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 Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 11:13 am
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"No. On the isle I had nobody....except my parents, but they were only interested in making me stronger, on pushing me to be better." She unconsciously lifted one hand up towards the two feathers in her hair. Two feathers, two parents. They had been a gift....of sorts. She had been allowed to take one after defeating each of them in one on one combat. They had been so proud of her that day.....the closest thing to love that she had ever gotten from either of them.
And then as her arm dropped back to her side, a flash of teal caught her eye, and her lips pursed as she stared at the bracelet that adorned her arm. It's giver was dead. She had not been able to protect her---
Shaheen's expression turned dark suddenly as she shut herself down from the memories, blocked out the screams, the roar of the insanity phoenix, the pain she had felt as she struggled to get away. Most of it was a blur. A lot of it her brain refused to even remember, black holes in her memory that were too awful to dredge back up and so they were blocked from view.
"I have become closer to others then I would have normally allowed myself, since then." She let herself look at the other woman then, eyes curious.
"Did anybody make it that you were close to?" She found herself hoping so. It couldn't all be sadness and tragedy for all of them.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:35 pm
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The softest of a smile formed on the Artisan's face when Shaheen talked. "So, even the great and mighty Cheiftans have parents." She mulled softly, looking up at the woman as she regarded the feathers. There was a strange beauty in the War Clan that kept Lifen interested. They were rough and rugged and nothing mattered outside of the battle, or so she assumed. Also, their feathers. . .
Hearing the question, her eyes deflected to her coloured nails, eyebrows furrowing a little as she thought of her family once again, her face pensive, and a little sad. All this emotion, without coming close to shedding a tear. She had promised herself she would not cry, and had not, since she found her way to the Lost Clans. It felt wrong to consider the selfish act when it came to them, her proud, beautiful family. It was wonderful to have so many sisters to care for and be watched over, but it hurt so much to have lost them. Tit for Tat, she supposed.
"None of my blood." She finally answered, exhaling out of her nose slowly. "I had been the only one to make it out - barely - from the attack, and the relentless fighting." She stated, hand subconsciously raising her to hair and tugging at the three white strikes that marred her pure black hair. A momento. "Only one, but marked. I hope you understand." It was so hard to say it outloud. She figured the Chieftess would understand, grey colouration had streaked the woman's strong face like it had her friend's hands. She knew the signs. Gold may not even have been the woman's original eye colour.
"When I found myself in the Sanctuary, I thought I was completely alone, the last one I knew personally. Fortune smiled on me when I found Mengyao and his cousin Yuzhi. If it had not been for them I would have been completely left behind. I guess I hold them higher than I should. But, everyone needs someone to reflect their existance on, and Mengyao has always been my closest friend, so I guess it's a blessing." She rambled on, all the pent up emotion from the time spilling out, a blush still on her pale face.
"Forgive me." She asked after a moment of silence.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 1:13 pm
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Shaheen listened, face blank, but obviously entranced by what the artisan was saying. Her story was so much like Shaheen's in some ways. Her pain was perhaps deeper then the chieftain's had been, especially if she was close to her family, but she had been there when the isles fell. She had fought. And now she was marked, just as Shaheen was marked, just as the woman of war had suspected.
"Yes." She supplied. "I do understand." So there were others besides herself who had been afflicted. She had heard the whispers and the rumors, had made assumptions based on the grey that she saw streaking some of the others, but now she knew it for sure.
It was actually almost nice, to know that she wasn't completely alone in that aspect, at least.
"You are lucky to have them." She said, feathers rustling behind her as she adjusted her stance, turning to lean over the ledge more and stare at the ground below, again thinking about how nice it would be to jump. "No apology is necessary."
"I do know some of the others. I made it my business to know all warriors, executioners and guards by name alone if nothing else. They recognize me, and many still give difference to me, but there is no fondness there. I am, by all intents and purposes, alone." She paused then, thinking about what she just said, mulling it over in her mind.
"Though I suppose there is one that I have known since childhood. But I believe that he may hate me." No, there was definitely no fondness there.
Nerpin I need to stop writing "Lifen" instead of "Nerpin" when quoting you~
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 2:10 pm
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Looking to the Chieftess, she couldn't help but give Shaheen the softest of smiles. "It's nice to know someone else experiences the same you do." She offered to her. It really had been, when she started, knowing that her best friend was right there, with his blue eye turned gold, his hands greying in patches. He was so self-conscious of it, to her it was a relief. How . . . self-centered it felt. She had needed it.
Listening to her again, she thought of her little entourage of allies she had met, counting them out on one hand, teal stained nails raising and falling as she counted on them. Mengyao, Lan - a Lord, a Lady - Soren was a Guardian, he said. She figured Senga had been an Executioner. Shaheen was a Chieftess - Yuzhi was a Scholar. "All Sorts." She murmured outloud, looking at her hands. "I seem to ally myself along all sorts, high class, middle class." She decided, tilting her head. "I have not really noticed it since now. I have been so used to being there for them as a person, even if three of them outrank me extensively." She figured, before giving a shrug. Lifen couldn't care less, she just wanted them to be safe.
Hearing Shaheen admit about one specific relation, she perked up a little visually, mis-matched eyes looking back up to her, a tilt of her head letting black hair cascade across her back. "How would you consider it hatred? Has he ever told you he has hated you, and meant it? She asked, innocently.
"I am certain I have told Mengyao I have hated him a few times as a youth, only to take it back a few days later for him being infuriating at the time." she mused, softly. She felt a little sheepish that he was her only example, but from a mixture of her quiet demeanor, his status title and personality, she spent most of her life watching over the colt more than finding other friends. Which seemed fine, now that she thought of it.
"Better yet, is the feeling of hatred mutual?" She queried, trying to feel this one out.
Seussi OH Lifen, you silly grll. SORRY I AM NITPICKING BAD.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:48 am
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Shaheen had seen the signs of the affliction on others, had assumed what it might mean, but had not so far questioned anybody about it. Maybe she had been nervous to do so, worried that perhaps she was wrong and it was just her, that she was slowly going to go completely insane, and that it was something she was just going to have to deal with all on her own.
Not that she wouldn't fight it until the bitter end.
The all sorts comment had Shaheen looking puzzled, but she quickly began to grasp what Lifen meant when she continued on, though she felt she had nothing she could add to the topic. Shaheen herself had few that she might consider friends, having not ever done well with making them in the past. Some seemed intimidated by her, others she was quick to turn on if they gave her the faintest hint of disrespect. Possibly a defense mechanism, as in the past she preferred to be alone, to have things be as uncomplicated as possible, to make herself stronger. It was hard now to admit that maybe she had been wrong before, and wrong about everything.
Shaheen cocked her head to the side at the next question, her eyebrows furrowing. "It is just a feeling I get, I suppose. We have been rivals since children, always trying to best one another. Since coming here, we have been at each others necks more and more, though to start with I thought it was just the usual thing. I...wonder if I have just changed too much, and so things have changed between us. He can be very insulting, at times." Funny how she didn't mention how horribly she treated him, and how often his behavior towards her was not unmerited. But had Shik ever said words like 'I hate you'? Now that she thought about it, she didn't think so.
"If he has ever said it, I don't remember." That made her feel slightly better, maybe, but she gave a shrug as though it meant little.
"No I...I do not hate him. I just...I can not explain exactly why. We have always treated each other badly. We insult each other, we fight, we do our best to make each other miserable at times but...no, not hate. I enjoy it too much, most of the time, so I can not hate him for it." She smirked at that last part, though it felt nice to say it out loud, to get it out in the open. It almost helped to make sense of it all.
It probably made no sense at all to poor Lifen.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 1:07 pm
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"Sounds familiar." She murmured as Shaheen answered her questions, taking everything carefully, filing them for future use if needed. Beyond that, she nodded softly, looking at the taller horsewoman with much interest, wondering how she could subdue the problems going through the taller woman's mind. She was starting to think she was the Clan's psychologist, seeing as how many she's been helping recently.
It was fun, watching the Chieftess' feelings ripple across her face as she talked about the friendship woes, she didn't need words to explain what was happening. Of course, the words helped, because it helped the Artisan figure out the feelings that she was experiencing. "I do not think you should be fretting so much then." She offered, raising an eyebrow daintly as she regarded her. "It sounds more like you are both just struggling with everything that suddenly popped up. Maybe you should have a long talk, or something." She mused, Whatever a long talk was. She assumed there would be violence in store for it, considering the woman's rank.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:55 pm
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Shaheen was feeling better, remarkably. Apparently this confident thing actually worked! All she really needed was to talk though, to hear the words out loud for herself, and then everything started to make sense on it's own. While Lifen's opinions were appreciated, she found that they actually weren't really necessary.
"I try not to fret." She frowned. "I..I wish I could stop but.... He keeps getting into my head." That was really the worst part for her. Just when she felt like she was over it, something would remind her of a way that she had been slighted by him and it would set her off all over again. Plus it had been getting increasingly worse. The prom, the whole escapade where they turned into minipets, the trip to the human world with Senga.
Talk? With Shik? The thought alone was laughable. "We do not talk. At least, not in a conventional manner. We talk with weapons and actions. Lately he has bested me at everything, which is quite aggravating." Really, could she not win just once? Maybe then he might show her a shred of respect.
Damn this new world. Damn her waning fear.
"But I have filled your ears with enough of my problems. What about you? Is there anything on your mind that you wish to speak of?" That was how this worked, right?
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:16 am
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Lifen lidded her eyes a little while the Chieftess talked, and turned to look down at the ground again, wind dancing through her hair softly, whipping ink black strands around. "Well, whatever comes of it, I will been here for the debriefing." She offered, smiling softly. She knew what it was to have a childhood friend who at times could be infuriating, (except the attacking part. Shoving him in a lake didn't count.)
Turning her head again to look at Shaheen again, she awared her wit a shy smile, before shaking her head. "I should be fine for now, we could conside it a, um" she stalled, thinking of the word. "Rain check, an I.O.U, incase I decide to have a meltdown. For now, I think we should work on your current battle." She offered, before standing away from the edge.
"Shall we take that tour, now?"
Seussi We could finish this after your post CX
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:53 pm
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Whatever comes of it? Debriefing? Shaheen frowned slightly to herself, trying to figure out exactly what that even meant. She was sure all that would come of it was more anger, more heated words, and more bloodshed. Really, that was all that could come of it. That was all that she knew.
"Of course. That is very kind of you." She said anyways, even though she had no idea what she was getting herself into.
And so the conversation had wound down to a close. Which was good, really. Shaheen felt like she had gotten a lot off of her more then ample chest, and she had gotten to know yet another member of the conquest clan a little better. She was actually beginning to think that perhaps they weren't all that bad. Though, she had yet to meet a Noble in her lifetime that she had ever liked. Maybe that was the true test. "Well then I shall wait for you to have a melt down. In the meantime, if it is a tour by foot that you want, I think that means it is time to descend." Shaheen's face may have lit up slightly at the prospect. More flying.
"And since you seem to prefer to be held in my arms," (she was kind enough not to add 'like a child'. She kept her insults handy and at the ready for another target.) "Rather then take the rope ladder down......" She let her words trail off as she offered the artisan a large smirk, moving forward to lean down and wrap her arms around the woman, holding her close. She was just so very small. It really was a lot like carrying a child!
Without further discussion she stepped to the part of the ledge that was not roped off and threw herself over the edge. Free falling, gripping the artisan tight. This is what she had been daydreaming of doing since the moment they had stepped foot up to that ledge earlier. There was almost no greater rush then this. It was only mere seconds before she let her wings snap open, however, the air current lifting them up before she swept downwards again for a landing that was not quite smooth but at least was not a complete disaster.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:01 pm
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"What?" was all the little Artisan could say before she was unceremoniously picked up again, already nearing the descent. Eyes widening, she securely fastened her arms around the horsewoman, a small squeak emitting from her as they jumped off the edge. She didn't like this, she didn't like this, she didn't like this.
Feelings of dread pooled up her throat and she held her breath for most if not all of the descent until the sound of feathers cutting air stopped them abruptly, slowing the fall and making her exhale the breath she was holding. What a strange rush, knowing that she wasn't going to die. She wasn't sure how often she would be committed to being done this to her, but it could be worse. She would have to tell Mengyao of her bravery today.
As they reached the sweet, sweet ground, her short legs met with grass again and she took a deep breath, re-calculating herself. Turning to the woman, she could only give her a sharp smile, before standing straight again, accepting the tour as it was. "Now you truly owe me an update." She stated boldly, before laughing out loud, following the woman down the trail towards their little tour.
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