Heart of a Warrior (Solo Flashback)

[Nydryn]

13th of Fall, 501AV Nydryn woke, hearing footsteps in the alley that she had been sleeping in. It was still dark, and not many people were out. Her heart pounded fiercely inside her small chest as she quickly got to her feet. It was a beggar, his face old and wrinkled, and his head pale and hairless. She waited until he had passed before sitting down again. Her head ached, and so did her body. She had been running for a very long time last night. Nydryn had no idea how long it was, but it wore her out. As soon as her running had slowed, Nydryn had passed out on the side of a dark, dirty alley. Tears ran down her cheeks as she thought about yesterday. It was her birthday, and it was supposed to be one of the best days of the year. It definitely was not. Her shoulders shook as tears streamed down her cheeks. On the 10th of Summer, her father had left. Honestly, Nydryn didn’t mind at all. At least now, she didn’t have to hide her secret adventures on the streets for her mother understood the way Nydryn had felt… like a caged bird. Days passed after her father had left, and he still did not return. A few weeks after he left, her mother had to fire Nydryn and her sibling’s caretaker. Life was hard because her mother could not provide for her four children as well as her husband had been able to. Nydryn accepted the fact that life wasn’t going to be as easy, and helped her mother care for her younger siblings. Recently, money had been the lowest, and Nydryn’s mother struggled to provide food for her children. That’s when everything went wrong. It was Nydryn’s birthday yesterday and she had a blast up until mid afternoon. Her mother had given her a silver necklace with a small silver angel on the end, which her grandmother had given her mother on her 11th birthday. Nydryn put it on, and had sworn to never take it off. Thanking her mother excessively, the family had eaten and then her mother dropped the news. She was leaving. She decided it was best for her children if she sold her house, sold herself into slavery, and then split up all that money between her four children. When her mother had tried to bring Nydryn into her arms to comfort her, Nydryn had torn away and ran. Now Nydryn was sitting in a disgusting alley, still in her special birthday outfit which was dirty and torn. Luckily for Nydryn, she had met Syndre a few years before and he had taught her the ways of the streets. It was for this reason she was able to navigate fairly well through the streets of Ravok. He had also taught her the ways of pickpocketing. He didn’t give a whole lot of instruction, Nydryn simply watched him do it over and over again, so much that she thought if she needed to, she might actually be able to pull it off. Nydryn picked her small frame off of the ground and slowly made her way to the end of the alley. She spotted the same beggar which she had seen in the alley, and brushed off a feeling of uneasiness. The beggar’s movements were slow and Nydryn ignored him, thinking more of her mother. When he abruptly leapt in front of her, grabbing her arm, Nydryn had a sense of déjà vu. But this time she was able to defend herself better. Poking one of the man’s eyes, Nydryn wrenched herself out of his grasp and hit him as hard as she could in the stomach. He doubled over, to her surprise. She didn’t think she could hit that hard. It ends up she really couldn’t hit that hard for he was pretending to double over to give himself time to think of how to attack her next. He didn’t need much of a plan, for she was a little girl, and he was an experienced thief. He grabbed her arm again, and started dragging her back to the alley. Nydryn bit the man’s arm, and when he leaned down a bit more, Nydryn summed up most of her strength and punched his nose. There was an odd sound, and lots of blood. Nydryn gasped, and ran quickly in the opposite direction. Heading back toward her house, Nydryn noticed her tears had stopped, and the shock from the brawl with the old man had worn off. Nydryn stuck to more populated streets, not that any streets at this time of night were very populated. Walking home took her a lot longer than running away from home had. The sun was just beginning to rise when Nydryn approached her house. She knocked on the front door, and no one answered. Nydryn tried to open the door, and it swung wide open. She stepped inside quickly and locked the door behind her. Heading to her bedroom, there was a letter addressed to her from her mother. It wasn’t very long, but after reading it, Nydryn understood that the man whom her mother had sold herself to came to pick her up last night. Sitting next to the letter was a coin purse with a few some coins in it. Nydryn’s vision became blurry, and she angrily wiped away the tears forming in her eyes.

[Nydryn]

Nydryn spent the next day looking around the house for any sort of tool that would be helpful to have on the streets… basically anything. She found a couple of kitchen knives and a bag that her mother had left. The bag wasn’t very big, but it was large enough to fit the knives and the bag of coins that her mother left for her. She then quickly changed into a simple skirt and blouse, and packed a spare change of clothes in the bag as well. After stuffing the few items in the bag, Nydryn walked out the door of her house for the last time, pulling the door shut behind her. Determined to stay strong, she didn’t let her feelings become visible as she walked through the streets of Ravok. Unsure of where to go… what to do, she found herself in an alley fairly far from her house. She needed to be strong, and get on with her life. But what was she going to do? She didn’t have much coin, or so she thought, but after glancing in the coin bag her mother left, she could see a sufficient amount of gold mizas. After sitting down, Nydryn realized something. Now that she was on her own, she was a street rat. She would need to steal to survive and live on the streets for the rest of her life, if her situation never got better. Forcing herself to focus on the present, Nydryn grabbed her bag, which was a little too big for her to carry easily, and walked out of the alley. It was mid day and the streets were crowded. Slipping through the mobs of people would be difficult but not impossible. Her nimble feet moved quickly through the crowd, and she found herself on the other side of the street. This was the perfect place to try out her pickpocketing skills. After adjusting her bag so that it was more secure, Nydryn moved swiftly through the crowd and soon spotted a candidate for her first pickpocketing. The woman was old and she carried a bag which was not very secure on her shoulder. Nydryn approached the woman, and was about to reach inside her bag when the woman swung around, glaring at her. Nydryn’s eyes widened. She didn’t realize that the woman knew that she was behind her. The old woman was looking very angry, and Nydryn was about to run when the woman swung her fist at her. Ducking under the fast moving hand, Nydryn stepped back. The woman swung at her again, this time with her bag. The swing was not intended to allow Nydryn to grab the bag, it was meant to hit her… and hurt her. Still slightly recovering her balance from the previous attack, Nydryn was unprepared for the bag. It swung fairly fast and hit her in the stomach. Nydryn gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, and she fell over, landing hard on the street. Her eyes were closed, and Nydryn didn’t open them for a few more minutes. As soon as she opened them, Nydryn looked for the woman, but she was nowhere in sight. After breathing a sigh of relief, Nydryn picked herself up from the ground, and brushed the dirt off her skirt. The pain in her stomach was intense, but not unbearable. She gathered her bag which had landed a few feet away from her when she fell, and then continued walking. That attempt at pickpocketing was very unsuccessful. She didn’t plan on trying that again for a while. She wandered through the familiar streets of Ravok and when night approached, she found an alley which seemed deserted at the time. As she settled herself down, questions once again flooded Nydryn’s mind. Where should she go? What should she do? Finally giving in to the sweet release of sleep, her mind went blank as she lay her head down on her bag. She awoke the next morning to the sound of footsteps. Glancing around, her bright blue eyes wary and tired, she saw that it was another boy, a bit older than her. By the looks of it, he was a street rat as well. He did not notice her, however, his eyes were somewhat glazed over, and he was walking slowly. Wondering what had happened to him, Nydryn’s eyes quickly searched the alley for others. Seeing no one, she picked up her bag and put it over her shoulder. It was finally decided. She knew what she was going to do. After seeing the strange boy, Nydryn didn’t feel comfortable staying in Ravok for much longer. She had lived in Ravok her whole life… so far and she dreamed of exploring new places. Being bold for once in her life, Nydryn’s soft footsteps took her toward the ferry which would then take her to the entrance of Ravok. From there, Nydryn planned on traveling to Syliras. She had heard many stories of the city and longed to set her eyes on it. She realized that traveling alone would be extremely dangerous, but what was she going to do? Stay here and wait for slave traders to pick her up and sell her? No way. Besides, her whole life had been ‘safe’ and she longed for adventure, especially dangerous adventure. Her feet took her onto the ferry, and Nydryn looked back at her beloved city, a small sliver of regret in her chest.

[Seth]

Nydryn: +1 Unarmed Combat XP Lores: Failing at Pickpocketing, Handbag Combat (basics), Simple Brawling Techniques, Fighting Technique: Nose Smash! The Method behind my Madness : I only really saw enough of Unarmed Combat to warrant a point in it. I tried to find a few Lores to give you, so hope you enjoy those too. <333 Nice and short, but a fun read! Good job!