Catharsis [Flashback] [Solo]

by **Aehra** on June 23rd, 2012, 5:47 pm

14th of Spring, 511 AV

When Aehra stumbled into the alleyway, there were four boys and two girls waiting. One boy, taller and leaner than the rest, stepped forward. The sun, now nearly to the horizon, cast his hair in a fiery glow and broke his face into crisp shadow-lines, making his already intimidating smirk seem altogether terrifying. Aehra clenched her fists at his unexpected appearance, but tried to school her face into a mask of boredom. The boy leered at her.

"And who might you be?"

Aehra remained silent. She wasn't here to make friends. Her house was empty, still smelling like her father; she couldn't sleep; she threw their jar at the wall yesterday, in a fit of rage, and it shattered, and she'd spent the afternoon staring at the shards without being able to feel a thing. Now, she wanted to hit something-- something alive, something that could defend itself. The boy tutted disapprovingly.

"Oh, come on, now, what're you doing, standing around brooding like that?" He frowned. "What were you wanting, wandering into an alleyway the way you did?"

Aehra shot him a pointed glare, watching as understanding bloomed over his face. He waved at the others, who obediently went a few paces backwards. Some watched eagerly, while the rest, clearly still in the dark regarding the events that were about to unfold, watched on with confusion plain as day on their faces. The boy in front of Aehra brought his fists up, and for the first time, she could see the muscle moving underneath the skin of his arms. What she had first seen as lankiness now appeared to be lean muscle. She only let her resolve waver for a moment before steeling herself and bringing her fists up to mirror him.

He grinned, all confidence, and gestured towards himself. "Come on, girlie, gimme your best shot. I'll even let you get your first one in, free of charge."

by **Aehra** on June 23rd, 2012, 6:46 pm

Aehra didn't wait for a second opening. She lunged at him, fist connecting solidly with his jaw. The aching throb in her knuckles was immediate, and the feel of flesh and bone under her fist was as terrifying as it was relieving. The boy rocked back on his heels. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, seemingly testing the soon-to-be bruise on his jaw. When he seemed satisfied, he grinned menacingly at Aehra, and she stepped back. For the first time, she realized what she was doing, where she was, and it terrified her. Her first instinct was to run, to return home, and collapse in the doorway of her house until her father came to comfort her--

No.

Aehra gritted her teeth and steeled herself for the fight to come. The boy nodded ever so slightly and began to move; he seemed to be almost dancing in place, shifting from foot to foot. Confused, Aehra faltered for a moment. When she glanced at his eyes, they were glinting. He's mocking me. The thought infuriated her, and she lunged again, intending to land another blow on his cheek.

He tilted his body, easily dodging her attempt at an attack, and jabbed the slight dip where her shoulder met her back. Aehra squared her jaw and tried to ignore the pain blossoming at her shoulder blade, instead trying to hit his stomach. Again, the boy moved fluidly out of her path, this time retaliating with an open-handed slap to her cheek. She stumbled backwards; her cheek and eyes stung, and she prayed that her eyes weren't watering badly enough that the others could see. Her opponent smirked and shook his head.

"You'll never land a blow if you go about it like that." He taunted. She growled and surged forward, hardly thinking anymore about where she was trying to hit. She didn't see him move, but suddenly he was on her right side, and her right arm felt like it was on fire. She cried out in pain but swung around wildly, not even thinking to close her fist before she backhanded the boy, and her right hand exploded in pain. He stumbled backwards and she whimpered as she turned to face him, digging her feet into the ground.

The boy rubbed his red cheek and brought the other hand up in a defensive stance. He grinned at her, for the first time without a touch of arrogance or derisiveness.

"Now that's more like it!"

by **Aehra** on June 24th, 2012, 3:37 pm

Aehra growled and swung again, and again the boy disappeared. She felt the punches before the pain this time, three strange, dull aches in her side before her ride side was engulfed in pain. She cried out and clutched weakly at the new injuries with her right hand, not wanting to put her only good hand out of commission. Before she had time to fully prepare herself, the boy launched himself at her, digging his fist into her gut and then backing away so quickly it was almost as though he'd never been there.

Aehra's head was swimming, and the pain all along her right side (and, now, burning in her belly) made it difficult to focus on anything else. She shook her head and attempted to focus on the boy, who was now a few feet in front of her. The honest joy that had been present on his face only moments earlier was wiped clean, replaced by a slight frown. For whatever reason, the boy hesitated, and watched her while she tried to focus. After a moment, Aehra tensed, readying herself to be on the defensive, and the boy gave the shortest of nods before slowly moving forward.

He came after her with a steady stream of jabs, punches, and (occasionally) kicks to her already weakened right side. As she was no longer attempting to make any sort of counter strikes, Aehra was able to easily dodge many of the blows, although what little contact his hands made with her bruises cause her to let out a low hiss.

It dawned on her too late that she could die there, in that dusty alleyway, because of this fight, with the low murmur of their audience as the last thing she heard. She backed up frantically, trying to avoid any more damage.

Eventually, her opponent punched her across her jaw and sent her sprawling.

She curled in on herself, clutching at her ribs and whimpering in pain, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Her ears were ringing, a shrill high-pitched scream, and even behind the darkness of her eyelids, the world appeared to be swimming. Something nudged her back roughly, and she flinched in on herself.

Slowly, the ringing faded.

"--right, kid? Hey, girlie, come on, open up." Aehra opened her eyes slowly, too dazed to do anything but obey the voice.

The boy was crouched in front of her, frowning once more. From her spot on the ground, it seemed that everyone else had left.

"You should'na come out here way you did." He muttered. "Got yerself all kinds of bruises."

Even in her weakened state, Aehra managed to bark out a pitiful sort of laugh. "You're all kindsa concerned about the wounds you gave me."

The boy glared at her, and for an instant, her vision narrowed enough that his face was thrown into sharp detail; for the first time, Aehra noticed that his face was laced with thin, barely-there scars (and that her earlier punch had caused an ugly bruise to cover part of his jaw). Aehra thought about saying something else, but when she opened her mouth to do so, her mouth was so dry that nothing came out, and she ended up smacking her lips like a complete idiot while she tried to fix the problem.

The boy sighed, quietly. His eyes skittered down her body to her feet and then back up. "You think you can walk home, girlie?"

Having achieved some sort of moisture in her mouth, Aehra replied, "I was thinking about just lying here for a bit, actually," and grinned weakly.

The boy hesitated, but nodded. "I can keep some people out of here for a bit. Hour or so. Don't take much longer than that-- drag yerself home if you have to." He frowned, then reached over to brush her hair out of her face, looking as though it had personally annoyed him. "I've seen kids like you before. Got somethin they wanna forget about, go lookin for a fight. They get good, fast, or they get dead." He stood up quickly and turned without another word, sprinting out of the alleyway.

Aehra closed her eyes; the pain in her side had subsided with her prolonged stillness. The sounds of the waves rocking gently by the docks washed over her, and she realized that she couldn't remember why she was there. She rolled her head slightly, pushing her burning forehead against the cooler stone floor.

In her exhaustion, she thought that maybe the forgetting was a good thing.

by **Cascade** on July 5th, 2012, 1:36 pm

Adventurer's Loot

Aehra''s Loot :

Beautifully written. It was a short thread so there wasn't much I could give in the XP department... however, I enjoyed reading this a lot, so thank you for sharing. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!