Closed Disaster Crews and Disastrous News(Bran)

[Drusilla]

32nd of Summer 515AV Drusilla found herself placed on disaster crew for today. She'd get more food... If she could eat it... She looked over who she'd be working with, one person stood out... Brandon. Her stomach lurched a bit. She had to talk to him, not that she wanted to. But it was only fair, right? Plus she did have a birthday present for him anyways... Maybe that would soften the blow of what she had to say. Should she start the talking? Or should she wait for him to speak up. Drusilla turned away from the bat. They were moving rocks today and much to everyone's surprise the Symenestra showed her own ability to carry more than anyone would of thought. Yes, she'd stick to this... Brandon would have to talk to her sooner of later. She had been moving the rocks for a fair amount of time before she ran to an out of the way place and began to vomit. She groaned in protest to her stomach. "Really? There's nothing for me to toss up anymore, dear. You really need to stop this, it's not good for either of us." The comments were aimed at herself and as if to show it's rebelliousness her body hunched and she vomited again. Looking up she wiped her mouth and shot the curious a look.

[Brandon Blackwing]

Disaster crew assignments today. Fun was not the word for it, though apart from spending time in the Inclement or any other place that wasn't really work nothing really was. Not here. Well, except maybe teaching the yasi... maybe. But that was not because of him teaching or him liking the youths, but more because of it felt more like time off. Do a bit of training, practice a bit and in the meantime show the yasi something basic. Now the children had become rather used to him and he to them, there there hadn't been many arguments about the way he taught them, or what he taught them. The fact that they'd finally started doing some martial arts may have helped with that.

Today however, there was none of that. No easygoing instructing yasi while he trained a bit himself. No, today was real work. Moving rocks. Well, at least it was a workout of sorts, and there was always a need to build ones body. Pure workouts were too boring that Brandon had a strong dislike of doing them... unless he was showing off. Or if he was drunk. Nevertheless, bells of bodybuilding exercises were a little too dull to keep up, so this was actually a welcome task. What better way to stay in shape than with moving boulders?

With some other people the bat was fighting a particularly large rock, shoving it forwards rhythmically, an outburst of strength coming from all four men at once. Muscles contracted and pushed in their legs, backs and arms, pushing the huge cubic piece of rock to the designated area where others would break it down into smaller parts and get rid of it. What they did with the rubble was a mystery. It was probably moved to another place where it was used for one thing or another. Construction perhaps. Brandon didn't really care, it wasn't like he had to worry about it either.

Eventually, the boulder reached its destination, and the workers returned to the gate, which was still blocked by lots and lots of debris. The four of them headed to another large rock, but this one was rather roundish, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem. It was quite a bit larger though. Nevertheless, the combined strength managed to move the thing, rolling it slowly to the heap of moved rubble, three people actually moving it forwards, and the last person keeping it from gaining momentum and crashing into people or objects. It wasn't supposed to move too fast, and Brandon was the one who was supposed to keep that from happening. And so he walked backwards, every so often pushing against the rock, slowing it down as it started rolling too fast.

Soon that piece of landslide had been brought to its new temporary location, and again the small group headed back to the gates. No large rocks had been uncovered enough yet, and as such each part of the group headed off to gather smaller rocks, picking them up and carrying re-localizing them. Some endal were keeping watch, spying the area for Zith, though it was unlikely they'd attack during the daylight bells; so instead they had decided to sit back and watch, supervising the crews. Said crews were made up out of all sorts of castes; dek, chiet, avora and even some endal. No one really complained, not even the endal, probably because they wanted to get the gate operational as soon as possible. A common goal among all castes it seemed, no-one really wanted to be stuck in the city, no matter how much they loved it.

Muscles tensed, Brandon stumbled forwards with his burden, the rock weighing heavy as he clenched it against his chest as hard as he could, arms underneath it. As an acrobat and martial artist, Brandon's body had been developed a lot of muscles, though his were more wiry than bulky. Nevertheless, compared to the average individual the bat did have considerable strength in him. That said, when compared with people whose muscles were larger, he obviously was a lot weaker. It mattered not though; he was strong enough, and besides, he was flexible and fast. There was no need for excessive amounts of muscle or strength.

A peculiar sound reached Brandon's ears, and when looking for the source, he saw Drusilla bent over vomiting her stomach up. Some lines in Symenos came after that, and Brandon frowned. Putting the boulder next to some of its kind, the bat moved over to the place the Symenestra stood hunched over. Dru had seemed as if she'd been avoiding him today, even though the bat was sure she'd seen him glance over at her and wave. And the bat had noticed her shooting glances in his direction as well... Something was not quite right here, not at all. What it was though..? “So, this is probably a stupid question,” Brandon started gingerly, “But are you alright? You don't look that well to be honest...” The sym was a little pale -well, paler than usual- and vomiting wasn't really a sign of good health either.

Credit goes to Engghaen

[Drusilla]

Drusilla slowly looked up at the source of the voice. Of course it had to be... Symenos... An exasperated sigh, "Haaaah... As fine as I can be. I mean, I'm alive aren't I? Besides, I know why I'm sick and it won't kill me." She managed a smile at the bat. She stood up wobbling a bit and holding onto Brandon as she steadied herself, "Come sit with me for a bit." Finding a boulder, which wasn't that hard... Drusilla sat down. "First off, Happy Birthday! I got you something as a present... It's not very practical, well I guess it partly is... And then I have something to tell you and I have some questions for you, if that's alright." Shifting how she sat on the boulder and rummaged through her bag, "Brandon, what's your family like? You're an only child are you not?" From her own bag she pulled a rucksack. "I noticed you didn't have one of your own..." Drusilla smiled at him. "That's not really your present though, but I thought it best to get you something to carry it in. As I doubt you intend to stay in Wind Reach forever, I mean you have a home elsewhere...." She watched how the bat reacted to the bag. Giving gifts were always more fun to give than get in her opinion. "This is you real gift, it's more for show than for use..." Drusilla looked around before pulling the gift from her bag. "Don't let the Avora take it from you.." From her bag Drusilla pulled a shimmering gold dagger that caught the sunlight and glittered. Drusilla quickly pushed the dagger under Brandon's new bag. "Not too useful for fighting but... It will be a good memento when you leave Wind Reach one day.. Until then, it's just something pretty to look at or blind someone with." The Symenestra gave a small laugh. She'd let Brandon enjoy this little bit of time before telling him the news that would no doubt change the mood for the worse. She wanted to stay friends with the bat Kelvic. They had become sort of close. But would that last after she told him?

[Brandon Blackwing]

Dru’s response was met with a raised eyebrow and a skeptical expression. Being alive did not necessarily mean everything was fine. There was a reason death was deliverance, and it was not because life was all rainbows and rose petals. The sym did say she knew why she was sick, and seeing as she wasn’t freaking out it must mean whatever she’d caught wasn’t as bad as Brandon thought it was. He shrugged at her invitation and plopped down right next to her with a sigh that expressed his bodies relief.

“Oh? Ah, thanks,” Brandon said a little surprised, not remembering having told the spider his birthday. He didn’t even remember her asking about it either… Ah well. “You even have a gift? You didn’t have to you know…” he trailed off, mind already trying to figure out what exactly it was she was going to give him. Whether he found his birthday a special day or not, getting presents was always fun. “Sure, ask all you like,” he replied excitedly, though letting his eyes dart around the site, trying to spot any supervising endal who had a problem with the bat and spider sitting around doing nothing.

Fortunately though, break time was announced, resulting in the whole crew padding off for either a drink or for a place to sit down. Others just placed themselves down on the same spot they’d been standing in just a tick ago. Convenient timing, Brandon’s conversation with Dru wouldn’t be interrupted by supervisors or other workers annoyed with their lack of productivity. “My family? Ah, I haven’t told you about them, have I?” the bat pondered, “Yes, I‘m an only child; I don’t have any siblings –blood related ones that is.” He paused as his onyx orbs spotted Dru pulling a rucksack from her own backpack, handing it to him.

Not his real present? Ah, made sense, as she’d said his present wasn’t really practical, which was a bit of a bummer. Practical things were perfect for gifts… they were perfect for just about anything really; because they were practical. Quickly Brandon opened the rucksack, peering into its insides thinking he’d find his true gift there, but nope. The real thing came just a chime or so later, after the spider looked around first for a bit. It was a golden dagger, a shimmering shiny blade that sparkled in the light. “Oooh, it’s shiny!”the thief spoke dazzled by the gold. Indeed, it wasn’t practical at all, but it was shiny, which was just as good –well, almost. Nevertheless, Brandon was happy with it, and he’d find a task for the blade, eventually.

A snort as he placed the dagger in the rucksack, closing the latter with some quick movements. “Like I let anyone take anything from me! Chances of that happening are low. Extremely low.” He smiled. “But you wanted to know about my family, right? There’s not much to tell really.” A shrug. “As you know, I grew up in Kalinor. I lived there with my mother and her bondmate –he’s my step-father. Ehm, what else?” Some fingers tapped his chin as he pondered on the subject for a bit. “Gallan’s a fabric shop, so he sells fabrics to the seamstresses and all… Eh, he’s a human by the way, in case you were wondering. My mother is a bear, she’s a bit like me, but less…” One hand made circles in the air as he struggled to come up with the word. “… mischievous, I guess? And she has a temper, especially during the Winter she can be kind of grumpy. Or early in the morning,” he grinned.

“Gallan’s just, you know… easy going. He’s gentle and friendly, patient too. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him angry, really. He’s a great person. Both of them are.” Brandon beamed, staring slightly upwards, remembering times long past.

Credit goes to Engghaen

[Drusilla]

Drusilla couldn't help but laugh at Brandon's reaction to the dagger, "You're such a magpie!" She laughed some more, "Eh? And how do you plan to protect your shiny prize?" A large smile shown on Drusilla's face. She was glad he liked it, and if this was the end of a friendship at least there had been one final happy moment. Leaning over she gave the bat a friendly hug and ruffled his long messy hair. Please don't hate me... Don't feel you need to run away... "A... bear? Like a bear, bear? That would not of been my first guess. Kelvics truly are random like they say..." For the rest of the time Drusilla just listened to Brandon's happy memories of his family. So he didn't know his father... and another man raised him as his own. How... Oh what was the word?! History would repeat itself again it seemed. Her hand absentmindedly moved to her stomach. She looked away from Brandon, eyes down. "I have something to tell you. But I'm not sure how to tell you without you having a bad reaction and avoiding me or leaving Wind Reach. Because it was my fault anyway and I take complete responsibility for it. Nothing falls on you. But, remember that night? Turrin's birthday?" She paused a moment. "I'm throwing up because... I'm having morning sickness, well to be honest it's more all the time sickness. You see Brandon... I'm..late... That's one way of putting it... Ummm..." Drusilla swallowed and sighed, "I'll just be blunt. Brandon, I'm pregnant and you were the only male that I.... Yeah. It's your's. But, it's okay I get it. You're young, and soon enough you'll be off to a new city. I understand, and I don't expect anything from you, Turrin has said he'd raise the child as his own, like Gallan did with you. I just wanted you to know... You have that right." Another sigh, "I understand if you go about avoiding me although... I hoped we could still be friends despite..." She placed her hands on her belly.

[Brandon Blackwing]

When Dru started to speak up with her eyes averted, refusing to look the bat in the eye, Brandon suspected he was about to receive some bad news. The rather hesitant tone she was using strengthened that belief. For a while he said nothing as Dru spoke, dropping words like responsibility and fault. So she had news she believed would make him leave the city? That was … bad. That sounded very, very bad. “Turrin’s birthday?” Brandon scratched his cheek. “No, I can’t say I do…” Usually he’d have said this with a huge grin, but not now. Not with this potentially awful news waiting around the corner.

That night last season had been rather wild, and judging from the hangover he’d wrestled with, there had been way too much alcohol consumed. He couldn’t quite recall much, not more than a few flashes here and there. He remembered the first part of the evening clearly, but the latter? Sure, he remembered Dru being there, as well as Turrin and …. eh … Sira? But more than that? Nope, it was a huge black hole in his memory. A void. Anything could have happened that night and he had no recollection of it.

Meanwhile, the Symenestra fumbled with words until she’d put her thoughts into words.

Pregnant.

Dru was pregnant.

His first reaction was just a mental shrug; he didn’t really see the problem with Dru becoming a mother. That is, until she mentioned Turrin and raising the baby. “Oh.” That was it, that was Brandon’s external reaction to the information; his internal reaction was a bit less composed though. To be completely honest, it had never occurred to him that perhaps he should help raise the child. It was clear that while the spider claimed she did not, she expected him to though –a little maybe.

Now he knew about it though, there was a clash between the two very different sides within him. A clash between man and bat. The animal side saw no reason to bother with the child at all; it may not have been mating season, but he had done his job as a male nevertheless. He had mated, end of story. His human side though was of a different opinion; it recalled what he had just said about Gallan, what Dru had said about Turrin. The child was his, he should take responsibility. Brandon was the father, not Turrin. In a way, he had to take care of it. But taking responsibility had never been one of Bran’s traits, not really.

Besides, there were other things he needed to do, other cities he had to visit –wanted to visit. How long did it take for a non-kelvic child to reach adulthood? Fourteen years? More? He did not have that much time; that was crazy long! It was insanely long! That was probably his whole lifespan! Brandon did not want to spend the rest of his life putting up with a crying, helpless creature chaining him to Wind Reach. No way in Hai he’d let that happen. There were three ways of dealing with it: flee the city –kind of like Dru had feared he’d do, deny the child being his, or going with the bat way of dealing with this situation.

Denying it was quite useless; it wasn’t because he did not remember that things did not happen. True, he may have woken up in the fighting pits, but what had he done before that? There was no real way of finding out. Besides, it would only hurt Dru. As the spider was family, his sister, he had to be considerate of her feelings. Not to mention he did not want to come across like a total jerk. The bat way did just that though; and that was the basis of the conflict between the man and bat. Social norms and such. Concern of how people would view him. Usually he shrugged it off by simply not caring, but this was different. The people of Wind Reach could go screw themselves, but not Zhol, or Khara –Turrin even. In a way he liked each one of them –Turrin not so much- and as a result their opinion mattered. Tsk. A dilemma.

No use in trying to think about which choice would be best, dilemmas had a cruel way of keeping you from reaching a final decision. Instead, Brandon pulled one of his daggers out of their hiding place and studied the blade for a tick, then slicing his pinky with a quick motion, creating a shallow, though painfully stinging cut. Softly he smeared the blood welling up from inside of him onto one side of the blade, marking it. Blood is responsibility, clean is the bat way. And then he tossed the weapon into the air, throwing it slightly in front of him so it wouldn’t accidentally harm himself or Dru. For a couple ticks the blade spun in the air, and then it clattered onto the floor, bloody side up. “Hmmm…” Nope, I don’t want to be rid of my freedom, the bat way it is.


Once the blade had been retrieved, Brandon cleaned it with his pants and some saliva, getting rid of the drying blood. The bat way. Well, he’d have to own it. He was the father, sure, but what about it? He wasn’t human, he did not need to bother with human customs, nor syminestra customs or any other customs. He was Kelvic, more animal than man, being a father or looking like a human did not change any of that. “Of course we can still be friends. You’re family Dru, you’re a sister to me.” The bat smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close into a comforting hug of sorts. “I’m not going to run away either. I will leave the city at one point or another, yes, but not just yet. When I do I will send letters though, if you want. I don’t have the time to raise a child, and even if I did, I still have ambitions. But you understand.” Another smile. The thief wasn’t making excuses, he was only stating some facts.

Credit goes to Engghaen

[Drusilla]

A simple 'Oh' and yet it seemed to be a fitting answer to expect from the bat. Not because he was insensitive, but because how else would one react to such news? Drusilla sighed and closed her eyes resting momentarily, her long arms wrapped around her still flat stomach. A moment of peace, with her stomach. After all the vomiting she had been doing a moment of just being able to sit and relax was a wonderful thing. A metallic clatter made her jump and her moment of blissful rest was over. For some unknown reason the sight of the blood on the dagger in front of her made her stomach lurch. "Gods, not again..." Turning away from Brandon, she once more found herself being forced to empty any contents of her stomach. She couldn't stop the morning sickness, so she simply let it run it's course as an unwilling and unhappy participant. "Bitta, can we stop with this now?" The Symenestra asked her abdomen with a sigh. Once she had finished her vomiting, Drusilla wiped her mouth with her already ruined sleeves. She could tell this news wasn't news Brandon wanted to hear...ever. All she could do is look away from the bat. Part of her wanted to be emotional, for Brandon himself to show some happy emotions or ask some questions at least...Are you hoping for a girl or a boy? This may be a little early, but have you begun to figure out names? But no, silence was all she heard. Suddenly, Brandon hugged her. While she wanted to hug him back, Drusilla distanced herself emotionally from the bat's hug. His attempt at cheeriness was mainly an act, she was sure of it. "If you want to write letters to know how the child's doing... I'll reply. I'm sure you'll be gone by the time the child's born. Like I said, I don't expect or... rather I'll raise this child with Turrin and just give you your freedom." She paused, "With Turrin's influence this child will be raised as an Endal's offspring, Wind Reach will be wrapped around this child's finger." Drusilla looked at the bat, "There... is one thing.... I'd like from you... Buy a tunic, one as close to the color you are as a bat. Wear it, until it holds your scent. Once it's broken in, bring it to me." She looked away again. "I wish to use it to make a doll for the child, a small bat plush. So that, in a way the child will have their daddy. If you really care about this child or me, tell me about you until you leave. Children ask questions and I want to be able to answer those questions."

[Brandon Blackwing]

I knew it, the bat thought as he heard the spider retract her words and state she’d raise the child with Turrin and give him his freedom. So you really expected me to take responsibility after all. Perhaps this had been some kind of test, a test to figure out just who exactly the Kelvic was, what kind of person he was. The answer probably did not really please the Symenestra, but it couldn’t be helped, Brandon was Brandon, and that couldn’t be changed so easily. Perhaps for the sake of their friendship, for the bond –not a kelvic bond- that had grown between them she’d not demanded he’d take responsibility. She’d given him a choice, and he had chosen. Whether she was happy with it or not, it was probably the only way things could have stayed relatively good between them. Dru knew how important his freedom was; one did not just decide things in his stead.

Brandon sighed, believing to hear a hint of skepticism in her words. “If you truly care” huh? Oh man, that was a despicable way of asking. That was emotional blackmail. Brandon hated blackmail, just like dilemmas, though the latter could be solved with tossing a coin. He scowled. “Sure, I’ll get me a shirt for you,” he said, maybe a little coldly. He’d wear the thing too, at night or whenever he’d sleep, when he’d sweat a lot, so his scent would seep into the piece of clothing quickly. A season would probably be enough. “I’ll tell you about myself as well,” Brandon gave in, “but not now. Not here. I’ll tell you when I want to, when I feel the time is right.” Gods knew when that would be. “And now I have to get back to work.”

Not an excuse, but a fact, though the timing was more than a little bit convenient. Supervising endal were shouting something in Nari to which the workers responded with moans and getting to their feet, slouching towards the rocks. “Nice talking to you, Drusilla.” Brandon never called the Symenestra by her full given name, but he did now. And with that the thief excused himself and strode back to the rock-filled gate, picking up the first boulder he could find and lift and carried it to the spot he’d been carrying all others to earlier. His arms started burning soon enough, the rock perhaps being a little heavier than he was could manage without a problem. Or maybe his arms were just exhausted. Either way he did not care, moving the stone as quickly as he could manage and then returned to the gate, grabbing another one. That one too was brought to the designated area. For the rest of his shift Brandon did not purposefully look into Drusilla’s direction, but if she happened to be in his field of vision he didn’t avert his eyes, nor did he fix them on her. In a way it was as if she did not exist anymore that day. Depending on how long he could stay like this, depending on how long his mind would repeat those words, she might not even exist the next day either.

Credit goes to Engghaen

[Drusilla]

The bat's sudden abruptness and (was it anger?) stunned Drusilla. She sat her mouth agape. Unsure of what had just transpired she sat dazed for a moment. Something inside her felt broken and for a good while she sat thinking, trying to figure out how to fix whatever had broken. The creature in her belly.... She could.... dispose... of this creature, so small and helpless. It would/could be taken out without much effort... Drusilla absentmindedly pulled one of her own daggers from her leg. She stared at the dagger for quite some time turning it in her hand. "All it would take... A quick jab, and you'd be gone." The Symenestra hissed at herself. Taking the dagger in both hands. She could do this. No one was watching her. Nobody cared. The dagger was pointed at her stomach. Just be quick. She mentally prepared herself for the pain and move the the dagger away from her body. Okay... One... Two... Three!!! She thrust the dagger towards herself, only to be stopped by the overseer of the rock movement who yelled out at her. However she didn't walk away unscathed, in the moment she had been yelled at the dagger had grazed her stomach. A thin line of droplets was forming. The Symenestra sheathed the dagger giving the overseer a glare and got to her feet. Returning to moving the large rocks, Drusilla could tell Brandon was going out of his way to ingnore her. It hurt more than anything else. But sorrow quickly boiled over to anger and she wanted to reach out and shake some sense into the bat. Finally she spoke up in Symenos yelling so he'd hear, "I only told you because deep down I thought maybe you'd be excited! Maybe... Maybe you would of happily chattered away asking questions about this child! I don't know what crazy notion you have in your head or what you think I was trying to do! But that's all I meant to do... All I wanted was sincerity of the letters! Doing it because you wanted to not because it would make me happy. I wasn't even going to tell you, but then I thought what if you wanted to see the child or hold it or have any input on the child in general! Forget the shirt, forget everything..." Somewhere in her yelling she had begun to cry, and now felt light headed. It was everything, the lack of food, the vomiting, anger, sadness, the heat, the strain from moving the boulders. As if to add to the dizziness, she felt another round of morning sickness coming. Wobbling and teetering she made her way to an out of the way spot to throw up. The overseer spoke up to the Symenestra again, this time out of concern. With her behavior the worry of heatstroke came to mind. In the chirpy language she was asked if an infirmary visit was need to which she shook her head. However to the question of leaving early the woman sighed telling them it might be for the best and with a nod a female Endal who may have figured out what was truly wrong with Drusilla, let her go home. Even offering to have someone escort her. It all seemed fine, until Brandon was suggested as the one to take her home. To that she refused. Convincing the Endal that she could and would make it home safely, she started back to the Aeries; Not bothering to glance behind.

[Estrellir Konrath]

Drusilla

Socialization +2
Rhetoric +2
Observation +1


Being pregnant: Morning sickness
Brandon’s family
Carrying Brandon’s child
Children need to know their father
Brandon: Doesn’t accept his child

Brandon Blackwing

Bodybuilding +2
Storytelling +1
Rhetoric +2


Birthday presents from Dru
Dru carries Brandon’s child
Internal conflict: Responsibility vs. freedom
Running from responsibility

Plain rucksack
Gold dagger

Notes

When I started reading, I couldn’t help but hope for the best… but of course, it had to end in disaster. Looking forward to how their relationship will develop after that! PM me with any questions or concerns!