Author Topic: Invidian Heart  (Read 12529 times)

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Invidian Heart
« on: May 21, 2014, 12:22:32 PM »
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Monica's Mother, Isabel, (Deceased:)

Monica's Daughter, Carmen (Credit to CursedInk:)

Monica's First Husband, Carmen's Father, Casimiro (Deceased:) 

Age: 32.
Origin: Karina, Invidia.
Occupation: Tattoo artist, Investigator of the strange and occult, Monster Hunter (Society of The Hound.)


Monica did not know why she knew, or how. She just did. That night on their way home from a meeting in the woods, a feeling in her gut had told her not to go home, begged her to get Carmen to safety and stay away now that they had their medicine. Unfortunately, fever had taken the child under it's wing in the recent winter weeks, and home was the only place with warmth and food for certain.

The feeling only wriggled it's way deeper into her stomach as they neared the out of the way, worn down and mostly forgotten house that had been left to crumble by a group of mercenaries years before. She paused around the corner by a large oak tree, picking the eight year old up and holding her close. She offered a few murmured words, a hard kiss to the forehead, set her jaw and put the child down.

The little girl fought back frightened tears as she watched her mother draw the large sword from her back, only to glance back once with a familiar red lipped half smile she only gave Carmen when she was very scared, or very sad.

It meant: Everything is going to be okay, I will protect you.

And she always had, she had never failed her before that night. Carmen pressed herself to the tree in the hopes that she would disappear just as her mother had instructed her.

She heard the roar of the flames before she could see them, a shocked, strangled noise rising in her throat as her boots thudded loudly, carrying Monica quickly along the path that would deliver her right into the arms of fate. Their little home seemed to have gone up instantly, the two armed men that now stood in front of the burning building, watched with folded arms and smug smiles, uncaring of the screams coming from the trapped, families of half and full blooded Vistani inside that had taken every precaution in keeping their home hidden. It seems their efforts were not enough.

Desperation did strange things to a person.

Everything went.. red. The enormous blade was swung high above the half-vistana's head to be brought down heavily on the throat of the closest man to her, her screams of anger and hatred muted out by the ringing in her ears, the voices of her family telling her to run, and then blaming her for not being there. She dealt with the two men in a bloody and rather quick show, dropping her sword and dashing inside the house, kicking down the front door which fell away as if it were already ash when as her boot touched it. She was already too late.

Both sets of stairs, leading down, and up- were completely blocked with burning debris. Only one man was in view through the wall of smoke, and with a pang of horror that
thrashed in her belly she curled her arms beneath his shoulders and dragged the other half-vistani outside as fast as she could. She pulled him to the river that ran beside their home, moving into the water and holding his head above it as angry tears finally fell from her violet eyes.

After minutes of watching, shaking, and screaming until her lungs gave out, she knew it was too late for him; and with a muted groan of sorrow she slipped a cheap wedding band from his finger to curl into her fist, touching it to the matching one she donned. Monica let her husband float away after pressing an uncomfortable kiss to his cracked, blackened lips, slipping the ring from her finger to throw into the wreckage of the house where it would remain to this day as a grim reminder.

As cold as it was, she did not mourn for him. Carmen was the only thing she had left, there was simply no room left for grief when she had a daughter to protect. Wrapping her heavy long-coat around the child, who came flying out from behind the tree to cling at her mother's waist, Monica and her daughter started back down the forest path, that would lead them far, far away from this place.

Portrait of Monica (Credit to CursedInk:)


And so began Monica's torrid affair with life that would last years and spare her no amount of heartache, pain and misery, when she had fully expected herself to die where she lived. In the arms of her family. This tale has no happy ending, and no lesson worth learning.

This, is yet another tale of a lost- but incredibly angry Giogoto, whom sought to claim everything she felt the world had taken from her. By force.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2018, 12:59:57 AM by Boots »


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Invidian Heart
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2014, 03:48:16 AM »



They travelled by night along the rushing river Noisette to mask their hurried footfalls, sleeping high in the trees with ropes to secure them to large branches during the day to avoid detection. It was too dangerous to sing or tell stories to keep Carmen's mind occupied and calmed. A lot of their time was spent in tense silence, jumping at any small sound or shadow. At any moment, Monica knew their luck could run out. They had limited time to escape Invidia, and it was almost cut in half by Carmen's dwindling health.

The first few nights were easy, Carmen managed to carry some of the supplies which made the load easier on her mother. On and on they walked, pushed on by Monica's stubborn need to get them to safety. She was so stubborn, that she almost didn't see how much Carmen was struggling. Setting the bags down, she scooped the sick child up in her arms and settled on the forest floor with her in her lap, smoothing her hand over the back of her sweat matted, filthy dark hair; and then pressing the back of it to her fevered forehead.

"You need rest, querida."

That night, she made a proper camp.

With her dreams came painful memories, and often she awoke in the night drenched in a cold sweat to the worried Violet eyes of her daughter; and the gentle press of her cheek to Monica's shoulder. But that evening, before they reached the joining of the Gundar river, Monica awoke in a start- after a few minutes of desperate exhausted sleep; to nothing but the sound of her own heart beating.

Their camp was empty. A harrowing wind whistled through the empty woods, past the swaying trees and the Half-Vistana's hair, causing her to shiver. Monica's heart froze in her chest as she scrambled to her feet, frantically searching the patch of forest they had slept in to no avail, coming upon the child's red scarf just as the sun began it's slow ascent. With a howl thrown to the heavens to rival an animal in excruciating pain, Monica fell to her knees in the mud on the banks of the river, screaming to the earth and the sky, to anyone that would hear her. A noise so horridly pained, a noise that came from the depths of her soul. It seemed as if Carmen had vanished in the night.

She backtracked, losing weeks of hard earned progress, staying a night in each place they had slept in the vain hope that the child would return to her, but never sleeping. Each night away from Carmen turned her heart colder. Monica knew she was wasting her time here. Finally, the woman turned back for the river Gundar with a bitter heart and a vicious chip on her shoulder.

She had reached Teufeldorf, starving, cold, and alone. But she was almost free. Her people had fought long and hard for their dream, of one day escaping- of living without the fear of being hunted and slaughtered by Aderre's men like wild animals. If Carmen was alive, she would not be here anymore. 
« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 09:45:09 AM by Boots »


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Invidian Heart
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2014, 10:47:26 AM »

Monica started travelling after that. Stopping in a new place every few months, she sold her trade. The only things she knew, inking people's skin with pretty images, and searching for missing people and items that held only sentimental value. It was a hollow existance, but one that would allow her to feed herself and keep her equipment sharp and ready while she searched these places.

When she became too comfortable, she would leave the very next day without a word of warning to the people she had met. It was mid-afternoon, as Monica stood on the side of a dirt road in Barovia; chewing on the end of a hand rolled stick of tobacco as a wagon pulled up, grinding to a halt. The driver was a portly local man, sweat from the oddly rare heat this day pouring from his temples and drenching his hairy body through a thin white shirt. Mildly disgusted, Monica squinted up.

"Where are you headed?"

"Vallaki."

Tossing him a few wolf fangs, she soon found herself riding along in the back in silence, swinging her legs over the side and watching the dusty road roll past beneath her boots. Occasionally, she would take her locket out from under her blouse and thumb it open to stare at Carmen's portrait, closing her fist around it with a soft sigh. Was there ever a time to move on, really? Never in her wildest dreams had she expected to be away from the place she had grown up. She missed her family, and her daughter so much it brought pain to her chest when she thought about them-

Monica glanced up and gripped a tattooed hand on the side of the wagon as it lurched to a stop.

"Alrigh', doamna, we're 'ere."

« Last Edit: April 06, 2018, 09:24:19 PM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2014, 02:17:44 AM »


Monica hated Vallaki from the moment she set foot there. It stunk worse than home, the people were rude and unwelcoming- more than usual, and most people she met irritated her. Most. She met a few people that, despite trying very hard not to, she had grown fond of. The halfling who reminded her painfully of Carmen at times, and her companion Leif. Vladimir, the huge local who seemed nothing like the others.

The companions had decided to find a pretty place and a good night's rest after a day of training, and settled beside a bubbling pool at the base of a small waterfall at the base of a mountain. Unfortunately, the mists had decided to play tricks on them that night. The fog crept closer as they spoke and laughed, sharing tales- until it had swirled around their legs and it was too late. She blinked, and all around her was a wasteland. A wasteland that was attacked by constant lightning storms.

Sprinting in random directions, the companions were soon struck down by the raw force of nature. Groggy, they all awoke caged, their minds gone from them as a strange tentacled creature pressed a few buttons on a very odd machine. The creature pulled the little one from the cage, sticking something long, and sharp into her ear, which immediately began to draw Monica out of her mindless state...

Screaming the hin's name, she threw herself at the bars again and again, forcing herself not to scream out at the painful jolts of power that shuddered through her each time she touched it. She and Bee managed to hurl Teddy over the top of the cage, and watched as he beat the creature to death with a plank of wood from a pile of debris. Monica scooped the groaning little one into her arms- not even glancing at the mushed brain matter on the floor that was once the creature, as something began burrowing up from below. An even stranger creature than the one from earlier clambered out, looking around in fear as the room began to glow an eerie red and motioning for them to come quickly.

They followed the creature with the dog's head, wings, one arm and fur. The sad part was, as Monica stared from behind, it had a depressing air of humanity about it. He lead them to an underground place owned by more like him. Lizards with skeleton tails, giants with two heads.. yet they all seemed human, or close enough to it. Monica thanked them profusely, hugging the halfling to her chest protectively as they spoke of the way out for the companions.

One of the creatures lead them to a bank of mist in the barren wastelands outside, saying that the lightning would not start up again for an hour or so, that they had time. One by one the tired group stepped into the mists, the little one fast asleep on the half vistana's back as if nothing had happened, yet as usual she worried for her. As it turned out, their troubles were not quite over. Every turn they made, they confused themselves. Their gear had been taken by the mind flayer, and Teddy was their only hope of surviving this. They pushed on, fighting what they could and running from what they could not. Until Teddy attacked a strange spirit, a man in a robe bargained that in exchange for his life, he would take them home.

Five minutes later they set foot on Dementlieuse soil, with their lives intact and their belongings returned to them. Monica had never been happier to see a fop. She hoped she would never have to see that place again.

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:06:48 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2014, 03:50:04 AM »



Monica was becoming used to things in the grey city. Barovia was her ticket to finding Carmen, she was sure of it; and she had always trusted her instincts. She wasn't sure what exactly drew her out with the sun kisser that night, investigating a cave rumoured to be occupied by a blood sucker. The two of them, along with Vladimir scaled the mountain paths to slide down into a seemingly abandoned cave.

The caves held nothing else but deep, dark, eerily still pools of water.

Monica dropped her coat and strapped her sword to her back, diving to break the mirror like surface of the beyond freezing cold cave pool, as did the larger man- but neither could see any way of escaping. The Vampiress appeared shortly after, summoning something from the hells themselves, as the dripping Monica held the rope that pulled the armoured woman across the cave water tight, watching the battle between two demons unfold.

It did not last long, for soon the pale woman fled, leaving the three alone in the cave once more. Vladimir took a pickaxe to a little cave in one side of the cave, and what they found hidden behind it was far worse than any vampire's home.

Thick rest mist clung to her belled boots as she stepped through the passage way Vladimir had opened, her red lips curling in distaste. She pointed, Horns and the man looking up in shock. The being loomed high, high above them, flesh stitched from shadow and eyes burning with hellish flame. Her companions, but it batted them away as if they were flies. Horns was killed instantly, and they were only just able to drag her body free, throwing themselves back through the small passageway they'd made.

Monica paced aimlessly, slowly rolling herself a cigarette and finally sliding down the wall to sit- when a roar, and a scream was heard from the entrance of the cave. They dashed to see, and Vladimir leapt at the large bear that was half way through mauling what appeared to be a priest. They were too late, but the scroll that dropped from his belt seemed to offer him another chance.

Thankfully, he was able to restore life to horns, as well. The Demon-Paladin could not read the words that need to be spoken to banish the creature, and nor could Vladimir.
Monica knew she would fail, because she always failed. She'd never done a good thing in her entire damned life. But, it didn't stop her from trying. When the magic in the scroll fizzled and died, the three took a few steps back, and ran for their lives back to the priest.

The half vistana leaned against the wall, yanking her hood over her distressed expression and shoving a cigarette between her teeth. The priest was going to sacrifice himself, and the Demon-Paladin was making an awful lot of noise trying to stop him. After he disappeared into the hole they had made in the wall, and the sounds of fighting began, Monica strolled over to the hole in the wall, lifted her sword, and smashed it as hard as she could to collapse it. She then turned on her heel, eyeing the sobbing Paladin held back by the large Barovian and sighed a little.

"Nothing could be done. Now stop crying, you look pathetic."

What she really meant to say was-

"No, it's alright, I understand how you feel. The pain never really goes away."

But, of course she couldn't find the will at that moment to be nice.

She rarely could, these days. Fate just had to keep getting involved..
« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:14:17 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2014, 05:12:27 PM »

Drowning. She was drowning. Monica had always wondered what this would feel like, and now as she was pulled to the bottom of Lake Zarovich by a foul creature clinging to the little one, she felt the desperate burn in her lungs ten times more than she should have. She had heard the familiar shrieking from her perch on the hill a while away, and sprinted as fast as her legs would take her to see the halfling pulled under the dark waters, her tiny hand desperately waving for help.

A flash of red across her vision, and before she knew it she was diving, fully armoured with a heavy weapon strapped to her back into the water. As the silence of the black waters enveloped her, Monica swam fitfully towards the wrestling halfling, and the monster. But her armour was too heavy and her body ached and burned from the previous night's training with Vladimir, she began to sink steadily.

The little one's tiny foot connected in a lucky shot against the beast's head, making it easy for her to push herself up to the surface, while Monica and the beast fought tooth and nail, sinking towards the bottom of the black lake. As the little one surfaced and found their companion, the beast became distracted and surfaced after her; and though she was sinking slowly to her death, Monica felt relief- knowing that she would be alright. Leif would take care of the beast on land and then take care of the little one.

She closed her eyes, silently cursing those who had said drowning was peaceful; and thought about pulling Carmen into her arms as her world went black. Her armoured back connected with a soft thud to the silt at the bottom of Lake Zarovich. She had felt, if but for a brief moment, completely alone, floating in a silent black world.

Monica's eyes flashed open to Leif standing over her with a concerned expression, before rolling onto his back and coughing violently. She herself rolled onto her side, vomiting up a torrent of water from her burning lungs that sprayed all over the poor man. Somehow, he'd pulled the half vistana out of a watery grave, and for this she knew she could not dislike him, she owed him and was grateful.

She was to live, to search another day.


« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:18:32 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2014, 08:30:45 AM »


The tiny hut was barely lit with the flickering stove in one corner, as the sandy haired half elf lay on his stomach, undressed to his waist with the little half gypsy straddling his back, a knife in one hand, a cigarette between her teeth that curled smoke lazily up towards the ceiling. She had worked this job for a long time, and though she knew the ropes well, but still- each work of art was a new surprise for her.

"I feel more like a human, anyway."

She blinked and glanced back down to him as she zoned back in on their conversation about heritage, about who they were.

"I do not know what I am."

"Human."

He mumbled with a grimace into the floor as she carved the intricate designs into his flesh.

"I do not fit in no matter where I am, does that make me so?"

"At least we don't have horns, wings, and bright red skin."

"I suppose, feyboy."

Standing in front of the mirror he twisted his muscled bare torso to peer at the fierce, bleeding image that now covered his back. Monica stepped up behind him to bandage it,
lowering her bare arms to her sides. He eyed his arm with an odd, pursed lipped expression and held it next to hers, the words "HALF BLOOD" boldly inked in black on each of their forearms. Glacial blue eyes met Violet, and an odd sense of comradery flared for a moment inside her.

Seal was like her.

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:19:35 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2014, 09:03:28 AM »
-
« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:20:01 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2014, 04:04:08 PM »
"What do you see, when you look there."

~

Monica and the half-elf stood on the little ledge in the caverns, her face tear streaked and tired,
watching their reflection in the mirror like still surface of the cave pool.

The half elf turned the half vistana to face him, a firm expression on his face.

"You want me to comprehend the image.."

He grasped her left arm, holding it up and clasping his hand to the upper forearm, showing the
tattoos side by side.

"Half of something is better than nothing. But.. two halves make something whole. So yes, I understand the image in the water."

Monica paused for a long moment, her violet eyes locked on the brands that marked them as what
they were. Something pulled inside her chest, an unfamiliar feeling she had kept locked away for a long, long time.

"You have given me something, and now I want to do something for you."

He grabbed her hand, pulling her along- into the deepest part of the woods where the unlikely pair of half breeds
came upon a wandering stag, his head held in a proud manner, his impressive antlers shining in the sunlight of the glade.

"Show the stag he is not lord of all he surveys."

She raised the half elf's hummingbird, releasing the arrow with the comforting hum of it's string, and watched in amazement
as it buried itself in it's target, killing it instantly.

"As he is vanquished, his spirit is now yours."

He took his skinning blade, splitting the beast in a straight line up it's belly and cupping his hands into the blood that spilled,
as it's heart still fluttered.

Offering it to Monica, she scrunched up her face and bent to drink. After doing the same, he painted her face with an intricate
design, while she smacked her tongue against her teeth to remove the foul taste from her mouth.

"And now it is done.. what you take, you must also give back."

He quickly butchered the animal, taking various parts of it to cook.

"Am I going to turn into feygirl?"

She snorted, and he laughed somewhat.

"You -are- an elf, Monica. It is what you do."

They sat together under the sky, cooking the bits he'd cut off for their meal as they watched the sun slowly set.

A slow feeling of panic arose in Monica as her eyes locked with the familiar, haunting image of the full moon..

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:22:06 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2014, 04:18:23 PM »


The stars were out in full, sparkling down on the sparring pair. The amused expression on his face only frustrated her more, her strikes becoming more and more rushed, more violent, and still she did not land one. He had kept his promise about not going easy on her, and it made her smile all the more, though her limbs had ached and burned the morning after when she awoke and detangled herself from his arms.

Monica sat by the black waters of lake zarovich, almost wishing to be pulled once more beneath it's surface. Guilt filled her person at the thought of hurting this man with her flighty attitude, and a small voice in the back of her mind had kept asking-

"Would it really help, running? What good could that possibly do?"

She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of his grip about her shoulder, the warmth radiating from him constantly, though she knew he had had a rough life. Rougher than her own, perhaps. It seemed silly, to fear the very thing most people dream for and could not live without. Watching the road that lead to new horizons and faces, one she had ached to walk, as she had done so many times- Monica's guilt began to pile up.

Flipping her hood over her face, and dragging on her cigarette, she stuffed her hands into her pockets, taking a step onto the dirt path that would take her far away from this mess. A moment's thought was all it took for her to turn on her heel, and walk back the other way, coat trailing up dust with each step of her boots.

Not yet, Monica. Not yet.

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:25:12 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2014, 07:04:37 PM »


Monica curled into herself, watching him, watching her. Saying goodbye had always been difficult for her, and for a moment she almost couldn't bring herself to do it. The look on his face was pained, and stubborn as ever. A night to forgive and forget, to pretend Monica was somebody different, somebody that could stay and behave- somebody that could settle. A short time, when she looked back on it all. She had left her mark, and come dawn she had moved on.

Life had dealt some strange cards for the Half Vistana, confusing and hurtful at times. She walked with the rising sun, following the slowly blooming light of day as her breath puffed visibly in the cold morning air, and her belled boots rang out on the dirt road. She forced her fears aside for another day, another night.

Another journey yet to be begun.

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:25:57 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2014, 07:53:29 PM »


Monica rose with the moon, and an animalistic hunger. The thoughts she'd sought to repress screamed a thousand times louder in her ears, a hundred voices never ceasing
to make the most awful sounds. She clamped her hands to her ears, letting out a pained cry as she stumbled through the rain soaked forest, dropping her things and stripping out of her coat.

He watched, never far behind, until she turned on him, too. Leaving him crumpled beneath a tree to disappear into the background- Monica prowled the mossy area, coming upon a pack of wolves. The beasts turned to look at the crazed woman, baring their teeth with growls of warning. She threw herself into their midst, clawing and kicking savagely until not one was left standing. Blood oozed from her wounds, but she did not notice.

She blinked one eye open, bloodied face smushed into the grass at the sharp instruction behind her. She screwed her eyes shut, desperately trying to stop the screaming inside her head. It worked, long enough for her to be restrained and moved forward. The rope would not hold for long, and the screaming was getting louder still. The half bloods staggered through the forest together, the first time Monica had ever heard him raise his voice, or appear angered.

A few minutes later she sat bound to a heavy stove, blood dripping from her teeth, her lips, her cheeks and throat. She watched him hungrily, and for a brief moment her soul called out to his. A flash of clarity, of meaning. Soon to be followed by the flash of a blade, cutting her loose. A flash of teeth against flesh, a flash of a moment that was not soon to end.


« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:27:39 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #12 on: June 10, 2014, 07:33:34 AM »
-
« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:29:36 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2014, 07:46:44 AM »
-
« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:29:47 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #14 on: June 10, 2014, 07:56:34 AM »

"Say it again."

"I. Would. Die. For you."

The rain poured violently overhead, the mountain air battering each of them in a challenging way as forearm clasped once more to forearm, and the ribbon tied firm. There was no fuss, no large ceremony, no dress. Only a promise to last a lifetime that begun as the ribbon was cut free with a knife from Monica's boot, a pair of vagabonds travelling the mountains side by side in search of something to make them feel alive.

Monica's face was bruised and bloodied, her heavy coat pouring with water, his hand clutched to his bow as hers did to her sword, it seemed fitting, as this was how they
always were and would be.

At least, it seemed that way, then.

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:31:14 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #15 on: June 10, 2014, 08:32:33 AM »


A fitful day of training and combat had left Monica's arms and shoulders screaming at her with each movement. As the crew of mismatched adventurers made their way back down the moutain, they came across a startling sight.

Monica dropped her blade, stabbing it into the earth as her limbs cried with relief, crouching beside the unfortunate body of a woman left to bleed on the forest floor.

"Hells, her face has been ripped clean off..."

"Aye, that's why I smoke so much, blocks the smell."

She lit a cigarette, dragging deeply.

"Help me turn her over, she migh' be lyin' on somethin'."

"Eugh, you get top half. I ain't touchin' that."

They turned her over, Hunter patting her down and searching the corpse. They did not find much, and decided to get her corpse to the Sun Kisser's temple before dark. Of course, dark had already fallen as they set out.

Blanca rode inside Monica's coat, clawing at her hip in fear as if he knew something was wrong the entire time. She held the patch of fur out to him to sniff, and the little ghost fox sneezed, and began sniffing his tail. They compared it to each wolf slain on the road, to no avail. Up ahead a strange little creature cocked it's head, a strange Gray fox. Hunter and Monica took off running, the man pulling a smokey lasso from his coat to catch it to no avail, as it quickly disappeared into the night. Their steps were wary, the little fox inside her coat shaking and occasionally poking his snout out to sniff at the bitter night air. Every so often, they caught glimpses of tiny flashing eyes in the tree-line, and always, they felt watched. It unnerved Monica, only making her walk faster.

They brought to corpse to the outskirts Priestess at which point a woman dressed for the sands approached and told them of a similar happening.

"She's a woman. A woman, and a fox."

"A fox-woman?"

"She wants eternal beauty, or something."

Monica peered at the words on the bloodied paper taken from the victim, filling in the rest of the word 'beautiful'.

"Aye, probably after the married ones, too."

Hunter held up a wedding band he'd taken from the first victim, and Monica felt a sinking feeling make it's home inside her stomach.

"Then we have a trail."

Monica said gruffly, as Hunter retired to study, and the woman and Monica took off into the night to find this thing. It had stayed in the same areas, only killing in repeating spots. Monica could feel it in her bones, they were close. But, they were distracted by another blood curdling scream behind them, and ran back to find another mutilated woman lying in the grass.

Dawn was swiftly approaching, and they had another victim to deliver. They turned back the way they came, a thousand thoughts whirling around inside Monica's head.

"Ghrn, I hate games. If she wants to dance, then so be it."

"Aye, I happen to be quite a talented dancer."



« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:33:11 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #16 on: June 11, 2014, 01:19:24 AM »

"You're her next target, Monica. She's coming."

Monica's heavy blade collided into the beast with a crash that shuddered up her arm into her shoulder, a whisper carried on the air causing her to startled and whirl with the creature still stuck on her sword.

"We have to move. NOW!"

She yelled at the Half Elf, impaling the beast in one quick thrust and turning to run, the bloodied sword slid into it's sheath on her back.

"We end this. Tonight." She growled, taking a knife from her boot and stabbing herself in the cheek to mar her flesh and smear blood over her face in the hopes that it did not recognise her. The men ran with her, Hunter struggling to keep up but managing all the same. They pushed on through the woods, until they came upon a manor nestled deep within the trees, hidden out of sight.

Managing to convince them of their plight, being lost hunters, cold and hungry, they were invited inside. Monica warily glanced around, the half elf hiding in the shadows of her coat, ready to strike. The men outside wore armour matching the ones guarding the main hall, but every one was the same. Their eyes did not look right. They gave her a bad feeling. A man tended the bar, offering nothing but kindness and a somewhat sad expression of absolute adoration for his mistress, akin to the others in the house.

"I love my work here. Mistress takes very good care of us. But we are not allowed upstairs, no, nobody is allowed upstairs.."

His expression drifted off into one of deep thought as he polished a glass.

She took a dream catcher fashioned from sticks and gems from her coat, leaping at him and holding a hand over his mouth as she worked to break the spell's hold over him, and as she gripped the man tightly, his startled stare of horror up at her slowly turned to one of confusion.

"I don't know where I am.. please don't kill me.."

He whimpered beneath her hand. She shushed him, slowly taking her hand away from his mouth. He, unlike the others did not seem loyal. He was afraid, he wanted to go home. They hid him in the commode and made him lock the door as Hunter and Monica worked to free the guards from her spell.

The men passed out from the pain of being freed, and they left them on the floor as the three stalked up the steps, hands on hilts of swords, and bows. The hallway was empty, as was each room. The Fox woman's bedroom was the most curious, each cabinet and table surface filled with hand mirrors, beauty objects. A severed head lay with eyes staring blankly into Monica's, flowers and piles of gold thrown around the floor.

"Where is she?!"

 Monica screamed with frustration, kicking in the final door to also find it empty.

The house began to shake violently, Hunter gripping the wall to steady himself, Sealamin and Monica planting their boots on the ground to stay upright. "She's close." They bolted down the steps, to find the guards they had freed lying cold and dead. Monica panicked, bashing against the door to the commode.

"It's us! Are you alive!"

The trembling bartender peeked through the door, and dashed out.

"W-We have to get out of here! We have to run! She could kill all of us!"

They took him outside, ready to beat down the remaining guards still in the Fox Woman's clutches. But they were gone. The terrified bartender darted off into the darkness surrounding the manor, as Monica called after him-

"Don't stop, for anything, run!"

Her words were cut short as the man simply dropped dead, his body hitting the ground like a ragdoll.

"NO!"

Monica rushed forward, shaking his limp body and panting with rage.

"FOOLS! All of you, fools!"

She appeared before them, in the form of a fox with two legs, standing upright, anger in her eyes and claws on the end of humanoid fingers.

"You move, I shoot."

The Half Elf nocked an arrow, setting his sights on the creature as the forest was cloaked in sudden darkness.

"She moved."

Monica growled, as he let several arrows fly, hitting her in the arm, and chest. She disappeared, and the three stood up- back to back.

"We're gonna set the house on fire, for that.."

Another whisper carried in the air.

"It took me -ages- to build that.."

"And we're gonna burn it to the ground."

"All your pretty mirrors? Destroyed."

"All your dresses."

"All your friends."

"All your memories."


"I will kill you all."

An angry growl sounded as the fox woman appeared once more, ready to attack with a horrifying servant at her side. Monica charged the horror, jamming her shoulder into it's metal chest to force it back, but took quite a beating in the process. She took it down, turning with a heaving pant as the half elf pinned the fox woman with arrows, and Hunter knocked her onto the ground.

Monica looked down at her in disgust, finally uncovering her face to the moon light.

"Y-- You are beautiful.."

The creature croaked up at her, as the half vistana bent to slip a ragged, rusted knife from her boot and holdit to her throat.

"How do you think it will feel, to have your face peeled free the same way you did to those women.."

Monica mused quietly, letting the knife reflect light from the moon as she traced the line of fur around her throat.

"M-Mercy.."

"I can m-make you all beautiful.."

"Rich.."


The half elf and Hunter simply gave Monica a sharp nod. Gritting her teeth in a savage fashion, Monica slipped the knife beneath the woman's skin, slitting her and skinning her as she had done the deer in the glade.

"I want her to feel it. I want her to feel all of it."

She snarled. The creature writhed in agony as her face was torn free, but stopped moving as the knife was thrust into her throat, laying limp, dead eyes staring upwards at nothing. Monica rose, the fox face clutched in one hand, the bloodied knife in the other, as one of the guards came running up and freezing as he laid eyes on the corpse of the fox.

"M-Mistress.."

"This is exactly what it looks like."

"You are monsters!"

"She mutilated and butchered innocents, this was her fate."

"We loved her, we all loved her! She gave us everything!"

The half elf appeared behind him, a blade held to his throat. "Before I die.. there is one l-last thing.."

"You don't get to die. You get to live with the memory of what you all have done."

Monica stuffed the fox face into a bag, eyeing him angrily.

"She has- a daughter, a girl she raised as her own.. I know about the c-curse, but the child- she doesn't know, you can't kill her!"

Monica paled, dropping the knife into her boot once more.

"No harm is to come to this child."

She nodded to the half elf, who smacked the hilt of his knife against the man's head, rendering him unconscious.

They ransacked the house once more, coming upon a final, hidden room filled to the brim with treasure. On the desk a note, a letter to the child. Monica looked between the two, curling and uncurling her tattooed fingers.

"We have a name. A lead. That is the best we can do for now."

The murdering fox now lay dead, though now they had another thing to worry about. Another missing child to add to their list.

Pavalia..

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:35:35 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #17 on: June 16, 2014, 02:41:59 PM »


The thrill of battle was not a new high for Monica. Her calloused hands were versed in most turns of the sword, though still each new fight brought her surprise. Fear was
something she had pushed behind her long ago, as she knew anything with a pulse could be put into the ground. Anything, with a pulse.. and a reason.

Steel clashed to steel, the heavy weapon sending bolts of energy shocking up her tensed arms, she grit her teeth. Each decision she had made in this leg of the journey had lead to something like this. A choice, a fight. Never taking the easy way out. But that was how she lived life, now.

Lead a band of escaped slaves to safety, protect the rebellion when the forces came. Monica and her companions had not expect such a response for but a few souls spared, and as the woman stood alone in the protected entry she could not help but swallow. The first wave of soldiers came and were quickly slaughtered by Monica's hand; but as she turned away to wipe the blood from her great sword she was hit in the back with an explosion of pain.

On horseback they fought with magic, her companions responding in turn, those she had assumed weak proved themselves by turning their attackers to dust and ash with a flick of the hand and a simple verse. Monica fell to a knee, panting as she looked up at the mages with respect in her violet eyes. A new enemy, one that did not fight with sword and might, but with their minds. She backed up, raising her sword to slay those who dared venture close enough, until all lay slain in the mud and the battle was won.

But their relief was short lived, and each of the companions was overcome with a feeling of dread. A blinding light flashed before them, fading away to reveal a single man, his bald head covered with sprawling black tattoo work. Fear, a feeling that had lain dormant inside of her suddenly sprang into her throat. Aching from the fight, she forced herself onto her booted feet and raised her sword once more.

"Come here."

He commanded, as the companions took a step back warily. Monica shook her head in defiance.

"I said. COME HERE!"

He curled a finger, and Monica felt herself pulled towards him by an unseen presence. When she blinked, she was stood before him, nearly dropping her blade and shrinking back. The Half Elf raised his bow, setting his sights on the strange man with the tattooed head.

"I have something to say, and you better listen well.."

He lowered her voice, hissing into Monica's ear as she squeezed her eyes shut..

« Last Edit: March 08, 2016, 10:37:05 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #18 on: June 22, 2014, 03:03:59 AM »

"GO AWAY!"

"I'm not leaving until you talk to me."

Monica sat with her back against the bathroom door, folding her arms across her chest.

"I just want to help."

"L-Like Hunter?! No!"

"Hunter isn't a parent."

"And you're a horrible one!" The child continued to cry her heart out in the room behind the door, her words hitting Monica like a slap to the face. She was silent for a long few moments, before speaking quietly. "What would your mother have done, then."

The door creaked open, Pavalia sniffling and peeking out. "She wouldn't have left me without saying goodbye."

Betrayal was not a new experience for Monica. The letter had directed them onto an odd path and as she looked at her husband they both set their jaws in realisation. She held the sobbing child in her lap, filled with a sense of longing for her own child as her tattooed hands brushed back strands of red hair to comfort her.

"What is it you want, Pavalia?"

"I.. just want to be happy and left alone."

"Will being alone really make you happy, little one?"

"N-No, I suppose not.. where will we go?"

"Somewhere safe."

The ghost fox crawled out from Monica's bag and into the child's arms, who picked him up and hugged him to her chest tightly as they walked through the night streets. Blanca snuffled and clung to Pavalia the entire way, knowing his task. She carried the child's few belongings, another pang of memory shooting through her at how very light they were.

Was it possible she actually felt.. guilty, for what they had done? For putting the murder fox down and taking the trophy? So many lives had been lost, and by her hand, but in doing so she'd done the very thing she'd hated the most. She'd taken a mother away from her child. The child was their responsibility now, at least that was how she felt. It was up to them to make sure she survived.

She waved goodbye to the child with a sad smile, promising her return as soon as she could. They left the ghost fox there to keep her company, he seemed to make her smile. Sliding her hands into her coat pockets, Monica looked to the half elf and the half barovian, chewing her lower lip.



"Have you ever been able to do things that others can't?"
"There was this one time, when I was afraid...."
« Last Edit: March 02, 2016, 03:57:34 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #19 on: June 24, 2014, 09:13:15 PM »
Spoiler: show


"Anything owed, I've paid in full. Try you may, and try you will, and I will never stop fighting."

« Last Edit: March 02, 2016, 03:58:26 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #20 on: June 25, 2014, 01:20:27 AM »

The noose swung loosely in the angry winds of Barovia, a chill coming in the air, settling over those gathered to watch the proceedings. Monica stood with a disgusted expression as the noose was tightened around the sobbing girl's throat, reminded of the calmer nights she'd spent sat beneath it, watching it swing in it's lonely state under the moon as a morbid reminder of consequence. She was anything but calm, now.

Chaos broke out amongst the onlookers as one of the guards kicked another from the gallows and watched him fall. Millie wrung her hands and drank deeply from the flask of moonshine that lived in Monica's coat, fighting back the sadness that threatened to flow thunderous over the crowd. The trap door opened with a crack, dropping the woman via her throat without a hint of mercy, no last words; and she hung there, still alive, the rope not doing it's job. She began to suffocate, the crowd yelling in an uproar against the unfair proceedings.

Monica glanced back to the half elf, her hardened gaze softened. "Put her out of her misery." Zephyr let his arrow fly haphazardly, missing but trying again. "This cruelty has gone on long enough." He raised his bow and fired over his wife's shoulder, his arrow burying itself in the woman's heart seconds later, easing her suffering. As the guard stomped down the steps to scream "WHO DID THAT!", The half elf shrouded them in darkness to mask their escape.

Amongst the yelling that ensued, the battered woman's corpse swung dead in the angry breeze, finally having let go. Monica and her companions hit the ground running, to spend that night mulling over what had happened under the stars of a different place. She felt pity for Milicent and her pain, knowing only too well how the loss of a loved one could affect the soul.

But anger was not the solution this time, as strange as it seemed to come from Monica's lips.


« Last Edit: March 02, 2016, 03:58:53 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #21 on: June 26, 2014, 11:04:30 PM »
[Shoved into Monica's chaotic sketchbook are a thick bunch of notes, they are written in an odd language of pictures of words that do not make sense.]



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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #22 on: June 27, 2014, 08:35:27 AM »


The wind whipped cold around the gypsies bare bronze skin,
long tresses of ebony dancing around their weather beaten
faces, light as feathers. They ran together, hand in hand
through the wood, stopping only for the thrill of the blood
spilled from animals who found themselves brave enough to
cross their path.

Monica dropped to a knee, moving her hand over the little girl's
own as she pawed sadly at the corpse of the deer.

"She is with the moon now, look up, high above the clouds, do you see her?"

Carmen looked up, her brown eyes strained as she searched,
finally settling her gaze upon one bright, bright star as her
mother pointed a tattooed finger. The child's face lit up with
wonder.

"Will she ever come back?"

"No, querida. Not this time."

"Mama.."
Carmen's little hand reached out, somewhere in the dark,
cold, and shaking.

Monica awoke with a start, tears streaming down her face
as she leaned forward to grip the side of the bench behind
her, shuddering a sob free into the dying embers of the fire.
 
"Since when were you a mother?"

"You're a terrible parent!"

"I pity the child."


She pulled her knees to her chest and bit the cork of her whiskey
bottle, yanking it free to drink deeply. Guilt filled her every
waking moment of late, for the person she had let herself
become since freed of the responsibility that came with the
little girl with eyes like her father and hair like her mother.
As time went on she had become to feel unattached, distanced
from her everlasting hunt for the little one.

She was beginning to lose hope.

"None of them will ever know."

She poured the rest of the liquor onto the already dying fire to
extinguish it, wiping her face and staring up at the moon with a
sense of longing.

"I will not let them see I am afraid."

She stood, donning her heavy leather coat and looking into the
distance of the winding road that lead only Ezra knew where.
Sleep would not come for her this night, she had to keep moving.

"Forgive me, Querida."
« Last Edit: March 02, 2016, 04:03:37 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #23 on: June 29, 2014, 06:55:01 AM »

--And try they did, those strange green and yellow skinned creatures. Each night they came in droves, stronger each time, and each time Monica and her companions if any were around her, cut them down with brute force. Driven by a stubborn need to keep what she had found, her own blind greed. At night she found it hard to get to sleep for fear of waking up without it, or.. with a knife in her heart. She saw it as some kind of sick challenge, the strange silvery metal captivated her in such a way that quickly, she became obsessed.

Monica stared out over the sands with the bloodied alien sword resting against her shoulder, exhausted, and filled with violent energy. The half elf let out a yell of warning, pointing with his longbow towards an oncoming horde of the creatures, lead by one in particular that held a certain determined evil in her eyes. A look of confusion crossed her companions faces, but Monica knew exactly why they had come. Why they kept coming. Why they would not give up.

She leapt from her perch on the sandy hill, hitting the ground running with a roar as alien metal clashed to alien metal, a violent battle took place. She whirled and swung it high above her head, taking just as much damage as she was giving, but not feeling a single scratch in her moon mad state. They dealt blow after blow, blood running freely down from the gypsy's hairline, her face a tight expression of determination.

She plunged the sword into the heart of one of the strangely humanoid creatures- pulling the jagged sword free with a spray of blood and flesh, catching a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. She spun around, a second too late as the strange female creature brought her sword crashing down violently upon Monica's skull, sending a shuddering, vibrating echo through the Half Vistana's body. She lay on the ground, eyes open in shock as the sword was ripped from her death grip, the battle around her fading out, her vision blurry.

When she awoke, the sword lay in the sand by her hand, the seeker slain, eyes staring up at the sky in cold, dead desperation. She picked it up, instantly relieved to have it in her hands again. Sully hollered from a ways back, rooting around another pile of corpses, holding up a bloodied note.



"Would you choose a sword over me?"

She paled, the realisation of what she had put aside washing over her. "We destroy the sword. Now. Before.. another adventurer can make the same mistake of digging it up." And so they marched through the deserts, over the small ocean of corpses, towards a great wall of fire that even at such a distance away, she had to shield her eyes with her coat covered arm. The others stayed back, wary, Monica pushing through, closer and closer to it, the heat at this point unbearable, beginning to blister her cheeks and crack her lips.

With a final moment of regret, and then nothing, Monica lifted the heavy alien blade high above her head and threw it far into the flaming wall, stumbling back into Seal's waiting arms. They watched it, then. A few moments of silence went by, only to be shattered by the desperate shriek of a lone survivor from the attack. The creature threw himself into the heat, clawing at the blade with broken cries of- "NO! THE SWORD!" before his flesh began to bubble and burn from the inside, and the outside, cutting him off to die beside the item his people coveted so much.

As the strange silver began to melt away into the hot sand, Monica turned and looked up at the full moon, and then pulled her husband down to meet his lips in a fierce kiss that held both her apology, and the depths of her need to keep him at her side.


« Last Edit: March 02, 2016, 04:04:10 AM by Boots »


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Re: Invidian Heart
« Reply #24 on: January 16, 2015, 01:25:45 AM »



Monica came to with her face pressed against something soft, and damp. She inhaled through her nose, flooded with the scents of nature, and was vaguely aware of something wriggling by her neck. She jerked backwards, her face covered in bloodied soil, her hair hanging in damp matted strings. "Pricks." She spat in the direction of the tavern that had thrown her into the mud and dirt the night before.

She'd spent the past few months along the borders of Barovia, hunting and camping out, stalking her mark. He had connections to the soldiers that took her Carmen, but before she had her chance to seize him in her grip, he fled back into Invidia when exhaustion finally took her. She wasn't ready to go home, yet. Not until she had a plan. She also knew how stupid she would be if she followed. Rather than accepting her failure and returning to the hopeful face of Feyboy in Barovia, Monica lost herself in the bottom of a bottle of whiskey, and this is where she remained, until she was forcibly removed by several large meaty hands.

"Bastards!" She continued her drunken verbal abuse at the closed wooden door, just as the typical Barovian rain began to thunder down atop her already soaked head and make things worse. Somewhere from inside the warmth of the small tavern, she heard the barkeep shout. "Go home already, y'blasted Tigan, and take a bloody bath."

Hugging herself in her large coat, and spinning on her heel haphazardly, she squinted through the rain back towards the way she had come. She supposed, she had no other choice, and began the long trek home.
« Last Edit: March 02, 2016, 04:04:41 AM by Boots »