Post by Carmim Clover on Apr 24, 2021 3:35:47 GMT -5
❝ AURA: SHATTEREDWORDS: 2189 | TWC: 2189 Each beat of the drum tells a story, About a little girl, Who swore she'd save the world. True strength. Her feet were rough and calloused as she trudged along the winding earthen path. It was a road seldom took by travelers, namely because there weren't a whole lot of people travelling around this way. Between bandits and Grimm attacks, it had become increasingly dangerous to move between the capital and the small village of Anantyn. Carmim intended to change that. What is true strength? The past year had not been kind to her. Aegle was gone. What had once seemed like her rock, in the face of constant adversity, had been stripped from her with so much ease that she hardly felt like it had been this long at all- the wounds were still fresh and sore. She'd written her every day since she left. But lately, the replies hadn't been coming back. How do we define it? She'd nearly died. Maybe she would have, if it hadn't been for Aegle. Ironic. Painfully ironic. Aegle's survival was a miracle. And only possible because Carmim had maintained just enough Aura to backpedal into the Wind District before anything worse could happen. Slow as she was, she still managed to meet the rescue team halfway. That mission had been suicide. Maybe the Council had even known that. Maybe they just didn't care. Didn't matter anymore. What's done was done. Couldn't change the past. Is it a physical strength? The ability to move boulders and topple mountains? "Is this Anantyn?" A gaunt man warily nodded. "Look, we don't want any trouble, miss..." She offered a warm smile, masking the lonely soul beneath. It radiated confidence and compassion, even as her thoughts were filled with self-doubt and anger. "Do not worry. I am not here to cause trouble. Today is the day that the Ravagers come to collect their money, yes?" His eyes went wide at the mention of the bandit clan's name- he fearfully held a finger to his mouth, trying to shush her before she said anything she might regret. "Well, yes, but please, please just don't do anything rash. We got families here... Don't want to upset them. They're dangerous." Mental strength? The kind that lets you push on, when hope is gone, and your world has been crushed? Her smile wavered, but she stood firm, patting the side of her drum. "I know. I had a family too." She thought of her brother, incinerated in an instant, because he was foolish enough to believe that he could win against a woman who burned hot enough to melt the sun itself. "Long ago. And a village, just like this one." Thoughts of Bulaani- it had been long gone by the time she finally made her return trip to Vacuo, Granado's ashes in tow. Not a trace of her family, and no answers to where they went, or if they were even alive at all. "Bandits took that away from me. They will not take yours from you. You will be free, today." She pounded her chest, and gave a bold grin, somehow seeming a little taller than she was. "I swear that on everything." "Oh, 'sthat so, then? Fancy yourself a hero, girl?" Is it the kind of strength that you find in the trees? In their thick, solid, trunks, which neither bend nor break in a storm? She turned to face the man who spoke. He was surrounded by five armed thugs, sporting knives, clubs, and in the hands of the leader, a massive revolver. "I got a fun idea! How about you give us your wallet and that fancy Scroll you got there, and we might let you live. How's that sound?" True strength... "Ack! Get her!" The leader shrieked as a fistful of sand met his eyes and mouth before he could even register it happening. He shot out into the air, but his aim was so far off that he didn't even come close to hitting anything. Carmim moved to stand in front of the villager she had been speaking with, who had begun to panic. "Do not worry. They will not trouble you anymore. Go and tell your village that." Seeing her distracted, two of the bandits rushed forward, screaming as they brought down their clumsy attacks on the redheaded Huntress. She didn't turn away from the scared villager, a smile on her face, as her right arm shot up to grab the first bandit's wrist, stopping his knife attack cold. His friend brought down his wooden bat against her head, only to find his weapon shattered to splinters as Carmim took the full brunt of the attack without so much as flinching. The villager ran off, a little more confident now that this odd stranger was dealing with the bandits. Could it be the strength of the spirit? She jerked back her hand, flinging the knife-wielder forward like a ragdoll, the bandit crying out as his wrist was crushed by her strength. His Aura shattered pitifully as he collided with the man who had the bat, sending both of them flying into a nearby tree, where the second man's Aura was also broken. Three more charged forward, and Carmim dealt with them easily, with a wide haymaker that crashed through the first, sending him flying into the second man's ribs, and leaving them in a pile much like the unlucky first duo that had attacked her. "This is your first and final warning. The village of Anantyn has come under the protection of Carmim Clover." As she spoke, she reached for her pocket, pulling out her Huntress License. The remaining three men were taken aback for a moment, the one who had charged at her even stopping in his tracks to reconsider his course of actions. "Lead me to your camp, and you will remain unharmed, until you are judged by the Kingdom of Mistral. Otherwise, I will be forced to defeat you right here and now." Is it the strength to do what you must, even when you know that it will be a hard road? A journey, walked alone? "I'll never surrender to a Council dog like you! You lot are the reason I have to extort these dirt farmers for a livin'! I'll cut you down, Huntsman or not!" The bandit leader ran forward, firing wildly at her for all of a second and a half. Is it the strength to choose a hard path, not knowing what is right? He was quick to fire, but Carmim was quicker- before any of his shots had managed to hit her, she let loose an earth-rattling blast from her Semblance, stopping the man dead in his tracks- his Aura was shattered immediately, and his gun was practically disintegrated by the impact. He, himself, survived the initial shock of being hit by a wall of wind, but he did not survive being thrown through not one, but three trees, before finally coming to a bloody stop against a boulder, nearly 60 meters away. She looked to the remaining conscious bandits, clutching their ears. "Take me to your camp. Or I will-" A scream rang out from the village, and her head swiveled around to see what was causing the commotion. The screech that ensued next gave a definitive answer. Black feathers rained down on the houses of the village, large enough to pierce through the roofs and walls. Carmim wasted little time abandoning the wounded and beaten bandits to rush in, towards the village. Nevermores. One gave a fearsome shriek, before swooping down at her, its feathery onslaught unending. Is it the strength to withstand all hardships, and to stand firm in the face of evil? Feathers rained down on her, and she raised a pair of muscular arms to defend herself. She was lashed at by most of the ones that hit her, but the one aimed directly at her was caught by her palms, as she completely stopped its momentum in its tracks, simply discarding the massive feather. And no sooner had she done that, than the second horrible bird swooped down, showering her with the same attack. Better prepared this time, she raised her fists to deflect some of the feathers as they fell, battering several out of the way this time, and only suffering damage from a few. Her Aura, however, was still strong. She was hardly even breaking a sweat, in fact, between the paltry bandit attacks, and the duo of Nevermores. One of the Grimm perched atop a building, beady glowing eyes narrowed down at her, but the second chose that moment to swoop in for another round of attacks. This time, Carmim was faster, unleashing another massive blast from her Semblance. The attack was clean and true, smashing into the huge raven with enough stopping force to sunder all of its thrown feathers instantly- the bird itself was left with a hole through its torso, five meters across, which ripped its giant wing right off, sending it tumbling clumsily to the ground beside the drummer, who simply turned to stomp its head into the ground, finishing it with a decisive crunch. The strength to never give in, never back down, to fight for truth and good? The second Nevermore took advantage of its fallen comrade's momentary distraction, though, to lunge down at the Huntress, snatching her up in its powerful beak, and beginning to fly away. Carmim, unfettered by this threat, began to beat into its throat with her fists, causing the Grimm to fly haphazardly, trying to gather the strength to crunch down on the little redhead. It found that it could not best her strength, which was now also not letting it spit her out, so it resolved instead to fly back towards the village, hoping that maybe it could force her out by attacking the villagers. But Carmim was not going to give up her position that easily, instead continuing her battery, right up until the Nevermore gave another hideous shriek- with its jaws agape long enough for its wretched scream, she took the opportunity to grab her djembe, quickly aiming a shot, and firing- it was as direct a hit as a point blank shot into the mouth of a gigantic bird could be, and it blew the beast's head clear away, along with half of its back, severing both wings in an instant. This, of course, left Carmim with little recourse to reach the ground from her great height. Luckily, she had been working on her landing strategies since midterms, all the way back in her first year at Haven. And in this case, her strategy was simple. Braced herself for landing, and... She hit the ground, leaving a decent crater on impact. It broke her Aura, at long last, but she was sure none of the villagers had noticed. That was the important thing. They needed to see a strong, unharmed, Huntress returning from battle with the local bandit clan, and two ravenous monstrosities, as if this were nothing but a day's work for her. True strength... It was really always just some silly thing that an old friend liked to talk about. It didn't actually mean anything, she was pretty sure. To be truly strong was impossible- there would always be someone or something stronger. It was an unattainable ideal. True strength was all an act. A well-intended lie. She would present that lie to the village of Anantyn. And her wish was that it would bring them hope. A tangible hero to attach their worries to. It was the strength of Atlas, bearing the world on his shoulders. Pretending to be strong, so that the weak wouldn't have to. And that was a strength she could live with. As long as she could do enough to save some people, that was all she needed to do. Villagers came rushing out to meet her, bewildered by her fight. Not a single one of them had been seriously hurt by the attack- and any trace of negativity was washed away by the sight of their hero, standing firm and as tall as she could manage. She glanced back towards where the bandits had been- the leader's corpse still littered the far outskirts of the village's bounds, but the others were long gone. Still, she didn't think they would be a problem anymore. She would have liked to avoid that level of violence, but a man shooting wildly at her, with the village in the background, was a danger to those who might get hit by a stray bullet. Maybe some day, when her Semblance training was complete. Until then, she disliked, but didn't regret what she had done. It prevented casualties in the village, and sent an incredibly clear message with the bandits that escaped- attacking this village was absolutely not worth it. She went inside with the villager she had first met, as he offered her a bed to rest, and food to eat. She did not decline- her Aura needed time to heal, so she could get back out on the road. "True strength..." She smiled. Someday she'd find the answer he had been searching for... |
LAIKA OF GS!