Post by Carmim Clover on Nov 23, 2021 21:41:19 GMT -5
❝ AURA: 100%WORDS: 1081 | TWC: 1081 Each beat of the drum tells a story, About a little girl, Who swore she'd save the world. It felt a bit like suicide. This wasn't really Carmim's general modus operandi either, frankly. She was much more accustomed to being called in by Bianca or Argent or someone, blowing away some Beringel or bandit clan, and moving on. That was the extent of her communications, lately, for the most part. Beyond that, she wandered. And she fought. And she wandered some more. She'd wandered upon the village of Hajov not too long ago. Like more than a few she had encountered in the past year or so, this one was occupied by the Kerch Kozaks. Or the Revolutionary League. Whatever they had taken to calling themselves. The people were at first a bit suspicious, as they had all rights to be, at the sight of a lone stranger sidling up to town, asking around about work. At least compared to other Huntresses, she'd made a name for herself in the rural villages of Mistral; refugees from villages she'd aided before were able to vouch for her. But only to stay the night and rest up before continuing her travels. There wasn't any need of her assistance in Hajov. She glanced around at the blight-scorched ruins that once were a thriving little town. Her horse came to a halt just before the mangled iron gates, kicking and sputtering as she calmed it and dismounted. He was no fool- this town was cursed. As it turned out, there had been a need: The Dragon. She'd heard tales of it from Bianca, who'd faced it once or twice already, when the Golden Wings had been able to track it down on its warpath. Fearsome, massive, heavily-armored, and impossibly durable. Its wrath was supernatural; there were rumors, spread across the kingdom, that it was more than a simple Grimm; some kind of angry god, or a harbinger of the end times, come to punish Mistral for its wicked ways. What wicked ways it was punishing depended largely on those she'd spoken to- some claimed it was for the Council growing fat and lazy atop their ivory towers. Some claimed it was retribution for allowing the Faunus to remain in Mistral. Still others blamed the other Kingdoms, or the Brothers, or countless other reasonings. People were scared. Carmim was scared. It came suddenly, in the darkest hour of the night. She woke to screams and the sounds of evacuation. Rushing outside, she saw the beast soaring overhead, spewing blight and dark ooze from its fanged maw. She opened fire at it, and the blast tore into its armored wing, but to her surprise, penetrated no further. That was the last she was able to throw at it, however- from the ooze it spilled came an army of Grimm, and the village was under attack. She was able to hold them off while the village's few survivors made their escape, but only because the Dragon had already moved on to its next target, wherever that was. She had saved some of the villagers, in the end. But not the town. With the survivors, when it was all over, she sent a message to the leader of the Revolutionary League. A meeting. At the ruins of Hajov, in a day's time. Maybe it was reckless of her. And she knew well enough that she was in little position to act as a mouthpiece for the Council, or the Golden Wings. She didn't work for them; with them, on occasion, but she hardly considered that to be a form of allegiance. But they needed help. If Bianca's stories were even halfway accurate, and if her own experience facing the Dragon was more than an unlucky fluke, then she knew this threat was bigger than the Huntsmen of Mistral. It called for a real Huntress. Well... No. She no longer thought of Alina Rybalka as a Huntress. Not anymore. Not after the Ground District. Which made this all the more difficult to do. If it wasn't absolutely necessary, maybe she'd have been as reluctant as the Golden Wings had been. Maybe she'd have written off the Kozaks entirely. She couldn't deny that she was still angry. Her girlfriend. Her brother. So many of her friends. Needlessly killed or hurt. And for what? So the League could break away from Mistral and wage an even bloodier war on the Council? Carmim didn't agree with the Council either, or the way they handled so many peoples' lives without knowing what those people cared about, but she also didn't believe in killing them for something like that. And it was more personal than mere loss to an unneeded "war." It had been Rybalka's flames that took Granado in an instant. It had been white fire and strange jelly that sent Aegle away in a stretcher, to some hospital in Atlas. She was personally accountable for their fates, and many more. Alina Rybalka wasn't a Huntress; she was a bandit. A powerful one, certainly. But she wasn't interested in saving people. She just wanted power. She was undeniably strong, though. And that was why they needed her. Knowing fully well that she would be catching hell from Bianca when she passed the word along to her, she stepped over to a fountain on the east side of the village. From what she could tell before she left, it was probably the least damaged part of the town. And it was where she'd said to meet. Not seeing Alina, she took a seat and set her drum upright beside her. It wasn't out of reach, but wasn't in a position to be used against Alina immediately either. It wasn't meant as a gesture of any kind, though she realized Alina might take it to mean something- it was simply pragmatic. She didn't expect a fight, but she wanted to be ready for one. Aside from the drum, she wasn't carrying any other weapons, and her hands rested in her lap as she awaited Alina's arrival. After all, this entire meeting rested on the assumption that even somebody as deranged and cruel as Alina Rybalka was still sensible enough to see how she wasn't strong enough to kill the Dragon by herself. But together, Carmim was certain they could find a way. Soon enough, she heard footsteps approaching, and turned to face them. "Hello. You are Alina, yes? I was not certain you would come. Please, sit." She gestured to the bench opposite from her seat on the edge of the fountain. |
LAIKA OF GS!