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Post by SUNIL on Oct 26, 2011 14:29:26 GMT -5
It was nighttime.
The candles in the windows had gone out for the evening, the bustle in the street died down to a trickle, and the crescent moon was just beginning to peer lazily over the massive stone and metallic wall of Caldo when the Hunter slid out the door of her small home. Now was the time that everyone else was heading off to their beds after a long day’s work, exhausted from the heat of early fall and the busyness that came with constructing a new Kingdom. Curious eyes of homebound people walking past followed her as Karin walked in the direction opposite everyone else, for she strode towards the gates leading out into the desert, not towards the comfort of her bed.
She was lightly clad, despite the quickly cooling temperatures. A white shirt with the sleeves hacked off at the shoulder and a pair of beige breeches was all that covered her, but she easily ignored the brisk breezes. On the contrary, the moments of goose-pimples that covered her arms and the back of her neck felt all the more refreshing after the sweltering days with the sun beating down on her. Her golden eyes were set forward with a purpose, some unrest lingering in there where exhaustion did not reign. She’d tried to rest, with no avail. Far too much was on her mind to let dreams dance across her eyelids tonight.
Karin stepped out into the open desert and turned around to look back and up at the newfound Kingdom of Caldo in all of its intimidating glory. It truly was a sight to behold, a force to be reckoned with. Karin had never felt so connected to one single place. But tonight, those walls were a cage, and the gates holding her in made her anxious. She took a breath and turned away from the city’s gate, leaned her weight forward onto the balls of her bare-feet, and ran. She sprinted as far as she could go, and when she could sprint no farther, she would stop to catch her breath, and then sprint again. By the time she finally slowed herself to a walk, her short, blonde hair was windblown and her muscles quavered from the sudden exertion. Caldo remained only a small dot along her horizon. The distance would have to be enough for tonight.
It was there that Karin finally sank to her knees into the sand. Away from prying eyes and responsibilities, from judgment and war and everything wonderful and wretched that came with her new home. She simply knelt there for a time, her eyes staring hard into the sand, for even in complete solitude, she could not let herself bend to the fears and dreads lurking inside of her heart. She would not fall victim to their taunts. She struggled internally there, an unmoving image in a vast expanse of rolling hills, and it wasn’t until many minutes later that she finally moved again, this time to stand back up. In resignation, she turned back in the direction of home, but her pace on the way back was slow and listless.
She would be fine by morning. She always was.
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Post by Alyssia~! on Nov 2, 2011 23:06:39 GMT -5
OOC: I'm so sorry that this took so long. my reply should be quicker next time, but work has overwhelmed me the last several days.
Belenus sat silently in the sand, holding his claws tightly within the loose grains, and his beady eyes watched his mistress as she trained with her searing flames. It was just a night to escape the city, and nighttime was a good time to do it. Here, she could watch the lands and make sure no one attempted an attack on her people when they least expected it. She was extremely protective over her people and the last thing she would allow them to do would be to perish. There was nothing more that she wanted than peace with the other Kingdoms, but she was well aware that there were too many conflicting things in the world to prevent this. She would always hold a small amount of hatred for Aver and Tyrgere, just because of the war that had persisted not too long ago. However, she was glad it was over, for she was now rebuilding her army.
Alyssia's platinum blonde hair was tied back into a tight bun, a few loose strands flaying from her head. Her vibrant orange eyes burned with a fiery passion as she felt the heat go to her fingertips. Flames came into the air, and her body twisted and swirled with them. She controlled them, changing the shape and speed. She practiced her defense mechanisms and her fighting tactics. She showed off her ability to take a massive ball of fire into a nearly nonexistent spark. She was a powerful woman and she held a lot of strength within her small body. After all, she was not chosen to be the Monarch of the Fire Tribe, then Caldo, for nothing. There were only so many things a leader could do, and she apparently held the majority of those qualities within her. The leader was willing to do anything and everything for those she was meant to protect.
Sighing, she held the flames still in a shapeless blaze a few inches from her, skin glistening with sweat and heating from the fire. Her breath was labored, and it almost hurt to feel the conflict of the hot fire with the freezing night air. That was the only time that the desert lands seemed to obtain any sort of peace any time of the year, whether it was summer or winter. It did become cold at night, though it was a rather nice thing to most of the people living here, for the the heat could become too much even for them. She herself had even thought of visiting Aver in the winter time just to see what it was like to live in such a cold place. She wanted to feel the snow on her skin, taste it on her tongue, and even lay within it for hours on end just to see what if felt like. Though, from what she did know, snow was very cold and sitting within it in a tank top and shorts like she was now was probably not a bright idea.
Alyssia chuckled to herself, throwing her hands in the air. The flames in front of her formed into the shape of a phoenix. With one swift movement, she hurled the shape at a nearby tree, which happened to be dead. It burst into flames and lit up the surrounding area. Lowering her arms, she could feel the light pulsing of heat from the flames, but she was no longer burning up. The wolf shifter grinned to herself and turned around to face Belenus, who brought himself into the air. He extended his talons and landed upon her shoulder, making himself comfortable. Her eyes spotted someone nearby and as she strained her sight, she saw a familiar someone that laid within her own ranks. Karin Solomon was the girl's name, and if she remembered right, the lightning user was one of her hunters. As far as she knew, Karin was the only lightning user with an important rank.
"Good evening, Karin. How do you fare?"
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Post by SUNIL on Dec 17, 2011 14:28:53 GMT -5
Karin’s mind had drifted far off again the moment her legs uncurled underneath her and lifted her back onto her feet. Her goldenrod eyes were dark shadows, and they stared vacantly back towards the city that she would return to faithfully time and time again. Her thoughts had come to an ungraceful halt, but a sudden explosion of sound and light off to her right startled her back into awareness. Karin quite visibly flinched, caught off guard for one of the few times in her life, and spun to face the tree that was now a tangle of flames. However, her eyes did not entertain the tree for long – the softer glow of the Monarch’s phoenix was the next object to catch her eye, and from there, the hairs stood on the back of her neck, and she tensed up all over again. Had Alyssia seen her a cowering mess in the sand? The thought alone, whether it was true or not, mortified Karin.
Yet it seemed, luckily for the Hunter, that Alyssia had only just caught sight of her at this moment. She called out to her, and, with a resigned sigh, Karin obediently approached Caldo’s leader. Though socialization was the very last thing on the independent woman’s mind, she was capable of delivering respect where it was deserved, and her Monarch was one of the few who would always receive it. Despite the difference in rank, though, Karin was perfectly capable of being straightforward and often times rude when it came to her opinions. On most nights, Karin may have answered with a peevish or sarcastic remark, but tonight, she only shrugged once she was close enough to see the features of Alyssia’s face.
“I have seen better days, and even better nights.” Karin replied truthfully. It was clear enough in her lackluster voice that the Hunter wasn’t behaving in the realm of normal. Though her voice gave away her misery, her posture did so only through irony. Bent on never revealing herself at her weakest times, Karin was tense, with her back overly straightened and her shoulders taut, her golden eyes distrustful. It was not that Karin could not trust Alyssia as a leader, but that she was quite incapable of letting her inner walls come down for a moment of heartfelt conversation. Even from one woman to another, and to the ears of her very leader, the last thing Karin wanted to appear to her Monarch was weak and effected by such trivial matters.
“But… the sun will always rise, no?” Karin caught herself in a moment of silence and rushed to fill it with words before Alyssia could become too concerned with Karin’s internal battles. She attempted to relax by stretching her arms outward, though that did little more than make her shoulders ache from the tension. “How have you fared?” she spoke again and brushed her messy, blonde hair from her eyes. Perhaps Alyssia would have nothing to discuss. Perhaps she was just trying to be polite in starting an evening conversation with another loner out in the desert. Whatever the case, Karin hoped with all her heart that it could steer clear of the aching in her heart, and the pain in her eyes.
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