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 Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:39 pm
Celestriakle (Aysel Vartanian) and Roadkill (Maeve LaChance)
~~~
As the driver led away the horse and carriage for some much needed rest and restocking, Elias led Aysel, who clung to her rabbit, into the inn, chatting cheerily. "It's about time we got a break, hm? Three long days of travel!" he exclaimed, stretching. "One gets awful stiff, wouldn't you say?" He smiled down at the teen by his side, but she merely looked up at him, her expression blank, bleak. He sighed, his voice softening. "It'll get better soon; I promise. Just wait here, alright? I'll book us a room and move all our things up into it. We'll be able to rest, relax. At least until it's time to go tomorrow. Until that, cheer up, alright?" He smiled at her once more, putting a hand on her shoulder before disappearing into the gaggle of patrons and making his way to the front desk.
Aysel sighed, looking around. This place was much bigger than the inn in her old town, and much busier. The front room was a restaurant and bar and, it being evening time, was packed with men and women of every shape and size. Most looked rough and dirty, obvious travelers, but a few clean-cut people could be spotted among them. Working girls wove their way amid the wooden table and chairs patrons swarmed, and wrought iron chandeliers carrying a plethora of lit candles hung from the ceiling, giving a warm glow to the bubble of voices that rose up from below. The friendly, happy atmosphere seemed almost a little intimidating, out of place in Aysel's world. She looked down, and searched for a seat out of the corners of her eyes.
There--the table near the edge of the room, only one man sat upon it, and he faced his friends who were seated at the table across from him. Edging her way across the room, she took a seat in the chair, her back to the man already present. As she sat and waited for Elias to return, she became aware of a pattern, a change in the room around her. Looking up and around, she noticed the man who had shared her table had moved, along with most other people within a couple of feet of her, and if she listened, she could pick up on a singular key word being spread around the room: Plague.
Blinking, she looked down; she had nearly forgotten about the corpse she held in her arms. The ghostly touch of taint slithered and curled about her arms, about her bunny, and she suddenly became aware of a moistness upon her palm, a moistness she recognized as the old blood her bunny sometimes bled. The warmth of the room she once perceived immediately evaporated, and she clung more tightly to her rabbit, feeling very, very alone.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 8:20 am
Why was she still in Shyregoed? Maeve kept asking herself this over and over again, but she sadly could not produce an answer. It was not a terrible place, no, but it wasn't that good of a place either. She would just have to find more jobs, get more money and head back toward Mishkan. That would be a nice plan-- a warmer plan. A gust of wind hit her in the face and Maeve's planning was suddenly put to a stop. She needed to find somewhere to stay for the night; that was the top priority.
The mercenary walked up and down the streets, looking for somewhere to lodge. Nothing seemed all too appealing, but there was a rather loud inn drawing her attention. Loud meant people, and people meant potential jobs. Whether they were drunk or not was an entirely different matter. So, maybe no jobs, but that wasn't all too bad. Ale was a nice thing to drink after all (especially in such a chilly place as Shyregoed).
That made up her mind. Maeve turned to face the inn completely and marched her way in. Upon entering, she told herself that she was right; it was loud because the place was packed. Maeve squinted, looking around the place for an empty seat. Ah, there was one on the far end of the large room. The woman carefully stepped through and around the various people, trying to reach the chair without anyone else snatching it up. There was a girl sitting there, but no one sat beside her. It was as if she had some sort of boundary preventing the other people from getting close, but Maeve could not sense anything wrong from her. She shrugged internally, taking a seat at the same table as her, but not facing her.
"Ale," Maeve shouted to the nearest barmaid, not bothering to look at or speak with her table-mate.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:17 pm
"Ah!" Aysel looked up, surprised, as she heard the clatter of a neighbor, another who had unabashedly popped her bubble of isolation. The way she approached, the way she spoke, it certainly wasn't Elias. Then who..? Turning slightly, she stared openly at the other woman, taking in her features with shameless curiosity. Sharp features, stern expression... Not the type to be trifled with. She should probably stop staring. Luckily, her attention received a decent distraction as the barmaid returned.
"'Ere you are, love," she greeted; having returned with the ale, the barmaid placed the tankard in front of Maeve with a smile. Glancing at Aysel, whose gaze had fallen, she offered a nod and a leveled, "A good night to ya, child." As the maid twirled away to attend to another patron, Aysel sighed. She doubted the lady had so much as seen her face, as focused on Aysel's bunny as she was. Elias had tried to warn her; if she brought in her Plague, the reception she received would likely be less than warm, and indeed it was. But the thing was the crux of her decision to leave; it was the most powerful connection she had to her home. She couldn't bear to leave it alone.
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Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 10:04 am
Maeve nodded to the woman giving her her ale, grabbing onto the handle. She did not lift it, but instead looked at the girl sharing her table. She was not intimidating or scary in the least bit-- she was a young girl. Were Maeve's senses not catching on to what everyone else was noticing? This was no good. She was supposed to be a sharp mercenary and keenly aware of everything. She continued to stare as she brought her tankard to her lips, taking a large gulp of the ale. Setting it down, she decided that pondering these things would not help her.
"Why are the people avoiding you?" No hushed whisper, no change in expression, nothing; Maeve had asked the girl point-blank. She wanted a straight answer, so she asked a straight question. It crept in the back of her mind that this girl was too young to be in a place like this, especially alone, but Maeve made no comment. Maybe she was alone for the same reason that the people seemed to disperse around her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 2:37 am
Aysel looked up sharply at Maeve's question, and her expression immediately twisted into one of confusion. "You really haven't noticed?" she asked, mystified, and her lips slipped into a soft frown. She had hoped that the woman had chosen to sit here despite her Plague, but no; she had simply been oblivious to it. Aysel had hoped for too much. "Well..." She hesitated, but then glanced at the unfriendly faces around her and sighed. It was far, far too late to try to hide anything now; that was for certain. "It's because of him."
Turning to face her tablemate, Aysel hefted her rabbit up onto the table; as it was moved, the corpse's head lolled, and for a brief moment, it stared straight at Maeve, single bright red eye open wide. In that moment, the rabbit almost seemed to smile. Aysel laid it out flat on its side, close to her own body, and smiled softly as she stroked its fur a couple of times, assuring it and herself that they were not far from one another; seemingly in response, the taint surrounding the rabbit curled weakly up her wrist as her hand moved down its body, almost like a child reaching for the finger of its mother. But then Aysel's wary gaze slid back up to Maeve, full of suspicion. True, there was little chance Aysel could do much of anything against the woman if her reaction was, to put it mildly, poor, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try her damnest to protect herself and her infant Plague.
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:57 am
This time it was easy to see Maeve's face change. Her half-lidded gaze turned into wide-eyed gawking. What was she looking at? A dead rabbit. Maeve was staring at a dead rabbit. A young girl was carrying around a dead rabbit. Oh lords, she was a loon. That certainly explained why everyone was avoiding her. Who carries a dead rabbit?
Maeve's relaxed hand tensed up into almost a fist on the table. The eye of the rabbit was unsettling, as if it were ready to hop back to life. So red and-- black. Black wisps of something just touched the girl. The mercenary was baffled; she had never seen something like this before, but she did not like it. It did not seem safe, or natural. Maybe it was what she heard of on her travels... those Plagues. Her mind was too busy to really comprehend, but Maeve knew she could at least help the loon of a girl.
Reaching out quickly, Maeve attempted to snatch up the rabbit in her own hand. "You shouldn't be carrying around things like that."
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:45 am
Aysel's heart broke just a little at Maeve's reaction; despite herself, she had hoped for better, but no. It was a foolish hope. She knew better. No one in their right mind would shrug off such an obvious touting of a corpse. But as she scried Maeve's intentions, her reaching arm, she gasped; she panicked. "Don't you dare touch him!" she shouted, startling some of the people who lingered nearby, and threw her body over the corpse, shielding it from the woman's grasp. Her suspicious expression had intensified into a snarl, and she almost growled as she pulled the rabbit from the table. But once the bunny had been returned safely to her arms, her expression softened again; she stroked and snuggled it close with a smile that came off as borderline neurotic. Her heart pounded in her chest, but now, yes, her precious was safe again.
The taint began to curl about Aysel's arms once more, and her smile gave way to a somber anxiety. "You don't understand... I can't leave him alone; it's not safe... And he's all I have left..." Her voice cracked slightly on her final word, and her arms tightened around her rabbit. She paused a moment, then, nervously, glanced up at Maeve out of her peripherals, her eyes begging for understanding, for mercy.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:00 pm
The shout was unexpected, and Maeve's hand withdrew to her side. A girl was protecting, no, shielding a dead rabbit from the grasp of a stranger. She was touching it all over and the rabbit was doing the same to the girl. Had the rabbit made her sick, or was she sick before? She didn't know, and she wasn't sure that she really cared. This girl needed help.
That face she made, however, was not of a sweet little girl. Maeve stared. She was like a beast with her favorite bone; that was not a normal thing. And smiling at it, and smiling at it. The mercenary was unaware that a girl could be so disturbing, but her face did not change.
She spoke again and Maeve listened. "No s**t it's not safe," Maeve glowered down at the animal. How could a rotting corpse be the only thing she had left? It was just some rabbit.
"You're doing nothing but harming yourself and drawing the attention of others." She eyed the crowded bar and the blatant gap between the patrons and herself. "Keep the damned thing out of sight."
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:20 am
Tmp, tmp, tmp. Approaching boots tapped on the floor as they crossed the gap to the table, and a sigh sounded behind Maeve. "I tried to tell her that before we came, but she just wouldn't listen to me," lamented the blonde man behind her as he pushed up the glasses on his nose. "Please, accept an apology on my behalf if she's disturbed your time here." Compared to natives, the man wore far too many layers of clothes, but from what could be seen, he appeared to be in his late twenties. Comfortably, he took a seat at the table and smiled at Maeva with a countenance of absolute pleasantry.
"Elias..." Aysel whispered, smiling at him. He was so cool, so calm, so in control. It made her feel safe. He understood; unlike the others, he wasn't afraid of her or her precious bunny. Casting another cautious glance towards Maeve, she scooted a little closer to her current guardian.
Elias smiled at her and reported, "The room's ready." Turning back to Maeve, he went on to explain, "You see, you'll have to excuse any of Aysel's eccentric behaviors; she has been through some especially hard times recently. She is what we in the Council like to call a Keeper, or Grimm, the protector of plague-infested objects. She came from a very family-oriented home, but just a few days ago they discovered that she was a Keeper and rejected her for it. This discovery had the misfortune of falling upon the same day she lost her mother to the plague, turning her into an orphan. Rather than stay with a family who didn't want her, she opted to come with me and use her Plague to hopefully advance any studies towards a successful cure. Unfortunately, it's been only recently that the gravity of her decision has weighed upon her." He spoke freely, easily, of Aysel's history, but though she had no complaints--she did not interrupt--her expression turned insecure and frightened as the memories returned to her. Her arms tightened around her rabbit.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:37 pm
Before Maeve could continue, a voice spoke up from behind her. Quickly turning, she looked to the man taking a seat at the table. No introduction was given, but an apology instead. An apology? Maeve's thoughts wandered to ones of confusion, but her face stayed blank. The mercenary was not too keen of the idea of apologizing on the young girl's behalf. The situation seemed vaguely familiar and in an unsettling way.
The young girl was smiling, though. She smiled at the man and murmured something that Maeve could not make out. What was this man to this young girl? The girl seemed to trust him-- like him, even. Maeve could not trust the judgment of this girl... The rabbit and now this older man.
The man began to speak again. He spoke a lot. So much personal information just being handed out as if it were absolutely nothing to him. Maeve stayed rather confused. Grimm? ...A Plague. She had never seen a Plague like that before; it was something quite interesting. The blackness surrounding the dead animal must have been the tainted essence she had heard of. And here was this man giving away all this! What if Maeve had been a thief? Plagues were things of status, of power. One does not go around sharing those facts, or so Maeve thought.
Maeve was getting caught up in the idea of a Plague, but focused on the subject bothering her. She would be blunt. "What is your relation to this girl?" Maeve looked Elias up and down for good measure.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 1:24 am
Elias took the examination in stride, smiling blandly; Aysel seemed to have faded into her own inner world and was no longer giving the exchange her full attention. Her eyes acquired a slightly mournful, far away look. Elias, though, was much more composed. The way his many clothes wrapped thickly about his neck and glasses hung precariously on the bridge of his nose gave him the appearance of someone bookish and innocent to the ways of the world; however, he spoke with a slickness that seemed to hint at a tad more wisdom about his surroundings than he initially let on. After pausing a moment to allow her to examine him unperturbed, he answered the question. "Like I said, I'm her escort. Her family rejected her. She had nowhere to go, so she decided to accompany me back to Imisus, where she can be inducted to the Council of Sciences. Right, Aysel?" She started slightly and looked up at him, blinking slowly a couple of times. Then, as his earlier words finally sunk in, she nodded.
"I'm going to prove my aunt wrong and help to cure the Plague," she stated boldly, determination sparking through her eyes. "And he's going to help," she added, looking down and adjusting her rabbit slightly, apparently referring to it and not Elias.
"Exactly right," he said, smiling at his charge, then looked back to Maeve. "Ah, but where are my manners? All of this talking and I haven't even introduced myself properly. I am Elias, Elias Breckinridge, and as I'm sure you've gathered, my companion is Aysel." He held out a hand in greeting. "And you are?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:52 pm
The man claimed to be an escort of sorts, but Maeve had her own reservations about the glasses-wearing fellow. She could not tell if she was projecting her own situation onto the young girl, so she kept her comments to herself for the time being. There was no need to start something, or to act accusatory to a stranger. The woman lifted the mug of ale to her lips, taking a slow and long gulp from it.
The girl spoke again. Aysel. Setting the ale down, Maeve thoughtfully glanced to Aysel. Curing the Plague was an awfully big goal to have for such a small girl, but her words were heartfelt. Children could be amazing when they needed to be. Maeve feared she had not given enough credit to this girl; Maeve would have to calm down.
Introductions were finally abound and the man stated who he was. Names were important things to remember for Maeve. Connections, knowledge, it all mattered in her line of work. The mercenary tucked away their names in her mind and blinked. A polite gesture of holding one's hand out could not be met. Maeve turned her body slightly to Elias, extending out her left arm and holding her hand out plainly. "I'm afraid your left hand will be needed for a formal greeting." She looked up the man, still not wholly approving of him, but she couldn't afford to be rude. "Maeve LaChance."
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 12:23 am
The switch in hands gave Elias pause; confusion flitted briefly across his features as his eyes honed in on Maeve's right side. What could possibly--ah, there. That sleeve did hang just a bit too loosely. The synaptic connections were made in moments; his warm smile reappeared as quickly as it disappeared, and he switched hands for her. His grasped hers firmly, and he shook hands with the excited energy of a new acquaintance. "It's quite alright; it's lovely to meet you, Miss LaChance. Or may I call you Maeve?" However, he gave her precious little time to answer: A barmaid passed him by, and he simply had to turn and request a bit of food for himself and Aysel. "Oh, I'm so sorry about that... What were you saying?"
During the exchange, Aysel, unsurprisingly, stayed quiet. Head slightly bowed, her focus was again on her rabbit; gently, she toyed with its small paws in her fingers, and her eyes only occasionally darted up. However, once Elias made mention of food, she looked up to see the barmaid clearly, eyes shining. Plague or no plague, food sounded quite good right now.
Catching sight of Aysel's excited look, his smile grew, briefly taking on, just for a moment, the glamour of a snobbish smirk. Food would be good for the both of them. As for Maeve, he shot one more question her way: "Do you think you'll be staying for dinner?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 11:01 am
"Either is fine, re--," she stopped. Her response cut short when Elias asked for food, however, he quickly recovered. "I was saying that either will do. It does not matter," she finished.
"Do you think you'll be staying for dinner?"
What a strange question. The two of them seemed quite eager at the idea of food... When exactly was the last time Maeve ate a meal with someone and not by herself? Years-- the answer was years. And now two unusual strangers were asking if she'd stay. The gesture was awfully welcoming, but everything had some double-meaning in Maeve's mind. The mercenary was not sure what could be the downside, though. She had nothing to steal or to offer, so perhaps she could give her company.
An obvious pause lingered in the air before she spoke. "I don't see why not," Maeve said. Maybe this would be a nice opportunity for conversation and who knows what else. And conversation generally required a start of some sort. Maeve was not much one for words, but she could muster up some small talk. "The Council of Sciences... do you think they can actually cure the Plague?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:52 am
"Ah, excellent..." he half-mumbled as he crossed his arms on the table in front of him and leaned forward. The comment was little more than acknowledgement, but in the midst of Maeve's pause, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd overstepped his boundaries with her. No matter. She could decline if she wished. It was a habit for him. Ever since he left Imisus, he's wandered as a stranger in a strange land, and he did so enjoy eating as a group. It was one of the few occasions where he enjoyed, even invited, the presence of others, friends or strangers. In the lab, he could scarcely tolerate them. When it came down to business, Elias was a different person. But now was not then. He was at ease, as much for Aysel as his own enjoyment, and his face lit up when Maeve accepted. "Wonderful!"
Maeve's question attracted the attention of Aysel, and Elias could feel the girl's eyes on him as he answered. Despite her lack of a home, despite her current absolute dependency on him, she still held doubts. She barely knew him, after all. He needed to fully believe so she could too.
Fortunately for her, he did. He answered earnestly, "Oh yes. We have agents all over Panymium working towards this one single goal; new discoveries are made every day. Even I have my own theories that I can't wait to test when I arrive back in Imisus. With the help of Grimms like Aysel, allowing us actual subjects to work with, we're advancing faster than ever. It's all very exciting." His hands moved in time with his words, emphasizing his enthusiasm. He truly believed what he said.
A small smile touched Aysel's lips when she was mentioned, and she looked down. She was going to help. She was wanted. She would be praised, loved, and hailed... Brief fantasies flashed through her mind, celebrations just for her. Yet it all seemed so untouchable... No, this had to be the right path. She wasn't going to be a burden anymore. She still felt the bite of her aunt's words in the memory, and she shook her head slightly to try to rid herself of it, at least for the moment. Elias was hopeful. She should be too.
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