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Post by Val on Mar 27, 2020 1:28:51 GMT
Ike watched her absorb the information, appearing satisfied when she fell silent and stayed silent. Finally, the obstinate princess had accepted the difficult truth. He eyed Trys during the long stretch of silence, not exactly sure how this was going to proceed. It was a complicated situation, but he felt like he was finally gaining control over the two of them, which was a world of difference from being tied up in the cabin.
When Kiona finally spoke again, he sighed and loosened his grip on her momentarily. He leaned back and shrugged off yet another layer of his clothing, wrapping it tightly around Kiona. Combined with the other layers they had garbed her with, he figured it would be enough warmth to make it back to shelter.
Ike pushed himself to his feet and bent down, scooping Kiona up into his arms and cradling her against his chest. The frigid air nipped at his skin without the necessary layers, but it didn't appear to bother him. Anyone who knew him referred to him as hot blooded, and not just for his temper. He gazed down at Trys pointedly, "Well? Lead the way."
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Post by Elvander on Mar 30, 2020 20:58:53 GMT
Trys scrambled to her feet, leaving Kiona in her silence to absorb the information. Silently, Trys turned and led the way back through the deep snow to the cottage. The horses were milling about near the barn, having returned home. She wondered if Hound had made it out. Slowly, Trys entered her cabin and winced visibly. It was ransacked on the inside, and Aloy's limp, bloodied body lay in the living room where she had sacrificed her life to give the humans a chance. It was too much for Trys. Perhaps this situation was of her own making, but now she truly felt the effects. Tears quietly slid down her cheeks as she sank to her knees, cradling Aloy's head in her lap.
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Post by starrea on Apr 2, 2020 0:52:26 GMT
Kiona barely moved as Ike and Trys got to their feet. She didn’t even look up when Ike draped another layer over her and didn’t protest when he scooped her up into his arms. Even after she was pressed up against Ike’s warm body, her body wouldn’t stop shaking.
She let Ike carry her back to the house without resistance. By that point, she had retreated somewhere into the back of her mind, somewhere she didn’t have to process all over the things that had happened to her over the course of a week.
It was only when they reached the house did Kiona finally perk up. She pushed her hands on Ike’s chest, shaking her head, “Put me down. Don’t bring me in there.” She begged. It was suddenly very important that she not go into that cabin. She was already on the brink of breaking down and she wasn’t sure she would be able to handle seeing the remains of whatever happened inside.
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Post by Elvander on Apr 2, 2020 23:55:16 GMT
Trys could hear Ike and Kiona struggling outside. She sniffled, wiping away her tears, and stood, grabbing Aloy's front paws and dragging her out the back door. She left her in the snow, returning inside. There was a considerable amount of blood, but at least there wasn't a body. "Bring her in, cover her eyes. She needs to sit in front of the fire." Her voice was flat, tired. She wanted to be free from this mess, and she wanted to grieve. With her back to the door, Trys began to build a fire in the hearth, and got to work scrubbing the walls and floor of blood.
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Post by Val on Apr 4, 2020 2:40:57 GMT
Ike was a few paces behind Trys as they approached the cabin. He watched her go inside, slowing down to give her a few moments alone. As Kiona stirred in his arms again, he only tightened his grip, "Quiet," he hushed her, "You must go in if you want to live." Leaving no room for argument, he followed Trys' instructions and entered the cabin, pressing Kiona's face into his shoulder to shield her gaze from the bloodbath within. He settled her into a chair in front of the fire and gathered the extra blankets around the room, bundling them around her until she was cocooned in warmth.
When he was satisfied that she would recover, he turned to face Trys, frowning when he found her on her hands and knees scrubbing her companion's blood from the floor. It was the exact reason he refused to become close to the creatures he worked with, or anyone for that matter. Grief was a distraction. Still, he felt the gnaw of sympathy as he watched his former captor busy herself. He didn't know what it was about these women, but his cold heart appeared to be thawing at an alarming rate despite the frigid air. He approached and knelt beside her, picking up a rag. Without a word, he began to help her scrub the floor, erasing the reminder of what happened.
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Post by starrea on Apr 4, 2020 16:09:59 GMT
Kiona’s fight evaporated when Ike tightened his grip on her, much to her dismay. As much as she wanted to scream and fight her way out of his arms, she couldn’t find the energy. All of the fight to survive that had driven her for the past week was gone and all she wanted to do was wallow in depression.
Ike hadn’t needed to press her face into his jacket to shield her because her eyes were already shut tight, but the gesture that he was protecting her - at least on some level - was comforting. Kiona didn’t bother to move, not even change positions, from where he deposited her and she passively let him cocoon her. Her eyes were open now but they stared straight ahead but it was clear that she wasn’t really there anymore.
As her body began to thaw, it began to burn. Tears pricked Kiona’s eyes but she relished in the pain, it was something physical to focus on, a physical manifestation of the pain she was feeling inside. She could hear scrape of brushes scrubbing the floor and every stroke was an unnecessary reminder of the truth she was trying to ignore.
Kiona had always been a runner. Compared to her sisters, Kiona acted like a princess the least. While all of her sisters were trained to fight, and Kiona hadn’t even been the best (she had never once bested her older sister Inessa), Kiona just never stayed put. She had a dangerous lack of fear and an incredible ability to get out of pretty much anywhere, including free-scaling the towers of the castle she had lived in. Whenever she was bored or stressed, Kiona would just disappear for awhile. So as Kiona slowly unthawed, the desire to run steadily grew.
It wouldn’t be that hard to sneak out. She wasn’t even sure she would need to, Trys probably wanted her gone anyway, but she was pretty sure Ike would still track her. They probably wouldn’t except her to do anything, though, not after everything that had happened and now that the storm was over she was ready to throw herself back into the wilderness. She needed the emotional numbness that came with fighting to survive. Either that, or she would die.
Once she was warm enough and the burning had subsided into painful tingles, she pushed the blankets off of her and stood. The air was cold but she welcomed the discomfort. “I’m going to bed.” She said without turning around. Without waiting for a response, she shuffled down the hallway and into the room she had slept in before, softly closing the door behind her.
Kiona did not climb into bed. Instead, with renewed energy, she stripped off any of the clothes that were still wet and rummaged through the closet for dry clothes. She layered on anything that would fit. Her boots were still in here from the night before and worked on lacing them up, eyes flicking up to the door every couple of seconds to make sure no one was coming. All that was left to do was slip out the window.
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Post by Elvander on Apr 5, 2020 0:07:27 GMT
Trys glanced at Ike as he began to help her, and worked beside him in silence until the blood was cleaned up. In that time, she watched as Kiona removed herself from the room. "She's going to run again," Trys murmured, feeling it. Perhaps she sensed something familiar in Kiona. Maybe they should just let her go. But she couldn't, in good conscience. Trys pushed herself to her feet, "Start heating up something to eat while I talk to her, please." She offered Ike a tired smile and padded down the hall to Kiona's room, pushing the door open and leaning against the frame. She crossed her arms, stained with blood, over her chest. "Please don't run. I'm tired, and so is Ike. So are you. Will you just sit and have a conversation with me?"
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Post by Val on Apr 5, 2020 4:22:15 GMT
Ike had tensed up and stared after Kiona as she disappeared down the hallway. No way in hell was he about to let the girl out of his sight. He was prepared to storm after her when Trys spoke up, voicing his thoughts. He grunted in response and stood up, resisting the urge to follow Trys and find out what was going on. Even though he still questioned Trys' actions, he trusted that she wasn't stupid enough to let Kiona loose. Instead of following her directions, he leaned against the wall in the hallway and eavesdropped, prepared to chase the girl down yet again if he had to. He needed to take charge of the situation and tie her up, but he felt that it was too soon and would only cause further problems amongst the group.
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Post by starrea on Apr 5, 2020 18:20:48 GMT
Kiona only tensed as the door pushed open but didn’t stop as she finished lacing up her boots. She briefly glanced up at Trys but snapped her gaze away when she saw the blood. She couldn’t stay here and any lingering doubts were snuffed out at the sight of the blood. She stood up and carefully looked around Trys but didn’t see Ike. Even if Trys let her go, she was sure Ike would follow but she was counting on that. She needed that drive to survive, that sheer focus to numb everything else.
“No.” Her words were hollow and she walked around the bed and worked on opening the window. “I need to keep moving.” The window took a little bit of effort but she wrestled it open. A cold breeze blew in and it nipped at Kiona’s skin. She had only just gotten warm and the cold air felt like ice already.
She gave one last lingering look to Trys. She couldn’t explain why she had to go. If she had been thinking rationally, Ike would catch up to her in no time without a head start. But she wasn’t thinking rationally, she was on the brink of a breakdown. “I really am sorry.” The apology was genuine but it didn’t feel like enough. Words would never be enough to make up for the damage she had caused.
Kiona swung her legs out the window and dropped the several feet down the ground without a look back. The snow cushioned her fall and she immediately started towards the woods. She couldn’t run, not in this deep of snow, but she wanted to put as much space between her the cabin just in case Ike came after her. The icy wind nipped at her face and she bowed her head and trudged forward, focusing every bit of willpower onto just taking the next step forward and nothing else.
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Post by Elvander on Apr 5, 2020 23:15:54 GMT
This girl was wearing on Trys’ nerves. “Ike!” She shouted into the hallway, alerting him that Kiona was running. Trys followed Kiona through the window, dogging her steps and grabbing her arm. “Gods, woman. Stop and think,” she snapped, her patience gone. “You can’t just keep going on your own. You’re a threat to others. If we just let you go on your way, you’ll kill dozens without even knowing it. You want that on your conscience?” Trys snapped and jerked Kiona harshly, sending her sprawling to the ground. “Ike and I want to take you to Alynthia to find someone who can help you. Are you really so selfish?”
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Post by Val on Apr 6, 2020 2:29:46 GMT
Ike bolted for the front door the second he heard the sound of the window opening. He charged out into the cold and rounded the house in time to see Trys throwing Kiona down into the snow. It appeared that Trys had finally snapped, and he was grateful for it. The tables had officially turned in his favor due to Kiona's crumbling mental state.
He approached the two of them, his form emerging from the darkness to block Kiona's escape. The girl was in a pathetic state; she wouldn't last long out here, even if she had proven her ability to survive against the odds. "We will travel south," he interjected, wanting the princess to hear it from him, "We will seek out your kind." It wasn't a suggestion, but a statement that left no room for argument. He would agree to Trys' plan, find out how infested the south truly was, and report back to his people. Kiona's fate would be decided when the time came. Right now, he considered her his prisoner.
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Post by starrea on Apr 6, 2020 3:10:56 GMT
A force sent Kiona sprawling into the snow and despite the snowy cushion, tears pricked her eyes. She squeezed them shut, forcing the tears back as Trys snapped at her. She hadn’t moved from the ground where Trys had throw her, afraid that one little movement would cause her crack and completely fall apart.
Then Ike’s voice appeared and any chance of Kiona making it more than 10 feet were gone. She felt her body sag with desperation and she worked even harder to keep any tears from falling.
“Am I that selfish?” She repeated the question, voice low and quiet. “A week ago, I stood there and watched my family get executed one by one. Their blood stained my skin. I was betrayed by my own country and fled for my life. And now you want me to go with the man sent to hunt me down and bring me back for a public execution.” Her words were slow and deliberate, saturated with only a fraction of the inner turmoil she felt.
“Am I that selfish? I am trying to leave you and your cabin behind so you will be rid of this mess. It is not your job to escort me anywhere. And I’m not going anywhere, not to find others of my kind, Not with you and not with him.” She spat; even if she was a werewolf, it didn’t erase her upbringing’s teachings of hating them. It was insulting that Trys would even group her with other beasts. Even though Kiona wasn’t as delirious as she was before, she still felt cornered by Trys and Ike. Maybe her assumption about a truce between them hadn’t been such a fever dream after all.
“My conscience is of no concern to you. Are you selfish enough to restrain me even though he has every intention to kill me?” At this, Kiona finally looked up to glare at the pair of them. She wasn’t going to try running, not right now, but she had made it clear that she wasn’t going to go anywhere with Ike willingly. Tears blurred her vision but they hadn’t fallen yet. The dam that was holding her together was cracked and starting to crumble and Kiona was not prepared to deal with any of it.
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Post by Elvander on Apr 6, 2020 20:21:38 GMT
"So you're okay with going out into the world and killing others when you lose control?" Trys growled, backing away from Kiona. "Once we've sorted out your issue, I'm done with you. But my conscience is my concern, and I'm not selfish. I care about the other people you might hurt. So stop fighting, start cooperating, and you'll have your freedom soon enough. Exactly what have you done since you've been in my care that makes you think I should trust you? I've done so much to get you to trust me. I fed you, clothed you, gave you a roof over your head. I imprisoned Ike and took your word over his. And you repay me by slaughtering my pet and trying to kill us both?" Trys looked away from Kiona. "You're acting like you're the only one in the world who's lost something. You're not. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but you aren't doing yourself any favors. You're not acting like you're trying to survive." Trys turned her back on Kiona. "I'm tired, and I'm going in to prepare for our journey. You can come willingly, as our companion, or you can come as a prisoner." With that angry exchange, Trys stomped back into the house, trusting Ike to bring Kiona inside. The ranger was done with Kiona's victim card. She was biting and scratching at every hand that tried to help her, and Trys' patience was wearing thin. She slammed the door to her room, beginning to pack.
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Post by Val on Apr 6, 2020 23:36:59 GMT
Ike stared after Try as she stormed off, feeling pleasantly surprised as she finally snapped. She was a smart woman, and now that Kiona had pushed her big heart to its limit, she could see through the bullshit. Turning back to Kiona, he moved closer so he could see her in the dim light. He loomed over her for a moment, sensing the defeat that was practically radiating off of the girl. If he felt any sympathy at all, he didn't show it.
"Well? What's it going to be, princess?" he prompted, waiting to see if perhaps Trys had finally gotten through to her. If not, Ike had no reservations about forcing her inside and tying her up, which he felt was the much safer option, "It's time to give up. It may feel like the end of the world, but guess what? You're still alive," he pointed out. She was lucky that he had spared her at all, and his eyes warned her that she had better stop pushing that luck.
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Post by starrea on Apr 7, 2020 0:40:37 GMT
If Trys was hoping for some sort of revelation or breakthrough from Kiona, she would be sorely disappointed. Trys’s angry words only added to swirling emotions of the young princess, who was already vastly overwhelmed. Even though Trys claimed that she had given her every reason to be trusted, Kiona couldn’t agree. She couldn’t trust anyone, especially anyone working with Ike, but she didn’t really have any other choice. If she tried to run, it would ultimately lead to her getting tied up and she didn’t want that.
She was finally forced to face everything and she crumbled beneath the weight of it all. Tears spilled down her cheeks and once they started, she couldn’t stop. Sobs wracked her body as she realized that she would never go back to the life she once had. The grief was a tidal wave that toppled over her. She still didn’t fully believe that she was a werewolf but the guilt over what Trys said took the air out of her lungs and made it hard to breathe.
When her sobs finally quieted down, she realized Ike was still behind her. She hadn’t moved from her place on the ground and she didn’t feel like she was going to anytime soon. The grief and guilt made her limbs feel heavy and with the possibility of escape nonexistent, she couldn’t find the will to move.
“I’ll go,” She choked out, not bothering to look at Ike. She knew he knew that she was crying but that didn’t mean she wanted to look him in the eyes as she did. He already thought she was weak. Maybe she was. “I just don’t want to go back inside. I won’t go anywhere, though. Don’t make me go back inside.” She meant it, too. She wouldn’t fight Ike if he tried to drag her back inside, but she didn’t want to see the damage she had done. One day she would be ready to face that side of herself but today was not that day.
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