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 Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 11:46 am
Back dated to 5/24Takes place the morning after A solemn HourHyperborea lay asleep in the alleyway. Her normally well kept hair messily fallen about her face. Her white hair and white dress were stained with now dried blood. Her tear-stained cheeks betrayed the horrible night she had just had. Her knuckles were bloody and raw with cuts and bruises along her arms and legs.Her bow that she had absently grabbed before running lay next to her.
It was luck that a youma hadn't taken an interest in her aura or an officer hadn't found her while asleep. Perhaps even more surprisingly was the fact that no civilian during the morning had found her, or perhaps some had and simply didn't want to be involved with the strange looking girl passed out in an alleyway.
As sunlight shone on her eyes Hyperborea began to wake up. A dream, it must have all been some terrible. She tried to lie to herself. As she blinked the sun spots from her eyes she tried to get her bearings. She realized she wasn't alone though as she turned around.
"Who's there?" She croaked out her voice horse. She could make out a man but her eyes were still trying to adjust to the light.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 3:13 pm
The Royal Knight was on patrol the night before, getting back into the swing of moving around instead of just sitting on the roof of the library because his injuries had not allowed him to do much else. Now that he was finally healed, he was glad to be back on the actual patrol, able to do more for his city than protect it from above, and watch for bad things to happen.
He could go out there and stop it, or prevent it from happening at all. That was what he always tried to do.
Sometimes, though, he was a little too late.
This morning, oddly, he was out much earlier than he usually would like to keep patrolling to. He just got so wrapped up in being able to explore, it was like he had to circle the entire city before he could call it a night. It had been pretty eventful: he ran into a Nega soldier and two youma that he had to handle, which left him tired and a bit bruised, but not terribly bad off. He had only recently powered down, with the morning sun, and was now walking down the street as Tony, the librarian, on his way to work.
He would have to change his clothes there: but that was why he kept extra suits there. Just in case patrolling took too long, and he didn't get a chance to go home.
Seeing something strange, which set his instincts on fire immediately with worry, Tony moved down an alley. Anyone else might be scared of dirty alleyways, and avoid them, but Tony found a lot of important things happened in alleys. It was not the first time he found someone beaten in one, after all, though each time he wished it would be the last.
"Oh, God," he breathed, realizing what he saw, with sinking understanding, was what he had been hoping against. Blood on the floor, and a line leading him to someone he knew. "Hyperborea," he said, gently, moving to her side as she struggled to stand, putting his arm around her and supporting her, though he gently tried to coax her to stop moving. "It's okay, don't move. I'm here. It's me, Camelot. You're hurt... What happened? Just try to relax, let me take a look at your injuries."
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 5:08 pm
"Camelot...Tony." She said shaking the last of the morning cobwebs out of her mind. She followed his directions and stopped moving. She leaned on him for support. She wasn't physically that hurt aside from her hands but sleeping curled up on the concrete had left her muscles more than a little sore.
"I'm not really sure." She said trying to piece together what had actually happened last night. "I remember fighting a youma, I think I became a squire then." she said taking note of her different outfit. "I must have passed out here or something. I'm sorry last night is kind of a blurr."
"I remember having terrible dreams though." It was a lie both to herself and to Tony. Deep down she knew what she remembered from last night was real but she couldn't bring herself to accept it
A thought struck her. "It probably not safe like this. I should power down, shouldn't I?"
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 6:03 pm
Tony tugged off his coat, leaving his cane on the ground for now as he hurried to try and comfort the injured girl. He could see that she had changed, she was a Squire now as far as her outfit said, but he did not really have time to dwell on that. He was too concerned about her physical condition.
The fact that she was sleeping on the floor, or had been knocked out and left there, did little to comfort him. he was expecting the worst, and preparing for it, running through emergency procedures in his head.
Wrapping his coat around her, left in his vest and white button up, he did his best to make her comfortable.
"If you feel safe powering down, then yes. Do you want me to take you to the hospital? Somewhere safe?" He was ready to take her to the hospital regardless of her answer, moving to scoop her up into his arms and carry her, rather than letting her walk. He would have to come back for his cane later, or just consider it a write off, because he couldn't pick it up now and wasn't really thinking about it.
When Tony got worried about someone, they became all he could focus on. he was going to do everything in his power to help her, and he was going to stay with her until he was sure she was safe. He wanted to find out what had happened, what she couldn't remember, and why she ended up hurt.
He couldn't see any clear wounds, for all his efforts, save on her knuckles, but there was blood and that kept him on full alert. Whatever had happened, it had to have been serious, and he was not the kind to turn his back when someone clearly needed help.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 6:38 pm
She was grateful for the coat. After he wrapped it around her she powered down back into the jeans and white sleeveless blouse she had been wearing the day before. "Merci." She said quietly pulling the coat a bit more around her.
"Um I'd rather not go to a hospital right now. If you can just help me get home. I don't think it's too far from here." She was about to point in the direction she thought her house was in when she felt herself being lifted off her feet.
She hadn't been carried by anyone in years and it made blush a bit. "Um merci. I think I can walk though." She said softly. Despite what she said though Tony's kindness put her a bit at ease.
She just wanted to go home right now, she could worry about what had happened later.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 7:09 pm
"I just... I don't want you to push yourself. How far is your place? I'll take you, but I want to make sure you're not hurt. What's this blood from?"
There had been more when she was powered up, but once she powered down it was all cleaned away with the magic. He didn't see any more coming to replace it, so if she was hurt she had either already stopped the bleeding, or the wounds were not as bad as he had been fearing.
Either way, he wasn't going to take chances.
He carried her and let her direct him where to go, not willing to put her down until he was sure she was not dying. It was his overly protective nature in full blown panic mode, to be sure, but he couldn't help himself. What if he had not been the one to find her in that alley? Something terrible could have happened to her, on top of whatever had put her there.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 8:43 pm
"um ok. Thank you. I'm not exactly sure how far it is, once we pass some shops I should be able to give you a better idea. My family's estate is on the outskirts of the city." she relaxed a little and allowed him to carry her, though she hoped it didn't draw to much attention. "When we get close can you put me down though. I'm probably already in trouble for being out all night, I'd rather not have to explain why the local librarian had to carry me home." She said managing a weak smile.
"Um the blood." She tried to look at some of the blood staining the ends of her hair. "I'm not sure. I don't think its mine. Maybe there was a hurt civilian there when I fought the youma, but I don't really remember." She didn't want to consider that her dreams might have been real and she especially didn't want to think about who's blood it was.
She directed him towards her home. Not speaking much as she was trying to think about what all had happened. Once they had gotten close she asked Tony if he could put her down. Once back on her feet she led the rest of the way. As she walked a bit further her home came into view and the sight crushed all her delusions.
There were several police cars outside the large estate and the front door had crime scene tap over it. That was when the crushing reality hit, that wasn't a dream. Everything she remembered from last night must have happened.
She broke down there. She covered her ears and shut her eyes tight. "No! No that wasn't real! That was a dream! It has to be a dream!" She cried to no one in particular. It might have been childish but a part of her thought if she just denied it enough maybe she would wake up in her bed and this would all have been a terrible nightmare.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 8:59 pm
Tony nodded his head and limped along, doing his best to ignore the growing pain in his leg. When he was powered that was an easy enough task, but sometimes he forgot that Anthony Darrow did not have the same manner of strength that Royal Knight Camelot did.
Though he still had the exact same amount of White Knight nobility, and that was a bit of a kick in the teeth. As a civilian, he lacked a lot of the ability to do all the chivalrous and honorable things he wanted to do, and the things being a knight had instilled in him as normal. Protecting the innocent, performing incredible feats in their name: it was all part of his job now.
His night job, though, not his day job. He had to remember that his day job was largely limited to shuffling books around on some shelves.
When they got near her house he did not really need to ask her which one is was. He slowed, looking at the police cars and not drawing too near, just in case there was more going on here than even he could guess at. There was a crime scene set up, and news crews were lingering around, asking officers and detectives questions that most could only supply the usual, cursory answers to.
"I've got you," he said, shielding her against him as if cradling her and keeping her from looking directly at the scene could some how help her. But everything was falling into place now, and he realized what must have happened. The youma she mentioned, the civilian she thought she might have gotten the blood from... her being unable to remember what happened beyond terrible nightmares.
He hugged her to him now, not to help her walk or to carry her, but to comfort, one hand on the back of her head as she cried out in what had to be terrible pain. If a youma had attacked her family... judging from the solemn faces of the men at the house, it did not look good for them.
"It's okay," he said as softly as he could, eyes not leaving the crime scene just yet. "I've got you. I'm so sorry. I... I'm so sorry."
And he was. What good were they doing, in the scheme of things, when this still happened? They liked to pretend they were making a difference, and yet innocent people were still being attacked in their homes by monsters. It seemed so difficult for them to make any kind of a dent, when faced with these terrible realities.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 9:45 pm
She just cried for a while. She leaned into his embrace and allowed him to try and comfort her. It wasn't working though. They're really gone. Mama, Papa I'll never see them again. Her chest hurt in a way she couldn't describe. However soon a much worse realization hit her.
It was my fault. When I transformed....It was after my aura. Oh God... She thought with horror. She backed out of Tony's embrace. "It was my fault. I brought that thing here. I left them to die." She said as much to her self as to Tony.
She continued to back away from the older man. After a few paces she transformed herself into Hyperborea. "I....I can't stay here." She said shaking.
"I pledge my life and loyalty to Cosmos, and to Hyperborea...." She began speaking the familiar phrase softly.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 9:56 pm
There was little Tony could do or say. He let her cry, until she pushed away from him. He watched her, careful, and was concerned when she powered up. None of the cops were close enough to them to notice, but Tony was still worried.
"Hyperborea..." he said gently, reaching his hand out toward her carefully, as if he were concerned that a fast move might send her running away from him. When she started the pledge, though, he realized she was running in a different way.
Instinct told him to move forward and grab on to her, to go with her if she did manage to complete the pledge and take herself to her wonder, but he resisted the urge. It wouldn't do her any good, trying to run from him on top of running from what happened. At least at her Wonder he knew she would be safe, or as safe as she could be, considering.
He wanted her to stay, but what right did he have asking her? Soon enough, she was gone, anyway, and he was left standing there alone, guilt and worry quickly settling onto his shoulders. What if she hurt herself, or got herself hurt while she was on her Wonder? what if she had no intention of coming back? What would she do when she was back, and how would he know? How long would she be away?
Looking around, he found a dark corner to power up in, then climbed up to a roof to sit down, watching her home below, and waiting for her power signature to come back. He was not sure how long she would be gone, be it hours or maybe even days, but he was going to wait as long as he could that night, just in case.
If she did come back, after all, he wanted to be there for her. When she came back.
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