Closed Unexpected Company (Kelski)

[Neras Frostfawn]

Timestamp: 5th day of Spring, 518AV
Location: Neras' Room in Barracks
Who: Neras and Kelski

Staring out the narrow window, Neras started to miss the dirty cesspool called Sunberth. The youth was almost eighteen, and he spent two and half months sitting in bed and waiting for his wounds to heal. It was embarrassing for the young man to be so helpless in front of his peers. Jaren must of thought it was funny because he moved the most obnoxious raiders into his room to keep him company. These little petchers were probably the most vocal about his failure in Daggerhand territory. He knew that he shouldn't been as boastful as he touted his skill over the rest of the raiders, but the bravado got away from him, and now he was paying the consequences. Sitting up against the back board, he looked at the pimply bastard called Greasy. The teenager was sixteen years old, and he still resented Neras for embarrassing him in front of his boyhood crush, Zukai.

Neras knew that Greasy had no chances with the Myrian woman, but teenage boys were petty and any slight was a great insult. The pimply boy asked as he sat on the foot of Neras' bed, “So..tell me the story again? You were surrounded by four corpses and they stabbed you?”

Neras just stared at him and said simply, “I told the story three times already, so why do you go petch off and wash your face...”

Greasy glared at him and shook his head, “Jaren told me that I had to keep you company, so you don't die? I don't want to anger the Marshal...”

Neras rolled his eyes at the name of the marshal and said with a smirk, “That explains the dirt on your knees, do you swallow too?”

Greasy gave him quizzical look and said, “What the hai are you talking about, Jinx? I am trying to get ahead in the Sun Births. If I have to watch your sorry arse than I will do what I have to do...”

Neras raised a eyebrow at the stupidity of some of the raiders and said with a nod, “So it a yes. Make sure you do neck stretches, so you don't get headaches?”

Greasy shook his head and said with a shake of his head, “I do stretches everyday, Neras, so don't worry about me getting headaches. One day, I going to beat you in the Proving Ground in front of everyone! Maybe I will get to guard that sweet piece of arse in Jaren's apartment. Man if I had a bell with her alone...damn. She would walking bow legged for a week.”

Neras looked at the door for a moment, and he hated to admit that Darvin was right. If Kelski wasn't under Jaren's protection, she would be in trouble. The guardian looked at him square in the eyes and said slowly, “Greasy, I know you feel proud of yourself that you clean the chamber pots out of Jaren's apartment, but Kelski is Jaren's property, so I suggest you go to brothel to drain your waterskin. It will be safer for you.”

Greasy said with sneer, “You just jealous that you are on Jaren's shyte list. I mean how many years does that old man have left...maybe a year or two. Before they dig him a plot in the dust. If I get good with my spear, I will be guarding the slave girl in no time.”

Neras looked at him and said with a smile, “I surprised you are over Zukai. Now your sniffing around a slave girl who can't say no. You are quite a ladies man, Greasy! You should ask Jaren's personal guard how many years that he has left. I am sure. He would tell you. He is quite a honest man...”

Greasy stands up from Neres bed and gives him a nod, and said with smirk, “Well, I have duties for the marshal to attend too, so why don't you just make yourself comfortable and take a nap.” The pimply teenager walked to the door and left the room.

It was two bells till noon, and the young guardian leaned back his head against the stone wall and looked around the room. It was a simple room. Their were four small beds crammed into a little room each bed had a trunk to store their gear, so they could have personal items, but they had no privacy. At least, Jaren had the decency to give him the bed by the window and the farthest from the door. However, it was torture some days when he watched the other members leave the barracks. Neras tended to be alone for most of the day as the rest of the raiders and guardians were out either training or out on duties for the gang. He guess it was punishment for him acting on his own on the island. However, if he didn't run into the dead end like a idiot. He might not be in this shytey situation. His mother always told him that he was bold like his Inarta father. It was a nice way of saying stupid.

Neras was alone with his thoughts and nightmares given to him by the surgeon of the city. Whenever, he heard or saw the door of his room start to open, he tended to get overly anxious because the doctor tended to find the oddest times for his experiments. Half the time, he wanted to hide under his bed for the majority of the day because of his panic attacks, but he needed to keep up appearances to the other raiders, so he toughed it out and acted like he was sleeping. The X shaped scar over his heart was a testament to his experiments. Luckily, he passed out from the pain when he started to peel his skin back from his chest to open up his ribs. The last thing that he heard was the sound of crunching of bone. It was a horrifying early days after his injury, but he was alive, and he was now focused on avenging his mother more than ever.

[Kelski]

When Kelski was walking through the long hall of The Barracks and overheard the younger boys talking about the fourth boy hold up from a wound he’d received in Winter, the Kelvic had paused almost stopping her in her tracks. The boys had passed her talking loudly, gossiping, and actually sounding resentful that the other boy was allowed to lay in bed all day and had been given a place by the window that evidently to them had been a covetous spot. She couldn’t be certain who they were talking about until, in slowing her steps, she heard his name… Jinx.

That was what the woman had called Neras on the island.

Was he really alive? Kelski hadn’t heard anyone mention his name in her scope of hearing, so she had assumed that sadly the young man had probably bled out and died. The kelvic had not come out and asked Darvin or Jaren outright because she didn’t want to draw attention to herself, any possible friendships she might have. It was giving weapons to people who were already too well armed.

Before the boys could leave completely, the Kelvic stopped them and asked quietly which room Jinx was in. They gave her a room number with a shrug and she thanked them quietly with a nod. Certain things defeated the Kelvic, but determining that rooms were located on floors based on the level – all the 100 rooms were on the first floor, all the 200 rooms were on the second floor - was something she had already mastered. Finding the little doorway and knocking quietly just took her moments.

If Neras answered with a ‘come in’, or some other invitation, Kelski would slip into the room. One was forthcoming and the slave gently pushed the door open and stepped into the stifling small chamber. She tilted her head, puzzled, letting her vision adjust to the dimness in contrast to the bright sunlight streaming through the window. She leaned back on the door, waiting a moment, before she stepped forward into the light.

Blinking Kelski let her eyes adjust. The Kelvic was dressed in her usual attire, which was whatever clothing those in charge of the laundry saw fit to send back to her when she sent her stuff in to be cleaned. The girl was usually in almost worn out or completely worn out boys pants, often that were too long for her and rolled up at the ankles. She had on a loose tunic that was more patches than original fabric. Its color had long since ceased being a blue or a green and had fallen somewhere into a ‘muddied grey’ area. Her hair she wore long and loose as if it refused to be tamed. Sometimes it was tangled, though today it seemed alive with a bit of static. Nice well-fitting kidskin boots graced her feet, courtesy of Darvin, who often pushed the importance of footwear. Those she didn’t have to send back for cleaning, so she always held onto the deep grey leather. An equally black faded to grey belt kept her pants up. It looked like it had been hacked off at one point, which meant it was probably one of Darvin’s older belts that he’d cut down to fit the Kelvic.

Her ridiculously ornate collar stood out around her throat with its dog tag depicting the Sun’s Birth symbol. Various rings hung from her ears and nose, and one through her lip. He knew she had others… her thin tunic did nothing to hide the ones that were concealed beneath it, but the Kelvic had long since learned to ignore the shame. Metal fell away when she shifted. She knew that now.

“I hadn’t asked about you because I assumed you’d died.” She said softly, moving into the room more deeply. “I would have come sooner had I known you were confined to a bed.” The Kelvic said, approaching his bed and standing beside it. “I passed some boys in the hall downstairs that were talking of you in jealous tones, about being here day and night in this bed, and I took it upon myself to come visit. I hope that is alright.” She said gently, moving towards the foot of his bed and tilting a hip so she leaned against the bedframe.

“It is not good for a person to be inside so much, day after day, alone. I know we are not exactly people who know each other or are friends, but I understand what it is like to be locked away and I thought I would come change the day for you a little bit.” She added, then met his gaze. “To break up your days so they don’t all run together.” She added, trying to explain but not having many social skills to do so.

“What happened to you? Will you recover or are you just dying at a slow pace. “ She asked bluntly, confused and hopeful that he was just recovering and not dying outright and taking his time doing so. If he was, she’d help him with that, because no one wanted to linger in life with ones feet already on the other side. It did something bad to a person’s soul.

[Neras Frostfawn]

Knock...knock.

Hearing a quiet knocks on the door, Neras immediately tensed up remembering his days in the care of Doctor in the Clinic. However, he remembered the doctor never knocked before he entered his room to do experiments on him. The youth relaxed his body, looked in the direction the door, and called loud enough for them to hear through the door, “Come in!”

Neras hadn't gotten much visitors since the injury because he didn't have many friends or any at all in the Sun Birth gang, so the days and nights were quite lonely for the teenager. He spent countless days and nights being left alone with his thoughts with a occasionally appearances from his roommates who despised him. Honestly, he couldn't stand Greasy, but the constant bickering with him was the highlight of his days. Luckily, he only had five days left of this isolation, so he was starting to get excited to get out of bed and do anything other than replay all his life's past mistakes in his head. Even though, he was severely injured, he realized that he needed to mature quickly if he was going to survive Sunberth long enough to kill the Inarta who killed his mother. His life wasn't spared to be a perpetual child the rest of his life, so when he able to get out of this bed. He will be much more focused in his goals. He told himself that he will make himself a profession killer because the Inarta who killed his mother was just wasting precious air on this world.

When the door opened, Neras for a moment saw a young man with long black hair standing by the door, but as the person got closer, he saw Kelski standing there dressed in over sized boys pants and loose patchwork tunic. The nicest clothing on her was her boots. Everything she was wearing was completely different from the robe that Jaren made her wear when they first met. When he first met her, the robe was much more alluring to the young man at the time because the elegant robes made it seem like she was a woman that he could never dream of approaching. However these normal clothes made her seem like one of Sunberth street kids that he grew up with in the slums. In a strange way, Kelski seemed more attractive to him in these ratty clothing, so he just sat there in bed and stared at her for a few ticks admiring her simple beauty.

Neras wasn't wearing anything above his waist because he wasn't expecting company let alone a girl. Most days when he was laid out recovering. His roommates would be lucky that he would even wear pants because petch them! However, today, it was cooler, so he decided wearing pants was a must. Being more mobile now, he wasn't under his blankets down, so Kelski would see that he was wearing his loose grey linen pants. The kelvic would noticed the newest features given to him by the undead warriors and the doctor. On his lower abdomen was the mostly healed stab wound with radiating other scars from incisions from the surgery. The puncture wound was straight stab wound, but to repairs to the internal injuries created more scars were made to repair the internal organs. The second scar was a wound made much later when the sadistic doctor decided to experiment on him.

All Neras could or want to remember from the time with the doctor was the screaming as the doctor cut into his flesh and started peeling away the loose flaps of flesh away from his ribs. The pain was unbearable, and he wanted to die. What he remembered before he passed out was the loud crunch as the doctor started to cut into his ribs. The youth knew that he probably would have healed faster if it weren't for the doctors extracurricular activities in his entrails. The gang member stayed silent as the kelvic started to talk and explain her reason for seeing him. Neras tilted his head as he listened to as she empathized with how he was feeling being locked away from the rest of the Sun Birth. She was right. He was felt utterly useless being bed ridden and not being apart of the gang. In a way, he had lost his freedom, and the rest of his peers resented the fact that he got to sit in bed all day and night. As he listened to Kelski, he had to admit to himself that she had compassion that he never seen before in Sunberth. After everything that he did to her. She was still willing to go the extra mile to make sure that he was feeling fine.

Looking out the window, the young adult hair seemed to have gotten longer over the past season, so the half breed blew a piece of his thick black hair from his face and said with a welcoming smile, “Thank you for seeing me, Kelski. If I knew you were coming, I would have put on a shirt...” Neras admitted, “However, the cool air helps with the irritation, so I tend not to wear one.” Still smiling at her, he said with nod, “Of course, you are always welcomed around me even if I don't deserve your company...”

Sitting up higher on the bed frame, he winced at the dull pain over his heart and said with a nod to other bed, “You..should take a seat. Don't sit in Greasy's bed. I don't think it is fit for human or kelvic use.” Rubbing the X shaped scar over his heart, he offered with a nod to the trunk, “You can take my shyte out of the chest and use it for a seat, or you can sit on end of the bed your choice.”

When Kelski got situated with her seating, he decided to answer her statements, “I am not surprised that the other recruits are jealous because the other higher ups work us underlings hard.” Running a hand through his hair, Neras admitted, “I would be pissed too if one of my peers got three months off of work for petching up. Regardless, if I was active and on the street, I would just be a risk. I could bleed out if one of my stitches break open externally or internally...”

When Kelski mentioned the days and nights blending together, Neras said with a vigorous nod, “By Morwen's grace, blending together is the understatement of the year! Honestly, I am so bored. I literally found my days counting the holes in the ceiling.” The human said with a chuckle, “I counted a hundred and forty on this side of the room alone. They are small, but enough for me to wonder if the Barracks is safe to live in for long periods...” The half breed said with another smile, “Honestly, I care that someone in this trash fire of city actually came to check on me. The gesture really means a lot to me. Thank you for your kindness. It won't be forgotten...”

When Kelski asked if he would live from his wounds, Neras said with nod, “The doctor was having to much fun with me to let me die, but it is the price for doing something completely reckless and stupid. I will live, but I will just have some something to remind me that I am human now.” Looking her in the eyes, he said seriously, but in a kind of joking tone, “If I ever do anything completely reckless or stupid again that would land me in the Clinic, I want you to brain me with something to stop me. OK?”

Looking at her for a few ticks, Neras wanted to apologize for a few months about the things that he said to her when they first met and for the piercings, “Kelski, I wanted to apologize for telling you to become one of us when we first met. I was never really good with words, so it didn't come out the way that I wanted it to come out. I just wanted to give you some comfort, but I just came across like an arsehole. Also, I am sorry for piercing your face. Trust me. It ate at me while I looked out the window and stared at nothing for the last season...”

[Kelski]

The Kelvic rolled her eyes. “Humans worry so much about clothing. I don’t care. I do see your scars though. They look painful. I’m sorry you were hurt. “ The Kelvic said, roaming around the bed and sitting down at the foot of it. She glanced at the bed he indicated and raised an eyebrow. “Flea infested?” She asked with a smile and then frowned at the small nature of the chambers.

“I didn’t know you were here or I would have come sooner.” The Kelvic said, glancing up at the holes in the ceiling he was talking about. The whole structure was certainly in disrepair. Her chamber got so cold at night she slept in the bottom of a wardrobe in a pile of blankets she’d collected here and there. So Kelski wasn’t a stranger to the short falls of The Barracks.

“I will try.” She said in response to his request to stop him if he ever did anything stupid again. He stared at her at that point so long that it made her uncomfortable. She began to squirm under his gaze and had almost decided to leave when he started speaking. The apology surprised her. And she tiled her head, almost bird-like, in response. “I don’t remember much of that night. But I do remember you not wanting to do what you did and I remember Darvin threatening you. You should not have thrown the vase at me. The threat of harm causes people to run. I ran. Maybe you should have thrown a vase at those creatures on the island instead of trying to hurt them with a different weapon.” She added, squirming slightly. “I hate the piercings. Especially when he shows them to other men. I think they insight lust in males and I don’t know why.” The Kelvic said softly, upset. She bowed her head slightly then glanced up at him through the wild length of her ombre hair.


“You know this place is full of empty rooms. Darvin has taken over several of them. Why do you stay with these boys? You could have twice the sized room all to yourself.” She advised, knowing it was true.

“Tell me about the doctor…. the one that saved you and hurt you both.” She said abruptly. There was one thing the Kelvic knew and that was that talking about things helped. The Kelvic leaned back on the end of Neras’ bed and slipped her hand in her pants behind her back. She fished around under her shirt and pulled out a small book. Resting the book on her lap, she waited for Neras to speak. If he did, she’d listen. If he didn’t, she had a backup plan.

“I have two books… one is about cooking and baking while the other is about magic. I brought the book on magic to read to you if you wanted to hear it.” Kelski said, thinking that reading might pass the time for Neras. “I know people think Kelvics aren’t smart, but I can read. I like books a great deal…. There are just so few of them here. Here its all about violence, not learning. I wish things were different.” She said, opening the book finally and reading the first few lines.

“There are many types of personal magic. Auristics is just one of them. It is the art and science of reading and manipulating auras. All things in the world have auras. Auras are the distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing, or place. Usually they are ‘seen’ but occasionally auristics can hear auras rather than see them.” Kelski said, looking up from her book and meeting Neras’ gaze with her steel grey eyes.

“Magic is feared here, Neras. If I read this book to you and you learn something, you’ll need to keep it a secret. They hate mages here. But I lived in Lhavit and there mages were everywhere. They weren’t as they say they are here. They were strong and good people. They didn’t keep slaves.” Kelski said, unconsciously fingering her collar.

She waited, wondering what Neras would say.

[Neras Frostfawn]

When Kelski said flea infested, he had to admit that it was adorable that her mind went straight to fleas. Neras said with a amused smirk, “He is a lonely teenage boy with a very greasy face, and he is surrounded by attractive female recruits most of the time, so the fleas would be lower on the list of concerns for his bed.”

Neras listened to her Kelski as she responded to his apology. The logic that she used with the vase didn't make much sense to him. He threw the vase at Kelski because she was afraid and ran away, but he did smile to himself when she took a shot at him for his tactics on the island. It was fine. He made his decision and paid a price for it. The teenager decided to challenge the kelvic's thinking on the vase, “Kelski, I was pretty pissed at you after what you said to me before you ran, so I might have thrown it harder that I had too. I am sorry. However, I want you to put yourself in my shoes for a moment. If you were me, and I tried to escape. Wouldn't you do anything in your power to stop me? Especially, if it was your arse on the line if Jaren found out. If you would have made it into the commons of the Barracks, it would have caused a lot of headache and embarrassment for Jaren. My punishment would have been pretty rough, but your would have been greater and much more severe if he had to explain himself to his peers or superiors...”

Neras decided to comment about his actions on the island, “Everyone can criticize me for my decision to run into a dead end, but at the time, I didn't know anyone was coming for me, so I choose to fight. Now I wear these scars as a reminder of my decisions..”

When Kelski asked about sharing a room with the other recruits, Neras said with a chuckle, “I believe Jaren is petching with me. I am pretty sure Jaren knows about Greasy hates me, so he probably giggling to himself at my misery...”

Neras was silent for a moment when she asked him about his scars. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her. He could tell her that he was tortured constantly by the doctor till he was released back to the Sun Birth, or he could just lie. He knew lying to her wouldn't help him, so he said softly, “The doctor is very good at stitching you up, but something isn't right about him. He wants to help, but..he needs to make her happy too...” The teenage boy starts talking almost to himself, “...She loves it when you scream. When I had to count to ten, he made me say it every time...”

Neras hand started to shake, and if she looked closely at his finger nails, they seemed to not be growing in quite right. Neras continued, “I hope that I screamed enough to make her happy. I knew she heard me because she made everything dark and silent...”

Neras grey eyes shifted back to her and said with a smile, “Sorry, I couldn't tell you more. I don't remember...”

When Kelski pulled out two books, Neras listened to her when she offered him two books for them to study. One was a book on cooking. A skill he should learn in the future. The other was a magical tome about some sort of personal magic called Auristics. It was book on reading peoples aura through the use of magic. For a moment, he just listened to her as she explained the overview of the magic. It sounded amazing and useful if he could read someones aura before he met them. He could have the advantage over them in a conversation. On the other hand, the superstitious Sunberther side of him wanted nothing to do with magic because it was the reason for the condition of his birth city. Magic was a taboo in the city, and he could be hunted down and killed for being found out that he was magic user. However, he could be killed any day now, and the opportunity to learn magic will probably never come again.

Looking at her, Neras said with a nod, “I can keep a secret, so your secret is safe with me. If you don't trust my word, I can tell you one of my secrets.” Running a hand through his hair, the teenager added with a chuckle, “Learning magic could definitely be away for us to tell the city of Sunberth. Petch you!”