animal.

“Give me your hand,” she commanded, not taking no for an answer. She stole the hand that wasn’t being used to clamp his wound. She hoisted him up on a board that seemed stable. She then used his momentum to jump onto a pile of rubbish.

She swayed, her balance being deprived of her for the moment, but instantly regained her composure. She hoisted Roy up another few feet and then used his weight to her advantage as she climbed another few feet upwards.

She could finally smell the outside air, taste the pollution of burning debris and horse manure and the stench of such an atrocious city. It smelled wonderful, it felt surreal. She had been in need of this for the past couple of days and now it had been granted to her on a whim.

Her body still hurt. It ached with the cuts she had received from the disaster that had occurred only moments ago. None were too severed to have the needed priority of bandages, fortunately.

She attempted to grasp the edge of the ceiling and once she had a decent grip, she crawled out, pulling the man who had saved her life alongside her. They landed next to each other on the broken roof, watching the cloudy sky unfurl a slight snowfall.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, emptying her mind of all the horrors that had unfolded in front of her the past several hours and some.

“Thank you,” she whispered before getting up, brushing off her coat and taking off. She descaled the roof, finding foot holes and relatively safe pathways before she landed hard on the surface of the earth.

She wished she could have done more for him, said more to him, but she was too shaken up to even bother staying near that building for a second longer. Who knew? She might catch him around Sunberth later in the season or maybe more so in the next. If anything, she was just glad he knew she was thankful and she hoped he was too for her sake as well as for his own.

She kept walking, without looking back. Roy would be fine. She was sure of it. He would live and so would she. They would both move on with their lives and that would be that.

However, only one thing was on her mind right now and that was Ipisol, the dear child she held close to her heart. She had been away from her in what felt like forever and as she began to pick up the pace, her heart longed for her touch.

She envisioned holding her in her arms, stroking her head and those images were enough motivation to get her to a rather quick pace. She ran, all the while, screaming, “I’m coming Ips!”

What a crazy few days, all of which she had survived through.

oocI decided to finish this up since it has been around a month without a reply from Roy. I hope this was alright.