fight to save the living, fight to threaten the world

[ladyspitfire]

Date & Time: All week during the age changing.
Location: Out and about the city.
Characters: Elissa Cousland and YOU.
Summary: Someone's just been dragged back to the very worst moment in her life. Now, back in Exsilium, she's not so open and friendly.
Warnings: Language at least. Will update otherwise.


Nothing was as it should have been.

The burning of her home and the slaughter of her family was fresh in her mind, the rush out of Highever with her dog and Duncan all too clear, but the city before her was nothing close to the woods around her city. It was dank and dark, raining, and there was something almost metallic and toxic in the air. But perhaps it was the smell of death in her nose that made her feel ill and the strange new town merely offset her balance. She couldn't be certain.

But there was something altogether familiar and distinctive about where she was. Shop names, buildings, faces she could swear she'd seen before. It didn't seem possible or right. A fever dream? Perhaps I'm having a nightmare. Cruel, truth be told. Why couldn't the night previous be little else but a horrible dream? She prayed it was so. If she could return home and everything would be set right...

One glimpse in the window of a shop was all she needed to dispel that argument. She was messy, a smudge of ash on her cheek, hair tangled and out of its tie. Though her cloak was new and made of fine material, her boots and clothes were covered in dried blood, a testament to her battle from the night prior. It couldn't have been a dream. She covered her face with her hands. "Oh, Maker..." she whispered. Her dog nudged her side and she knelt down to press her forehead into his back. "...We'll be all right," she murmured, more for herself than for him. She just needed to get her bearings, that was all. She just needed a little time.


[ooc: ACTION OR PROSE, UP TO YOU. Name the time and place, as she'll be just about anywhere and everywhere to run into people.]

Comments

[ladyspitfire]

She watched him warily for a moment before she accepted his answer, nodding. "It's...It's all right," she said, tentatively attempting to be gentler in her manner. "I'm glad it was simply an accident and nothing more." He couldn't have been much younger than her. He didn't need trouble dogging his steps.

But that led to another question. "...Why were you running?"

[ex_lecturing315]

He opened his mouth, then shut it.

"Its - a hobby," he blurted out, but it's an extremely weak excuse and he knew it, had it written all over his expression. Leaving it at that was an option, but he felt humiliated enough to admit, shifting uncomfortably and looking down -

"It's like I don't know that you can't just run out of this place, but..."

[ladyspitfire]

"A hobby." Well, she'd heard of stranger ones. Perhaps he thought of it the same way she thought about riding: freedom, the thrill of a rush. But he didn't elaborate on that part. Elissa shifted her weight onto her back leg and tentatively nodded.

"...You can't. But try telling yourself that." She offered him the smallest glimmers of a smile. "You can pretend, for a little while, that it's possible to leave and that nothing can keep you here." In Highever, she would sometimes run off for an afternoon just to be away from the stuffiness. She'd return that evening, of course, but even an afternoon away from the guards was enough.

[ex_lecturing315]

He looked back up as she finished his sentence, caught a little off-guard by the - well, kindness. He didn't smile back or anything, but there wasn't any residual anger or rudeness left in his expression either. Her explanation earned a nod, because it was similar enough to how he'd felt. A little optimistic, though, pretending rather than just running because there was nothing else to do, hoping the walls of claustrophobia and not belonging could be held at bay for just a little while.

"Yeah. It's better than nothing."

[ladyspitfire]

The dog had relaxed enough that he eventually sat beside his owner, hoping that whatever altercation might have occurred was now over with. He scratched at a spot behind his ear with his back paw.

Elissa glanced down at him once, though her attention went back to Barnaby. He didn't smile, which was a shame, but she didn't imagine he was in an easier position than she was at the moment. She couldn't ask for him to brighten up; even her smile was strained and sad, which disappeared after a few moments. "How long have you been here?" Had he just arrived?

[ex_lecturing315]

"A few days," he said after a brief moment counting.

It didn't sound that long, but it felt longer. A few days could mean a lot, that he's missing so much no matter what people say. There was a lot he could be doing in a few days, but instead he was stuck here. Not that anyone would be missing him or care - well, maybe Aunt Samantha. Maybe Mr Maverick. Both both of them were used to not hearing from him every day, so maybe they wouldn't think anything of it now.