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Post by Stix on Feb 1, 2008 17:29:59 GMT -5
Wraith makes her way by rote to the Gatehouse after long hours of numbing labor at the Weary Spirit. The rain lets up as the evening darkens, and a thin mist clings to the pitted, muddy streets.
As she trudges down the boulevard, a passing figure collides solidly with her, nearly knocking her off her feet. The Dustman whirls to find herself face-to-face with a scowling Ahinabura. Hidden beneath her enveloping cloak is a shivering child.
Aerin.
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Post by Uathach Blackmantle on Feb 5, 2008 0:36:55 GMT -5
Wraith makes her way by rote to the Gatehouse after long hours of numbing labor at the Weary Spirit. The rain lets up as the evening darkens, and a thin mist clings to the pitted, muddy streets. As she trudges down the boulevard, a passing figure collides solidly with her, nearly knocking her off her feet. The Dustman whirls to find herself face-to-face with a scowling Ahinabura. Hidden beneath her enveloping cloak is a shivering child. Aerin. Twenty days had passed. Twenty days of mind numbing, back-breaking labor, since the day she returned to the Weary Spirit Infirmary... and just over three weeks since she felt the full spasms of madness kick in. Only the Powers knew how long it had been since she last held Aerin, and rocked him to sleep... Only twenty days had passed, but it had felt like an eternity to the beleagured Dustman. And at the end of each day, as she trudged back to whatever place she called kip, falling upon her rented bed in exhaustion, she felt yet another piece of her sanity and her soul die by the morning. She remembered then, as she struggled up the hill toward the Gatehouse, something Hadrian had said to her. Though the exact words didn't come to mind, it was something like this; "How anyone can shoulder a burden like yours, without their heart breaking, I do not know." The answer to that one was simple, dear sweet Hadrian; My heart is already broken. Wraith felt the first paroxysm of grief that day, and it stabbed into her like a kick to the gut. Had someone reached into her chest and ripped her heart out, the pain would've been less unbearable. She choked back a teary sob, swiping stubbornly at the amber flow that blurred her eyes, and spilled down her cheeks. I am Dead... and the Dead feel nothing... She resolutely tried to remind herself. That same litany, a condemnation really, played over and over in her head, until it was burned like a livid brand into her mind, and she was mumbling the words, even in her sleep. But the same affirmation that once offered solace in numbness, now condemned her to madness and grief. The words were hollow and bitter. They no longer held any true meaning. Ironically, Wraith began to laugh then, as the cruelty of existence came crashing down around her. She laughed so hard she didn't see where she was going... and cried out as someone collided with her. Knocked nearly off her feet, she recovered quickly enough, and spun around with a snarl. "Watch where you're going, berk!" The angry words just spilled out of her mouth, before she even saw whom she was addressing; Ahinabura. And tucked beneath the folds of her cloak, shivering and sneezing from the cold, was the source of her joy... and her despair. Her beloved son, Aerin. Wraith's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it! After all these months! What... was it a trick? Could her eyes have somehow deceived her, and in her grief she'd finally succumbed to the last stages of her madness? No. Wraith resolutely shook her head. She wasn't mistaken. Ahinabura had found her missing son. "Aerin! Oh, merciful Powers above, you found him! Please cutter, return him to me quickly, so that I might get him home and out of the cold." She couldn't contain her relief or her tears any longer. She let them stream down her cheeks in amber waves, and stepped in the Bleaker's way to reach for her son. "Aerin! I'm so glad you're alive... come to mama, angel." She crouched down to the little boy's level, and held her arms, and her cloak out wide to accept the child into her embrace. Thankyou, merciful Apollo, for bringing my child back to me... Wraith sobbed, feeling some measure of relief and joy for the first time... |
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Post by Stix on Feb 8, 2008 21:50:57 GMT -5
Aerin all but falls into Wraith's arms, more fragile than she remembers him.
"I'm comin' with you," Ahinabura demands. "There's some dark you need to know."
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Post by Uathach Blackmantle on Feb 11, 2008 0:37:58 GMT -5
"Merciful Apollo," Wraith sobs, cradling her child in her arms, and bundles him up in her cloak. He was significantly diminished, more than she remembered; shivering, pale, and glazed about the eyes. By all accounts he appeared to be in some kind of a fever. What exactly, she couldn't tell, and she wouldn't know until she got her son someplace warm and dry. She clutched him tight to her, and placed a gentle kiss upon his forehead. "It's all right, darling. Mama's gonna make you feel better soon."
She turns to face Ahinabura then, once the child is safely shielded from the cold beneath her cloak, and offers her a tired smile of immeasurable gratitude. "I-I cannot even begin to thankyou for this act of kindness you have done for me." She stills her tongue as a flurry of unanswered questions bubble to the surface of her mind. For now, they would have to wait. Aerin was shivering and sneezing wretchedly.
"Yes, please, lann me everything. I have lodgings for the time being at the Open Shell. Bertram's a good blood. He's been kind enough to offer longer term lodgings there, so long as I pay him in advance." She beckons the Bleaker woman to follow her, and makes her way down Bedlam Run; her mind focused and her steps lighter than they had been in many months.
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Post by Stix on Feb 12, 2008 19:33:30 GMT -5
Random event roll
[dice=20][rand=1347240619899120584244589748393820815721843272662003982287317508604]
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Post by Stix on Feb 13, 2008 1:16:31 GMT -5
(Continued on the Hive Ward streets.)
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