Name: Aaricia Stage: Bandit Race: Fire and Ice hybrid Gender: Female
Age: 26-35 Height: 4'5" Status: Single, straight
3 Base Traits: ~ Regal ~ Loyal ~ Driven
Personality: Like most Ice Earthlings, Aaricia was initially raised to carry herself and compose herself with respect. Her time being a captive in her father's house in Oba did not change this about her, only adding a layer of trained propriety to her habits. After escaping to freedom, she earned herself a new pride in just being herself through hard work and training. With everything she has gone through, she has the capacity of a royal while having the skills of the common street.
Having had a rather rough and solitary upbringing, Aari is extremely loyal to those who give her friendship and love. She covets true affection more than all the furs in Zena. Her loyalty to true love and friendship has only strengthened through her ordeal in Oba, though this also can make her a little hard for strangers to approach.
Aari is now free of the burden of her past, but she remains as driven as ever. Rather than getting lost with no direction, she is on a new journey to experience life in a whole new way; a journey of freedom.
Cornetified
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Cornetified
Precious Loiterer
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 1:14 pm
Starting History:
A fire earthling who lived to experience the world. An ice earthling looking for a reason to keep on living. When they met, it was an instant connection. The fire man bragged about his adventures, regaling the ice woman with stories of the different places he’d visited, and his dreams of where he would go next. The ice woman was hooked, her own head filling with thoughts of adventure outside of a lonely and isolated life. The day they were going to set out though, the man fell and broke his leg. The ice woman took him in, and tended to his injury. As time passed, she fell in love with him. However, he saw her as a curse keeping him from his dreams. Still, a little fun wouldn’t hurt, right?
The moment his leg was healed, he packed his things and was gone, and the woman was left with an empty heart. Her friends spent weeks trying to lift her back up from the despair she’d fallen into. When they noticed their friend’s belly swelling, they panicked. A child from such a lie?! What a disgrace! How embarrassing! What an awful reminder of a humiliating mistake!
Yet, when the woman put a hand over the bulge, she felt her heart soar. Her time with the man hadn’t been a waste. He’d given her a precious gift... A reason... Izchora now had meaning to her life.
When the baby was born, Izchora was the happiest woman in Zena. Her friends and family... were not so happy. The baby had the blue hair and gold eyes of their people, but the brown skin and orange crystals were clearly of another. They were convinced that the babe would be a constant reminder of Izchora’s ‘mistake’, and encouraged her to get rid of the thing.
Of course, Izchora would have none of that. The baby might look a little different, but she was still of the ice earthlings, and her child. While her heart ached for the man who left without her, she bore no ill will toward him. Her daughter was well worth the pain. She named her daughter Aaricia, and loved her as fully as any mother loved their child. Raising the baby alone was tough, receiving no help from her disgusted family, but Izchora was going to prove that this was no mistake. She taught Aari of the ice ways, raising her just like she’d been raised by her parents.
~*~*~*~
As a youngling, Aari felt nothing but warmth at home. She was fed and clothed and hugged and kissed and played with and told how much she was loved constantly.
Outside the home was a different story. Without her mother’s protection, she was scorned and teased and isolated. Very few in the little mountain village were willing to accept her, and any who did want to were too afraid of their neighbor’s wrath to show it.
It was one particular run-in that affected her deeply. While running down a narrow path, she bumped into an adult. Literally. The woman was pushed toward the rock wall, while Aaricia stumbled toward the steep drop on the other side. She screamed with fear as she slid over the side, just barely able to grab onto the ledge.
The woman ran to the ledge to help, but paused when she saw who it was. “I should just let you drop,” she said, squatting to look little Aari in the eye. Aari whimpered when she realized that the woman up there, looking down at her so scornfully, was her aunt, Michora. “Your mother would be better off without a stone like you around her neck. Don’t you know you were an accident? A mistake?”
Her aunt’s words put the actions of the others in the village into sharp perspective. Her mother never did talk about her father... and she did look different from everyone else there... Mother never had friends over... Her family never visited... Aari almost did let go, but the rotten woman was suddenly yanked back from the ledge, and a different pale blue arm reached down to yank Aari up to safety. Aari curled into a ball while voices raised and hollered over her, hands over her ears to dull the sounds. All her mother’s loving words were being ripped away...
“Don’t you believe a thing she said, Aaricia!” Aari peeked out, startled to see a young prentice standing there. The boy had a determined look on his face, and he picked her upright to stand on her feet. “You know she loves you, and she knows it, too! Michora is just jealous ‘cause she doesn’t have anyone like your mother does.”
Aari blinked as the boy went on and on, confirming what she knew in her heart. There was someone else who saw that she.. was worthwhile. That she mattered. She couldn’t doubt her mother! Already feeling better, she thanked the boy for helping her.
“No problem!” The boy grinned and gave a slight bow. “By the way, my name’s Frik. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Aaricia.”
After that Aari and Frik were near inseparable. Not only had Frik saved her life, but also her heart. She would never forget it. While the village continued to be cold to her, she had her mother, and she had Frik. Nothing else mattered.
~*~*~*~
However, a traveling fire earthling had returned to Zena, somehow unable to forget the ice woman he'd left behind. She'd been a curse... but was often on his mind. He was walking down the path when he saw her walking the same path, looking as beautiful as before. He went to call for her, but paused when he noticed the baby in her arms. A baby with fire toned skin...
Unsure if the greater fear was finding out the baby was his, or finding out it wasn't his, he turned and left without making contact. He wasn't ready to be a father! The father of a mix on top of that!
The distress sent him back home to Oba for clarity. When he got back though, he found out he was the one chosen to take over the family business. While that was an honor, he realized he had no heir of his own. He took on a wife, but the two pregnancies she went through never ended with life, and the third brought two deaths...
Alone again, the man's mind went back to the baby he'd seen long ago. If the baby was alive still... perhaps going to claim it wouldn't be such a bad idea...
Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 1:21 pm
Relationships:
Dazhiq- Father. In prison yay! -npc- Izchora- Mother. A seamstress. Loved her daughter completely. Deceased. -npc- Frik- Childhood best friend. -npc- Jydora, Halim: Mother/son duo who used to be servants of Dazhiq. Remain close associates. -npc- Nameless still for now- Half-brother, shares her father. -npc-
Cornetified
Precious Loiterer
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Cornetified
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 1:27 pm
RP Log:
Bandit:
Thief: X [WE] Solo Entry *5points X Support - W/Nyko *5points X [WE] Coming Together- Solo Entry *5points X [WE] Mid-Season Harvest Festivals- Solo Entry *5points X [WE] Tendaji Tricks - W/Tacrith *5points X [WE] Greatest Fear - W/Adenah *5points X [WE] Summer Festivals - W/Sariza *5points X Detonation and Demonstration - W/Aire *5points X [WE] A Local Disaster - W/Yunan *5points X Discussing the Plan - W/Yunan,Nyko *5points X [WE] Back Alley Potions - W/Yunan,Nyko *5points X Digging Up Dirt - W/Yunan *5points X So What's Next? - W/Yunan,Nyko *in progress Converted battle: X *2points Pickpocket: X What The Future Holds - W/Klaas *5points X A Different Pair - W/Qoraekai *10points X Calmer Days - W/Kyrian *5points X Rainbows After The Rain - W/Nyko *5points X Hunting for a New Hunt - W/Gahiji *5points Meta Ch 9: Grave Expectations X Guardian Girls - W/Shura *5points Prentice: X To Market! To Market! - W/Juno *5points X Standing Out - W/Incanthis *5points X More Than Surface Tells - W/Xewai *5points X The Dinner Party - W/Nyko *5points X Stranger Danger? - W/Kieran *10points Youngling: X Fallen Angel - W/Kian *Complete *2 Growing req complete X A Meeting of Girls - W/Lixue *Complete *Growing req complete X Expanding Horizons - W/Callum *Complete *Growing req complete
The first steps in making the trip back to Zena were both exciting and terrifying. Aaricia’s life had been highlighted plenty of times with walking into the unknown, but this was different. She knew what should be at the other end, but she had no idea if any of it was actually there. Whatever did remain would certainly no longer be the way she remembered them. She had sent a few letters since settling into the free camp, but no replies had ever come back to her. Was it because the recipients were playing it safe, or was it that no one was there to receive the notes in the first place? She had no idea if her mother was alive and well. Plus, despite the passage of time, an image of her once dearest friend lying face down in the snow was etched into her mind as though it had happened yesterday. More than likely… Well, there was nothing left to be done but to reach her old home and find out for herself.
The bite of the chilly air was both shockingly sharp and yet strangely familiar at the same time. Her body had gotten quite used to the heat of Oba, but faint memories from an era long ago reminded her that the crisp air had once been home. It had once been a loving, comforting, happy home. It was something Oba had never truly been to her.
The moment she stepped into her home town, the pangs of various emotions made her stomach clench painfully. There was so much that she had been taken from. A whole life that had been ripped from her grasp in the blink of an eye. She wasn’t the only one affected by her father’s greed though. She had been torn from the lives of others as well, plus any other lives taken as collateral in the process...
A thick warmth filled her chest when she finally saw it. Her old home. At least, she thought it was her old home. Time brought change to many things, and her old home was no exception. She knocked on the door and waited with her breath stuck in the heat of her chest.
The door opened and a young iceling girl peered up at her curiously. “Hello?”
A child? Had her mother..? “Hello, little one. I am looking for Izchora. She- well- she was living here when I last knew.”
The girl scrunched up her brow and nose. “My sister’s Izicia. She’s not home right now. I could go get mama, but she’s takin’ a bath.”
Aari blinked with surprise. Izicia? A.. bath? Ah, the innocence of youth. “Well, I doubt that she would be the one I am looking for. There are others I can ask. Thank you though.”
As she walked away from the house, she couldn’t help looking over her shoulder more than once. She knew that was her old home.. But who was living there now? Some sweet little family with a set of girls. Where would her mother have gone?
Aari walked slowly, feeling the chill seeping deeper into her skin as the snow fell in soft puffs of fluff around her. Part of her was afraid of learning the truth. The other part of her was still absorbing the town. She had been so young when she had been taken. The sights were only vaguely familiar. She had hoped to find peace of mind returning here, but.. It was more unsettling the longer she lingered. This had been home at one point, but what was it now? If her mother was gone, what could possibly be here for her?
Something suddenly thudded heavily against the ground nearby and made her spin to look. Her arms came up defensively out of habit, a small dagger already in one hand. A man was standing at the door of the stable barn with a slack jaw and a few logs of cut wood on the ground at his feet. He looked as though he was seeing a ghost and walked toward her silently. She backed up, still hunched defensively with the dagger between them. She didn’t sense any malice, but it was still an odd reaction. “What do you want? Say something.”
The young man’s eyes were watering and he shook his head. He stopped moving when he realized how tense the hybrid was, but he could not stop staring. “It can’t be,” he murmured, a hand rising to cover over his mouth. “Aar-....Aaricia?”
Now it was Aari’s turn to be taken back with shock. That face… “Frik!!”
~~~
The cemetery consisted of neat rows of small, gray and brown headstones. Rows of well maintained hedges surrounded various sections to separate families and protect the precious memorials, the bitter wind rustling through the thick, spiky leaves. Many generations of Zenans had been laid to rest there. Whole families, single folk, loved ones and disliked ones… Everyone was on level ground when death took them from the complications of the world.
Looking at her mother’s grave… Aari could feel the pain and the hurt, but the tears would not come. At least she could appreciate that it had its own basket of flowers. Someone had clearly been tending to it over the years “I think part of me knew,” she murmured quietly. “There was no way that Dazhiq would risk her coming for me. He was always speaking so confidently about how he would have me there forever. He never told me why.”
Frik nodded slowly. “She would have crossed the oceans to find you if she’d gotten the chance.” His gaze shifted away. “I would have, too.”
Aari looked up and gave Frik a nod. “I know. I suppose I should be more surprised that the town preferred to ‘bury’ me with my mother than make any effort to avenge her. You couldn’t have known.” She closed her eyes and sighed. How petty and cruel her supposed ‘home’ had been… “You did what you had to. You got on with your life when there was nothing to wait around for.”
Frik’s hands clenched. “But there was! There was someone to wait for. To try for!” He wiped his eyes roughly. “I’m so sorry, Aaricia.”
“Hey, you could not have known. They lied to you about everything. There’s nothing to be done about it now anyway. I’m here for now.” She reached over to give Frik’s arm a squeeze. There was nothing here that would help.. But back in Oba… Back in Oba, there was much more work to be done.
~~~
Back at the stables, the office room was warm and cozy. Aari felt none of it though, weighed down by the bitter cold in her heart. She took a sip of her hot chocolate, spiked liberally, of course, but even that had no effect. The complete betrayal of the town, the final loss of her mother.. All of it kept her in an icy grip. “I tried sending letters. Did they never arrive?”
Frik snorted and ran a hand through his hair. “If they did get here, the big heads had already proclaimed you dead and buried. You think they’d admit to receiving mail from you after all that?” He chugged his own drink and shook his head. “By Chi… I can’t believe you’re alive. You’re sitting right there, but I still can’t believe it.”
Aari gave a bitter laugh. “You and me both. I spent all those years with one image in my head.” Her brow knit roughly, her eyes drifting to Frik’s chest. “There was so much blood. How did you survive?”
Brow rising, Frik couldn’t help looking down at his own chest. “It was pretty bad, but it didn’t break through the ribs.” He set his drink aside and started unbuttoning his sweater. “They found your mother first. That sent them looking for you. They found me instead. I was unconscious for a few days, from what my parents told me. Nearly lost some parts to frostbite.” There was a brief but visible pause, and then he pulled the shirt open. A strong chest was marred by a thick, long scar going across the shoulder and chest, a row of punctures from sharp janarim teeth that had torn through his skin.
Though she was used to the sight of wounds and injuries, this one made her wince. He’d gotten that as a child because of her. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out, her fingers gently brushing along the harsh lines. She saw the tremble go through Frik’s body in response. Such an angry scar. “I always hoped, but I couldn’t help that doubt. I’d thought…” Finally, the emotions started to break through. Tears fell from her eyes, and her hand trembled lightly. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”
Frik reached out and pulled Aari against him. “I am,” he assured, petting her hair lightly. “I saw you get picked up, but they said they found your body.” The tears fell along his face as well and he kissed the top of her head. “I never forgot about you.”
Aari nodded and sniffled. She closed her eyes again, feeling her chilled cheek and fingers pressing against Frik’s warm chest. The heat seeped into her, warming what she thought would never be warm again. Her fingers ran along the scar again.. And then the healthy skin around it. “I was so afraid. Even after I got away, I was too scared to return. I should have come right back as soon as I was able. I kept telling myself that I had work to do there, or that it was safer for you if I stayed away… but I was just scared. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Frik shook his head and used one hand to lift her face. He shivered under the touch of Aari’s chilled fingers.. Whether it was caused by the chill or the touch itself was up for debate. “There’s no one to blame but that creep who took you away. Aari, I’m just so glad you’re alive.”
As younglings, they had been the best of friends. Really, Frik was one of the only friends that Aari had ever had growing up in Zena. Everyone else had ostracized her for her hybrid blood. Only her mother and Frik had been able to accept who she was. Then she’d ended up in Oba, where it had simply gotten worse. There had been no acceptance of her heritage; it had been ignored and swept under the rug. If anything, it had only come into play once she was old enough to be auctioned off to the highest bidder who wanted an “exotic” young bride.
Then finally, finally, she had gotten free of that prison and found people who didn’t care about her mixed blood. She had found friends and a makeshift family of sorts, They liked her for who she was, just like her mother and best friend once had. Too afraid to return to Zena and find nothing waiting for her, she had remained in that comfort zone. It had been a rough but fulfilling life.
But what if she had returned? What if she had come back when she’d gotten free? What would have happened if she had never been ripped from her life in the first place?
Watery gold eyes met another golden gaze, determined and eager for reconciliation. Frik was alive… and she knew that, to him, she was more than some object to just look at.
It was utterly selfish of her... She wanted to think that she was thinking about the both of them, but she knew she could only control her own mind and actions. She raised her face further and pressed her lips to his. He offered no resistance, hugging her firmly against him to return the kiss just as desperately. She was tired of all the pain that had been in her life. The fears and the doubts and the traumas fell away when she focused on the taste of her friend. She needed the relief, the confirmation, the closure. They were both alive. They had to prove it.
~~~
The office was much warmer than when they had first stepped in. Warm enough that there was no need to get dressed right away. Every chill in her body was gone now. They laid in front of the crackling fire, caressing and snuggling and just enjoying their time together.
It all had to end at some point though.
“Aari.. I’m married. I have a family.”
The soft, apologetic voice pierced into her. It stung, but she nodded slowly. He’d needed to move on after everything that had happened. Her brow knit suddenly, and she propped herself up on one elbow. “Izicia?”
Frik looked at her with shocked confusion, and then realization. “You stopped by the old house first.”
Aari sat up fully. “You bought the house after- after what happened. You knew no one else would ever buy it with its history. You met a girl, had a family.” Her cheeks heated further. “Your daughter’s name..”
Frik nodded slowly. “I couldn’t bring myself to outright name any of them directly after you, so I made sure one got a mix of you and your mother to honor you both. You and Izchora were my family.”
Aari felt a sad smile rise. He truly had been her best friend. It left a heavy pit in her stomach. “I can not stay. It’s not right for me to come back from the dead and disrupt everything you’ve built for yourself.”
Frik nodded solemnly. “It sounds like you have more to do in Oba anyway.” He sat up to match Aari and pulled her close. He would never trade his family, but having Aari in his arms right there after such passion.. He wouldn’t trade that for anything either. “It’ll be okay. If you need anything, I’m here.”
Aari pressed firmly against him and nodded, savoring his embrace. She wanted to make sure her last memories of Zena were more positive than when she had left. As positive as they could be, at least.
It wasn’t ideal closure. Far from it. Her mother was long dead, and her friend long claimed. There would be no returning to Zena after this. She couldn’t risk destroying Frik’s family. Besides, he was right. There was still a lot of work to do back in Oba. Someone had to pay for the murder of her mother. Someone had to pay for the life stolen from her. Someone had to pay, and she was going to make certain the payment was collected.
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