Kindness Among Strangers

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A lawless town of anarchists, built on the ruins of an ancient mining city. [Lore]

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Kindness Among Strangers

Postby Ixzo on November 13th, 2018, 3:57 am

64th of Fall, 518AV


Even though Ixzo understood little Common, it had not taken her too long to catch whiff of the Proving Grounds. She understood they were associated with some gang, although what gang that was, she had forgotten. But what she had learned is that it was a training grounds for various weapons and styles of combat. Skills that are so valuable in a city like this, and to a person like her. The Kelvic was itching to get her hands on a sword again. She had not touched one since the sea attack on the Endrykas, and even then, chopping the head off a dead body was not the same as fighting a live person. It was an opportunity too good to pass up.

Still, Ixzo did had learned to mistrust everyone and everything in this city, so when she entered the establishment, the lion kept to the corners. Immediately someone approached her, and the man seemed too intent on Ixzo’s tattoos. The lioness crossed her arms, planting her feet and watching his approach. Anyone who worked for this place would likely have more skill than her, but she had ego and will. If for whatever reason he was to attack her, she would fight back. Within a few ticks though, his eyes finally assessed her face and when finding the swirl tattoo on her face, relaxed.

“I don’t suppose you are affiliated with any gangs?” He asked, and Ixzo squinted at him in confusion, trying to digest his words. Gangs, he wanted to know if she was apart of any gangs. Ixzo shook her head. “No.”

He seemed satisfied with this option, and spoke a little slower now, understanding that common wasn’t one of her best languages. “When you decide what you want to learn, come to me. Bring coin.”

He said, and then wandered back off. Ixzo watched him go, not sure if she understood the conversation completely, but satisfied with the results. Silver eyes scanned the open air structure, seeing many people sparring or using practice dummies, and a few people watching or waiting. So she wouldn’t look so left out. Ixzo began limping towards one unarmed combat arena, where two grown men sparred. One was large, incredibly muscular and tattooed nearly as thickly as her. The other was more conventionally attractive, pale and muscular, but not too much so, with a perfect swoop to his hair. Even drenched in sweat and fighting off an attacker, his hair seemed to stay still. Ew.

Ixzo stooped on the fence around the arena, choosing the only other witness around to stand by. Immediately she propped her left foot on the lowest rung of the fence. It was thoroughly swollen, and it hurt, but the brute of a woman was deciding to ignore it. She had decided to ignore it for two days, and it only seemed to get worse. She wore sandals, even though it was fall, because her ankle was evenly purple and thickly swollen. She was not used to seeing bruises so apparent on her dark skin, but this, while not the darkest she had seen, was obvious. The curious part was she hadn’t hit it on anything. She had twisted it. She was sure she didn’t break it because she could walk on it, but the crack she had heard when she had done it had concerned her at the time. Still, the Kelvic was able to spend anytime resting, and since she could still at least hobble, she was to continue life as normal, even if it hurt.

Word Count: 592
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Ixzo
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Kindness Among Strangers

Postby Asterope on November 14th, 2018, 1:57 am

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"Where are we going?" Aster asked, without thinking, as she followed Alard out of the barracks. She almost bumped into him when he stopped abruptly, turning to face her with a scowl.

"What did I tell you about speaking?" He asked, his voice irritated and dangerously low. Aster flinched slightly; it wasn't the first time she'd forgotten the rule.

"Sorry," She muttered, pressing her mouth into a thin line, glancing away. The sudden sharp sting in her cheek caught her off-guard, making her yelp as her head snapped to the side.

She blinked a few times, raising her hand to her red cheek, staring at Alard in shocked silence. "I like to think I'm a patient man, but you'll learn one way or the other, sunshine. And if it's gotta be the hard way, then so be it," He snapped, lowering his still raised hand.

Asterope could feel the familiar yet foreign heat of hatred beginning to burn low in her stomach, but she nodded silently with a long exhale. "Good," Alard grunted, spinning on his heel again and beginning to lead the way once more. Aster followed at his heel silently, her head down, arms folded over her stomach.

It was a short walk. Aster raised her head again as they approached their destination, the sting in her cheek still fading; she was sure her face was still red, but she did her best to ignore it. She followed Alard into what seemed to be some sort of training grounds; there were various training dummies, and handfuls of people scattered around practicing fighting either unarmed or with different types of weapons.

Alard seemed familiar with the place, easily sauntering over to a man who stood some ways off, gesturing for Aster to stay. The Eth stood where she was; as Alard and the man spoke briefly, her gaze wandered around, watching the various people training. One woman in particular caught her eye; she stood out for the reason that she was still.

With dark skin and hair, she sat on a fence nearby, but before Asterope could look more closely, Alard had returned. "The Proving Grounds," He said, shortly, and it took a brief moment for Aster to realize that's where they were. "I'm going to train. Entertain yourself as you want, but don't be a nuisance, and I don't want to see you training. Is that clear?" His voice was sharp as he looked down at Aster.

No training; she was sure it could be useful in a city like Sunberth, but then again, she supposed there was always the risk of turning whatever she learned on him. Aster nodded. "Yes, sir," She mumbled. Seeming pleased, Alard reached up to pat the cheek he had slapped earlier; Aster flinched when his hand moved towards her face, staying still as his palm touched her cheek.

"There's a good girl. You'll get there. I wouldn't recommend trying to leave, either; we're keeping an eye on you." With that, Alard ventured into the arena. Asterope assumed he meant the man he had spoken to earlier; in any case, Alard could clearly see her from where he was practicing.

Left to her own devices, Aster glanced around; perhaps she'd just sit somewhere and enjoy the sunshine. Being dragged around with Alard on his day-to-day dealings was annoying, and she didn't like being left alone with her thoughts, but there seemed little else to do.

Suddenly, Aster remembered the woman she'd noticed; she swung her gaze back around, and sure enough, she still sat there. Upon closer inspection, Asterope noticed her foot was propped up on the fence, as if it was injured.

Automatically she stepped forward before stopping herself. What did she owe this woman? Nothing. She was probably just another lawless, deranged thug. Perhaps even another gang member. Aster was better off keeping her distance.

But her gaze kept dropping to the woman's foot, and Aster swayed where she stood before finally giving in and walking towards the woman, even as she mentally scolded herself. She was clearly injured, and she wasn't an active threat; if she turned out to be, Aster could excuse herself. Alard wasn't far, in any case. It was uncomfortable to think of him as protection of any sort, but she supposed that's exactly what he was.

The woman was watching two men spar, and Aster cleared her throat as she approached to draw her attention. "Hello," The Eth said, uncertainly, reaching up to pile her hair atop her head in a messy bun, wanting something to do with her hands in her nervousness.

As she approached, Aster noticed the woman was covered in tattoos and what appeared to be decorative scars; reflexively, she clenched her branded hand, tearing her gaze away to meet the woman's eyes. They were a muted yet still startling shade of silver; Aster had never seen a human with eyes like that, yet the woman appeared to be normal otherwise. Curiosity piqued, Asterope nodded to the woman, gesturing to her propped up foot.

"I noticed your foot is injured. I don't know how much I can do, given the circumstances, but I know some medicine. Do you mind if I take a look at it? Perhaps I could help."

Word Count: 877
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Asterope
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Kindness Among Strangers

Postby Ixzo on November 15th, 2018, 6:49 pm


When Ixzo turned to look at the Ethaefal, a distinct swirl could be seen branded into her face. The ethereal woman may not have known what family that mark belonged to, but anyone could recognize the mark as that of slave. All of her other decorative scars were cared for and healed properly, but this one had bleed into the skin around it, warping the brand and showing signs that it had once been infected, although the scar tissue was so old it was now healed into her face as a permanent burn. Ixzo assessed the Ethaefals intentions with her reflective gaze. It had always been hard for the Kelvic to read the human emotions, and this ethereal face was no different. But her words seemed kind, and what little common the Kelvic knew, she was able to pick up on the offer for help.

The Kelvic’s silver feline eyes flew up to the Ethaefal’s horns, watching their shining gold compliment the rich auburn of her hair. The Kelvic had never seen an Ethaefal before, although she had heard of their beauty, and it took her a moment to recollect her thoughts at the glorious sight that was this woman. Her eyes then grazed down the perfect face to see a soft red hint of violence on one cheek. It wasn’t the angry fresh red, but a softening pink of the skin trying to cool down from an assault. Even in Endrykas, the most patriarchal society the Kelvic had witnessed, women were not treated with violence, just as in Taloba men were not. In this lawless city, the lioness had not gotten the impression of one gender being treated less than the other; however she had quickly found the dynamic of master and slave. The Kelvic frowned at the thought and hoped she was wrong.

Turning more completely towards the woman, Ixzo shifted her weight so a little more balanced on her swollen ankle, she glanced down at it and up at the woman before her, trying to form the words she wanted to use in Common. “Yes, please. Uhh…” She didn’t have the skill or knowledge of the city to have sought medicine ealier, and while the Kelvic didn’t allow herself time to be injured, she would not turn down such an obvious offer for help. Still, she had spent enough time in this city to grow distrustful of those around her. This could be a ruse for something.

Ixzo let her eyes scan around her. There were still two sparring in the ring. The other person who was watching had wandered away, assessing the wooden weapons used for practice. Everyone else was fairly far away. That, and her ankle hurt, if this woman could relieve it or lessen the time she had to spend in pain, why would she deny it? She only hoped this woman was true and genuine, a rarity in Mizahar, let alone Sunberth. Turning back to the woman, she pulled her foot from the fence where she propped it, and immediately rolled her weight off of it onto the other foot.

“Why? What is your name?” She asked the simple common phrases that she had memorized, her thick Myrian accent still tainted the words although she thought they would be recognizable.

Word Count: 547

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Ixzo
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Kindness Among Strangers

Postby Asterope on March 26th, 2019, 3:40 am

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Aster noticed the distinct scar on the woman's face when she turned her head; it was different than the other scars adorning her body. Rougher and less detailed; it reminded Aster distinctly of the scar on the back of her hand, and she began to reconsider the first thoughts she'd had about the dark woman with the piercing eyes.

She seemed to take a moment to process what Asterope was saying, and the Eth preened slightly under the admiration of the woman's gaze as she stared at her horns.

When the other woman finally spoke, her voice was rich and heavily accented, and she seemed to stumble over her words; it seemed perhaps Common wasn't her first language.

Still, she had said yes, and that was all the permission Asterope needed. Aster dropped into a crouch as the woman lowered her foot, her body shifted as to avoid putting weight on it.

The Eth reached out and gently grasped the other woman's foot, lifting it so the heel was propped on her knee, provided she allowed it. Whether her foot remained on the ground or propped on her lap, Aster deftly ran her fingers over the dark skin of the woman's ankle, her touch featherlight as she peered at the other ankle for comparison.

Upon closer inspection, Aster could see dark shades of purple bruising highlighting the skin. "Definitely swollen," she murmured to herself, but thankfully she didn't feel any bones out of place. The woman questioned her, and Aster tilted her head back to peer up at her. Why?

"I like to help," she said, simply. "My name is Asterope. And you?" While waiting for her response, Aster firmly pressed her fingers along different points of the woman's ankle, watching her for signs of pain.

"Does that hurt?" Clearly it hurt to put weight on it, but at the same time it seemed the woman was at least capable of walking, unless she had been carried to the Proving Grounds. "How did you injure yourself?"

Aster hesitated, then reworded the question; she didn't want to be rude in her assumptions, but the woman's thick, exotic accent and simple sentences suggested she was not entirely familiar with Common, and Asterope would rather come across as slightly rude and be understood than use sentences too complex for the other woman to grasp.

"How did you hurt it?" She gestured to the woman's swollen ankle to make her meaning clear. Provided she'd allowed Aster to lift her foot in the first place, the Eth would set it gently back on the ground and rise to her feet, eyes scanning the perimeter of the training grounds to look for anything of use.

Clucking her tongue, Aster turned to the woman again. "Cloth? Or knife?" Aster asked, miming ripping the hem of her shirt; if the woman had spare cloth or was willing to provide from her own clothing, that would be ideal.

Otherwise, if she had a knife, Asterope wouldn't mind cutting a piece from her own clothes. Alard wouldn't be pleased, but he had been talking about buying her some new clothing in any case; 'nothing too fancy', he'd said, 'but better than those rags you're in.' She would deal with the consequences later.
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Asterope
A light that never goes out
 
Posts: 651
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Joined roleplay: August 16th, 2017, 11:11 pm
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Kindness Among Strangers

Postby Asterope on April 12th, 2021, 6:42 pm

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Here are your bright, shiny grades...
Enjoy!


Asterope

Skills

☀Endurance +1
☀Observation +2
☀Socialization +2


Lores

☀Location: The Proving Grounds
☀Alard's rules: Speak only when spoken to
☀Alard: Teaches things the hard way
☀Sunshine: Alard's nickname for Aster
☀Lore of learning to bite your tongue
☀Sunberth: Anyone could be dangerous
☀Aster: Gives in to the instinct to help others
☀Injured woman: Strange, intricate scars
☀Injured woman: Another slave?
☀Medicine: Gauging pain reactions


Ixzo


Comments

PM me for your grades if you return!


Thank you for your patience! As always, please don't forget to delete or edit your grading request in the queue. Otherwise, if you have any questions or concerns about your grades, then just PM me and let me know!
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The sun will rise, and we will try again
User avatar
Asterope
A light that never goes out
 
Posts: 651
Words: 661387
Joined roleplay: August 16th, 2017, 11:11 pm
Location: The Outpost (Sunberth)
Race: Ethaefal
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Journal
Plotnotes
Medals: 5
Featured Thread (1) Mizahar Grader (1)
Overlored (1) Alvadas Seasonal Challenge (1)
Power Fork (1)


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