Post by Carmim Clover on Feb 6, 2021 22:04:13 GMT -5
❝ WORDS: 1716| TWC: 9225 HAVE YOU SEEN HER? HAVE YOU HEARD? THE WAY SHE MOVES, THERE ARE NO WORDS Well, it seemed like Alina didn't, in fact, need Carmim's help. She watched as the woman fought fiercely against the steaming, Grimm-coated, beast, as Opal rushed over and tossed a Scroll at her, which was a little rude, though she could understand the urgency. Still, she was busy trying to help y'know... Stop the killer. Because while the Huntress had things covered, for the moment, Carmim knew all too well how quickly things could fall apart- all it took was one distraction, one misstep, and the fiery wolf woman would be done for. It was also a little frustrating because she wasn't especially good with technology, which meant she was going to have to look away from Alina and Mr. Lee's duel, in order to call emergency services. She didn't put up any fight, though, even though she was well aware of the fact that handing her a scroll was a poor use of resources- her job, as she had realized with a lot more clarity than expected, was to blow things up and fight villains who would hurt her friends, or innocent civilians. A not-especially-quick call for a medic later, the Scroll was back in Opal's... line of sight, not her hands, since the doctor-in-training seemed to be pretty preoccupied. Which was fine. She had other things to do, like ensuring that the killer was dealt with. And, as it turned out, he had been. Handily. The strange woman she'd seen earlier had darted out, towards the killer for some unknown reason, and was swiftly dealt a harsh blow by the monstrous beast, prompting Carmim to raise her weapon, already attempting to gauge whether she could safely take a shot or not, when Alina got the opening she had needed- it was over in an instant. The beast was lit aflame in a dazzling display of sheer skillful Semblance mastery, freeing the horned faunus, and causing the Killer's Aura to shatter. Wait. Aura? The Killer had been a Grimm... She had thought, up to this point, at least. Grimm didn't have Auras. Definitely not ones like that. Crimson red. The same as hers. Her eyes went wide. She couldn't say for sure whether anyone had even attempted to address her right then, as her mind went numb, transfixed entirely by the sight before her. It wouldn't be unreasonable to say that she looked like she had seen a ghost. She had. Thoughts raced by faster than she could even comprehend. Emotions, mixing and tangling into a slurried mess- she didn't know what to think or feel right then. Betrayal? Relief? Fear? Anger? Sadness? Joy? Shame? Shock? Shock was about the only one she was capable of handling, frankly. She'd left him in Rochdale. He should be dead. Even as desiccated and frail as he looked, as filthy and ragged, she knew his face. Those same steely eyes, in that same hardened, emotionless, glare. It was unmistakable. And the thought that it was really him chilled her, to her bones. Because she'd known he had survived. And she'd done nothing. Like so many other times in her life, her inaction had brought nothing but death, destruction, and pain to the world. How quickly had she written off what she'd seen with her own eyes, as the airship had flown away? How easy would it have been for her to simply tell somebody that Qiu'li was still alive? That he was still down there? Shadecloak, horrible person she was, could have put him out of his misery at least. She'd done as much for the rest of the village; why not its villain too? In her heart of hearts, Carmim could never forgive him for what he'd done- couldn't regard him as fully human. Nobody human could be capable of the sort of careless violence he committed. And yet, here she was. Not sure what to make of this. The flickering embers of the slug Grimm caught her attention, as she slowly glanced to stare at one, landing mere meters away, engulfed in white flame. Did they cause this? Get out of my head! She looked up again, at the shrieking man. And her heart ached. She winced, visibly, and lowered her drum. He was in pain. She could tell. He was in a lot of pain. His mind wasn't right. What he was saying made no sense- nobody was showing him Mistral. He was really there. DId he think he was still in Rochdale? She couldn't imagine how he felt. Didn't want to. Friends won't let me turn into monster you want. It had been a whole year. An entire twelve months. Qiu'li had waited twelve months to march from the ruins of Rochdale, right into the Cloud District of Mistral, for the chance to stab her in the fucking chest. Her knees shook- hands trembled. This wasn't real. Couldn't be happening. Was she asleep? Maybe she would wake up from this nightmare, now that it was over. But she felt like it was just beginning. Friends. He meant her. Her, Eva, Aegle... She'd forgotten that he was her friend, once. So consumed by anger and hatred, she had burned all memory of him as anything but a demon from her mind. It was better that way, she'd thought- it was easy to hate a demon. Not to hate a friend. She didn't know how to hate her friends. She took a tentative half-step towards him, as the Huntress spoke, and froze again, as he lurched forward suddenly. The woman's blade came down again, easily severing his arm, and smashing his knee in. Carmim grimaced, wanting to turn away, but unable to peel her eyes from the pitiful sight before her. Alina walked away, and the redhead wished she hadn't. She followed her, with her eyes, until she had passed right by her, towards the car wreck and the injured trainees behind her, a shellshocked expression of pleading on her face. Why hadn't she killed him? Why was she just leaving him there? Suffering? She gulped, an unpleasant weight sinking from her throat to her chest, where it pounded like the loudest drum she could imagine, magnitudes louder than her Storyteller. This was her job. She had to do this. She had to finish what she had started. Slowly, delicately, she made her way towards the dark-haired man, bleeding out in the snow. Gingerly, she knelt by him, staring at his face, as a painful sadness washed over her, drawing silent tears. "Oh, Qiu'li..." She knew what she had to do... But she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to kill him. Not after he'd come crawling back to Haven, so that his friends could save him from the Grimm infesting his body. Grimm that had infested his body because she'd left him there to rot... "Qiu'li, I am sorry... I should have known... I should have come back for you... You did not deserve t'is. Nobody deserves t'is. What t'ey have done to you... It is horrible. I know t'at before, I had wanted to kill you for your crimes. But not like t'is. You should have been saved. Should have come home, and been tried. Maybe you would have even lived. And grown from your evil mistakes. T'ere is so much to tell you..." She paused, gently reaching a hand towards his Grimm-desecrated stump, before retracting the hand, in better judgment. "Evangeline was heartbroken. She is... Well... And you have missed so much. But it is okay. You are okay now. You will be okay. We can..." She stopped. Just shy of telling him that she could fix him. That she could save him. Why would she? For what purpose? He was a criminal, possessed by Grimm or not. Nobody would let him live, not after Rochdale, and not after this, especially. Sparing his life might even be a fate too cruel. But still. She couldn't, in good conscience, cut a man down who was sobbing and broken on the ground. Raul was a different story, and even him, she was beginning to have doubts over. He had been unrepentant and cowardly, until the end. And while she would never consider Qiu'li's sacrifice to be especially brave, considering he had chosen certain death only after it was apparent that he had damned himself anyways, it was a heroic act, nonetheless. And it had worked- he'd saved the airship from destruction at the hands of the Petra Gigas, singlehandedly. He was a monster, but there was something in him worth saving. After all, she had only just told the murderous wolf man that she was a monster, and she hadn't meant that in any way distinct from the sort of monster she knew Qiu'li to be. Both, forces of destruction. She chose to use hers for good. He had not. But that didn't mean that he deserved to die. Not like this. She managed a small smile, tears streaming down her face. "We can still save you. We can stop t'e bleeding, and heal you. And, and we can bring you to Haven again. You can go home. You made it home, Qiu'li. I still cannot forgive you for what you have done, but you will always be my... My f-frien-" Schwing. A spray of crimson splattered across her face, in her eyes, nose, and mouth, as the world slowed to a halt around her. She didn't move. Not a muscle. Simply froze in place, staring in gaping-mouth horror at the rapidly bleeding head which had just landed in her lap. She didn't even have the presence of mind to gaze up at the person who'd done the deed. Only saw the silhouette of the horned woman walking away, as casually as if she'd squashed a bug. She couldn't be angry with her- she didn't know the things that Carmim knew. Maybe it was for the best. But at that moment, there was no place for thoughts of right, or wrong, or even common courtesy. Only a small girl, sitting in the snow, covered in blood, trembling in silence, with the severed head of her old friend gazing up at her with that same expressionless glare. And she could only stare back, wide-eyed and haunted. |
LAIKA OF GS!