[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover -x- 887 words -x- Q-Q

Panting. Burning. Burning lungs. Burning throat. Oxygen. Air. Running. Muscles aching. Stinging wounds.

Coherency of thoughts was a luxury afforded to those with the capability of a calm mind. Such a thing was far from the mindset that Evangeline currently had. Bare, primal thoughts were the only things raging through her mind right now as Evangeline ran blindly through the forest. She had been running with some semblance of resolve before... But that was until she ran into a pair of Ursai. Ursa Majors. After that, everything had been a blur. It had only been a moment where both predator and prey spotted and studied each other.

Their sheer size... Their horrifying forms and coloration... With the bony protrusions and claws and fangs, and those intimidating red markings and glowing eyes that seemed to burn themselves into her mind... And their roars, oh god, their roars... The sound of their roaring as she had instantly turned tail and ran, she could feel it vibrating through her bones. The shaking of the ground as they gave chase. She had just blindly ran, not even screaming in her sheer terror, just sprinting as fast as she could. At some point of blind running, she had left the Ursai far in the distance, the large Grimm unable to keep up with the rabbit-like Evangeline, who was faster than them and smaller than them, able to squeeze through gaps between trees they would require to either crash through or go around. But Evangeline hadn't stopped running. She had run so much and so far that she was probably on the opposite side of where she had landed.

At this point, her stamina was in dregs, her speed only a shadow of its former self as she ran in a pathetic way from her exhaustion, cries and whimpers breaking through in between her harsh breathing. She finally collapsed, doubling over to all fours in a kneeling position, Lis Fleurissant dropping from her hand so she could use that hand to support her upper body. She retched, over and over again, emptying the contents of her stomach until she was just dry heaving. Scratches marked her cheeks from branches she had run through, small tears visible along the sleeves of her clothes. Some of these scratches had bled, Evangeline's panic so great that her aura wasn't even active through all that running, her entire focus having been on escaping to safety. Her blonde hair, usually so silky and well kept, was dirty and messed up, with tiny pieces of foliage detritus caught within the dull golden locks. Her face, usually so clean, with a bright smile on it, was now tarnished with scratches, dried smudged blood and dirt, with clear tear tracks where her tears had caught the dirt as they felt, making her look like she had worn makeup and then promptly ruined it.

She wasn't ready. She couldn't think of anything except the overwhelming fear that surrounded her. She didn't want to be alone out here, didn't want to die out here. She grabbed Lis Fleurissant, and literally crawled on all fours to an outcropping of rocks and soil jutting out from the uneven terrain that made an overhang, under which someone small like her could hide. Crawling underneath those rocks, she settled up with her back against the rock, the overhang barely a couple inches above her head as she sat up. She drew her knees up to her face, wrapping her arms around her legs as she buried her face and cried, muffling her sobs into her legs.

"I can't do 'zis... I can't be a huntress... I can't... I can't... Mama... Help me... I'm not strong enough... I'm sorry... I can't..." She whispered to herself in between her quiet sobbing, her spirit utterly broken. She had thought she was strong enough to help people, to face the horrors of the wild. She had read about them so much in class, done so much research, and done so many combat practices with her other classmates... But this was her first time facing an actual Grimm, in an actual danger zone, completely and utterly alone. No friend to depend on or to watch her back. Completely and utterly alone, and she had run like a coward. That's all she was, a coward...

She brought out her scroll, hand shaking visibly as she stared, conflicted, at the emergency number that Shadecloak had announced would pull them out if called. But it wouldn't be just the end of this mission for her, no... If she did this, she would be completely pulled out of the academy. She would not be able to be a huntress and help people. She would fail, not just at midterms, but as a huntress completely and be sent back home to be nothing but a useless little girl, crying for help for the hunters and huntresses she wanted to be.

Her hand loosened and the scroll slipped out of her hand, falling to the ground beside her as she buried her face into her knees once more, sobs returning anew. She was just so utterly conflicted and broken. She wanted to be better, to be stronger... But how? She wasn't strong. She wanted it. She couldn't be. And Evangeline felt completely and utterly helpless at it all.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1623 TAG: Evangeline Lys de Verre NOTES: Emo sadboi time is interrupted by BFF loyalty HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Thoom. It was a hard landing, and not an especially pleasant one, but fortunately, she had hit a thick patch of underbrush, softening the fall quite a bit. The impact, however, shook the ground where the small girl atop the large wooden drum landed, right before she tumbled and rolled right into a tree, with a small shriek. Oof... That wasn't how she had planned her landing, but... She was really first...? Or, last, she supposed. How in the hell had that happened? There had to be some kind of mistake... That wasn't possible, it just wasn't. How in the absolute hell had someone like her gotten a higher ranking than Colton!? It was absurd. Laughable. So she laughed. She laughed long, and hard, staring into the ground as she lay there, slumped sideways on the ground against the tree. Hysterical, painful, laughter, echoing through the forest. It was stupid. It was so fucking stupid, it was hilarious. Who the hell made the ranking list...? Who, in their right minds, would rank her ahead of Colton? Above Qiu'li? Above Argent, Elena, Theia, hell, even Kishka? Above anyone, for that matter- she wasn't a skilled fighter. And sure, she was a good teammate, but she hadn't done anything outstanding in that area either. She hit a fucking drum, and it shot blasts of air. She was a glorified ceiling fan! Out of everyone, everyone at Haven Academy, she should not have been ranked number one. Or even number ten. She could barely take a punch from someone they considered to be the second-worst student (not that she agreed with that designation at all) and she had no real combat skills, aside from her semblance. No martial arts training, no marksmanship skills. She wasn't fast, nor was she agile in the slightest. It was a joke. A farce. It was ridiculous. What had she done to deserve this? Argus Limited? The roof thing was a fluke. It only happened because the bandits had set up bombs atop the car, and she got in a lucky hit before they could set them off. That was nothing. Hell, even the lancer swarm wasn't a shining moment of impeccable skill- Colton killed at least as many as she had, and he didn't have Elena pinning them down for him, one by one. In classes, sure, she was good at teamwork, but she could think of no real moment that could put her above Colton. Hell, the combat class they'd had together not too long ago just proved how weak she really was! It took two punches to nearly put her out, and when the chips were down, she wasn't fast enough to make it to Eva in time to make a difference. So why her? Anyone else would be thrilled to bits with being ranked so highly. It was an honor. And yeah, sure, she felt honored. She also wholeheartedly disagreed with their decision. The faculty had gone mad, that must have been it. Ranked first. Out of her entire class, bar Ruqa. How could she possibly live up to those expectations? She was terrified, and she couldn't stop laughing. Her sides hurt. Her mouth was uncomfortably strained. Tears welled up in her eyes, making it hard to see, as she just lied there, shaking from the insanity of it all. She wasn't fit for this. She couldn't handle this. She was a dumb little village kid from Vacuo, who happened to have a pretty strong one-trick pony semblance. She was small, and weak, and she couldn't even figure out how her fucking Scroll worked. Maybe that's why Aegle's self-deprecation bothered her so much- it was like staring into a mirror. Except Aegle was strong. Really strong, not just good at weightlifting strong. She knew how to fight. And she fought well. She was strong, and determined, and good at fighting, and fast, and moved like a real Huntress. She wasn't a little desert kid who was useless without a drum. And they had ranked her second-from-last? Shadecloak was a freaking idiot! All of the faculty were. And Aegle was too- she was so, so, so stupid for not seeing how strong she was, when it was so stupidly obvious to Carmim! Immediately, she felt bad about that thought. It was mean. She liked Aegle. She was her friend. And not stupid. She stopped laughing, and realized that she was lying in a crumpled heap against the tree, crying her eyes out over something really dumb. That didn't change the fact that she didn't deserve to be top ranked. It did calm her down enough, though, that she managed to hear a lot of noise coming from a few meters away, through a patch of bushes. She was cautious, on edge now, but she didn't stand up. She couldn't- just laid there, silently crying, sniffling occasionally. What was she crying about? It was sad. She was a Huntress. A monster hunter, in training. Could she even call herself that, though? She had been thinking for a while now that she wasn't strong enough for Haven. And of all the sick jokes that could have been pulled, she had gotten the top spot? Out of everyone? Now she wasn't just weak and scared. She was weak and scared, and all eyes were on her. Carmim didn't want attention. She'd never wanted attention. She just wanted to join a good team, do a lot of good things, graduate from Haven, and become strong enough to achieve her goals. She was a solidly average student. Not top of the class material. Colton should have been number one. Hell, even number two wouldn't have felt as bad as this- at least then she could reason that her teamwork skills were just that high. But beating out Colton and Qiu'li? On teamwork and a semblance that was nowhere near as strong as either of theirs? No. No way. Not possible. She felt like a failure, and there wasn't any rational reason for it. She knew what she was capable of. But she couldn't handle the cognitive dissonance of knowing how weak she truly was, and being placed on such a high pedestal. She wanted to go home. But that wasn't possible. And even if it was, she wouldn't be of any use there. She wasn't the Desert Shield. Her shoes were too small for those footsteps. If he could see her right now, he would only be disappointed at the sad little mess she was, crying on the cold hard ground. It was pathetic. She didn't look like a Huntress, and she sure as hell didn't feel like one either. "I'm sorry uncle... I can't do t'is..." Her voice was a low whisper, barely audible through her choked-up little sobs. "...Help me..." Wait. That voice. "I'm not strong enough... I'm sorry... I can't..." Eva...? Carmim pulled together the strength to jerk herself to her feet, eyes still misty from her little pity party, her previously crisp suit smeared with grass stains, leaves, and dirt. "Eva? Eva, is t'at you?" She stumbles through the underbrush, her drum dangling precariously from its sling, threatening to trip her as she forced her way through to her friend. Suddenly, all of her own insecurities and doubts, and self-pity were gone, thrown out the window. Eva needed someone. She needed her. Maybe she was weak. Maybe she didn't deserve her ranking. But so what? Her best friend needed her, and dammit, helping her was something she could still do, even if she felt like she couldn't do anything else right. She hobbled out of the bushes, stumbling forward a bit, as she immediately spotted the blonde girl slumped over on the ground, sobbing, her Scroll sitting in front of her on the ground. "Eva! Oh no, oh no, oh no..." She ran over to the girl as fast as her little legs could carry her, and actually did trip over Storyteller this time, landing in a pile in front of the Atlesian, but quickly sitting up undeterred, and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Eva, my friend, are you okay?! Oh no, oh no, you aren't hurt, are you? Ooohh, fique bem, fique bem..." The worry on her face was palpable, even managing to bring out a bit of her home village's native language. Once she had ascertained that her friend wasn't immediately injured, and there were no Grimm immediately chasing her, she pulled the sad little violinist into a big hug, squeezing her tight and holding her close. "Oh, Eva, please, please don't cry! You are safe now, I will help you! Please, my friend, tell me what is making you upset!" She was struggling to hold back tears herself, honestly- it hurt her a lot to see her best friend in such sad shape, and especially when she had been right there, on the other side of the bushes the whole time, and hadn't even reacted until Eva had started talking. What if she had been hurt while Carmim was crying over a stupid number!? She would never have been able to forgive herself! She clutched her friend even closer, holding her as if she had just been found on the side of the road, in a ditch somewhere. "Everyt'ing will be okay, Eva. It will be okay..." Her ears were perked up now, listening for any sign of Grimm coming up on them. No way in hell was she going to let Eva sit here and cry, all scared and alone. If they were going to insist on making her the top student, she would damn well just have to play the part, whether she liked it or not.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover -x- 680 words -x- insecurities

Evangeline flinched a bit in surprise and fear at Carmim's sudden appearance and voice, as Evangeline hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings and had not detected Carmim approaching. Evangeline quickly tried to rub the tears out of her eyes and lowered her knees away from her face, calling out, "Y-yes, it is me. I am okay, Carmeem. Do not worry..." She said in a weak, hoarse voice, trying to force a smile as the red haired girl approached her quickly. So quickly, in fact, that she even tripped over her weapon in her haste to get to Evangeline.

And then all of a sudden, Evangeline was pulled into an embrace by her best friend, and it was like the mask she had been trained to put on in front of people, the always smiling, always cheerful mask, seemed to fall off once more. Evangeline let loose another bout of sobbing, her hands instantly coming around to clutch at Carmim as the Vacuo native cooed soothingly to her. Evangeline allowed all her fear and sorrow to flood out of her in her tears and whimpers.

"I-I'm sorry Carmeem... I just... I don't know... If I a-am able to... be a huntress." She said in a soft whisper in between her great heaving breaths from the crying.
"I'm just... scared... I'm so scared... Its not like it was... in 'zee classes... Its so scary Carmeem... I can't... I'm not strong enough... Even in 'zee classes... I was never 'zee best... I don't want to die out here, Carmeem... I don't want to die..." She kept going, her cries slowly fading as she spoke more and more about her insecurities. Despite all her desires to be a hero, to save and help the people who really needed it, to be more than just a backline medic... Evangeline was truly, and utterly, afraid of death. She was too young. She had so much she wanted to do, so much she wanted to see. She had never expected danger and fear to be this... paralyzing. Even at Atlas Academy, she had never had this much of a hands-on experience in the field. Just classes and military drills... Here though, this was her first foray out into the wild, her first look at the Grimm.

She was an emphatic person by nature. She was more in tune to the unseen nuances of emotions than most others... But the Grimm? They were an anathema to what she was. When she looked into the mirror at herself, she could visualize waves and waves of golden, shimmering lights, like overlapping transparent blankets, exuding from her. Everyone had something like that to her eyes. Everyone had an emotional presence, a state of energy that was life, that Evangeline had gotten used to imagining and seeing around people, to describe their moods and personalities. But the Grimm? They were voids. Black holes. Where every human person and animal seemed to have a presence, a weight of existence in the network of matter in space, Grimm were walking anomalies. An absence of presence, an absence of matter. It was like they were non-existence made tangible, in the most horrific way possible. Great, blood thirsty beasts that wanted to rip and tear apart a person... For no reason other than that was what they did. They did not eat the people they killed, or did anything to a corpse that any normal animal might do... No, it was like they knew they were the Shadows cast by the Light, and they knew their sole purpose was to snuff out those Lights, for no reason other than to create more Dark. It terrified her to her very core, all of this information and reality crashing through her naive shield like a tungsten bullet through a wine glass.

"I don't know what to do, Carmeem. I don't think I'm good enough... I can't do this but I don't know what to do..." Evangeline said, her voice now clearer as her sobbing had diminished to the occasional sniffling, but still hoarse and thick from it.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 1073 TAG: Evangeline Lys de Verre NOTES: pinky promises are forever TOTAL WORDS: 2696 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Don't worry? How could she not? Her best friend in the entire world was in so much distress, and as she hugged her, all of it just came pouring out like a broken dam. Carmim couldn't hold back her own tears as Eva's gushed out, either, so for a while, they were just crying together, looking like the saddest, most pitiful pair in the entire forest. All of Eva's doubts and fears were so wrong... And it hurt Carmim more than she could ever say to hear her usually bubbly friend saying so many things about herself that weren't true. She sniffled, fighting back her tears, and spoke softly, doing her best to comfort the poor little Atlesian. "I know it is scary. I'm scared too... T'is is a very scary place, and it is not going to be easy. But Evangeline, please don't say t'at you aren't strong." She used the cleanest part of her sleeve to wipe the tears from her best friend's eyes, and firmly looked her right in the eyes, trying her hardest to look serious, instead of scared, sad, and concerned. "You are very strong! And you are not going to die! Eva, you beat Kishka in t'e ambush class, and you have come so far and grown so much!" Now if only she could say this to herself... Number 1... It still echoed through her mind like a bad dream. How? Why? Why her? She hadn't earned that rank. She wasn't strong. She was average, at best, with a semblance that only did one thing, and nothing else. She wasn't especially tough, and without her drum, she was nothing. Not a Huntress, just a civilian, small and weak, and terrified. She thought back to the same class where Evangeline had done so well. What everyone said about her performance after the fact was true. She had under-performed severely, and it was because she was far too reliant on her semblance. Separate her from Storyteller, get into close range, as Aegle had done, twice now, and she was a sitting duck. At least against Aegle with Storyteller, she had panicked, but won in the end. Fighting her one on one, without her drum, she went down without denting her roommate's aura. Her roommate, the second to be launched... Supposedly, that meant all the faculty saw her as the weakest, but Carmim knew the truth. Aegle was far from weak. And she was far from strong. But she had to be strong right now, for Eva's sake. So she pulled herself out of her own feelings, and threw herself into the task of tending to her friend. Her embrace tightened before she leaned back to look at her again. Her pretty blonde hair was a mess, and her clothes were ripped and torn from running through the bushes. "You will be okay, my friend. I promise. We are bot' Dandelions, yes? We just have to each beat five Grimm. Grimm are scary, but we don't have to fight t'em all, just t'e ones we can handle." Easier said than done, especially when the combined negative energy from their little crying fest was a big juicy hamburger to all the Grimm in the area. Were she in a better state of mind, maybe she would have realized that, but that was the furthest thing from her thoughts. Five Grimm. A deceptive challenge, in a lot of ways. It sounded insurmountable to someone who'd never fought a Grimm before, outside of classes. Killing one Grimm would have very likely still scared poor Eva out of her wits. But five? Five was a lot. Five was a pack. A decently sized pack. At the same time, many trainees believed they could easily handle five Grimm. It was a small number. But Carmim had seen what five Grimm could do. Five Grimm had nearly been the last thing she'd ever seen, back in Vacuo. Back when she was even weaker. All it took was one especially strong Grimm, for that matter. Not even five. She was worried that some of her friends might underestimate the Grimm... And yet, she wasn't even sure which camp she belonged in. On the one hand, she wasn't especially frightened by the prospect of fighting so many Grimm. But she also didn't think she'd be strong enough to handle it either. And contrary to the advice she'd just given Eva, she wasn't planning on finding five Creeps and taking them out one by one. That would be an empty victory. It didn't matter how strong she was, she knew she would have to win by the merit of her efforts. She'd win, and she'd win well. Or she wouldn't win at all. Frankly, she wasn't sure if she would. Or could. There was only one way to find out, though. She smiled. Through all of her own doubts and fears, through Eva's doubts and fears, even though she knew damn well she couldn't hide what was underneath that smile, least of all from her best friend, who was arguably the most empathetic person she knew. Undoubtedly, the little blonde could see all of the insecurity and the stress on Carmim's face. But none of that mattered, as long as Eva was safe. "You are good enough, my friend. We're all still growing. You can do t'is. And I won't leave your side until you believe t'at too." Solemnly, she extended the highest of oaths to her closest friend; she held out her hand, still shaking slightly from before, with her pinky finger out. She'd wait until Eva wrapped her own little finger around hers, before leaning in and kissing her thumb, sealing the pact. A pinky promise was unbreakable. And while it might be a little childish and silly, it was the most effective form of a promise she knew how to make. True to her word, she was going to stay with Eva until the other girl was confident enough in herself to strike out on her own. Of course, after that, she had no idea where she would go... But she knew she couldn't stay with Eva all day, much as she would have liked to. Both of them needed to go off and forge their own paths through these woods. The challenge for the Dandelions was one of inner strength and courage. Independence. Something neither of them could practice with the other around, unfortunately.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover -x- 754 words -x- pinki promise accepted

Evangeline sniffed as Carmim wiped her tears away, looking at her friend's face, managing a weak smile. "Why are you scared...? You are one of 'zee highest rated on 'zee board, Carmim. Everyone was talking about how well you did in 'zee train mission... I haven't done any'zing like 'zat." She muttered with a non-committal shrug. She shook her head at Carmim's admission of Evangeline being strong.

" 'Zat was in class, Carmim. No danger 'zere, and against friends. I'm pretty sure even Kishka went easy on me. All I did was play some music and shoot some arrows... Nothing exciting." She said dejectedly, letting out an equally demoralized sigh. Who was she kidding? She wasn't a hero, she wasn't a fighter. Even the teachers always dismissed her as non consequential. Shadecloak barely even spared her a second glance, Van Sange had looked at her like she was a piece of gum on his shoe and Haragitanai barely even acknowledged her outside of the usual questions of health. She wasn't forged in fire like the others were in their lives, like Carmim or Colton or even Nikolas. All of them had some kind of crucible in their past that made them who they were today.

But Evangeline? She was just a pampered little princess who had cheated death because of her parent's money. Even now, all the things inside of her body that made her still breathe and live, most of them were augmented with technology, not to make her some kind of super soldier or anything but just to let her stay alive. Was she even human at this point?

'Just a doll.' 'Stay with the medics, kid.' 'Play me a song and stay out of trouble.' 'Spoilt brat thinks she's a fighter.'

All the words, all the derision from her classmates back in Atlas Academy came back to haunt her, spinning around her mind like a rising crescendo of demoralization. And as Carmim looked at her and told her that they just had to kill five Grimm, Evangeline's eyes widened with rising panic once more, like a deer caught in headlights.

"I-I can't, Carmim... I can't. I don't zink... I'm not strong enough. I will just get you hurt or worse." She stammered, her arms beginning to trembled once more as she latched onto Carmim's shoulders. She could see Carmim was just as rattled about everything as she was, and she appreciated her friend putting on a brave face for her... But Carmim was just as nervous and anxious as Evangeline was, and Evangeline didn't want Carmim to throw herself into danger for her sake. "I will be okay... You can just go and find someone else... Maybe Colton, and finish your objectives... I'm not ready for 'zis." She muttered, trying to force another smile to reassure her friend.

But then Carmim went ahead and promised Eva that she would see it through, even going so far as to hold out her pinky. Evangeline stared at Carmim's hand, seeing it tremble just as hers did, before she brought her own hand up and locked her pinky with Carmim's. It was such a silly thing, something they would do if they were 10 years younger, and yet... It was perhaps the silliness of the gesture that made Evangeline actually smile and let out a soft giggle, as Carmim sealed the promise with a kiss on her thumb. Evangeline felt a rush of love and gratitude for her best friend as she reached out and placed her hands on the sides of Carmim's head gently, leaning over to plant a soft kiss on Carmim's forehead.

"You are a good friend, Carmim. I am very happy 'zat I got to meet you and become friends with you." She said, tears swimming in her eyes although this time the tears weren't from negative emotions. She wiped her eyes and fixed a resolute expression on her face as she grabbed her scroll, put it back into her pouch and then grabbed Lis Fleurissant. "Now lets go kill some Grimm!" She said with determination in her eyes. Carmim put so much faith and trust and love in Evangeline, that Evangeline was now determined to see her not disappointed. Her desire to help her friends and not to let them down overcame her fear of everything, and held steady. For now.

She crawled out of the shelter of the rocky outcropping they had been crouching under as she brushed off her knees and hands. "Where to?" She said, looking around.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 613 TAG: Evangeline Lys de Verre NOTES: aw boi time to fight monsters TOTAL WORDS: 3309 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Oof. That hadn't been something Carmim had wanted to hear, especially from her best friend, right now. It may have been an objective fact, but that didn't change the fact that it was a wrong fact. "I..." she started, not able to meet her friend's gaze as she smiled so sweetly at her. "I um..." She felt like an idiot, all of a sudden. Unable to even form words. She sharply shook her head, pulling herself out of her own thoughts. She could deal with those later. Eva needed her now. "Eva, I..." She was at a loss, as the girl continued talking about how weak she was, and it was painful to listen to, because Carmim knew it wasn't true at all. It was like she'd said, the day they met- Eva's semblance was so special, so unique. And if a person's semblance was a reflection of their soul, as her mother had always told her, then that clearly meant Evangeline was someone very special and beautiful, as much on the inside as on the outside. Maybe even more.And definitely stronger than Carmim... She couldn't even admit to her very best friend why she felt so bad. It wasn't like these were new thoughts either- they'd been there, lingering in the back of her mind. And now, all of a sudden, they came gushing out, and now she had no idea what to do. If Eva was a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, she was a candle in the rain. But it seemed as though, once she finally got a grip on her words again, she managed to convince Eva with the solemnity of her pinky promise. She smiled, despite her own slightly puffy sad eyes, as Eva gently kissed her forehead. "You are also a good friend. My very best friend. And I don't want you to be sad anymore, because you are so much stronger than you know." If only the little redhead could have realized that the exact same words she said to Eva applied to her as well... But Carmim couldn't be strong. Eva had a very versatile semblance, and she could use her crossbow so well, and she was quick, light on her feet, and she knew how to fight properly... All Carmim did was carry around a big drum, which she was admittedly great with, as long as she stayed far away from anything that could attack her. Because she wasn't especially tough. And she wasn't quick, or agile, or anything like that. If she was cornered, all she could do was put her drum between herself and her enemy, because without her semblance, she was nothing. Nothing. Even as she stood up and moved to help Eva up to her feet, that word echoed through her mind. Nothing. She wasn't much good for anything, huh? Whatever Shadecloak saw in her, that inspired her to rank her first... It was a mistake. She couldn't see it. Maybe it was just an error in the system. Maybe she was supposed to be in last place, not first. She put on a smile, but not a very well-disguised one. "Hmmm... Well, I guess we can just walk around until we come across some Grimm t'at don't look too hard to fight, yes?" It was as good a suggestion as any, at any rate. She was glad now that Eva seemed so bold and confident, excited even. Because right then, Carmim did not feel nearly as prepared for this long, long, day. But with her best friend by her side, she knew they could get through it.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover -x- 808 words -x- lol dat wordcount. sick 808s

The two best friends were given heart from each other's encouragement, as they stood up and began to make plans as to how they would find Grimm to kill. But it seemed that fate had other plans in mind, for with all the emotional outbursts they had been expressing, it was like the smell of a michelin star food dish prepared by a top of the line chef, hitting the sensitive noses of several highly experienced food critics. Except in this case, the dish were two tiny huntress trainees who had just gotten a lovely cry, and the highly experienced food critics were a pack of six slavering Beowolves, driven ravenous by the tantalizing aroma of misery.

There was a thundering noise that was building in volume with a rapid pace, the sounds of foliage being disturbed recklessly, of branches broken and tree's smacked or scratched, as the birds perched in the immediate area took off just as immediately. Carmim, with her sharper sense of hearing, would hear these noises approaching them about five seconds before Evangeline would, the blonde girl still in the process of dusting herself off while making some joking fusses about the messy state of her.

After those five seconds had passed, Evangeline would finally hear the noises, now only ten seconds away from them. Whether Carmim would give her an early heads up, or when she would finally hear the noises, Evangeline would fix wide eyes at Carmim. "Oh mon dieu. 'Zey're coming!" She said urgently, switching Lis Fleurissant into its crossbow form. "Carmim, you get back! I am faster, I will take 'zeir attention, you hit 'zem wiz your semblance!" She said, trying to ignore how badly her hands were shaking as she nocked a bolt into Lis Fleurissant.

She prepared herself to bolt, both in the manner of running and in the manner of shooting her crossbow, aiming towards the direction the sounds were coming from. She slowly plucked bolts from her quiver, placing each bolt in-between her fingers on her left hand as she held the crossbow with her right, bracing it on her left forearm.

And then, the beowolves came into sight, bursting through smaller trees, still a good distance away from them, charging at them with reckless abandon, slowed down by the trees and undergrowth still between them and the two trainees. Evangeline didn't hesitate, firing off her bolt. It careened with a high pitched whine, a Whistler bolt, flying straight and true as it struck the lead grimm right in the throat. Yet the grimm didn't even stumble from the wound that would've been fatal on a normal human being, his pace still constant. Evangeline, who had swiftly reloaded her crossbow with muscle memory, hesitated for a moment at that, before firing off her second bolt. The second bolt also struck home on the same Beowolf, and still it did not falter.

Evangeline fumbled with her third bolt, panic growing, until she manage to slot it in and fired, the third shot strucking the grimm in the abdomen, causing it to finally stumble and crash into an explosion of black ashy smoke. But the other five had closed in during that time, and were at the edge of their clearing now. Evangeline let out a squeak of terror as she fumbled her fourth bolt, causing it to slip and dropping her fourth and fifth bolts from her hand. She abandoned the bolts, shouting, "Carmeem, now! Now!"

As she said that, she threw her vial of ice dust at the ground in front of her, the dust exploding out and covering the area in front of her in ice. At the same time, she jumped to the right, diving into a roll to dodge the onslaught of beowolves. Normally, ice dust would freeze targets and slow them down. But because of her use, it made a terrain obstacle instead, and the beowolves all slipped and skidded as soon as they came upon the ice, some of them falling face first and sliding from their momentum, piling up onto a tree past where Evangeline had been standing. A very good opportunity with four of them piled up and tangled, for Carmim to unload on them.

The fifth one, however, managed to dodge past the ice, instead staying hot on the heels of Evangeline, who squeaked in fear as she stood up, drawing her violin bow just in time to deflect a slash of the beowolves' claws. Evangeline was much better at dodging and weaving now, and the beowolf didn't seem to be that quick with its attacks as it was on its feet, so Evangeline was holding her own. "Blow the others up, Carmeem! I will be fine!" She called out as she fended off the Beowolf's staggering onslaught with quick feats of agility, deflecting and dodging, buying time.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 821 TAG: @no u NOTES: SCREECH TOTAL WORDS: 4130 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Carmim barely had time to get back to feeling sorry for herself, as her ears perked up just as she clamored to her feet. Something was coming. Something fast. A lot of somethings. She turned to Eva, panic slowly rising up through her eyes. She wasn't prepared for this, no matter what she'd just told the little blonde. It was as laughable as the rest of her situation, honestly- number one at Haven, and she was this scared of Grimm? She had no doubts in her mind that Colton was mopping the floor with a whole pack of Ursa Majors, and Qiu'li was pummeling some unfortunate Nevermore into bird paste. She wasn't strong like them. Or well. No. She was. But she wasn't. Couldn't be. Was she? The thoughts rattled in her head for several seconds before she realized the threat was imminent. Like, coming towards them, quickly, but still out of sight for the moment. "Eva! On your right! Four... Five... No, six of t'em, coming fast! T'ey are big!" At that moment, heart in her throat, she thought about running. Running fast, and far away. Or climbing a tree, and just waiting for the Grimm to go away- not a likely thing, but still. She was scared. She hadn't fought Grimm on her own since she was fifteen, not since... Since then... But she wasn't on her own. She glanced up at Eva, and took a moment to admire the bravery her friend wore on her face, shimmering like rays of sunshine. Eva had been scared too. But she was the one putting on a bold face now, for Carmim, whether she knew it or not. That gave her the resolve not to run. The noises grew louder and louder, and Eva spoke up when she too could hear them. Nodding, the redhead moved back, further away from the sounds, though not too far that she couldn't lend Eva a hand if she needed it- watching her best friend die wasn't on her list of things to do in these woods. She knew Eva was strong enough to do this. It was herself she was having doubts about. But there was no time for doubt as the Beowolves burst through the foliage. Big, beastly, things, a good bit taller than her, despite being the smaller variety. Making a mad rush through bush and branch alike to tear into the two girls standing there, quaking with fear and anticipation. She moved to play her drum, but stopped herself- she couldn't get a good shot on them just yet, not through all these trees- she'd just end up hurting Eva by accident, and then they'd both be goners. Fortunately, Eva had taken the initiative, and started shooting at the pack, taking one down in a few shots, before switching to a vial of what looked like Dust. Sure enough, it was- ice dust, to be exact, and quickly she figured out what Eva was doing, as she too scrambled to get out of the way of the Grimm before they flew almost comically over the ice, slamming into a tree just behind where Carmim had previously been standing. She didn't waste any time; assuming her normal playing position, she took careful aim and let off a resounding smack of her drum, filling the air with an absolutely massive sound, as the drumbeat collided viciously with the four tangled Beowolves and the tree. Fortunately, they were all in a tight spot, clamoring over one another. Two dissipated from the blast with agonizing, wailing, howls, leaving the other two in a daze for a moment. But not for long. They both stood and charged at Carmim, the negative energy beacon of the pair, narrowly dodging the splintered tree as it tumbled down in pieces from the mighty blast of her semblance. Red eyes went wide as saucer plates, and she yelped as she let off another blast, less precise, and not as powerful or loud. It punched a hole through one of the already wounded Grimm, now only blackened mist in the early morning air. But she couldn't stop the fourth one. Instead, she tried desperately to run, backwards, towards Eva, but tripped over a root with a scream, throwing her drum up in self-defense; her only weapon in the entire world. And it wouldn't be enough to save her. The Beowolf was on her in an instant, pinning her to the ground in what was one of the most terrifying moments of her entire life. Fortunately, she was just strong enough to push back against it with her drum, keeping it at arm's length, but her strength was faltering, and it was strong and determined. "Eva..." She was at first quiet with fear, but her voice gradually crescendo'd to a panicked and rapid scream, shrill and helpless as she struggled against the Grimm. Some rank one she was... "Eva! Eva! Eva!!"

LAIKA OF GS!

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover -x- 1026 words -x- :eyes:

As the Grimm piled on top of each other in a comical way, slipping and sliding on the ice before finally slamming into each other against a tree, Evangeline let out a short sound of joy and triumph, her optimism rising once Carmim blew two of the beowolves into paste, even as she was fending off the other Beowolf.

The beast was relentless with its assault, and Evangeline could barely do anything other than dodge and weave, and occasionally use Lis Fleurissant or the accompanying violin bow to deflect. Evangeline was not good at melee combat, not as good as the other huntresses. But that didn't mean she couldn't hold her own, especially against a single attacker who had no tactic or ulterior motive behind its wild attacks. She went through two different academies and their trainings, and she could do this. Evangeline ducked underneath a wild swipe of the Beowolf's claws, coming up with a rising swing of her Violin like a mace, smacking the Grimm upside its chin. The beowolf yelped in pain, staggering back from the dazing blow, as Evangeline took the opportunity to quickly nock another bolt into Lis Fleurissant, snapping it open into the crossbow form. Before the Beowolf recovered, a bolt found its way right into its throat, making it gag and growl in pain. A second later, a second bolt slammed into its stomach, followed by a third into it's abdomen. By the time the fourth one was nocked, the beowolf fell to its knees, turning to ashen black particles as soon as it hit the ground.

Evangeline took a few seconds to breathe, adrenaline pounding through her from fear and the excitement of combat, although her fear was quickly dissipating. She could do it. She could really do it. She had done it. She had killed a Grimm. She could become a huntress! She wasn't as useless as she thought she was! And then, she heard sounds of struggle and fighting, and heard her best friend screaming her name. Carmim!

Evangeline turned to see Carmim on the ground, a Beowolf on top of her, trying to bite at her face, kept only inches away by Carmim's drum inbetween them. The snapping jaws were so close to Carmim's face, it was almost like the teeth were barely grazing the tip of her nose. Evangeline's mind stopped working, sheer panic and a desire to save her friend overtaking all coherent and tactical thoughts.

"CARMEEM!" She screamed in a shrill, urgent voice, sprinting towards the two as fast as she could. She got there just as the Beowolf found a new purchase, rearing back with jaws wide open to munch on the redhead's face, and Evangeline did the only thing she could think of to stop that from happening.

The Beowolf's jaws closed on Evangeline's left arm, teeth snapping shut and meeting resistance in the form of Evangeline's aura, golden light shining in response to the damage, spiderweb cracks forming and shimmering at each point of contact with the teeth, but the aura holding strong. Evangeline let out a shuddering breath, which was more panic than pain, thanks to her aura, as she raised Lis Fleurissant up with her right hand, jabbed the front of the crossbow into the Grimm's eye, and pulled the trigger.

The bolt went clean through the Beowolf's eye, entering the one it was pressed up against, and just barely managing to jut out through the other eye on the other side, shutting off the ominous red glows of the wolf's eyes. The Beowolf jerked and roared in pain, releasing Evangeline's arm and stumbling back blindly, scratching at its face. Evangeline didn't relent, however, dropping Lis Fleurissant and reaching over her back, grabbing a bolt in each hand from her quiver. Holding them like daggers, she screamed and charged the Beowolf, beginning to repeatedly stab the Beowolf anywhere she could with the white metal bolts, screaming bloody murder as she recklessly kept stabbing and stabbing, not relenting even as the Beowolf smacked her with the back of its arm so hard she staggered back, her golden aura flaring once more, spiderweb cracks now covering her front, yet still holding. Evangeline just rushed back at the Grimm, drawing another pair of bolts, continuing to stab it now at its side and back in a bloody rage. The Beowolf only let out a pathetic, whining noise as it turned into dust, Evangeline stumbling forward, down onto her knees, once the beowolf was gone and her next stab swung in thin air.

She propped herself up on her arms and knees, gasping for air, each breath wracking her tiny body with minor spasms. Her arms were trembling as she held herself up, no signs of any injuries on her thanks to her aura having held up, albeit at poor condition now. She slowly managed to get back up on her feet, her expression one of shock and concern, stumbling as if she was in a daze towards Carmim, before collapsing down to her knees next to Carmim. She grabbed her friend and pulled her into a tight embrace, still trembling across her entire body.

"You are okay... You are okay... You are safe..." Evangeline kept muttering lowly to Carmim, whether to reassure the redhead or herself, she didn't know. But right now, she needed to make sure her best friend was safe and alright, and to come down from that scary sudden rush of reckless bloodlust. She had seen nothing but red in those few moments, her sole thought in her mind being to protect her friend by taking out the threat... Even though it happened only seconds prior, her memory about it was already fogging up, as if she hadn't been the one to do that, but rather, another person had taken over her body and just gone to town on the Grimm.

"You're okay. I'm okay. We're okay." She murmured, burying her face in Carmim's shoulder and just taking comfort in her friend's presence, in her smell, in the feeling of her solid weight, her body rising and falling with her breaths, proof she was alive and well.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 760 TAG: @expectingmothereva NOTES: P T S D F L A S H B A C K 3: Electric Boogalee TOTAL WORDS: 4890 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Trees melted into roughly constructed wooden shacks and huts, as the grassy, dirty, underbrush below her burned her skin like hot sand. Suddenly, the forest air smelled like home, but tinged with blood and death, and she was even tinier, Storyteller transforming into a much smaller drum before her eyes. But the screaming stayed the same. Razor-sharp teeth gnashed and snarled at her, inches from her face, as she struggled to move under the weight of the hulking brute. She was scared, alone. Aura crackling a dangerous red. She was doing everything in her power to keep the Grimm off of her, but it was a futile effort, and she could hear more coming. Gods, there had to be a dozen or more... She struggled against the Beowolf. Tears streamed down her face, wetting the scorching sand. She was going to miss her parents. Her brothers... Her uncle. Grandma and her aunties. Her cousins... Even Amarelo. She would miss her home. The warm sand, the shop, making drums, playing drums, her friends... Everything. "Carmim!" A faint voice cried out for her, but it was too late. Even as she heard the sounds of fighting drawing nearer, as someone cut a swathe through the rest of the pack, she was running out of strength... She couldn't keep it off her anymore. Her grip slackened... She started to let go. The Beowolf grew dangerously close... "CARMEEM!" It wasn't a hulking shield that slammed the Grimm off of her, but an arm. Crackling shiny and gold, just above her face. Not a big, strong, muscular arm, but the lithe, small, arm of her best friend. She looked around frantically. The tears were the same. She'd stopped screaming, though she couldn't say when. But she was back in Mistral, back in Haven Forest. And Eva was the only thing standing between her and certain death. Everything was hazy white for a moment, as she tried desperately to remember what had happened moments before. She was afraid. And when she heard the shunk of Eva's crossbow, she shrieked a little yelp, flinching away, though only her head could really move, given the Grimm still sitting on top of her. She thought it had snapped through Eva's arm, like a delicate twig. But it hadn't. Eva was strong. Stronger than she knew. She didn't move, even as the immense weight threw itself off of her. Not even as she heard the sounds of Eva screaming and stabbing the monster to death, over and over again. She couldn't have moved if she'd wanted to. Her legs were jelly, and her arms felt like lead. She didn't move a muscle, except to let Storyteller finally fall, dropping onto her stomach with an oddly familiar thud, her arms limply drooping to her sides. She could do nothing but lay there, tears streaming down her face, eyes slammed shut to keep everything away. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up into a seated position, her drum rolling to her side, along its harness. She let it happen; the hands were warm and loving, and felt like home, not like the claws of an angry, hate-filled, beast. It was Eva. She buried her face in the blonde's chest, and found herself incapable of holding back her broken, choked sobs, her whole body rocking with each one, as she just clung tightly to her friend with every ounce of strength she had. "Eva..." It took everything she had in her to blurt out the name, amidst her crying. How close had she been to dying? How close had she been to letting Eva die? Ranked first... She shouldn't even be a huntress. A real huntress didn't freeze or run when a single Beowolf charged. A real huntress didn't scream and cry when she was tackled by one. A real huntress wasn't so weak, she was defenseless without her weapon, without her semblance. A real huntress could fight without being ten feet away from her enemies. She wasn't a real huntress. She was weak. And scared. And ashamed. She couldn't even protect her best friend. She couldn't protect herself. Eva risked her life, and her arm, to save Carmim. She was brave. And the little redhead didn't feel very brave. "I'm... sorry... I'm so, so, sorry... Eva... I'm sorry..." The words tumbled out, and she pressed her face further into Eva's embrace. Sorry she couldn't have been more help. Sorry she scared Eva so much. Sorry Eva even had to throw her arm in a Beowolf's mouth. Sorry she wasn't better.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

Carmim Clover -x- approx 524 words -x- encouragement!

Evangeline could feel her heart cracking at seeing her best friend break down like that. Whatever joy she had from winning the fight against the Grimm a few moments prior had evaporated like ashes in the wind, replaced by empathy and sorrow for her friend. Only minutes ago, Carmim had been the strong one to cheer up Evangeline, but now the situation had been reversed. She did the only thing she could think of at the moment and held Carmim tightly, one hand on the back of her head, lightly stroking in an attempt to soothe, while her other hand held the redhead on her back, holding her close to Evangeline and letting her cry into Evangeline's chest.

"It's alright, Carmeem. It's okay. We did it, we killed 'zem. You're okay and safe." She cooed, sometimes even saying comforting phrases in High Atlesian. She muttered soothing words like that, reassuring Carmim until the redhead would calm down a little bit. After that, Evangeline would slowly draw Carmim out of the hug so she could look at her friend in the face. She gave her a reassuring smile as she wiped some of the tears off of the redhead's face. "It's okay. Look, we won, and I am fine. My aura is still ok and so is yours! You took out 'zree or four of 'zem with one blow Carmeem! 'Zat is very cool and you did a good job." She said. If Carmim tried to say something stupid about her not being good or something or almost dying, Evangeline would shush her gently, putting a finger on Carmim's lips before saying, "No one is good at every'zing, Carmeem. You are bad at combat close up, but anywhere outside of 'zat, you literally blow 'zings up! At range you are one of 'ze best fighters to have on a team. You cannot call a shark useless when you make it flop around on land. You are 'zee shark, Carmim. Devouring cheese and destroying Grimm. Don't blame yourself for not doing good when you are out of your element when you are one of 'zee best when you are in your element."

Evangeline's voice was calm and reassuring throughout, petting the redhead's fluffy hair and wiping away any straggling tears that might escape again. She would then reach down and grab Carmim's hand with hers, bringing it up and then doing the same thing that Carmim had done, locking their pinky fingers together.

"Do what you do best, Carmeem. Don't try to fly when you are best at swimming." She said with a soft smile, leaning forward and giving a small kiss on the redhead's forehead. She hoped Carmim would feel better after this, because Evangeline's own moral strength was flagging at seeing her best friend breakdown like this. She was putting on a brave face because Carmim had done that for her, and it was only natural she would do it for Carmim. Friends had to be strong for their other friends when they were weak after all. To look out for each other and cover each other's downs with their ups.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 738 TAG: @blondie NOTES: no u TOTAL WORDS: 5628 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Eva's words all blended together so much, she wasn't sure how much was in High Atlesian, and how much wasn't. The words were comforting, but Carmim didn't feel very comforted. She didn't feel like she deserved to be comforted. She couldn't do this. She couldn't do any of this. She was scared, and she wasn't good enough. No matter what Eva said to her... She knew it in her heart. She wasn't good enough. Slowly but surely, Eva pulled back, and Carmim couldn't help but pull herself closer in for a moment, before accepting Eva's intent and withdrawing, looking at the blonde with teary eyes and a sadness frozen in place on her face, which could not be dispelled. Her words hit Carmim but did very little to dissuade her from her mindset. They had won, yes. Barely. While their auras were mostly intact, that didn't mean they had come any less close to being ripped to shreds by those monsters. All it took was being pinned down. Just once. And that meant the end for her. Evangeline could fight back up close. Carmim... She couldn't. Not well. Not nearly well enough. First... It didn't make sense. Shadecloak knew she couldn't fight up close. That she was only good at range, and in a real world situation like this, that meant she was extremely vulnerable to anything that could get to her before she could blast it from a distance. Which, considering how Grimm operated, was damn near all of them. Most Grimm were faster than her, and the ones that weren't were strong enough to withstand her attacks while they closed the distance. And the few that weren't strong enough, or fast enough, hunted in packs anyways. She wasn't nearly good enough by herself to do any of that. A Huntress who couldn't fight on her own? Wasn't that why she was a Dandelion in the first place? "Eva, I couldn't have done anyt'ing wit'out y-" A finger covered her lips, and she stopped as Eva continued, giving her the best, most encouraging speech she could have given. It almost worked, too. She smiled at the shark line, especially the bit about devouring cheese. She did like her cheese, that was true. But she didn't feel like a shark. She felt like a minnow. In a really big ocean. Sure, she was good at range, but not like their classmates. Colton was a shark. And Argent. And Elena. And so many others. Their ranged abilities were really strong, and way more useful than hers. She just blew things up. And not very well, at that- her semblance wasn't the fastest to use, since she had to channel her aura through her drum, and it only fired in one direction. Yeah, it fired like a cone, but it was still a pretty narrow cone, compared to plenty of other semblances. She wasn't special. She didn't feel special. But she did her best to put on a brave face for Eva, as her best friend in the whole world grabbed her pinky and sealed it with a kiss. She still didn't feel very brave, though. And was still very upset about just... Everything. She hated this stupid day and just wanted it to be over. "T'ank you, Eva... I feel better now..." She was an awful liar. "I love you, you are t'e best friend I have ever had." The little redhead smiled at Eva through her tears. That part was true. "And you also totally kicked butt. Where did you learn how to fight like t'at?" She had a feeling she knew the answer already- seems Eva's lessons with Qiu'li had been paying off. She pulled her friend into a close hug again, before attempting to stand up. Took a few tries, on account of wobbly little jelly legs, but she managed it eventually. Hmmm... What now? She knew she couldn't stay with Eva all day. No matter how much she wanted to... She would only be a burden. But she wasn't ready to leave her just yet. Still... She knew they would have to part ways eventually. Especially because she didn't want to keep drawing Grimm to her and Eva. Neither of them needed that. They'd both completed their objectives, even though she didn't feel like it had counted, for herself. Without Eva to set her trap, she'd have been Grimm food. At least Eva was okay, though.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Evangeline Lys de Verre]

tell me pretty lies

template by Punki of Adoxography

tags here -x- Approx 798 words / TWC: Approx 5477 -x- lol bye sweaty

To say that Carmim was an awful liar was an understatement; she was absolutely terrible at telling lies. Whether it was due to the redhead being used to being blatantly honest most of the time, or perhaps the redhead's ability to deceive currently being overshadowed by her crippling insecurities, her lies were obvious, and it...

It kind of stung.

Evangeline couldn't help the slight stab of pain she felt from her best friend lying to her face like that, although her expression didn't change, no outward reaction to having detected the lie other than a dilation of her pupils. Evangeline was much better at being able to mask her feelings with outward brightness. And while she understood the reasoning behind why Carmim did so, it still hurt... That her best friend didn't feel comfortable enough to confide in Evangeline despite how close they were, and despite how much they related to each other in the moments before the Beowolf attack. But mostly, Evangeline turned the blame inwards, wondering if she had not managed to convey her words properly to encourage her friend. Had she not said the right things? Perhaps she could've said something else or worded it better? Direct encouragement like this didn't seem to work on Carmim, and it was disappointing and sad for Evangeline. She couldn't help her best friend in her time of weakness despite the redhead managing to do so for Evangeline.

Evangeline, however, didn't let any of her stewing disappointment show, instead just giving Carmim another smile at her compliment. "No, you." She said simply to the redhead's declaration of affection for her, before addressing her question, "I learned from a... friend. 'Zat, and I was in Atlaz academy after all. 'Zey really teach you how to fight over every'zing else." She said in a casual tone. Atlas was very military focused, after all. Combat in formation, formal training of weapons operation, extensive lessons in subterfuge and stealth, just to name a few. And although Evangeline wasn't very good at a lot of them, she had still learned the theory behind all of it. At this point it was just about putting all of it into action to get better at it, something she couldn't do back in Atlas due to her teammates just relegating her to the bench.

She hugged Carmim again when the redhead came forward with it, patting her on the back comfortingly once more, before helping the redhead stand up. "You are alright. 'Zere you go." She murmured as she helped Carmim stand back up and steady herself, finally letting go and stepping away when it seemed like the redhead could stand properly. The sting of Carmim's lie was still smarting for Evangeline, and she couldn't help but turn away from her friend, under the guise that she was looking around the surroundings for more threats.

She would then turn back around to Carmim with a soft smile, " 'Zank you Carmeem, you are truly the best friend I could ask for. You helped me get back on my feet and reminded me 'zat we are huntresses. You don't have to stay wiz' me anymore, I will be okay from now on. We boz' need to move on and find o'zer people after all." She said, before going over to pick up Lis Fleurissant, brushing off some dirt off of it and taking stock of her quiver before turning back to Carmim.

"Good luck, friend." Evangeline would say, giving Carmim another smile before turning around and beginning to set off at a light jog into the trees. She jogged at a casual pace, soon breaking visual sight from Carmim. She continued to jog even past that, the smile still plastered on her face like a mask.

Only after several minutes of jogging away from her friend, a good distance away now, did Evangeline slow down to a walk, before stopping completely. The smile was still stuck on her face, but she couldn't help the tears that escaped the corner of her eyes, wiping them away quickly. Sorrow and pain, because she couldn't help her best friend, and had driven Carmim to lie to her. She still wasn't good enough, in more ways than one...

But no point in sulking over that now. She would need to work on a lot of skills, but for now, she would have to accomplish her task of passing this exam. She had finished her objective, but now she would need to survive until the next day.

She had let her friend down by not being able to encourage her... But she would not let her down by failing. With that resolve in mind, Evangeline set off once more, looking for people to help or a good place to rest at. Whichever came first.

[Carmim Clover]

❝ WORDS: 828 TAG: @bff NOTES: biggest saddest TOTAL WORDS: 6456 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Fortunately for Carmim, it seemed her words about feeling better had worked. She felt bad about hiding the truth from Eva, which also showed easily on her face, but she couldn't stop feeling horrible, and she didn't want to keep bring Eva down with her. So this was better- this worked. Evangeline seemed none the wiser, smiling happily at her best friend. Carmim didn't feel like a very good best friend, though. Not just the lying. She hadn't been able to protect Evangeline earlier. Sure, Eva was way strong now, and handled herself very well, but she had been so scared not so long ago- what if she had choked under pressure, and her best friend was still stuck under a Beowolf, screaming and in another time? They'd have both died. She wasn't good enough for Eva, and she knew it. If Eva had been hurt... Or worse... Fortunately, Eva ripped her thoughts back to reality as she responded to Carmim's words. "No, you," she fired back, with a playful expression that took a lot more effort to uphold than it really should have. She nodded as the Atlesian mentioned her previous academy's training, which did definitely explain things. But then, why had Eva always talked about how she was no good at fighting? It was crazy, she was very good at it, and seemed like she had a lot of combat skills that Carmim didn't have, and would probably never have. Eva was too good to be modest about herself. Not at all like Carmim- she wasn't being modest. Just honest with herself. She was no good out here. Maybe if she was sitting on a guard tower thirty meters away, she could be of some use. But not nearly enough. She was a one-trick pony, and the conditions her one trick demanded meant she would never be capable of handling a one on one fight. Eva helped her up, and tried in vain to offer more words of comfort, which only made the redhead feel terrible, because she couldn't be comforted right now. No matter what Eva said, words couldn't fix this so easily. As the blonde looked around, presumably checking for more Grimm, Carmim stared down at the ground, letting the lies melt from her face for just a moment, revealing a lot of hurt and sadness underneath. Eva spoke and immediately the mask was back on. Still not a very good mask, but it was there, as she smiled a little painfully at her friend. Maybe a little more than a little, actually... Huntresses. Eva was a Huntress. She couldn't truthfully call herself one. Or even accept the word directed at her by Eva. She was no Huntress. A Huntress was someone brave. Someone resourceful. Skilled, strong, competent, capable. Not her. Not someone with a pretty good semblance and nothing else. Not someone who was more of a liability than an asset in the field. Not someone who had nearly gotten her best friend killed because she was too weak to do anything else. If she had the strength left in her, she'd have cried. Instead, she just felt empty. Evangeline walked about, gathering her weapon and supplies, as Carmim stood and thought about things. It seemed Eva had the same idea she'd had. That was good... But she still didn't want to leave her, so soon. Some part of her needed her best friend to be there for her. Even knowing that the blonde could do very little to pull her out of her self-inflicted misery. Soon enough, Eva wished her luck and bade her farewell. Carmim smiled and waved her off. "You too, my friend." It lacked its normal enthusiasm, however. She waited until Eva had vanished beyond her line of sight, before she slumped back down into the grass. With nobody around now to stop her, tears streamed down her face, and she let herself cry until she couldn't anymore. She was useless. Not a Huntress. And she didn't think she could do this. Didn't think she could do any of it. She reached for her Scroll. Started to dial the number to be rescued from the forest. But before she could finish typing it, Eva's face shone in her mind, and she knew she couldn't. She started crying again. How could she have told Eva she was okay, when she wasn't? She was a bad Huntress, and a bad friend. When the tears finally subsided again, she weakly stood up, and walked off in the opposite direction from where Eva had been jogging. She had no idea where she was going. But she knew she had to get away from where she'd landed. She knew she would have to make it through the day, somehow, some way. And then, maybe once everything was all over... She could put in her resignation. Quit the academy. They'd be better off without her. So would Eva.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Wolfe]

XP Distribution:

Carmim: 64 x 200% (event bonus) = 128

72 + 128 = 200 XP new total

Eva: 54 x 200% = 108

302 + 108 = 410 XP new total