forum Medeis {open}

Started June 19, 2019 by @Reblod flag

tune

Azriel nodded wordlessly, wrapping her wing around herself again and hiding in it to form a small ball of embarrassment. "You're welcome," she managed to squeak.

Fidgeting, Iris tried to compose her rapidly melting emotions. She attempted to say something, but cuts it off as her voice emerged in a slightly higher octave. Strands of jet black hair fell over her face as Iris desperately struggled to compose herself, over and over again.

“Sooo… what are y’all’s backstories?” Bella attempted to defuse the awkward tension filling the room.

Azriel briefly lifted her head. "What was that?" She asked quietly, keeping everything but her eyes hidden. She suddenly wanted to do something with her hair, but it was too thick and frizzy, so she just grabbed a piece and twirled it between her fingers.

"She asked for your backstory." Iris mumbled in Brachish, training her eyes at anything but Azriel.

"Oh, um, I had a pretty boring life before I left home, so… it - it's not really an interesting tale to tell," Azriel said quickly, still hiding the majority of her face.

"In her centuries of living, she's a had a pretty boring life," Iris translated to Arabella. Deadpanning the angel, she said something similar in Brachish, asking for more explanation.

Without thinking, Azriel walked over to the corner and curled up there. The two walls gave her comfort. "Oh, I, er… I was mostly just filled with books and scoldings and… well, several assassination attempts, but obviously they failed, and - I am fully oversharing, I do apologize," she said anxiously.

The elf rubs her hands together eagerly, much like a child, as she asks, "Assassinated several times? Sounds like a hell of a story. Do tell."

Azriel smiled slightly, lifting her head up a bit more. "Not really. They were all by the same person. First, he tied up my wings and dropped me off a cliff. I landed in a tree, so I was fine, except for a broken… er, hand, I believe. Then he attempted to drown me, and… that one was… frightening, to say the least. I don't know how long it was before I was found, I went unconscious, but obviously I survived that as well. I've gained a healthy fear of water. Anyway, the last time, he just tried to shoot me. My - my guard got in the way," she said sadly, lost in thought. "But that's - that's not really relevant," she explained, quickly swiping her hair away from her face.

There were many things to unpack. "Is this person still alive?" Iris inquired, looking at her nails. If they were, she would kill him. Slowly. But that wasn't the point. She kept her eyes on her nails so no one else could discern the murderous gleam in them.

"I - yes. He's in the prisons," Azriel explained. "But I, er, " she flinched for seemingly no reason, "what about you?"

"Hold on, you're not quite done. What about your guard? Why did you have a guard?" Iris curiously said. "He deserves worse than a prison," she cursed in Eltin.

“Translate! This sounds interesting!” Bella scooted closer to the elf.

Azriel's eyes pricked with tears at the memory, and she quickly blinked them away. "My f- my guard, Camden, he got in the way of the arrow that was meant to kill me and - " she paused for a moment, " - he didn't survive." She cursed herself inwardly, as she had been doing for years. "My parents hired him after the first attempted murder. I was quite popular with the assassination community during my first hundred years."

Iris rolled her eyes but does so anyway. "Stupid idiot tried to kill her three times. First time, he tied her wings and dropped her off a fucking cliff." The elf gnashes violently on her lip. "Then, he drowned her, and she went unconscious." She pauses, to mutter more curses in Eltin. Her voice wobbles a second. "Last, he tried to shoot her. Apparently she had a guard, who took the arrow. Git's in prison, now." Her eyes soften as she looks at the angel, but only for a second.
"It's not your fault," she murmurs.

Bella looked at Azriel and realized that if she had survived through so much, that they could survive prison. Bella sighed and decided to lighten the mood. “how old are y’all anyway? I’m 16.”

Azriel winced at Iris's tone, confused as to what she was so upset about. She looked up when the elf spoke to her. "Ah, it definitely is, but I appreciate the sentiment," she said quietly.

“Here is my backstory, As a young child I struggled with how I looked. I would paint my face and try to make myself look like the other girls. I had a kind mother but my father only wanted power. He used me as a test subject for his powers. He told me that it was good for me and it could help look more beautiful.
I didn’t see that she was being controlled until I was 14. I just thought of it as normal. I had enough a couple months ago, that’s when I snapped and ran away.” Bella stretched her legs out and began braiding her hair again.

"The child is sixteen." Iris declared in Brachish, looking at Azriel. Her eyes narrow. "It really is not your fault."

Azriel looked at the elf, holding her gaze for a moment. "No, if I hadn't moved, then he would have - and I - " she broke off, hearing her voice breaking. "That's not relevant." She shook her head, running a finger over the scars on her arm.

Arabella tried to stop her teeth from chattering but cold was getting stronger as day went on. She curled up tighter and squeezed her eyes shut.

Iris met the angel head on, "He was doing his job. It was his choice to be your guard, and he moved to protect you. If he hadn't moved, you wouldn't be alive." Her voice trembled, but she held steady.

"But he would," Azriel said softly. She looked over at Arabella, and noticing the girl was shivering again, unfolded one of her wings as an invitation.

Her eyes became slits as Iris watched Azriel offer up a wing. "And? He chose the job. He had to acknowledge it was risky and dangerous."