forum Opposite Sides of History// 0/0 // Closed!

Started December 20, 2021 by @gracehustle

tune

Atria let out a sound close to a cackle of glee as only one of the guards followed. Yes, it meant her goal of distracting the entire guard wasn’t done, but she figured it had been long enough anyway. Plus she was having a wonderful time leading this guard on a wild chonky honky chance.

Using the slim handhold given by the see-through wall’s sill, Atria scrambled to the see-through wall beside the first, thankful that she was thin and nimble enough to go from one to another without too much worry. She repeated the motion again, excitement shining in her peepers as she decided to change the tone of the chase. Having lived in this city her entire life, she knew with only a glance that there was a good chance she could jump from this building to the next if she was able to get to the roof. That task wouldn’t be too difficult. The windows of the building were laid out the same for each floor, meaning all she had to do was haul herself up two floors of windows before she could reach the roof.

On a whim, she decided to do just that. Making sure the guard was still taking the bait of the chase, she grabbed the bottom of the windowsill on the level above, thanking the gods above she was giraffy enough to reach it. Then, using some momentum and a little bit of grabby limb strength, she hauled herself up to the see-through wall above. Then to the one above that. Finally, she copied the movement to reach the roof, sparing a moments glance to look down at her pursuer.

The guard was female, she could tell simply from her build, clearly taller than her, and more muscular. All things that would help her catch Atria. If she could catch her. She was slim, and quick, and she knew the city like the back of her hand. If she was smart, she could run until the guard gave up.

Farah didn't hesitate to follow the girl as she scaled the building and maneuvered her way up towards the roof. This was what she was trained to do. Not that she liked it, but if news returned to the queen that Farah had let a potential member of the rebellion get away… Just the thought made chills run down Farah's back as she climbed. She shook her head. Focus, she told herself before she hoisted herself in the path the girl had taken and pulled herself up onto the roof. Farah was more than prepared to catch this girl – whatever it took.

Atria, deciding to be cocky, wave teasingly to the guard before she backed up from the edge of the roof. Taking a moment to think the motions through, she ran toward the edge of the roof, leaping right as her groundhand touched down on the edge of the roof. For a split second, she was in the air, then she was on the other roof, bending her leghinges so she didn’t hurt herself when she landed. The danger of jumping the gap gave her a rush of adrenaline and she stepped back from the edge, a twinkle in her peeper showing that she knew what to do next to get away from the guard. But before she took off again, she waited to see if the woman would follow.

Farah's peepers narrowed sharply as the girl performed a cocky little wave. Oh, she really thinks she's going to get away from me. When the girl landed her jump and looked back at Farah, the hardened soldier smirked and tilted her head as if to say, "Aw… how cute." After Farah grew up in the household she did – strict, powerful parents criticizing her every move and ruthless trainers who were up her ass every second of every day and berated her beyond belief when she failed – little scared her anymore. She took off in a dead sprint towards the girl and cleared the jump between the two rooftops with terrifying grace and ease. After landing, Farah looked up, feeling a little cocky herself, and flashed the girl a taunting smile.

As she watched the soldier clear the jump with ease, Atria grinned, speaking for the first time since her original stunt. “Ooo, you’re fun.” She said, excitement in her tone. Already she had backed away from the woman, walking backward towards the other edge of the roof.

As much as she wished she could just fall backwards over the edge for dramatics, she had to turn around when she reached it, though she did step off the ledge with reckless abandon. For a moment, she again was just in the air, not touching anything. Then her hands were wrapped around the roof ledge and she hung there, aiming her drop to the see-through wall ledge. She dropped with ease, but instead of dropping the entire way down to the ground, she kicked in the see-through wall she landed on, squirming into the building. Luckily, the building held only offices of some of the cities merchants, and no one occupied the office she landed in.

Farah couldn't help but let out a laugh at the girl's comment. For a moment, it surprised her how strange and unfamiliar it was to hear her own laugh. Quickly, she dismissed that thought from her mind. "And you're dodgy," she shot back with a cutting tone to her voice. As the girl backed away, Farah didn't hesitate to begin her own advance.

This girl was beginning to irritate her, and deep down, that scared Farah. Her mind kept returning to the possibility that this girl would evade her, and Farah would have to return to the queen with nothing but stories of the chase and how close she had been. But close didn't cut it with the queen. Farah had learned her lesson before and knew it well. The motivation of fear kept her persuing the girl as she dropped to a see-through wall below. Farah swung herself in the see-through wall the girl had kicked in, her groundhands crunching the shattered class as she landed inside the building. "Stop pacing the race," she demanded. "Or I will not stop chasing you."

“Stop chasing me, or I won’t stop pacing the race,” Atria taunted back, creeping her way towards the wobbly flip-shutter with a fire in her peepers, “I have nothing more to do today, so I can run from you forever. I assume with what I overheard, you have a Princess to find, soldier.”

She was walking a metaphorical razors edge with her wods, she knew that well. One right move and she could end up regretting her day’s plans. But if she could frustrate the woman infront of her just enough…it could be used against her, and she could be on her way. As she reached the wobbly flip-shutter, Atria opened it in one smooth movement, but she continued her slow walk, matching the guard’s pace.

“I would get started on that. My personal recommendation, the Queen too looney to hold the crown for much longer.”

Farah gritted her mouthstones as the girl taunted her, but if there was one lesson she took away from having strict, practically royal parents, it was self-control. But at the mention of the princess and being called "soldier," it took all of Farah's willpower not to lash out against this girl. Instead, she dug her nails into her palm and followed the girl down the hall.

"Matters revolving around the missing princess are not any concern of yours," Farah replied evenly. "And who are you to dare and speak that way about the queen?"

Atria’s peepers flashed and she grinned, “Who says they’re no matter of mine. Maybe I want to find her too. Convince her not to go back to her crack case mother and instead help the brewing rebellion. And to answer your other question…I’m a simple no one, speaking my opinion about a Queen I have no loyalty to.” The wods were enough to set anyone off that was loyal to the Queen, and she hoped the woman would loose her cool the same everyone did.

Out of the corner of her peeper, she could see the set of broken escalator they had come to. There was a banister she could slide down to get to the bottom of it…but she didn’t. She would wait to do that. That would be her backup plan if the solider reacted to her wods. Until then, she just started down the broken escalator backwards, feeling each step individually with her groundhand.

Surprisingly, Farah considered the girl's wods. Sure she was loyal to the Queen – indebted to her, really – but it was different than most. The Queen kept many of those in her court pressed under a blanket of fear, but most of those people wouldn't have questioned her anyway. Like Farah's parents. And Farah was so unlike her parents.

Still, she shook her head. "What in this world makes you think the princess would abandon her life and her mother to become a part of your scrappy cause?" she asked, lacing her wods with venom to hide any lingering emotion that may have mixed into her tone.

Atria snorted, winking at the woman, “She already has half of it down. All I have to do is convince her to join us.”

She nearly missed a step on her way down, her groundhand faltering enough to send a jolt of fear down her body. Before the guard could see it, she hid the fear and smoothed her steps, hiding the fact that she had nearly fallen down the broken escalator.

“Plus, if the crazed Queen was my mother, I would do the same thing she did.”

"And again I ask… what makes you think she'd do that?" Farah asked. But the girl's next line shook Farah to the core. Her peepers narrowed, and she advanced on the girl a bit quicker than she had been, and when she spoke again, it was with a sharp tone to her voice. "What makes you think you know what her life was like? How could you possibly know how she had it? You. A… a commoner with an aching for purpose, so you joined the rebellion. Is that right?" she asked. Her eyebrows arched as if she was initiating a challenge.

“I had a purpose long before the rebellion, soldier,” She teased, knowing it was a trap but taking the bait anyway, “I know nothing more than her mother is a basket case, but that’s enough.”

With her response said and the guard’s pace quickening, Atria took to what had been her backup plan. The railing. In a smooth move she jumped onto it, sliding down the remaining set of broken escalator with a wicked grin.

Farah gritted her mouthstones when the girl called her "soldier." Again. Suddenly, she blinked and was taken back to a memory.

Her body hit the floor, and it took her a moment to push herself up onto all fours. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her blurring vision and spat on the ground. A red mark appeared. human syrup. A familiar taste in her mouth.

"Get up," a steely voice ordered.

She was panting, practically unable to draw in a breath.

"Get. Up," the voice repeated.

Slowly, painfully, she rose to her groundhands. There, across the floor from her, stood her least favorite trainer. Her father.

"You take hits like that in battle all the time." His cool voice rang in the sweat-stenched human containment unit. "If you take that long to get up, you're finished. Nothing more than a dull, unimpressive soldier."

She swallowed and set herself to defend against another of his attacks. Suddenly, the wobbly flip-shutter opened behind him. In walked her mother, dressed in her absolute finest gown and makeup, the queen, and the princess. She and the princess locked peepers, and neither broke the gaze until a ruthless hit across the face caused her head to whip back, and she collapsed cold to the ground. This time, when her body hit the floor, she didn't get up.

Farah quickly shook the memory away to see the girl grinning at her from the bottom of the staircase. Quickly, Farah used the same maneuver to clear the broken escalator easily. "And what if she is? She has capability and leadership, therefore she has power."

“Do you really want her as the Queen?” Atria asked, happy to continue this taunting game, “Power use poorly is pain. You should know that, as one of her lackeys.”

The girl spotted another office out of the corner of her peeper. She faintly heard conversation in it, but that would be no issue. All she needed was a way out

“With her daughter grinding gears with the rebellion, we can change things. You can’t deny I’m right. She’s the key to saving the country from crumbling inward.” Atria spoke with a faint sound of hope, and her wods would sound convincing to some. “Anyone who isn’t grinding gears with the Queen directly know that. It’s not my place to convince you I’m right. It’s just my job to keep you occupied.”

It was with her last sentence that Atria dropped the act of walking slow, turning on her heel and rushing for the office she had seen. With a twist of the handle the wobbly flip-shutter opened and she rushed through, going straight for the see-through wall, even as she heard shocked cries leave the mouths of the people in the office.

Farah broke into a sprint after her. Snippets of memories flashed through her vision as Atria's line rang in her head. "Power used poorly is pain." Farah instantly knew without a shadow of a doubt that she couldn't let this girl get away. Without brain brewing, she lunged forward and dove at the girl as she ran for the see-through wall. With an exorbitant amount of effort, Farah finally succeeded in tackling her to the ground and pinning the girl beneath her weight.

"And it's my job," she retorted, catching her breath in between her wods, "to catch you."

(I hope this is okay??? I got an brain b^ubble)

(That’s fine!! As long as you have a plan!)

Atria had just touched the see-through wall when the guard caught her, tackling her to the ground with an impressive amount of power. The strength she had noted before came into full effect as she was pinned to the ground, much to her annoyance. She was going to hear about this one if the rebels tried to break her out of whatever place the guard would bring her.

Even more to her annoyance, the people in the office seemed overjoyed that the guard had tackled her, and though they had been startled by the commotion, it was only moments later they were back on their topic, ignoring whatever mission a royal soldier was on.

“Fair enough, soldier, my luck was almost gone,” Atria gritted out, focusing on anything but the humiliation of being caught.

"Stop calling me that," Farah demanded against her better judgment. She looked around for something to use to tie the girl's wrists, but when she was unable to locate any sufficient material, she resorted to tearing a strip of cloth from the hem of her uniform and using it to bind the girl's wrists behind her back. Then, Farah rose to her groundhands, making sure to keep the girl firmly bound as she pulled her up as well. "Alright, let's go," Farah ordered, marching her newly-established prisoner out of the office. "As you were," she called over her shoulder to the office's inhabitants before she shut the wobbly flip-shutter behind them.

The glint of excitement appeared in her peepers when she was told to stop using the term. So, as someone would. She started using the term much more often. “Why, soldier? I think I like the term.”

Atria didn’t go along willingly with the guard, but she didn’t put up as much of a fight as she could have. She made things difficult, but there was no screaming or making a scene. She just kept asking questions, mostly to be able to use her new favorite term more often, “Where are we going soldier? Anywhere fun? Or just somewhere filled with boring soldiers like yourself?”

Farah gripped the girl's grabby limb tighter and tighter the more she referred to Farah as "soldier."

"If you know what's good for you, commoner, you will stop addressing me that way," she snapped, putting as much venom into the wod "commoner" as she possibly could. But in a surprising turn, Farah pushed the girl towards the broken escalator that went up instead of the broken escalator that went down. "Move it," she muttered.

Atria took no offense to the term ‘commoner’. She had been referred to as worse for much longer. But the tightening grip on her grabby limb did deter her very slight from the term. Slightly.

“Oo this is new, where to now, soldier?” She asked, looking over her shoulder at Farah with interest. Instead of going down to the ground level, they were going up. Either a good sign or a bodge sign. It could mean death, or something far from it.

Farah's gaze remained straightforward, a habit she had perfected over the orbit parties. "Keep your mouth shut," she muttered in reply as they mounted the broken escalator, and she pushed the girl before her. This commoner had revealed enough in their short character ping-pong that Farah had determined she had potential use for her. Ever the intensive strategist, different variants of plans were racing through her head non-stop as the pair made their way back up to the roof.

“Hmmmmm, no.” Atria replied, smiling a fake sweet smile.

She had no clue what the soldier was planning on doing with her, but there was a fifty fifty chance it wasn’t death. And frankly, those were better odds than she had before. Either she was going to end up with an issue on her hands, most likely the soldier here, or she wouldn’t be alive to deal with it.

Farah rolled her peepers and opened the wobbly flip-shutter to the roof. As they stepped out on it, she kicked the wobbly flip-shutter shut behind them. Then she sighed. I can't believe I'm doing this, she thought. My family will disown me, then deathsnuggle me. She shook her head before speaking again.

"I think we should work together to find the princess."

It was the girl who had given her the brain b^ubble in the first place when she mentioned knowing of the princess' absence. Why not use it to her advantage while she had the chance.

“That’s what you brought me up here to do? Talk about the finding the princess?” Amusement laced her wods and Atria raised an eyebrow.

She had to say, it was a first to have someone ask about helping find the princess. But it was also strange. If they were in different circumstances, she wouldn’t hesitate to take the help. Mostly because parts of the rebellion didn’t believe she could find the princess, and even one person helping her would be an improvement.

“Sorry, but I can’t have you help. You do see why right?” She continued, shrugging, “I mean, there was the whole thing with the chasing…then with the talking…and frankly, you could very well be using me to get to the princess for the Queen. You were talking all high and mighty about her earlier.”

Farah closed her peepers for a brief moment to collect herself. Her patience was wearing thin with this girl, but Farah knew she needed her for this to work. "As much as I don't want your help… I need it. And I'll have you know that the way of speak of the queen does not always reflect my personal views of her," she stated, not council gathering the girl's peeper as she spoke. Well… there it is.

Her wods made Atria grin. “You’re a little dirty traitor then?” She questioned teasingly, “And you need my help tracking down the princess?” It was almost too good to be true. Atria slowed her thoughts for a minute, then asked one more question, “How can I know I can trust you? Any way to show me that?”

There was no way even swearing on someone’s life would make Atria trust the woman, but it would be a start. At the very least it would mean something to the guard, and that would be enough to keep some trust.

Farah blenched as Atria chose a different but equally offensive name to call her by. "I have… personal issues to resolve with the princess," she replied vaguely. She needed this. Badly. And for this girl to work with her, she needed to prove her trust. Fair. Farah would've demanded the same in her position. She then took a moment to think. I can't swear on my parents, they have no meaning to me. If I swear on the queen, this girl won't trust me any more than the dirt on the bottom of her foot helmet… With a realization, she reached up to her neck, wrapped her fingers around a string, and pulled. She winced slightly at the sound of the string tie snapping, but she then took a dagger out of a hidden sheath and used it to break the bond around the girl's wrists. Then, she slipped the necklace into the girl's fingers. The pendant on the necklace was an opal crystal. The touch of it was smooth, obviously having been rubbed incessantly. "I swear to you by the opal's fire," Farah declared. "You can trust me."

The gem that had been pressed into her hand had to be worth more than her life, Atria decided. Not that she showed the look on her face. With her hands freed, she took her time studying the opal, letting the sun bounce off it, making it shine just right. It was a gorgeous gem, but was it enough to swear on?

Yes. Atria made the decision quickly.

“Very well. Until you give me reason to take away your trust, I trust that you mean what you say.” She spoke, the same glint in her peeper as before. Tucking the gem away in one of the pockets of her stolen uniform, she held out a hand to the guard, deciding trust had to be met with trust. “Atria Valens. It’s a pleasure to formally introduce myself. We’re going to get along well.”

Farah sheathed her dagger with a sigh. She'd accepted it. It was all she could've hoped for at this point. That opal meant more to Farah than this girl – Atria – could ever hope to know. Atria Valens, she thought, quickly committing the name to her memory. Not a bodge name.

In response, she stuck out her own hand and place it in Atria's to shake it. "Farah Dowling," she revealed her own name, a bit reluctantly. "I hope we will."