Here is a scene from just before Ashlynn's introduction to the mists. It will be continued, and below further scenes from various portions of her life will be posted. I will do my best to include around what time in her life they take place, with each.
Disclaimer: Foul language and adult themes ahead.
"Homecoming, going, gone"
It was another grim Waterdeep night, in a derelict building of the deep slums. The sounds of the city poured in through broken windows, drowning out Ashlynn’s thoughts as she sat holding a small, mostly broken mirror and gingerly nursing a black eye. The abandoned home she and many others had taken to squatting in was buzzing with its usual life; the laughter of harlots and conversations of boisterous drunks, the thick clouds of smoke, the stench of booze and bodies, some asshole - high as a kite – strumming the same three chords as if it could pass for a song. Most people would be agitated by the chaos, but after the girl’s most recent absence she was comforted by the loud, crowded environment.
She winced and cursed, having accidentally applied too much pressure to her bruised eye socket, sending a harsh, throbbing pain through her eye seemingly straight to her brain.
“Ye a’righ’ lass?” She could feel the floorboards shift under her as Grigory, a hulking, overweight man, slowly ambled in her direction. He seethed as he saw her many bruises and scrapes, and a freshly-carved wound under her collarbone.
“Yeesh.. them guards really love ta add insult ta injury, don’ they?” he commented lowly, with some sense of humor in attempt to lighten the girl’s mood.
Ashlynn didn’t respond to this, straightening her chin as she held herself together in the moment, simply wetting the rag she held in her hand and carefully trying to clean around her swollen eye. The wound he spoke of was someone’s cruel attempt to mark her for life as ‘scum’, as they wrote the word on her skin with a hot blade. She had refused to look at it.
Grigory lowered his bald head a moment, rubbing the back of his neck as he struggled to find ways to bring up sensitive topics. He sunk to a crouch down beside her.
“Ye… di’nt talk, did’ja?” Ashlynn’s head swiveled to glare at him, causing the brute to actually leaned back from the rather unimposing woman.
“The fuck d’ya think, numbnuts?” she barked in retort. A few of their housemates paused to watch Ash, before they also received a sharp stare, to which they promptly returned to minding their own business.
“I didn’ say a word, alrigh’? I fuckin’ held my tongue, an’ took the brunt,” she sighed, having lowered her voice and turned back to stare at her fragmented reflection.
Her friend’s gruff voice lowered and attempted to sound calm,
“I believe ye.. bu’ ye know Kinsley’s men ain’ gonna give a shit.” He paused as he caught the deadening of her eyes in the reflection of the mirror.
“…They gonna be lookin’ for ye as soon as they know yeh’re out.” He paused again, as if waiting for a response and getting none.
“Look, no one ‘ere ‘as mentioned anythin’ ‘bout it so ye may ‘ave a few days, but ye can’t expect ta stay holed up ‘ere for long. We ain’ want it to be this way, but it’s gonna be known soon enough an’.. Well.. We can’t all be accomplices for hidin’ ya.” “I know, Grig. I know,” she snapped, annoyed.
“Wha’ the 'ell do ya want from me? I need a night’s rest out o’ the cold, an' a moment to get a plan, ‘en I’ll be out o’ yer hair – or total lack, thereof,” she’d grumble the last bit as an insult.
“Where do ye think ye’ll go?” He seemed unphased by her attempted insult, used to it in their long, strained friendship.
“I ain’t got a clue,” Ash sounded out under a sigh.
“Lucien won’ be back fer a month, still.. So I’ll jus’ likely find some place outside the city ‘till ‘e comes back. ‘e should ‘ave ‘nough money from workin’ to get us passage elsewhere by then, eh? I can rough it in the woods ‘till then..” Her tone, however, was not overly confident.
Grigory gave a cold, short laugh.
“Tha’ boy’ll take ye to the end of the world if need be, Ashy, but… I don’ know tha’ ye’ll make it long out there without some.. provisions o’ sorts.” He grunted as he struggled to stand upright again.
“I’ll get ye a pack together.. ye can have my cot t’night. Jus’.. early morn’, ye need to be ready.” He seemed pained to say these words, and though he couldn’t see, they pained Ashlynn to hear. But neither of them were daft or particularly hopeful people, and both knew it was for the best.
So Ash simply nodded, and took a moment to pull herself together enough to go drink and be merry with the people closest to family that she’d ever had. Dysfunctional, rowdy, rude… and yet in her last moments with them she felt like she’d miss them. Most of them, at least. (…Alright, maybe just a few.)
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Ash barely slept that night, despite Grigory’s cot being the most comfortable thing she’d laid on in weeks (a fact she continually cursed); she found herself on her feet well before sunrise, tip-toeing over a mess of passed out people, empty bottles and general mess of the former evening’s riff-raff to head to the empty downstairs. She made her way to an unoccupied corner, kicking a tattered rug from the way as she dropped to a knee and worked to pry up a loose floorboard where she hid what she considered valuable: A silver cigarette case with her initials engraved on it, a brass locket, a worn slingshot, a journal, some loose pages, and a few pouches with drugs she had pocketed from her employer over the years.. To most it would seem like a collection of junk, but it all held sentimental value to the girl and she collected it all into a cloth which she wrapped up tight.
Her hulking friend must have had trouble sleeping as well, having ambled down the steps with a hefty backpack and a longbow slung over his shoulder.
“I’ve packed some thin’s for ye already..” he announced, making way toward her and dropping the bag at her feet so she may fill it with what she had gathered.
“Got a couple blades in there an’ some food, booze an’ the like.. Ah, an’ this,” he’d added, as he handed her the bow.
“Meridith managed to swipe some thin’s from one o' her customers, figured ye could use an upgrade from yer li’l pebble-launcher,” his tone was gruff, and while most wouldn’t see it Ash knew he struggled to hold his emotions in check in their last moments together.
“Yer gonna need to up yer huntin’ game, out there.” “Thanks, Grigs..” she’d mumble, and while she was would usually be excited at the prospect of trying out her new weapon, her mood was sullied and riddled with anxiety for the day ahead. She sat in silence for a moment, plucking the locket from her belongings to turn it over in her hand though she kept it closed. After a slow breath, she’d hand it up to Grigory,
“You’ll give this ta Lucy for me, won’t ya? When ‘e returns ta port?” She wore a heavy frown and couldn’t make eye contact with this request, for fear reality might set in and she may begin to cry at the idea of never seeing her friend or beloved again.
“Aye,” he’d reply after a pause, taking it from her gently.
“I’ll let ‘im know wha’s happened.. He’ll be out lookin’ for ye in no time, I’m certain,” he tried to sound reassuring, but his tone betrayed that he didn’t expect there to be much for Lucien to look for, by the time he’d have a chance.
Ash would nod in silent thanks, before pushing up to her feet and fixing the backpack over her shoulders with a grunt.
“I suppose I shouldn’ delay..” she began, starting for the door, but before she’d made it a full step, she found herself being dragged into a bear-hug from the spongy mountain of a man. Normally, Ash would push away, but in this moment she wrapped her arms around the man in return (or as far as her little arms would allow) and took a slow, deep breath, mumbling into the man’s chest,
“I’m gonna miss you, Grigs.. You’re the only ‘side from Lucy tha’s ever felt like family.” “I know, lass, I know,” he’d try to soothe, not seeming willing to let the girl he’d thought of as a little sister for so long go.
“Jus’.. be smart, out there,” his voice broke, and he cleared his throat roughly to cover it up as he abruptly released her before becoming emotional.
“An’ be quick.. sooner you’re outta those gates, the better.” Ash would nod, expression void as she turned for the door,
“Take care, Grigory..” her voice would trail off as she exited the building, head low and eyes scanning the street before stepping out into it.
//Yet to be edited and continued
