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Post by Raven Clovis on Nov 4, 2016 23:09:05 GMT -6
Buddy you're a young man hard man,
Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day!
 Raven found the silence looming over the two accompanied by the crackling of the bonfire rather soothing. As the brunette chewed away at the cooked meat, his thoughts turned towards as to how Jackie and Heidi were doing. If they were eating well, if they... were just 'alright'. Perhaps they were more than okay, though he'd seen them for the first few days when he first entered Vytal during his freshman year. Well, the term 'seeing' them could be simply described as catching a brief glimpse of the two. The chances of an underclassmen meeting someone who was ahead of them was rare, not unless they went out of their way to meet them, but chances of that happening.... Suddenly, the brunette found himself jolting - almost as if he were broken out of a trance when Lily decided to break the silence between them. This caused him to realize how close she was sitting next to him - well, not exactly close as to break the personal space between them, but he was surprised that he never noticed that earlier. She was either very quiet in her approach, or he was simply that out of it. Perhaps a little bit of both. "I never wanted to be alone out there y'know? Well, maybe a little bit. The first year of being alone I guess I did a little bit. After that though, I tried to find my way into some new home. Every time I found a community that didn't seem terrible, I would watch them. I'd wait until I was absolutely sure that they weren't monsters, and approach them. Sometimes I was met with fear, others suspicion. Generally, people would think that nobody could survive alone out there. They would accuse me of working with bandits, or rival tribes. Nobody trusts each other out there. It's... It's awful." She wiped the tear forming in her eye as she explained more about her background in the wilds. It was strange how she was talk so much about herself. People almost never did this when they first met, but she was willing to open herself to him, despite their quarrels. To Lily, trust seemed like an important thing to her, given the way she explained, how she acted around him, where she came from. Raven wondered if she'd spoke like this to other people as well. What came next, however, made the boy laugh a little. She spoke of going out there one day, and establishing a place of her own. Perhaps her own tribe that was formed purely on trust alone, completely independent from the influences of the kingdoms' for wars would ravage and eventually destroy them whether by the force of their own, or by Grimm. She was right, the history repeated itself many times over. It was a never ending cycle, but could they truly break out of it as Lily had hoped for and kill all Grimm that existed on this planet? People could call her a fool, naive, and innocent as much as they'd like, but truly, who were they to laugh at other people's dreams? He certainly had no right. When she finally realized she'd been rambling for quite a while, the girl finally withdrew herself with a crimson tinge appearing on the girl's cheeks. "Who knows though, one day maybe my little piece of the world will be a kingdom in it's own right. There have to be other hunters and huntresses out there who see things the same way I do right?" <"I can't say I could speak for other hunters, but I'm fairly sure there are those who are out there see an eye-to-eye level with you."> Raven typed away at his scroll, <"... I know my mom and dad would have."> MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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Post by lilywilde on Nov 6, 2016 17:07:48 GMT -6
----- Never stop Running ----- tag: --- // words: --- // notes: --- Lily smiled at Raven's message on the scroll, giving a happy twitch of her ears. However, she couldn't help but notice the past tense with which he referred to his parents. She once again put her hand on his shoulder, this time squeezing lightly.
"I... I thank you," she finally settled on. She was generally unable to speak of her own parents. They were the one subject that she never really spoke on. It was with some difficulty that she asked the next question. "What... what were they like?"
The tenative question was more than she would normally probe. She had done so much talking though, and felt that the conversation was a little lopsided. She wasn't exactly great at small talk, nor did she have a perfect understanding of how most conversations went. She'd only begun interacting with others recently after all.
Everything she knew about talking to others, she knew through her parents. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She could remember a few vague memories of when she was extremely young. She had been kicked out of her tribe at eight years old, she had some recollection of how the other children talked to her.
Most of the time it was not very nice, but she could remember a few who treated her well. Vaguely.
Most of her memories from that time were overshadowed by the ones that came next, but she was sure that they were still there somewhere.
She shook herself out of her reverie, if it could be called reverie, released Raven's shoulder, and stood to poke the fire with her fire poking stick. It wasn't as if the fire needed tending, but it was something to keep her moving. Keep her mind away from the poorer thoughts that had been filling it for a while now. She awaited the sound of tapping fingers that would indicate Raven was in the process of saying something. She felt vulnerable, and exposed. She had bared herself for this stranger in a way that she hadn't for anyone yet, and the reason behind that sudden intimacy eluded even her. For some reason, she felt that she could trust him. She had no reason to believe that. He was a good fighter, and he'd fixed her stuffed animal, sure. That didn't prove that he was a good person, that didn't prove that he wouldn't wind up hurting her at some point.
The true reason behind the uncomfortable sensation she was experiencing remained a mystery to Lily in that moment. She was terrified though. She was so afraid that another person would get close, only to be slaughtered when she made some inevitable mistake.
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Post by Raven Clovis on Nov 11, 2016 0:09:02 GMT -6
Buddy you're a young man hard man,
Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day!
"What... what were they like?" To be honest, the brunette wasn't too sure of where he ought to start describing them. There were times when he'd dig through his memories and not recall some things that had happened in his earlier years regardless of how hard he attempted to hold onto them. It felt inevitable that he'd fail to recall them altogether as time passed. What if there came a time when he couldn't remember their faces at all? Their gentle, and caring voices? The times they've spent together? The worst, their names? No, of all else, he couldn't forget their names. He told himself that each day he got up from his bed. They were the reason why he was still alive. Normally, Raven would've told her off to mind her own business, but there was an odd sense of friendship between them which the mute couldn't exactly describe. Perhaps it was because the two were kindred in spirits, in a way, connected by the 'outside world', somehow. Already, she trusted him enough to tell him some aspects of his past - so, what kept the mute from opening himself up to her? A lack of trust? The fact that they've simply met? It could be many things, but the younger hunter knew this one thing for sure: His own past haunted him as much as it pained him to look back upon it, and recall. It was a continual cycle of rejection - as well as a desperate fight to keep those memories alive much like how Lily kept the bonfire burning for them, all the while knowing that it'd all fade one day. His golden eyes absently turned to his scroll, which still yet flashed in white before him as the darkness began to make its way into the forest. Once again, the boy's fingers tapped away at the scroll - though he seemed to be struggling as to how he'd want to convey the kind of message he wanted. Type. Erase. Type. Erase. Type. Erase. It had gone far too long ever since he'd talked about his parents, but as he began to dig through his memories, a fond smile began to crease across his lips, at times telling himself: <"There was a time like that, right?"> and sometimes, <"I remember that coming home from school.">
Perhaps the simplest thing he could convey to Lily was: <"They... were both very loving parents - though they hardly had enough time to take care of things back at home because of their respective careers. They were out a lot, so I had to fill in for the times when they were missing, but when we were all together as a family, I didn't really need anything else in the world but them."> He scratched his chin, <"If I have to pick between the two of them, I guess I have to say I loved mom the most. She was the one who taught me how to sew, tuck me in the bed at night and teach me about what it meant to become a hunter in the first place. She was so patient with me, though she never hesitated to rebuke me when she got riled up. You should see the look on my dad's face when she gets angry, throwing things across the room."> A small attempt at laughter, only to fail. Neither of them existed on this world any more. They both only lived on as phantoms of his dreams and memories, frozen in time of those days that were slowly, but surely disappearing. Raven rubbed the scar on his neck with his prosthetic arm. <"But before their departure, the two taught me one more thing: 'A weakness is a sin in this world.' This scar, and this left arm of mine... is a monument to that sin, my punishment. I won't say that I became a hunter for noble reasons as others, but I want to be a strong so that nothing like this happens again."> MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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Post by lilywilde on Nov 12, 2016 13:39:03 GMT -6
----- Never stop Running ----- tag: --- // words: --- // notes: --- After Lily asked her question, it took Raven quite some time to write out his message. She spent that time with her head bowed, thinking of a family she hadn't known for some time. Her mother, always squabbling with her father, who would just laugh like always and diffuse her mother's temper. The two were wonderful together, always so happy, always so sure of the path that they walked together. Why couldn't she be like that? Why couldn't she travel through life with that carefree smile that her father always seemed to have on his face? Why couldn't she take each step with the sureity that her mother possessed? Her hands squeezed her dress, balling up the hem just above her bare legs. She bit her lower lip until she tasted blood. He had those qualities.
Him... Who was he? Sometimes, when she wasn't dreaming of Grimm, she would dream of him. She didn't remember much. She'd been eight the last time she saw him. She... hadn't been allowed to think of him. Each time she had, the memories had always led to anger, and anger led to grimm. After so long being forbidden to think of him, eventually the memories stopped coming. Why? Who was he. Scattered memories would sometimes file in, but never anything absolute.
She had been lost in these thoughts, tears streaking down her face, when she finally turned her head up to see that Raven was holding out his scroll. She didn't know how long he'd held it there, for her to read. After she read it, she began wiping the tears from her eyes and nodded.
"Weakness is a sin?" She asked, holding herself where she'd been pierced through. "What about weakness for the sake of others?" Her parents had been so strong, but when they chased Lily down, when they tried to save her life, they used up too much of that strength. They fought, and died so that Lily might live. Lily had never stopped running from that fact. She had never stopped wondering if her life would measure up to theirs.
"Sometimes, I think someone strong can be weak, because if they aren't, then nothing would ever change in this world. And... because if someone strong can be weak, then that means someone who is weak can be strong too. And maybe, just maybe, that one moment of strength, or that one moment of weakness, can change the world."
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Post by Raven Clovis on Nov 12, 2016 19:33:53 GMT -6
Buddy you're a young man hard man,
Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day!
A weakness... for the sake of others? The brunette failed to comprehend the kind of message that Lily attempted to convey to him. How could one possibly be weak for the sake of others? To mute, it all sounded selfish. Weakness always tied one down, others down, it was an accursed abominable chain which was exposed to the world, as if to tell everyone: 'Look, I need to be protected!' If he had to choose between strong and the weak, then he would choose strength of all else. Weakness was what got him killed, and through his own weakness, his parents killed, cause him to lose everything. It roused such anger within him that the boy nearly crushed the scroll in his obsidian hand, and he would've easily done so if he had been completely ignorant of what he what he was holding. In fact, it almost felt as if she'd just called his parents weak. It was insulting, almost sacrilegious. They were perhaps one of the strongest Hunters he knew in the world, and if it weren't for the sheer number of Grimm overwhelming them and them running to save his so pitiful, defenseless self, the boy knew they'd still be alive today. Raven knew the girl probably didn't mean it as an insult, so he reigned himself back by a thin thread - to keep that rage held back, which was threatening to explode at any minute like a ticking timebomb at Lily as he'd done earlier. It was incredibly difficult, but this was one of those times when the lessons from those so-called 'Anger Management' classes that he took to be useful. Breathe in - breathe out. Calm down, think clearly.
But no matter how hard he tried to think about the meaning beind her words, Raven could only come up with a single word to reply for it in his mind: <"Bullshit.">Despite the turmoil and anger still yet chaotically boiling in his veins like liquid hot magma, Raven let the girl continue with her explanation of her perception on the weak, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not hide that he detested it. E very. Single. Word. "Sometimes, I think someone strong can be weak, because if they aren't, then nothing would ever change in this world. And... because if someone strong can be weak, then that means someone who is weak can be strong too. And maybe, just maybe, that one moment of strength, or that one moment of weakness, can change the world."
Raven shook his head. <"You're wrong, if you're weak, you can NEVER change the world - let alone protect ANYONE around you. You've lived in the wilds, you know how it is. It's primal, it's been there since the dawn of time. It cannot be changed, it's the very rules of the nature: The strong prey on the weak, and the weak die for it. If one of the things you say is true, then weak can be strong. IF they make effort."> He narrowed his eyes, <"To me, what you say to me simply sounds like an excuse. An excuse for someone to turn away, and avoid reality. Me? I will NEVER do that. I WILL continue to pursue strength, and I WILL overpower every single goddamn living, breathing thing on this planet. Then never again, nobody will EVER need to end up like me."> MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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Post by lilywilde on Nov 13, 2016 1:02:14 GMT -6
----- Never stop Running ----- tag: --- // words: --- // notes: --- Lily could tell that the contents of her words had lit a spark of anger in the young Raven. She heard him angrily tapping at his scroll, and couldn't help but wonder exactly what had set him off. Was her question so naive? Was she so off base? No, she couldn't be. She had to be right. If she wasn't, then who was she? How could she ever measure up to her parents? What did their death mean?
As she began reading Raven's message to her, tears began to fall.
"Sometimes though, the strong give themselves over to weakness, to protect someone they love." She said, seeing flashes of her mother fighting the grimm off. Of her father supplying her with aura and taking out his fair share of grimm along the way. The two were unstoppable, surely they couldn't fall.
"I... I just really wanted to be right on this one," She said as more tears kept falling down her face. "'Caus if the weak can't be strong, if the strong fall for the weak, then what's left? Weaklings who never amount to anything? What did they sacrifice themselves for? How can I ever make their deaths count if I can't be strong once in a while?" Her hands were trembling, she held herself tight. A white glow surrounded her, but it didn't seem to help any. "If the weak only exist to be swallowed by the tide, then how many more people have to end up like me?" She said putting her face in her hands.
She sobbed.
"If the weak have no chance, then what am I even doing here? When the strong fight to make a difference, the weak just run away."
And with that, she became a white blur, little more than a fading memory as she disappeared in between the trees. Her trail illuminated by the white glow her semblance left in it's wake.
She ran through the forest, not coming to stop until she was by the stream where she drew most of her water from. She hugged her legs into her chest, her sobbing echoing through the trees. Her feet hung in the water, but she couldn't feel the cold water carry away what heat the feet had carried. She simply felt nothing. Lost in the pits of her despair, her mind some far away place filled with grimm, pain, and the final desperate gasping breaths of her parents.
No matter how long she stayed there, she couldn't get them out of her mind. The smile her father always wore had faded in those last moments, as he saw his wife dismembered and shredded. Seeing that smile fade was perhaps as devastating as seeing the strength flee from her mother. She had always been so strong. Nothing could hurt her. Nothing except the grimm, and in the end, Lily.
She had let that nevermore carry her away. She hadn't been able to fight it like she'd hoped she could. And as a result, the two of them paid with their lives. They braved a monstrous forest filled to the brim with grimm for half of a day. When the nevermore finally returned to it's nest, they slew it as well. To have the rest of the grimm surround them like that, when they were already so weakened, it just wasn't fair.
The jaws of the great monstrous beast, the unblinking soulless machine that was the greater grimm pressence in those woods, closed around their necks. Lily only escaped through a gap in the fangs because she was fast, and had spent the day clinging on to the wings of a beast instead of fighting. It wasn't fair to anyone. Lily never deserved to be the survivor. Her weakness got others killed, and she survived. Her parents were so strong, and they fought so bravely. Why did they deserve to fall? They would have never been in that place in the first place if Lily wasn't deemed too weak to be of use to the tribe. Too sickly, too small. She sobbed, and sobbed, she sobbed for so long she lost track of the time.
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Post by Raven Clovis on Nov 13, 2016 4:43:44 GMT -6
Buddy you're a young man hard man,
Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day!
BGM;; This Illusion "'Caus if the weak can't be strong, if the strong fall for the weak, then what's left? Weaklings who never amount to anything? What did they sacrifice themselves for? How can I ever make their deaths count if I can't be strong once in a while?" Those words shook the mute to his very core. Indeed, those were the very same questions that Raven was forced to ask himself every morning when he looked at the mirror reflection of himself in the bathroom. The only answer he had was that he was simply born defective. His birth, a terrible mistake of nature. He despised it. He despised his own, selfish survival, his own powerlessness. What did his parents sacrifice themselves for? Their deaths surely mounted to nothing to save a pitiful child, without talent, without a knack to be a hunter in the first place, not like his older sister, Jackie. The brunette fell silent as he could ever be, and the strength from his hands, quickly fading. "If the weak only exist to be swallowed by the tide, then how many more people have to end up like me?" <"Then how many more people have to end up like me?">Yet, he rebelled in the only way he knew how: Fighting. He raged at himself, raged at the world, at what was known as 'fate' that which was so cruel that it had to let him live on with something called a 'guilt' in his heart. It was like a sword that which was continuously being driven through his chest. No matter how hard he cried, or how hard he had wish for them to come back, a terrible truth remained: He would never see them again. Yet, he wanted to believe that they'd just appear out of the blue one day, tell him that he'd done well, hug him and Jackie and tell them both that they could finally go home. Back to Legion, near the fireplace where they shared the warm meals that his father always cooked up for them. Raven wanted to believe that. He wanted to see their smiles again. Those last moments on that snowy day, however, was the last smile he ever saw out of them. The reassuring, but warm smile of his mother, so happy that her son was still alive before his vision simply failed on him. For months, he dreamt of them walking home from the wilds, coming home for dinner, living their daily lives over, and over in a blissful loop like a tape recorder. However, like all dreams, there was an end to it. When he woke back up in a hospital, unable to talk and without an arm, he couldn't describe the kind of feeling that he had as the doctors attempted to explain to him what had happened. They told him to stay calm, but how could one keep 'calm' when there was so much confusion? So, he ran, only to trudge and stumble out the exit of the hospital as he attempted to call out to his parents to no avail.
"If the weak have no chance, then what am I even doing here? When the strong fight to make a difference, the weak just run away."
She was right, what was he even doing here? Who was he fooling other than himself and the world around him? Raven knew this, but his thoughts came to a complete halt when the girl suddenly disappeared from his view. Perhaps the term: 'blurred out' would be a more fitting description of that sudden runaway. The boy didn't bother looking for her, he didn't have the strength left in his legs to stand - much like the day when he found himself surrounded by the Barghasts. So he stared at the fire, blankly, until the time passed, and the night fell. And after looking around for the last time, growing tired of waiting, Raven got up and left, return to his dorm to forget, to rest. MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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