Losing a friend (Meriann)

by **Carus Nothus** on February 9th, 2018, 3:27 pm

Carus Nothus

Sivah was kind enough to give me to the world, in return he also gave the world to me.

48th of Winter, 517 AV

Opening his eyes and still seeing the roof of the tent was getting pretty old to Carus now. After a few weeks in Sunberth, each morning felt worse than the one before. Arriving in Winter meant every morning was cold and each morning felt more of a pain than the one before. Some days it was hard to get up at all, having no real purpose anymore, just hoping each day that he would be able to make some kind of money. He sat up and moved his blanket away from him, trying to stretch the staleness out of the muscles in his arms and upper body, looking around at the dull, grey color the decorated the inside of the tent. He hadn’t really interacted with anyone since his meeting with the lady in The dust beds. Today would be more of the same, except he had decided the night before that he would try his luck at gambling again. Sure it hadn’t worked out last time, but you just had to win big once. He stood up and stretched out his legs as well, wearing his traveling clothes as he had slept in them.

He pulled off his pants and his shirt, shivering in the cold air. It was always better to look good when trying to play people out of their money, he thought to himself as he picked up his pair of finer pants and pulling them on, limbs still slightly aching from sleeping on the hard ground. After putting on his shirt he even decided to put on his vest today, trying to comb his fingers through his hair, smoothing it out as best as he could. His once wandered to the times he lived with his parents, as it often did, when he used to have a comb, and ways to clean his hair. Now he couldn’t remember he had a real bath and not just a dip in the lake.

When he was done he slowly opened up his tent and took a step outside in the cold air. He decided he’d go to Johnny’s as usual. Best place he knew to gamble that didn’t have any kind of gang affiliation. Carus had managed to stay out of any gang trouble so far, and he was pretty happy to keep it that way. He turned to his right to see Umbra still loosely tied to a piece of wood Carus had stuck in the ground. He smiled as he looked at the big black horse, one of the few things he still held dear in this life. He took a step towards the horse and it looked up at him, almost seeming like it was waiting for Carus to come and cuddle him a bit. It seemed like Umbra disliked this place just as much as Carus, still remembering the warm places and the good food from its youth. Carus out his hand on the horses face, slowly petting him up and down his face too calm the horse a bit.

The first few nights and days that Carus had left the horse in tent city he had been terrified that the horse would be gone when he came back. So far there hadn’t been a problem though, stealing something that size would be problematic and he had no doubt that Umbra would resist if someone tried to take him away, which is probably why he had been safe so far. He took another step closer while keeping his hand on the horse, looking at his mane that was getting dirtier and more tangled for each day. The poor horse had stood here for days without any real exercise now. It was probably time for him to get to move around a bit, Carus thought as he started to undo the knot that kept the horse in place. There was a place to tie up the horse next to Johnny’s, so he might as well bring the horse.

He grabbed the rope and started to walk through tent city, moving slowly at first making sure the horse got to stretch properly. Before he knew it he was slowly jogging between the tents, letting the horse go to a trot as they moved. Umbra seemed happy to be out again, trying to push the pace constantly as he wanted to run more freely. Carus had to reign him in a few times, not to have him drag Carus away by his side. For once, Carus was actually quite content with being out, seeing the large beast happily trotting behind him. The direction was set towards the docs where Johnny’s was, through the sunset quarters.
They kept the trot going between the houses and small apartment buildings as they enter the next part of the city, meeting just a few people on the way. Carus looked around at the houses, even though a lot of them were almost falling apart, he aspired to one day have the chance to live in a house or an apartment again, and not in his cold, dull tent. As they started to get closer to the middle of The slums, Carus noticed a few people running on either side of him between the houses, their eyes constantly on him. Carus kept the pace and try to stay calm, even as they turned in from a street just a bit ahead of him, blocking his path. He slowed down his pace with the horse, moving much more slowly towards the people now standing in his way. There were six of them, all dressed in rags and clearly malnourished. They ranged in age from pre-teen to someone closer to fifty human years. When Carus got just close enough to speak, he stopped completely, just as he was about to speak, the oldest of them spoke up.

“You don’t happen to have some change for a few beggars, do you?”, the old man asked, his voice raspy and old. Carus spirits lifted for a second, assuming the people would only beg for money and then leave him alone. He had so far been very lucky, unaware of how unkind of a city Sunberth could be.

“No I’m sorry, I’m as down on my luck as you are”, he said, his fake smile still on his face as he looked at the old man. The old man now had a wide grin spread across his face, and Carus realised what he must look like to these people. While he was poor, he was still wearing rather fine clothes to be in the slums of Sunberth, and certainly better than these people were wearing. He started to feel dread coming over him, as the beggars started to slowly stalk towards him..

by **Meriann** on February 9th, 2018, 8:49 pm

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"Speech"

Meriann had gone out for the morning to the Seaside Market whilst the tides were down. The marketplace was quiet, and that was unusual. A few gulls circled overhead, and Meriann listened to their lonely cries with a weariness of her own. She missed travelling. She missed the open water with nothing around except the clouds in the blue, blue sky. She missed Taren too, who'd swam off on his own for the past three days and left Meriann feeling more alone than usual. She'd tried staying on board the Sunrise, then talking with her family a little, but they each had their own exploits and Meriann was a restless soul. So she went to the market, trying to clear her head and see what she could see. It was a cesspool, but the variety of stock on display was fascinating to the Svefra woman, who saw something new every time she went. Whether it was something worth buying was another matter, but that would wait until she found said item.

She trudged slowly through the twisting streets formed between the ramshackle stalls and boats that formed the body of the market, looking around but staying on edge. It had been a mistake to trust this city. She'd made that mistake and paid for it, more than she wanted to admit to herself. Meriann shook her hair out and ran her hand along the tangled mess. Her left hand lay gently resting on the hilt of her cutlass that was sheathed in the leather scabbard that protected the metal from the harsh environment of the ocean air. Around the market, hawkers and salesmen called out in loud, unending voices, asking for her trade. There were a few casual shoppers too, just like her. Meriann stared at one in disgust as he pissed against an abandoned cart. She couldn't help but stifle a sniggering laugh as the wind became his enemy, and quickly walked away down towards a ragged stall displaying leather goods so as to avoid being spotted.

Maybe she'd chosen the right direction too. Meriann drew closer and the merchant, suspecting a target, perked up and straightened his spine. He was a tall man, taller than most, with a off-white cap jammed down onto his head like he suspected it would run away if he let it. His hands, tanned and withered, betrayed his age. The Svefra woman approached and smiled at the man. He didn't seem a bad sort, not really. She picked up a leather arm guard and fiddled with the laces that were obviously to tie it round your arm. The thread was threadbare but the leather itself didn't seem so bad. Meriann ran a finger along the plain leather. It wasn't fancy, but it seemed sturdy. The merchant spoke then, a touch of eagerness in his old, bass voice.

"That'd be 35 gold mizas for the vambrace, lady. I could even reduce it further..?" He trailed off as Meriann quickly put the vambrace down. It lay forlornly on the cart top besides the rest of the leather armour he had on display. There were other items too, each looking used but well looked after.
"Where did y'get them from?" She enquired politely. But the man's face shuttered, and he said nothing.
"32 mizas and that's as low as I'll go. They're good quality, can't you see? Ought to look'it the other sellers here then if you think these are the worst you're sadly mistaken."

Meriann gave up, and bade farewell to the man who must've sensed she was only looking to pass the time. She walked past several cheap jewellery stores, beggars crouched in the dirt, and sail merchant bent over, stitching furiously. People's faces popped out to her as she walked. A dark-skinned woman with one breast exposed nursed a baby she carried in a sling. She saw a one-legged man with a long wooden walking stick hobbling along remarkably well. Meriann wondered whether or not he fell often.

Finally after a bell of browsing and people-watching, Meriann had had enough. The Seaside Market was beginning to fill with people now, and she wanted fresher air. So she left and began walking back down towards the docks where she would probably go and fish. Except she still hadn't got the terrain of the city. To her dismay, after a half bell of walking, she realised she'd taken a wrong turn and ended up in what she thought was called the Sunset Quarter. It was a no good place where the vast population of the city dwelt. As such it was home to the best... and undeniably the worst people in Sunberth. Meriann walked as fast as she could without looking suspicious, but a few people out on the street watched her as she strode past, and her skittishness increased.

She rounded a corner, and then there in front of her a fair distance away was a horse and a man. They were stopped in the middle of the road, but they faced away from her so she could not see the man's face or what the horse looked like. Meriann was torn between walking past them, an act which didn't seem so bad after all, or turning on her heel and taking the next street to the right which she hoped would lead her onto a busier street and away from danger.

Through the slight haze of a nearby log fire, Meriann squinted and listened as carefully as she could. Then she spotted them. The man and his horse were stopped because they were surrounded. She walked closer, but kept to the side of the nearest building as best she could. Whatever was about to happen couldn't be good. Their expressions became clearer as she neared, shining with desperation and greed. The looks suited their faces; all looked as hopeless as any Sunberther, and hopeless meant they were capable of many, many things. Meriann now stood on the side of the nearest structure, only hidden by the fact nobody knew she was there and so didn't look for her. But as they started to circle in, and the horse whinnied nervously, the woman took a glance at the dark-haired man standing faithfully beside his horse and she reacted without thought.

"Don't you think it's best y'be leaving now?" She stepped out to join the man, but the few steps she managed to take seemed to trigger the beggars who now rushed forwards in a confused rabble, drowning her words as the eldest drew a wicked sword and arced it through the air in a vicious sweep and the others drew whatever weapons they had of their own.

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by **Carus Nothus** on February 14th, 2018, 9:42 am

Carus just had the chance to notice the woman as she spoke, fear gripping at him as the men all rushed forward in a scramble, bringing out their weapons. In his panic, Carus drew out his hunting knife hanging from his side in its sheath, knowing as he did that it was futile, hoping only to sway them off long enough to be able to run away with his horse or perhaps jump up on Umbras back, as she was sure to be faster than the men on foot. The old man that swung his sword at him did so in a rush, having no real precision with his slice. Carus took a quick step backward, avoiding his slash. The attack slowed somewhat as Carus raised his voice to speak.

“Oh come on now, I don’t have any money either so there is no point for you too mug me!”, Carus said desperately at the man who slowly moved in on him. He looked around him at the alleyways, trying to see somewhere he could escape to. But he had been caught in a bad place, and the only way he would be able to move forward was by going through the mob. The look the man gave him was horrifying. His grin wasn’t of someone who was amused. It was the grin of man with nothing to lose anymore, and that had something to gain from everything that he could east, beat or kill. He tilted his head a little to the side as he look at Carus.

“Oh son, if you had something to steal you wouldn’t be walking through the slums. We know you have nothing we could steal. What you do have is a big pile of walking meat. And we’re hungry!” He said, letting out a cold laugh. The others who were with him laughed along, desperation clear in their eyes as i they moved in towards him and the horse again. They were all wearing ragged clothes, clearly all down on their luck. There was a boy as young as twelve or thirteen with them, looking just as feral as the rest of them. They were going to tear both Carus and his horse apart if he let them all to close at one. He held his dagger upp in front of him as he started backing away from them.

It was clear that they weren’t after him now, but they wanted Umbra. As Carus tried slowly backing away, still holding the animal by a rope, the horse started to feel the tension and the fear that was building inside of Carus. It stopped moving backwards, rearing and bucking as it grunted, impatient and angry. Carus grip of the horse loosened as it moved around, the horse still clearly unsettled but not yet running away from his side. Carus mind raced, trying to figure out a plan. He wouldn’t give her up to these men. Not without a fight. It’s not like they would steal her and go sell her somewhere. They would kill her for her meat, and he couldn’t have that.

One man’s patience ran out from their slow and methodical approach, rushing forward in front of everyone, A simple hard piece of wood that had been cut down to resemble some sort of fighting stick raised as he charged.. He reached Carus and swung it in an arch above his head downward, probably aiming for his head with it. He wasn’t that quick though, and Carus managed to simply bend his neck so that the wood hit his shoulder instead of his head. It still hurt like hell though, and Carus staggered back for a second, pain tingling down his entire left arm. He lifted his knife with his right and instinctively stabbed in at the man before he managed to lift the stick again. He put a lot of power behind the push and he felt the knife dig into the man's lower stomach.

Carus looked down at the knife, almost surprised at what had just happened. He had never hurt a human more than in a simple fist fight before and this was something completely new to him. He saw the blood start to drip from the wound that the knife had created and with a quick pull that he put all his strength into he removed the knife from the man’s stomach. He fell to his knees, blood flowing out of the wound from his stomach. Carus looked down at him in shock at what had happened, the man looking up at him, his eyes starting to tear up. This is why Carus missed that the one of the other people had sped up. He turned his head to the side as he saw movement, just in time to see a rusty sword move through the whining horses throat, and blood started to pour down from it.

by **Meriann** on February 23rd, 2018, 9:31 am

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"Speech"

The beggars, those miserable Sunberthian bastards, had dragged Meri into the scrum just as easily as falling into quicksand. With little time to react, a lanky, pockmarked man of perhaps only teenage years whirled an axe in front of him and rushed at the Svefra woman. Meriann fumbled with her scabbard and only just managed to free the cutlass in time. Still, her weak grasp was ineffectual against the more prepared man's wild swing, and as if in slow motion she watched the sword clatter from her grasp.

The teen looked as surprised as she was. It would have been comical in any other circumstance to see his eyes widen and double take down to the ground where her sword lay, but Meriann was too busy swearing to notice. She lunged for her cutlass, just managing to knock it closer to her, and then dropped painfully to her knees to pick it up again. Her fingers clenched around the hilt, and to her dismay she found the blade wavered in her grip. Angrily, she lurched to her feet as the stranger she'd foolishly dashed in to 'defend' began talking.

"Can't ya see we're stronger than you?" She tried, but she was ignored as the small group circled in again. What did it matter if the two stood beside the horse were fitter or healthier? They knew there were more of them. Horse meat was basically a luxury and if they could get their hands on it, well... What did it matter if a couple of theirs died along the way? That meant more meat for the rest of them. Meriann levelled her blade at the puckered teenager with the axe, but she was worried. It wasn't too hard to realise that desperate men had less to lose than most, and these were undeniably desperate.

Before she could think more clearly however, the rugged, glowering man who appeared to be the leader of his rag-tag band went into the attack and several things happened at once. The horse whinnied a petrified, squealing sound that made the woman shudder at the pure primal quality of the animal's distress. Distracted by the sound, she flinched away from the oncoming woodcutter's axe as the youth swung it towards her without making any countering attack of her own. She stumbled backwards, twisting her ankle on the uneven ground, then finally bringing her sword to her defence. The silvery weapon swung in an arc towards the man. She did not plan the attack, didn't go for body or head or legs, and the man lifted the wooden hilt of the axe to block her swipe easily.

She cursed out loud this time, but she had to have a clear head. She wasn't ready for this fight, nor was she prepared to get an injury for someone she didn't even know, but she could see no way out of the situation. The dark-haired stranger had his own battles, she saw as she glanced over. She wasn't sure, but from where she stood it looked like his face had grown pale. The object of his shock was in front of him, rich life's blood leaking from a wound in his stomach. Her own face paled, but she said, "Snap out'a it!" The horse was bleeding and the blood run in jagged gashes down its neck. There were two of them, three if you counted the wounded animal, against five, maybe six or so others.

Their odds weren't great. Meriann's grip tightened and she swallowed hard. Now she had to concentrate, and she glared at the teenager as she focussed on the job ahead. His eyes were hard, she noticed as she scanned across his wary stance, and burned with a determination more steely than hers. She raised her sword and slashed it from right to left, aiming for his chest. She poured her energy into the attack, and as before events unfolded as if she was underwater. The teenager yelled and raised the axe shaft once more, but this time her cutlass sheared along the wood and struck his fingers. This time, it was his turn to drop a weapon. But she had no chance to react either negatively or otherwise, for as the horse was increasingly penned in, another faceless stranger lunged forwards and plunged a short, mean dagger into the noble animal's side.

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by **Carus Nothus** on February 25th, 2018, 8:01 am

Carus eyes moved back and forth between the man on his knees in front of him and Umbra, barely standing as blood rushed from the wound in her neck. His mind was at a standstill. His usual reaction would be to analyze the situation and move on from there, but he was in complete shock. He tried to think but his mind wouldn’t function properly, his thought muddled out by the whines of his horse and the blood gushing from the man sitting in front of him. After a short few seconds, that felt like ages, the man in front of him fell forward and Carus had to take a quick step back so the he wouldn’t fall onto him. At this need for movement his mind came back into focus, and he looked around him.

He now noticed the woman who was fighting of the mob as well. He let his eyes go over her quickly. She didn’t seem like a threat, since she was fighting of the other people. And she seemed somewhat more competent than him in her movements with her sword. He looked from side to side, between her fighting off a boy and his horse, trying to decide whose aid to go to.

The horse was badly hurt, the chance of saving her was minimal. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the years she had now carried him since he had left his home. She had never been crazy or unkind, stubborn yes but always willing to help him when needed. He could fall asleep on her back and she would simply follow the road they were on. And one of the most important things was that his knife and Umbra was the only things left from his former life. His home, his parents, his friends. It was a bad moment to be lost in such thoughts, but Carus couldn’t help it.

Maybe he could have a small chance of saving her still. Just as he turned his body and took his first step towards the horse, he saw another man stick his knife into the side of the horse. He felt his knees almost give away, just as he saw the horses do. Umbra fell to the ground, laying awkwardly slightly to one side with her legs buckled down under her. She gave away a piercing whine as her eyes slowly closed. Carus just managed to stay on his feet, and just managed to not throw up. His first thought was to lunge at the two men who here standing next to the horse.

But he had to be practical. Umbra was dead. There was nothing he could do about it now, and especially, she wouldn’t be able to help him survive the situation. The woman fighting of the mob with him would give him a bigger chance to survive. He was surprised that he thought of Grisham now. He should have made sure not to avoid him this morning, instead making sure to find him. He could have helped them survive this as well. He whirled his body around, taking a quick second to make sure is legs wouldn’t give out as he took a short sprint towards the woman and the boy fighting close by.

He noticed the boy had got his fingers cut and was no longer holding a weapon. He wasn’t up for unnecessarily killing someone else today, and made an aim to stand next to the woman instead of aiming to hurt the boy. As he got closer, he saw someone at the corner of his eye rush against him. He stopped and turned to look at the person who ran towards him. It was another one from the mob, holding a small dagger, with a crazed look on his face. The rest of the mob had started to back off a bit although with their weapons still ready. They had managed to kill the horse and get what they wanted, at it seemed like they didn’t want a fight they didn’t need either.

But the person running towards him was obviously so caught up in the heat of battle he didn’t care, ready to lunge in to get to hurt someone. He was getting closer, and Carus lifted his knife up on his side, ready to strike at any moment. He took a quick look over at the woman, who was standing just a short bit away now, it would only take him a second to get over to her, but he decided to hold his ground, and wait for the man in front to come to him instead.

by **Meriann** on March 2nd, 2018, 4:56 pm

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"Speech"

"Gods!" Meriann had time to blink hair from her eyes, enough time to see that although most of the gang had backed away with some of their anger twisted into hunger, there was one that rushed to them in a furious heat. He cried out something, Meriann caught a name, "Luke!" Then he was wildly swinging for the dark-haired stranger who's horse had collapsed. Words jumbled from his mouth, and his greasy hair swung into knots as he whirled and struck at Carus with all the force of a man possessed.
"Ya motherpetching bastard fucker, you evil shykehead, you murderer!" He spat and heaved as his knife worked to hit Carus' flesh. He seemed to be holding off well enough, but Meriann couldn't sit by idly. Even so, she had her own problems, ones that didn't want to wait.

"You're a motherpetcher too, y'know that right?" The youth across from her swore at her and spat a glob of stringy spittle that landed heavily on the ground in front of her. He had stopped attacking, but Meriann was warily watching him, her fingers still tense around the hilt of her sword.
"Oh yeah?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm, cocky and self-assured. It wasn't how she intended to sound, but with the lull in activity and the chance to figure out what she was doing, she somehow felt more confident. The lanky boy's face lowered. To her shock and surprise, when he raised his face again there were dark streaks running down his face from bitter tears. His voice cracked, and she was forced to raise her sword in self-defence as he ran at her. "You bitch!"

The axe swung for her ribs this time. Meriann met his attack straight on with her sword, so that her arm juddered with the force of his swing. That same shock fell on the youth's already damaged fingers, and he cried out. She pushed forwards, putting power into her strike, pushing forwards to cast aside his axe once and for all, hoping he'd drop it. The sword did indeed knock the axe aside, but the forward momentum made her stumble and the sharp metal glanced off the youth's elbow and ran a jagged line into his hip. He screamed in pain, and she recoiled backwards. Blood dripped from her cutlass and down onto the floor. Her eyes widened, but the young man wasn't going to fight her any more. He had fainted.

Now it was her turn to speak. "Stop. Stop!" Her plea sounded pathetic to her, a weak voice amongst the sound of the two that were still warring and the agitated gang's shouts. She dropped her cutlass to the floor from her numb fingers, and ran towards Carus and his opponent. The other man was an angry mess, but in his anger the dagger seemed more violent than it should from such a weak and ill-looking man. She reached for his waist, trying to pull him away from Carus, hoping to at least confuse him enough for the other to escape or defend himself properly. His stink was overpowering. The man reeked of illness and poverty, of unwashed bodies and decay and mould. She had just managed to wrap her arms around his waist and was trying to wrestle him away or down to the ground or anything to stop him trying to kill for no reason, when out of nowhere a sudden burst of speed surprised her. She had thought his arms were locked to his sides, but like an eel he had wriggled them free and with an almighty smack he rammed his elbow into her face.

She fell with a sudden, splitting pain piercing her forehead. Then, as she struggled to stand up in the dirt of the street, she watched as another figure approached. Before she could cry out to warn Carus, her hearing fizzled out. The pain lanced through her once more, agonisingly sharp, and then her eyes lost the fight to stay open and she fell back onto the street as her arms splayed out about her. She was completely unconscious.

ooc :

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by **Carus Nothus** on March 7th, 2018, 10:10 am

Carus saw a dirty, ragged man approach from behind her as she was wrestling with the man who had attacked him. He was unsure what to do, fighting people was not something he was used to at all. It was becoming more clear every day that he would need to learn if he was going to survive in this town. Should he run? Try to help her with the man she was wrestling? Or should he aim for the next man approaching them?

He saw the man she was wrestling lift up one of his arms and elbow the woman in her face, and Carus had a split second to make his decision. This time, the maneuver was more thought out than last time he managed to stab someone. Just when his elbow hit her head, he went in with a quick stab at his other shoulder, which was the arm he was holding his knife in. Carus quickly took a step back after the stab, as he saw the woman fall slowly to the ground. The man dropped his knife, his arm unusable for the time being, and he looked at it like he was surprised to see blood running from the wound. Clearly in shock the man just stood there, looking back and forth between Carus, the wound, and the woman he had just knocked out.

The new man approaching however, did not seem fazed at all by the actions that were taking place. He simply stepped to the side of the shocked man, and went in quickly for Carus. It was hard to tell how old he was with the dirt covering him, his hair and beard all in a disarray from a long time of not being groomed. What was clear in his movement was that this man was more sure of himself, and the way he held his blade made Carus assume that this man would be a much more formidable opponent. Without the distraction of the woman, Carus didn’t think he would have had a chance against the last man. How he was supposed to take down the next one, he had no idea.

Then he heard it. When he had heard it the day before it had scared him, now knowing when he would be rid of it. The voice was so angry that even the man that was going towards Carus stopped right in his step and had to look to his side to see where the sound was coming from. It was hard to make out what the old man screamed as he came running towards them, but for once, Carus felt relief as he saw Grisham come running against him, his knife drawn as he raced toward the new fighter.

“You dare touch my Espalia?!”, he shouted as he started coming closer, and the attacker had to turn away from Carus towards the new threat. While the men who had attacked them might be reckless because of their lack of care for their lives, it was nothing against the fierceness that Grisham showed when fighting to save his wife. The man didn’t have time to turn fully against him when Grisham crashed right into him, throwing them both down to the ground. At first it seemed like they would struggle on the ground, however in Grisham's rush he had kept his knife at his side, putting it out right at impact, having it put straight into the man's side. He was not dead, but it was clear he was too hurt to get up, and he would certainly bleed out quickly if he didn’t get help.

Grisham started to raise himself off the ground to rush to Carus, and for once Carus didn’t shy away as Grisham came closer. The man was crazy, but he was harmless enough. As long as he thought Carus was his wife, he certainly wouldn’t hurt him, although he had noticed Grisham’s hands a bit wandering last time they had met. As Grisham got closer Carus quickly reacted with moving towards the woman who had helped him.

“We need to make sure she’s alright!”, Carus said as he moved towards her.
“Why do we always have to save you friends my love?”, Grisham asked, but quickly moved passed Carus to push away the man still standing there in shock. He got pushed so hard that he fell to his side down on the ground, and Grisham kneeled next to the woman as he waited for Carus to get there. Carus bent down as well, looking her over, waiting to see for any sign of how she was doing.

by **Meriann** on April 13th, 2018, 2:26 pm

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"Speech"

grader's noteAt this stage, Meriann is still alive and not a ghost.
It must have only been a chime or less since she'd fallen before she awoke. The first few ticks were confusing. Above her, a familiar face was watching with a little concern. Another man was there too, though she didn't understand why or where he'd come from. Yet... Were they not in danger? Where were their attackers?

She pushed herself up with her elbows, trying to ignore the various bruises and the pounding headache as she righted herself into a sitting position. "What's happening? Isn't there... Who's he? Who are you?" If offered, she would take a hand to help her up but otherwise she would stagger to her feet unaided. Nearby, the man's horse was lying dead in the street. It was a magnificent animal in its sheer size. Meriann stared at the hungry men who were rushing to the corpse and beginning to butcher it with inefficient tools. Some were clearly upset at the deaths of their gang family, but the thing that shocked her more that the death was the sheer ignorance of the dead ones by the living themselves. All that mattered now was individual survival, as the remaining thugs piled as much dripping, red meat into bags.

They worked like animals across the corpse of the horse. It was disgusting. The beast steamed in the cooler air, and Meriann promptly doubled over to dry retch, hacking and hawing but bringing up nothing. To her dismay, her fingers were trembling. "I... I'm Meriann." She looked out again at the scene. "This is all wrong." Vividly she thought of her tavan and how she'd feel if someone butchered him for his meat and meat alone. The thought was chilling but absurd, and she almost dismissed it as being comparable. Her tavan was intelligent and belonged to no-one truly, not even her. In this situation, Taren would swim away without a regard for her, and she would wish him well. The horse was a beast, a loyal one she supposed but ultimately an animal of use. Why should it matter if that use was now to feed rather than to be a beast of burden? It did matter though, as she knew.

She took a quick glance at Carus' face to judge. She didn't know him at all, they had barely had chance to exchange a word. Yet, was there something there that mourned for his dead horse and its treatment? Meriann was not sure, but she knew what she would be feeling. It was because of this that she offered the man a sad smile as she wiped her hands down on her trousers and the cutlass on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry this happened. Sunberth's a cruel, cruel place, and ain't this a reminder of that?" The men were still hacking poorly, the weak sunlight filtered down, and Meriann felt shitty and queasy. Most of her senses were telling her to go back to the ship and just forget about whatever she'd wanted to do for the day, forget about the man and his horse and the fight and the blood. But... She was ashamed of herself. It had been weak to fall over and lose consciousness, and weak to fail at fighting even these puny, malnourished people. Meriann felt it was her duty to stay and aid the stranger, though she was at a loose end to know exactly what to do or say. Instead, she just spoke the first thing that occurred to her, "If there's a thing you want me to do, jus' ask."

.

by **Carus Nothus** on April 25th, 2018, 11:34 am

As he noticed that the woman started waking up, seeming to be more shaken than hurt, Carus simply tuned out. He stood up from his crouching position, his eyes moving around the scene. His eyes stopped moving as they reached the mob that was now carving up his horse. He couldn’t feel much of anything about it really, it was all just empty. He was unsure what had made him become so apathetic. It might be his horse being carved up, but it might as well be the man he had just stabbed to death.

His eyes moved to the corpse of the man he had murdered, and he noticed that he still didn’t feel anything about it. He felt like he should feel something. Maybe remorse, pity, or even anger. He shook his head as he thought about it. It didn’t matter, he didn’t feel any of it. Maybe it was just the shock of it all and it would come back to haunt him later, it was hard to tell.

When he had looked around enough to decide that the threat seemed to have subsided, he turned his attention back to the woman. As she staggered to her feet he kept his eyes on her face. This person had helped him, tried to save him even, but he didn’t feel anything towards her either. He wasn’t sure what was happening too him, but he knew why. This city clearly created monsters, he thought as his eyes went back to the people carving up his dead horse.

"I'm sorry this happened. Sunberth's a cruel, cruel place, and ain't this a reminder of that?"

The people continued to carelessly carve up the carcass, parts of bone already visible as people hurried to get as much of the meat as possible before it all ran out. Carus was sure that by the time they were done, the rats would barely even have enough meat to nibble off the bones. This city was indeed toxic. If he was to survive here he would clearly have to change his ways. Being barely competent with a knife wouldn’t keep him alive for long here, and being by himself wouldn’t be safe either. He was lost in thought, almost forgetting that the woman was still there, before she spoke again.

"If there's a thing you want me to do, jus' ask."

“No thank you..”, he sighed, “.. just make sure you get out of here safely.”, he continued, his eyes moving lazily around him, looking for what way would be safe for him to move. He knew he didn’t have much to worry about. The mob was clearly focused on the dead animal, and Grisham was enough to keep him safe for now. Even so, he didn’t want to stay here longer than he had too. Who knew what would happen once the horse had been carved out of all its meat. He saw a small road between a couple of houses, away from the corpses. It didn’t seem like anyone was going to even care about the people they had killed. They had just stepped over their neighbours and friends corpses like it was nothing, all for a few slices of horse meat.

“Stay safe.”, Carus said quickly to the woman, nodding, before moving off between the houses, Grisham quickly moving after him, staying just behind, making sure they were not being followed by anyone.

[THREAD ENDED]