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Post by Elvander on Feb 3, 2020 17:05:00 GMT
Trys sighed, returning to her chair. “There’s a spare room down the hall, across from mine. I’ll secure the bounty hunter for the night, and Aloy will sleep outside your door,” she gestured to the puma, who was still stretched out by the fire, tail flicking lazily as the predator watched the scene unfold. “I’ll have breakfast for us all in the morning.” She paused, fixing her gaze on Kiona. “I’m sorry for all that you have lost,” she murmured. “I can’t make that right, but I will do my best to give you a shot at another life.”
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Post by starrea on Feb 4, 2020 3:58:17 GMT
Kiona’s gaze flicked up to Trys and she softened a little. This stranger had done nothing but go out of her way to help and defend her and Kiona had brought nothing but trouble to her doorstep. An overwhelming sense of gratitude combined with Trys’s mention of what she had lost almost caused her to crack and breakdown right there on the sofa, but she blinked tears back. She couldn’t fall apart, not here. She promised herself that she would grieve but she was worried that once she started to grieve, she would lose herself in it and that wasn’t something that would be safe to do right now. She had to push everything aside and focus on what was important; surviving another day.
With one last look at Trys and the bounty hunter, she stood, mumbled a ‘thanks’ to Trys, and retreated to the bedroom. She closed the door, immediately pushing a chair up against it. It wouldn’t stop someone from entering, but the door would knock the chair over and wake her up.
Kiona climbed into the bed and this time she was unable to stop the tears. They silently rolled down her cheek until pure exhaustion won and she fell soundly asleep.
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Post by Elvander on Feb 5, 2020 19:59:18 GMT
As promised, Aloy slept outside Kiona’s door all night, defending the woman her mistress had brought in. Ike and Hound were clearly to be mistrusted. Trys has quietly allowed the fire to die down to embers, and had tossed a blanket Ike’s way before she retreated to her own room. It was still fairly dark in the cabin as morning broke, due to the clouds which hurtled the snowstorm at them. Trys dressed, changing into soft, thick pants and layered tops, completed with a buckskin coat. She made two braids small braids in her hair, taking the time to bead them. It was a wilder look, but it kept most strands away from her face while allowed the rest to flow freely down her shoulders. She slipped on moccasins and padded into the living room, stopping to scratch Aloy’s ears on her way. She cast a glance at Ike as she began to stoke the fire anew. She’d have to go out to the woodshed and bring in more wood later, she noted. She should also tend to Ike’s leg, which had been slashed by Aloy the day before. But first, Trys pulled out some of her stored food. A loaf of bread, some cheese, and dried fruit for Kiona to enjoy when she woke. Then, she removed a small box containing medical supplies- herbs, poultices, bandages, healing salves. It payed to be prepared out in the wilderness, when leaving the cabin wasn’t always an option. She approached Ike, crouching a few feet away from him. “Are you awake, bounty hunter?”
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Post by Val on Feb 5, 2020 23:36:51 GMT
Ike had slept in brief increments throughout the night, continuously waking to make sure that the monster had not awoken in the next room. Their host had no idea what kind of danger she was subjecting herself to. When Trys entered the room the next morning, his eyes flickered open immediately, but he remained completely still. He watched her every move around the room from his corner, noting that she could pass as one of his people from the way that she adorned herself. Not that there were many women in his particular tribe.
When she finally approached him, he sat up with a grunt, eyeing the medicine box with distrust, "Of course I'm awake," he rumbled, cracking his stiff neck with a tilt of his head. Hound stirred from sleep and regarded Trys excitedly, rolling onto his back as his tail swished from side to side across the floor. Ike looked away with something close to embarrassment over his dog trusting their captor enough to expose his belly, "Stupid mutt..." he muttered under his breath.
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Post by starrea on Feb 5, 2020 23:51:23 GMT
Kiona dreamt of blood. The room she was in... she recognized it. It was the ballroom. She was on the ground and she sat up slowly, her gaze taking too long to focus. The blurriness finally focused and she stifled a scream; blood was everywhere. Blood splatter decorated the walls, dripping down to form pools on the floor. The floor was a mosaic of blood pools, foot steps, and drag marks all outline in crimson red. She felt something wet drip on her forehead and she looked up to see the ceilings were dripping down blood. Kiona gagged and lifted a hand to wipe the blood away but stopped - her hand was also covered in blood. Had it been that way before? She looked at her other hand and it, too, was covered. She looked down at herself, horrified to see blood splatter sprayed across her clothes. She opened her mouth to scream but only blood came out.
Kiona’s eyes snapped open and she immediately retched. She didn’t have time to process where she was or anything - she needed to find a toilet. She nearly fell out of the bed as she struggled to reach the door, throwing the chair she had put in front of it to the side, and raced into the bathroom. She fell on her knees in front of the toilet just as her stomach forced whatever was left up and out. She retched a couple more times after that but even bile wasn’t coming up and the nausea faded. She stood up and rinsed her mouth out, her mind drifting back to her dream. She felt heavy and unmotivated and all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed, but that wasn’t an option. Not until the bounty hunter was taken care of in way or another.
Kiona walked down the hallway and into the living room, eyes immediately assessing that the bounty hunter was still secured before looking at Trys and offering a weak smile. She moved to sit on the couch, too shaken to do anything other than that.
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Post by Elvander on Feb 7, 2020 17:16:54 GMT
Aloy stirred as Kiona bolted from the room, and followed her to the bathroom. It was clear to the animal that she had been tasked with protected the girl. So Aloy stood guard outside the bathroom, and when Kiona left it, she followed her to the living room, and silently curled up at her feet with a flick of her tail.
Trys chuckled as Hound exposed his belly, and she took the time to give it a good rub. She loved animals, and it was clear that Hound was no fierce guard dog. She watched Ike carefully, "Will you let me tend to the wound on your leg? I don't want the gashes to become infected." She offered, waiting for his permission before she attempted to touch him. She looked up as Kiona entered the room with Aloy, and smiled back at the poor girl. No doubt she'd had a less than restful night. The window howled outside, hurtling itself against the cabin as if it was trying to get inside. "There's food on the table, if you're hungry. Would you like a bath today?" she asked, trying to account for the needs of her guests as best she could, given the circumstances. While Trys was mostly solitary, it was by choice and not because she didn't like or care about others. She genuinely did. She could only hope it wouldn't backfire on her.
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Post by starrea on Feb 7, 2020 19:17:59 GMT
The mention of food caused Kiona’s stomach to turn and she shook her head, “No thank you, not right now.” Her eyes snapped back to the bounty hunter, but they lacked the same fire that was in them last night. It was exhausting to constantly be on edge and ready to fight or flee at a moment’s notice.
The idea of a bath sounded nice, but she had to figure out her next move before she did anything else. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to break up some of the knots without much success.
“Has the storm stopped? I think we need to come to some sort of agreement.” Kiona didn’t really want to talk about it but she didn’t have a choice. She wanted to live and he wanted to kill her and she didn’t want to be put in a position of having to choose between her life and someone else’s. Because she knew she would choose to live and that meant she would have to kill.
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Post by Val on Feb 7, 2020 19:21:26 GMT
Ike noticeably tensed when Kiona reentered the room, scanning her for any signs that she might suddenly go rogue. He narrowed his eyes at her pointedly and then turned away, focusing on his injured leg. He couldn't begin to understand Trys' hospitality, but he needed to be in good condition if he intended on surviving and completing his mission.
"Don't encourage it," he grumbled as she pet Hound. In his eyes, the dog would be worthless if not for his nose. He dragged his leg in her direction and used his other foot to roll up his bloody pant leg, taking at look at the damage for the first time. Four distinct claw marks were evident on his calf, though the blood had long staunched and dried. It was a superficial wound, but still ran the risk of becoming infected. He leaned back and stared at Trys expectantly, "Go on, then."
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Post by Elvander on Feb 7, 2020 21:55:08 GMT
Trys got to work, cleaning the wound carefully. "Maybe you should take a page from your dog's book and try to be a little friendlier," Trys grumbled and pressed a little harder than necessary against the tender wounds to make a point. She smiled sweetly at him, applying a salve, and then wrapping his calf in clean bandages. She pulled his pant leg back down and stood up, gazing at Kiona with a sigh.
"The storm's still raging. It should ebb in a couple more days. But you're right, we do need a plan. And I think I need to know everything that I can, if I'm going to help you." Trys moved to the living room, "So what are you? Are you dangerous?" She hoped that Kiona would be honest, but she was trusting Ike to fill in the blanks if she wasn't.
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Post by starrea on Feb 8, 2020 2:51:40 GMT
Kiona grit her teeth, holding her head in her hands as she tried to gather her thoughts. The whole situation was proving to be beyond her ability to cope... but she didn’t have another choice. It was adapt or die. With a sigh, she opened them again and put her hands in her lap and leaned back, looking between the other two inhabitants.
“I don’t know what you want from me. I’m Kiona Volkov, daughter of Motya Volkov, Emperor of the Grovkha Empire. I am the only surviving member of my family because they,” she glared at Ike, “massacred my family. They claim it is because they think I am a monster, but it is because they wanted a reason to revolt. Not only have they killed my family but they have forced me to abandon the only home I’ve ever known.” She crossed her arms over her chest, starting to feel like she had to defend herself from these two. Maybe Trys wasn’t as nice as she seemed. What if she deemed her guilty - would she help the hunter incapacitate her?
She had already been mulling over her options but with Ike here, it forced her to pick something faster. She would need to adopt a new name and a new home to start. Her father had a few allies stationed in other lands, but Kiona had never paid much attention to his business. Retribution, if she ever wanted to claim it, would only be possible if she tracked them down.
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Post by Val on Feb 8, 2020 3:34:35 GMT
Ike stared at Trys unflinchingly as she tended to the wound, resisting the urge to argue and complain at her. When she finished, he relaxed and stretched his legs out on the floor in front of him, feeling unbearable stiff. He had made a deal with himself during the night to speak to the women as little as possible, to focus on a plan rather than bickering. But as Kiona described her background and practically begged for pity, he couldn't contain himself.
"She's a Lycan," he interjected, focusing solely on Trys, "She might not even know it, which makes her all the more dangerous. Her family was dispatched because they continued to reproduce more of their kind, threatening the lives of innocents. There are two sides to every story. Don't let your pity for her get you killed." It was an honest warning, one he hoped she would heed before it was too late. His gaze finally drifted toward the dirty shapeshifter, wondering if she truly didn't know what she was capable of.
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Post by Elvander on Feb 9, 2020 1:07:47 GMT
Trys had been about to ask what Kiona meant when she kept saying "monster". Ike interjected with the information, and Trys wondered how that would change the circumstances. Lycans were... dangerous. But had her family been attacked without provocation, and simply out of fear of someone different? Trys sighed, leaning down to run her fingers through Aloy's fur. "Kiki... that's what I need. The truth. Are you a lycan?" she asked directly, "I'm not going to turn on you, but I just need to understand. I'm sorry for the loss of your family. But... are you dangerous? Was your family dangerous?"
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Post by starrea on Feb 9, 2020 1:23:22 GMT
“Liar!” Kiona hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits as Ike spoke. She clenched and unclenches her hands, trying to keep her anger at bay but it was proving to be difficult. Kiona had been very close to both her parents and sisters - if that had been true, they surely would have told her. “My parents advocated for the eradication of irresponsible breeding of those with non-natural abilities and forms. And this is how you repay them!”
Kiona had been so focused on channeling her hatred towards Ike that Trys’s words surprised her. Her gaze shot to Trys, in complete disbelief that she was actually buying this bounty hunter’s bullshit. “Are you serious? Of course I’m not a lycan!” She growled, getting up and stalking towards the kitchen. She needed some space to move and she paced back and forth. She needed to consider the possibility that Trys would take the bounty hunter’s side. She peeked outside but it was still snowing hard enough that she could barely make out the outlines of the trees. Kiona looked back towards her forced-companions, suddenly feeling vulnerable without a weapon in her hand.
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Post by Val on Feb 9, 2020 1:55:27 GMT
Ike became restless at Kiona started to get more and more worked up. She looked like someone who felt backed into a corner. In his experience, that was when a creature became its most dangerous self. "Your parents were the worst offenders. They thought they were above the law," he argued, fists flexing against his restraints. Hound whined in response to the tension, droopy eyes following Kiona's every move. "Calm her down," Ike snapped at Trys. In reality, he didn't know what Kiona was actually capable of. He'd faced his fair share of supernatural creatures, but Lycans were strange breed. There were stories of them only shifting under the light of a full moon, but there were also tales of those that could turn at will. He wasn't taking any chances.
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Post by Elvander on Feb 9, 2020 20:09:45 GMT
This was a mess. Trys was beginning to wish she hadn't caught the girl's trail. She pushed the thought away. It was honorable to help those in need. "Look, I'm just asking questions. I don't know who to believe. I know that I feel bad for you, and that you don't deserve to be hunted down. It's none of my business, really. I'm sticking to my plan. I will help you live a new life, once the storm clears. You'll get food and warm clothes and I can give you directions to a town nearby, where you can book passage to somewhere far away." She glanced at Ike, "And you will stay here until I'm sure she'll be far away from you."
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