Closed The Two Sides to Every Story (Coren)

[Sliver]

53rd of Fall 512 A.V. White Vine Healing Center was a bustling hive of activity that day. White clothed attendants traversed the hall with hurried steps and eyes glowing with purpose, and no hand lay idle as Sliver stepped in through the entry way. It took several chimes before someone came to the desk, clearly assessing her for any injuries and seeing none that were apparent, asked her what how he could help her. Sliver replied that her only purpose in the Center was to visit the injured Icewatch, and after confirming that she was a comrade of theirs, led her down one wing that had been transformed into an Icewatch specific ward. Sliver recognized a few healers from their ranks tending to the injured, and they gave her cursory nods of greeting before returning to work. For a moment Sliver just stood in the doorway assessing the damages with deep and apparently apathetic eyes. It was interesting how much the citizens complained of the ban on leaving the city, completely oblivious to the goings on outside the City. It wasn’t as if the animal attacks had stopped, but now instead of innocents getting the brunt of the injuries, it was the Icewatch protecting the boundaries of Avanthal. Everything from caribou to foxes to hawks had had its share of tearing apart the authority figures of the city, and it wasn’t exactly as if their numbers were so vast as to take these continuous blows. There had been no more Talderan Sabretooth sightings, but whispers circulated around the barracks that it was only a matter of time before another one came down, or perhaps a waste mammoth, or worse. So the Icewatch healers and any spare Whitevine doctors were hard at work restoring their guards back to full strength to be ready for whatever came next. Sliver felt at once relieved at the care they were getting, and also worried. It seemed as if both Vantha and animal were against her organization in this fight, and fighting two fronts at once had surely weakened the Icewatch and the faith its citizens had in it. What would it take to draw them together in this? The wolverine brushed a hand over her hair, kneading her scalp for a moment or two longer before walking over to sit by a bedside not crawling with attendants and healers. The occupant was someone she knew well, one of the few dark skinned bears in the Icewatch. He smiled weakly up at her. He had been torn up badly by a vicious Ice Hawk attack. While he was recovering, he had lost enough blood to be very weak, and they were careful to make sure he didn’t catch any illness which could compromise his condition. The two brethren sat in silence for a long time. He lamented not being out there with the rest of them while Sliver joked about how all he could do right now was bleed on any animals that attacked him. Despite his weakened condition, the punch he landed on her arm still had the strength of a bear behind it, and jolted the wolverine, who was almost tempted to throw a blow back before she remembered his condition. They chuckled together, and Sliver watched as his dark eyes closed, and breathing slowed, an exhausted sleep overtaking her companion. She bowed her head and whispered a little prayer to Morwen, for this Kelvic as well as her other comrades in this wing and the other sick and injured in the Healing Center. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if Morwen was as sorrowful as she at these events, or if, as a goddess, these times of increased death and injury were just things she accepted had to go by. From what the wolverine had heard, The Ice Queen was a compassionate and understanding individual, and not one to uphold such values, but it gave Sliver something to contemplate as she sat in silence by the bedside. The noises and bustling, quiet tones and the scrape of tools on stone and metal created a strange muted symphony for which her thoughts could drift upon like a current, and for a while Sliver was lost in the depths of her own mind.

[Coren]

Coren did not feel happy as he walked through the doors of the whitevine healing centre. Once more there had been another fellow mage who had been beaten to an inch within his or hers life. Honestly coren was getting sick of what was happening and of the stupidity of the thing that the vantha where doing to him and his colleagues, using them as scapegoats for what was happening to avanthal during these trying times and trying to punish them for things they had nothing to do with. “Sir, can I help you?” Coren was pulled out of his toughs and focused on the woman who had addressed him. “You have been looking around aimless for a while now, do you know where to go? Are you hurt yourself somewhere?” Coren shook his head. “No I was just a bit lost in thought, anyway, I'm looking for a recent arrival to the healing centre, should have been brought in a few days ago. The arrival is a young man who was brought in because he was found beaten to an inch of his life. I would like to know his room.” Coren said in a polite tone. The woman's became visibly discomforted at his request and she nerviously began to check her surroundings. “Sir, do you really wish to visit him?” she had lowered her voice to a wisper. “I heard terrible things about him, that he was one of those mages and could see right into your mind and know what you where thinking!” She sniffed in disdain. “He deserved what happened to him if you ask me.” Coren's eyes dulled in annoyance, seemed like she didn't know who or what she was talking to. “Yes, I am fully aware he is a mage and no I do not mind him being a mage as I am one myself.” The woman paled as the last words left his mouth. “Now could you do your job and point me towards his room? Or at least point me towards a healer who knows where the patients are located at the very least?” Coren was talking in a forced polite tone, eying the woman before him with nothing but disdain. “Yes.. well, he is on the floor above us, when you exit from the stairs go right, turn left at the first time, go to the end of the corridor, the man is there in the room at the right.” The woman hurriedly spat out, getting paler and paler by the moment. “Good, good to see you at least know how to do that.” Coren sneered at the woman before just stepping around her, leaving the terrified woman behind him. He ascended the stairs, ignoring the traffic in the halls and followed the woman's instructions hoping for her own benefit that they where right. He knocked on the door and entered when he heard a muted call for him to come in through the door. “Good day, I don't think I have met you before.” The man who was laid up on the bed asked in a cautious tone as he tried to sit up straight to face him. Coren's eyes flashed with rage at his assailants as he saw the amount of bandages covering the man. His head was completely bandaged up, covering one of his eyes. His right arm hung in a sling and from the way the man was moving, those visible injuries weren't the only ones on his body. “If you are one of those maniacs who beat me half to death and are here to finish the job, there are icewatch all around this building, just reminding you.” Coren shook his head, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “No, I'm not here to finish the job. I'm Coren. Also a mage, when I heard another mage was beaten up and was recovering I was wondering how you where doing.” Coren he reached for one of the chairs in the room. “Can I sit down?” The man stared at him for what seemed like chimes before he finally nodded, a small smile coming on his wounded face. “Yes, sit down, make yourself comfortable. I don't have many visitors anyway. My name is Dhragor nice meeting you Coren.” He held out his hand, which coren carefully shook. Before dragging the chair a bit closer to the bed and sitting down. “So if you don't mind me asking Coren, what kind of magics do you use? Once more the man fixed his gaze on him, and coren began to have a decent suspicion of what kind of discipline the man used. Him always looking at him, the asking of questions and believing things without a thought. “I'm a projector and shielder I also have quite a knowledge of glyphing to augment my skills. I also dabble in some other magical skills, but my skill in them is to paltry to deserve any mention.” Coren answered honestly, seeing the mans jaw fall a bit in shock. He wasn't really against a fellow mage asking for his disciplines, he was actually quite relieved he had started a conversation, he never was that good at it. “And if I can hazard a gues you are an auristic's user aren't you?” He couldn't help letting out an amused chuckle when the mans only visible eye widened. “Yes, I am an aurist indeed, let me guess that is one of those magics where your skill is only paltry in?” The man said with a little smile on his face. “But quite competent in three disciplines and knowing a few others, That's something alright. Probably why you still are in one piece unlike me aren't you?” Coren let out a morose chuckle at that, his mood suddenly plumbing when he thought of the harrasment he had been put through. “Yes, you would think that wouldn't you? But no, the mayority of the people here don't even know how what you can do with magic, they only care if you are a mage or not.” Dhragor let out a miserable sigh. “Figures, still it would be nice to have something I can defend myself with, not much use knowing that people are going to beat you up like this when you can't do anything about it.” Coren let his eyes glance over the mans beaten and broken body. “If I can ask..; what did they actually do?” Coren asked in a soft tone, he honestly didn't want to ask it, it obviously was a hard subject for the man to talk about. “You can yes, well, They just kicked me down for the mayority of the beatdown. But at the end,while I was lying bleeding on the ground one of the men grabbed my head and forced me to look at him.” He cut of corens following question before he could even ask it. “No I did not see his face, it was to dark for it, anyway. He said that since I used my magic through my vision he was going to give me a warning. Before he jabbed a knife in my eye.” Coren's eyes flashed a dangerous granite as he thought of that. Somebody mutilating their fellow vantha and getting away with it. Just because the other man was a mage. “Thats... just plain disgusting.” Coren said in a voice laced with hatred and loathing. “yes it is isn't it.” The man said in a diminutive voice. Before giving Coren a smile. “I think I could do with some more rest, I hope you come by again later though. After I rested up a little bit.” The man sunk back into his pillows. “yes, of course,that isn't a problem for me. I'll see you later then.” Coren stood up and quietly left the room. When he was standing in the corridor, he took a few deep breaths trying to contain the slowly bubbeling rage boiling inside and started to walk back towards he came from. Thoughts of revenge and voilence surely on his mind. But more importantly.. He wanted to protect his fellow mages so things like this would never happen again.

[Sliver]

Her silent reverie was broken by a low wail, followed by protests of ever increasing size. “No No NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” The final ‘no’ transformed into a roar of rage as a bear revealed his true form. The attendants and doctors scattered immediately while fellow Icewatch members struggled to contain a dire Polar bear in a hospital room. The bear began knocking over carts, tools, and supplies as Icewatch leapt on him. Sliver rose as tried to assess the situation. On the bed near where the bear must have been sitting, a broken chair in its place, sat a very heavily bandaged Vantha, her eyes glossy with pain, and her mouth moving as she tried to get across to the bear. A stricken looking doctor flattened against the wall must have been the one to deliver dire news. She could see the bandages were already soaked in blood, and she had heard of several deer attacks where Icewatch had gotten gored by stag antlers, some more vicious than others. She grimaced. It seemed this madness would never cease to destroy these tightly knit bonds, and for the tiniest instant she was almost happy to not have to have the sickening worry of losing a bondmate as this bear just learned he would lose his. That instant passed as quickly as it had come, however, and the wolverine decided to aid her comrades in calming down the massive bear. There were about ten Vantha and Kelvic on him, though no one else had transformed for fear of the damage they would do. The bear was forced low on his front paws, but he was still obviously struggled and growling at every opportunity, and Sliver walked around to the front, glanced at his dying bondmate for an instant, trying to gauge the emotions on the womans weakening features, and then punched the bear in the nose. It was not the strongest punch she could have thrown, but on a scale of 1-10 it probably lay in the range of an 8.5, and the bear snorted. The skin over his teeth raised threateningly, a growl just forming at the back of his throat when Sliver grabbed him by the ear and jerked his head to face his bondmate. With probably a considerable amount of strength and willpower the woman had lifted herself up in the bed, and both of her arms were folded over her chest, eyes a dangerous amethyst color. Instantly the bear’s attitude changed. All signs of struggle vanished, and he looked like a admonished puppy as he slunk over to his companion’s bed and rested his head in her lap. She stroked the white fur, and whispered things too quiet for anyone else but the bear to hear. About a minute later he had transformed and the scene was over. Sliver aided in the clean-up. She received a few pats on the back and a few more sympathetic looks from Kelvic, but ignored all of these gestures, in her own space in her mind at this point. Once the majority of the mess had been cleaned up, the broken and shattered equipment swept up and disposed of, new furniture brought it in and tensions lowered, Sliver found an empty spot to herself in the corner of the room, eyes surveying her surroundings with a thoughtful eye. Thankfully most of these patients would recover, and for those who didn’t they would be honored for some time outside of the Training Stadium, encased in icy beauty in order for their comrades never to forget, or as others liked to say: ‘Always part of the Icewatch.’ With all the pain in this room, she tried to fathom the pain in the rest of the Healing Center, in the rest of the City. Just because the Icewatch had been taking the brunt of the damages as of late, did not mean the injuries and fatalities lay solely upon their shoulders, she had seen proof enough of that. The wolverine lowered her head and closed her eyes, lips moving in a nearly silent prayer to Morwen. “Please guide us through these colder times. Give us the strength to carry on when you have left to bring winter to the rest of Mizahar. Please give comfort to those who have lost those dear to them, and even to those who have not yet lost them, but live in fear. Thank you.” Somewhere rather unconsciously Sliver realized her prayers had transformed from strange ramblings into something highly more religious. She knew of Morwen’s love for the City, even if she had not yet glimpsed the Icy Queen herself. For the wolverine it was comforting to know someone was out there watching her, especially in those times when she felt most alone. She mused that she should go back to the temple to talk to that kind young priestess, she could only imagine how pleased Lee’ena would be to see how the wolverine had taken to her faith, but that seemed a journey for another time. The wolverine looked up to see that woman, the Vantha from before, her eyes a much calmer sea blue, beckoning her weakly over. Her bondmate had left, probably to get her food or drink, and Sliver slowly made her way over and sat a bit anxiously in the bear’s seat, muscles ready to jump out of it the second he returned. The Vantha, she knew her name didn’t she? Leor, or something to that effect, smiled gently and took Sliver’s hand in her own. “Thank you.” She said. Sliver tried not to let the expression on her face change to one of pity as she heard the hoarse sound issue from her throat. She just shrugged, but the woman was determined. “No, really. Kilden often needs a good smacking to see sense, and it seems I can no longer do it.” Sliver shrugged again, but this time offered explanation. “It seemed like what you wanted to do when I looked at your face.” Leor laughed, a crackling thing that swapped into a wet cough, a bit of blood coming up into a towel provided for her, but she still was smiling even after putting the red thing to the side. “Then you read me very well. Can I ask you a favor, Sliver?” It was nice not to hear her nickname uttered, and Sliver felt a pang of sorrow. She had not known this woman well, but it was clear she was a good soul, someone that would be sorely missed in the Icewatch ranks. Sliver nodded without saying a word, unsure if she would be able to trust her voice to speak. “After…after I am gone, would you look after Kilden for me? He is going to have a rough time, perhaps not rougher than any bear to lose his bondmate, but still bad, and…I like the idea of you keeping him sane.” Sliver just nodded, and Leor smiled again. It was just at that point that Kilden returned with a glass of water, and Sliver practically leapt up from the seat. Leor gave her hand a final squeeze and winked at Sliver, before Kilden had her attention once more. For a few moments Sliver took a couple steps to the side and just hung, partially out of sync with the world around her, a great sadness weighing upon her chest before she left the room. Perhaps she should visit another wing…or just leave…just leave.

[Coren]

Coren was quite visibly seething underneath his mask and robes as he was walking down the hallway. Honestly he had tried to keep his anger under control, but how could he walk away without a care from this! It seems the nurses and doctors who where making their rounds through the hallways easily picked up on his mood and quickly got out of the way of the steaming mage. He stopped for a few moments when a loud roar faintly echoed through the hallways of the entire hospital and couldn't help but let out a sigh of disdain at it. Either another one of those icewatch members got themselves killed and now the partner was going on a rampage out of grief or a wild animal somehow managed to get inside the building. He doubted it was the latter but still the icewatch had really shown how competent they where these last weeks and with still a few mages in the hospital he did not wish to take the chance of a rampant animal gallivanting through the entire hospital and possibly hurting them. He quickened his pace and went towards the place where he had heard the loud roar come from. Though after a short time the sounds of the struggle slowly faded away. The situation seemed to be quite under control, but still. Coren couldn't help but want to find out what the hell had been going on there. Much to coren's surprise he ran into the familiar face of Sliver when going into the direction of the accident. “Good day Sliver” Coren said in a clear voice, a bit of suprise audible in it. Underscored with some slight worry, why was she here? Had she hurt herself once more or was she simply visiting some other people. He swept his gaze over her quickly, he didn't see any injuries at first. But she could be hiding some, she always was a proud person. She also came from the place the roar had came from. “Do you know what the disturbance a while ago was about?” He asked in a more toneless voice.

[Sliver]

Sliver nearly ran into the Mage, for she was not paying any attentions to her surroundings int he slightest. Her head perked up at the sound of his voice, for anything familiar seemed a relief from the sorrow in that moment. It was clear her eyes were filled with sadness, she did not hide her feelings well, and why should an animal have to? They were open books as it were, though Sliver would be loathe to use such a comparison. It would be amusing to note that just as Coren checked to make sure she wasn't injured, Sliver did the same, dark eyes making sure he hadn't gotten into another fight with those not accepting of magic. She nodded slightly as he appeared well enough. "Coren..." It was a slow and delayed response to his initial greeting, slow and almost pained as she considered his question. "Yes, I do know..." She was still clearly not entirely with the mage, part of her back with Leor, contemplating on how she could ever comfort Kilden after this was all over. She began walking down the hall, with or without Coren, and then collapsed in an available cushioned chair. When she spoke it would be to whomever close enough to hear. "I wish I could imagine...what it is like to lose a bondmate...yet I do not...but if I never know than I have never bonded, and that is truly more sad...isn't it?"

[Coren]

Coren walked with Sliver, not only the sad undertone in her voice and the other general signs of greef and sorrow worried him but also the way she was acting, not paying any attention to the world around her. She really had taken hard whatever she had seen. He simpely stood next to her when she collapsed in a chair and began speaking, listening to what she said. As she mentioned losing a bond mate he quickly figured out what happened. A kelvic lost his or her bond mate and went into a frenzy. Coren laid his hand on the distraught woman's shoulder, his former family and friends did that when he used to be down and depressed. He hoped Sliver wouldn't freak out on him because of it. “Look.” Coren began, not feeling to confident in what he was trying to do. “I don't presume to know how having a bond feels like, or how it feels to lose it, or knowing anything but the general things of kelvics at all. But I don't think that having bonded means you will lose him or her eventually. Or before his time.” Seeing as kelvics had a shorter lifespan then other races it was probably the other way around but coren was smart enough not to say THAT out loud. “Just like it means that joining the icewatch doesn't mean you will die earlier or in a horrible manner.” He was sure that whatever he was saying wasn't in the least bit reassuring. “Besides, you are still young and have a long time ahead of you. The chances of you not finding a bond mate are quite slim.”

[Sliver]

The wolverine flinched slightly at the touch, then relaxed. Somewhere she began coming back into herself, the defensive high spirited wolverine taking back control of this more melancholy side of her exposed. Brown eyes looked upon the offered hand curiously, wondering if the mage often extended feelings of sympathy for others. Glancing up into the darkness and glimpsing the covering over his face, she couldn't imagine so, so she took legitimate comfort in the gesture, seeming to visibly relax. "I would like to be that..." she searched for the word a moment, knowing it was there, "optimistic, but life has not been kind to me thus far, and I don't see reason for that to change now." The words of the fortune teller rung in her ears, about finding a bondmate soon and then the message of death. Part of her wished to dismiss the woman's rambling as simply that, yet the other part, the part that remembered her time in Sahova, and the trials she had undergone before arriving at Avanthal, that part couldn't help but find the truth there. The wolverine looked significantly more weary than she usually did when her dark eyes searched up into the shadows of Coren's hood. "Thank you." It was a sincere expression, meant with the same intent that the hand had been. Then curiosity and intrigue filled her mahogany gaze. Deductive skills set in. Coren, uninjured in the hospital, and as far as she could tell, she was one of the mage's only...friends? What was he doing there? She blinked, then bit her lip. "Why are you here, anyway?" Her mind was close to discovery, but not close enough, thus why she inquired.

[Coren]

Coren didn't really know what to say, though he was feeling some kind of accomplishment at the fact she hadn't shrugged of his hand yet, and that it actually was relaxing a bit. “Well, life can't actually hate you, so it has to get better at some point. I mean, you ended up in avanthal. And from what I heard you are doing pretty well in the icewatch now.” Coren awkwardly tried to answer that comment of hers, he never really sought for the approval of people himself, preferring a more solitary existence so he honestly couldn't imagine the trouble she was in and how much she suffered because of that empty void. He really doubted not having a bondmate was kinda the same as having your own parents kick you out and refuse to acknowledge you. At her weary glance at him he gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder with his hand. Just smiling underneath his mask, the changing colors of his eyes matching his smile. “Anytime.” Coren simply replied to her. Before Sliver asked her next question he could almost see the gears turning in her head as she picked up on something. Coren just patiently waited those few moments till she asked him why he was here. “You probably know of the attacks on mages. I occasionally visit the ones who are laid up in the healing centre for a while. There was another attack yesterday. So I came to check up on him.” Coren let out a sad sigh. “It really didn't look good, the man is stable and awake, but he is going to have lasting damage for the rest of his life.”

[Sliver]

She glanced up, seeing the glimmer of dark green within the hood, she had only seen that color once, during the time of their snowball fight in the park: happiness? contentment? She couldn't be sure, but her own smile mirrored the one hidden beneath Coren's mask at the idea. This expression faded as swiftly as it had come when Coren explained his reasoning for being there, and the Kelvic nodded solemnly. She tried to think of something to say. She wasn't all together wonderful at extending her emotions outward, but it seemed only fair after Coren trying to cheer her up that she return the favor. The wolverine cocked her head to the side, clearly trying to figure out how to go about this. Coren's shoulder wasn't exactly in reach, since she was sitting and he was standing, so she awkwardly extended a hand and squeezed his arm, mimicking the human contact. It actually felt better than she had first imagined, like the physicality of the action was enough to incur some feelings as well. She didn't wish to prolong any awkwardness between them, and removed the appendage rather rapidly, but opened her mouth to speak. "I am sorry, I know how much the plight of the mages affects you, and I wish there was some way for me to help...its just with everything else going on...these attacks are not on the Icewatch's mind..." To be truthful she wondered if they ever were, but some part of her mind told her otherwise. The guard employed a number of mages for various reasons, and surely they would not be blind to the problems.

[Coren]

Coren was quite surprised when he felt Sliver give him an awkward squeeze at the arm. It had been a long time ago that anybody had bothered to comfort him when he was in duress. Or touched him just for the sake of comfort without anything. Even though Sliver pulled her hand back quite quickly it comforted him a bit she cared enough to try and comfort him. Just like he had done to her. At her remark that the attacks aren't on the mind of the icewatch coren just let out a hollow laugh. “So the fact that civilians are beaten up by their fellow vantha slips their mind? I highly doubt they don't know about what is going on. It isn't as if they don't see what is happening either. They always are on the scene after the facts are happened. Seeing as they are stretched thin enough as it is these days that is understandable. It is just as if after it happened they forget it ever happened and ignore the problem. But when something completely unrelated to any mage happens, we suddenly get all rounded up and treated as if we are criminals. Being blamed for the weirdness of the animals and who knows what else is going on.” Coren kept calm throughout the entire time he was talking. He wasn't angry, he was just fed up with the prejudge. “And then when a single mage does something wrong, we suddenly we all are assumed to be in on the plot and all of them assume we have something to do with it.” Coren let out another sigh. “Those are the kind of acts that helps drive a mage mad.”