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 Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:42 pm
She couldn't understand why they had to fight. Just what was it the Hunters were after? Time and time again, she'd encounter trainees who would accuse them of terrible things, of killing and mutilating and destroying...and time and time again, *** would find herself defending herself and her friends. They didn't do those things--they couldn't, even if they wanted to. They were students, there were rules here, why couldn't they see that?
It was obvious that there were things that she couldn't see--a bigger picture--but as long as they attacked her, she was going to fight back.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:42 pm
The Great
It had been a week, maybe two, since her first failed attempt at flight in front of her class. They had all been gathered again, lectured, threatened, set up to fail... But not her. Not this time.
This time, *** was certain that she was going to shine. She stepped out on to the ledge, took a deep breath and jumped...
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:48 pm
She was proud of herself. She had never done well in the presence of strangers, and big crowds were ten times worse...and yet something about the atmosphere of the prom was different. With her camera in hand and her few, new friends present, she felt...confident, somehow. *** was standing straighter, her steps more confident as she wandered across the dance floor to take pictures. All around her, there were smiling faces: Lizzy, Mot, Mitsu...not Shun, but that was to be expected...
She wasn't completely at ease, but it was a good start.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:50 pm
[ The Strong ]
The gnome standing guard over this particular carnival game seemed bored, to say the very least. Up until the moment that she had stepped up to the plate, fingers wrapping around the handle of the over-sized mallet, he looked as though he might fall asleep. He watched, though, as she stepped up to take a swing.
The first swing was a complete disappointment and earned her a heckle.
The second, well, after the second attempt the gnome resorted to throwing popcorn.
*** muttered several incredibly un-ladylike curses beneath her breath, feeding frustration into her final swing, giving it all the strength she had...
DING!
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:54 pm
For once, the dinner table was hushed, and all eyes were on her. *** stood proudly at the end of the table, her acceptance letter from Amityville raised high like a declaration of victory. Tonight, for once, they’d all pay attention to her, and for once they’d all listen, and for once, she’d do something that none of her other sisters had done before. She wasn’t following in their foot steps, she was carving out her own path.
She reveled in the looks of awe and jealousy from her sisters, ate up the pride and the boasts her parents finally spewed about her, and she tried not to let that flash of ache and anxiety in Freya’s eyes dampen her one truly proud moment at the dinner table.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:57 pm
*** was small, weak, and entirely incapable of protecting herself. She had never had any reason to learn, after all, but she had come to feel that self-defense was something that she needed to know. She had gone to Levi for advice, hoping that the tatzel ghoul would be able to give her some basic pointers on the dos and don'ts of defending herself. When Levi explained the importance of ducking and carefully brought her tail down at ***'s head to encourage the ghoul to give it a try...the baku let out a small noise and coiled up into a ball on the ground instead.
Fortunately, by the end of the session, *** had gone from curling up to learning how to successfully dodge. It was a small step, but a step nonetheless, and one that she could take pride in.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:04 pm
[ The Gifted ]
"You've got a real talent for that, you know." The voice startled her but she managed not to let it show, beyond a few ruffled feathers. It was annoying that she could hear the smirk in the other ghoul's voice when she spoke again. Aleka had caught the ruffled feathers.
"I envy the way you work with your hands. I can't even weave nets the way you make bracelets..." *** shifted as her friend took a seat beside her, peering at the bracelet that she was weaving out of leather, accenting it with small things they had found on the beach the day before; shiny shards of shell and wave-worn pebbles.
"Will you make me one some day, ***?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:05 pm
Her time at Amity had not only an effect on her ability to fight, but also on the dream-walking powers. She had had plenty of chances to test it out throughout her time at Amity, first (admittedly) without permission, and then with those who welcoming her into their dreams to watch and observe.
And then eventually there were those who actually sought her out for help. It pained her to see that her friend Yincang was in obvious distress over his nightmares, and she was more than willing to try and ease them away. She had improved herself over the past three years, and if there was one thing she could say, it was that she was confident in her abilities to help those who needed it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:15 pm
If there was one time when *** could be creative, it was when she was baking. She took joy in creating both tasty and visually appealing desserts, and it was a love that she wished to share with others. Unsurprisingly, she had absolutely jumped at the chance to do so when Spirit Week started. Why not run a booth for the Baking Club, right? What could possibly go wrong?
...Well, she couldn't say that she entirely regretted it, and there really were plenty of wonderful and creatively decorated cupcakes made by the other students. However, there was also...what she like to call the "cupcake wall art", which occurred when both Freya and Kettil had decided it would be a good idea to have a food fight with what they had made. It was...different, she supposed, staring as one of the gooey creations slid down the wall.
She was not looking forward to cleaning this up.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:21 pm
They had welcomed them onto their islands, shared with them some of their customs and teachings...and now almost everything was gone. In the blink of an eye, the Four Clans had lost not only their homes, but their people as well. Friends, family, fellow clansmen--all of them gone. Things they had spent years building, and things that were irreplaceable and priceless had all been torn away from them.
Despite all of the uneasiness she had felt in the presence of the horsemen, ***'s heart truly ached for them.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:23 pm
"No matter how difficult you can often be, I promise to stand by you, okay? I'll never give up on you." A pause. "Just remember; you are worth more than you know. Never forget that."
Mot said that to her, and what made this so wonderful was that it was Mot who said that to her, even after the long and bumpy road they both been on. Mot was going to treat her like how she treated him, and she liked to replay that memory over and over again in her head, because it never failed to make her heart swell with happiness. It was then she knew that she had his friendship, without a doubt, for the rest of her existence and then some.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:24 pm
He stared at his choices.
It wasn’t much of a contest. Ikait smiled placidly as he reached for the foliage, a hand rising to his heart. This was his choice. But was it the right one? Was this even a reasonable choice? Tearing into his own Heart was painful, but somehow he continued anyway. He couldn’t even tell anymore. Maybe in the back of his mind he did regret it. Did he have time to change his mind? Maybe—
And as quick as they had come, the memories trickled out one by one. They flashed back, snippets and scenes that were familiar and unfamiliar. He could only sigh sadly. As soon as he remembered them, they had to go. How pointless. He breathed out when tore his Heart out at last. One step. Two steps. Three steps. He held out his Heart.
And now he was no more. All that was left of him were vague memories. He watched figures run toward him, lips moving to form his name—
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:25 pm
When he opens his eyes for the first time, hunger plagues him. It’s a tiny pang in his empty stomach at first. Tiny enough to ignore, but the more he grows the bigger the hunger grows. It grows, swelling more and more until he’s dying of starvation, but there’s nothing big enough to quell the hunger. He will always crave more, desire for knowledge and to consume. When he looks in the mirror, he sees hollow cheeks and bony limbs. He reaches a pale hand toward his reflection. The light flickers off and his eyes glow gold in the dark. A skeleton in the closet.
Feed me. The voice rings in his head, and he obeys.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:25 pm
Everything is tinier when he transforms. He lifts his head to the night sky so he can stare at the glowing moon. Even with his scrawny height, when he raises an arm he can graze the clouds, but it’s hard to feel when your body is made entirely of bone. The yellow glow in his empty sockets light up his skull face as he stares at his hand’s carpal and meta-carpal bones. That’s what the books had called them, right? He curls his hands into a fist and the joints connecting his phalanges creak, but they are lost to the ringing. RingRingRing. The giant skeleton has come and he is hungry. Feed me.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:25 pm
The school library is bigger than the humble one back at home. He cranes his neck to admire the books neatly shelved into rows. Scrawny hands run across the smooth wood of the tables while he walks into an aisle of books. Lips twist into a pleasant smile as he takes out a book about healing FEAR. The idea of manipulating has never occurred to him much. Not until he picks up this book, at least. The soft murmurs of other students is surprisingly calming. He sits down and turns to the first page.
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