Broken Spirit

[Amelya Shipwright]

 

((OOC: This is just after Terror in the Night))

 

The rain came down, though it wasn't nearly as much of a deluge as it had been. It was still cold, though, so terribly cold, and Amelya hugged herself, tears refusing to stop. She wandered the streets, afraid and unsure of where to go. Violet, her dear older sister, hadn't been at home, and she'd lacked the key needed to get in anyways. She didn't want to go home, either. Unsafe, unsafe. Too unsafe.

 

Nichol would be sleeping, and Hayleigh had Bane. She didn't trust Bane, no. And Nichol, if she was honest, would raise questions with the guild. The Guild... There. She could go there. Amy clutched at her broken arm, her dagger like a lifeline in her left hand. It was hard to breathe, and so she moved slower, to keep her breathing under control, and it just made the shaking worse.

 

She sobbed, a sound that was a mix of relief and sadness as the guild building finally came into sight, and weakly, she slammed her fist against the door. Like the key to her sister's place, she didn't have her key to the building. It was so cold. She needed rest. To sleep... "Marius? Someone! Please! Let me in! It's Amy! Please!"

 

The woman slid to her knees, shaking. So much had happened, and the attack mixed and twisted with her previous attack, and she cried. Truly and fully cried, there, in the rain, near naked and broken, hoping anyone would come to her rescue. She was pathetic, useless... tainted...

[Marius]

 

EVERY MORNING I'M STARING SHADOWS IN THE EYE @ Amelya Shipwright Marius was exhausted. He'd only gone to bed a few hours before, having spent the whole of the day coordinating those among his people that he'd trusted enough to send to Jack to help with the sha being hunted down. There'd not been as many as he'd have liked - too many of the locals in the guild had given in to their hatred and had been banned from the headquarters til things were sorted, and even some of the outsiders had fallen victim to the emotion.

 

He'd wanted to help Jack himself, once he'd determined that his people would not be pursued during or after the hunt, while they returned back to their homes, but someone needed to hold down the HQ and he didn't really trust anyone else to do it. His home was also there, and he was reluctant to leave it for long for fear of coming back to find it burning or otherwise destroyed. Not everyone liked him and the direction he'd chosen to take things, after all.

 

Because of his profession and the rank he held, Marius was a light sleeper - and the light knocking on the guild's main door roused him. He lay in the darkness, listening for a moment before slipping from his bed. Pulling a cloak around him, he palmed a dagger and slid into the shadows, cautiously approaching the door. He was the only one home right now - having sent those who'd helped with the sha home so he could get some rest without fear of a fight breaking out.

 

The guild HQ looked like any other business on the outside, a building that had several stories and a hidden basement that led into the sewers [though the latter was currently locked up tight], but once inside it was clear what sort of things went on there.

 

There were a couple places for fences to set up, an area of benches and tables for people to kick back at, and small rooms for more private meetings. The center of the area reached clear to the top floor, with balconies wrapping around the offices and personal quarters of many of the guild members and allowing them to look down into the main room. Right now every one of them was abandoned due to Marius kicking everyone out. No one had been using any of the private quarters currently, which was good because they'd have been out of a home for the time being.

 

Marius was on the top floor, overlooking everything else, and it had taken him a few moments to slip down to the door he was certain he'd heard someone knocking at. Once he was sure no one was lurking anywhere inside the building [one could never be too cautious] he slid the door open. He'd not heard Amy's voice, having been a bit too sleep fogged still to register the familiar voice over the sound of the rain on the building.

 

The sight that met his eyes had him cursing, darting outside, and scooping the woman up, angry eyes looking around to see if whoever had hurt her was nearby. He'd be hunting later, that was certain. Once she was safe and situated, he'd find whoever did this. He cradled her close against him, using his cloak to give her some cover. He'd been interested in her, but this is not how he'd imagined getting to see her body, had his interest ever been returned.

 

"I've got you, Amy. Taking you somewhere safe, where you can dry off." He'd noticed one of her arms looked off as he'd scooped her up, but he'd address that once they were back in his quarters. He shut the door, shifting how he held her so he could secure it again. Once it was locked and the enchantments safeguarding it back up, he shifted her again, keeping her close to him.

 

Taking the stairs two at a time, he got them to his quarters, where he settled her down in one of his overstuffed chairs and placed the cloak in her lap so she could use it to cover herself if she wanted, then set about stoking the fire that he'd let die down to embers earlier. Once it was roaring and bright, he turned back to her, his eyes worried. "What happened, Amy? Who do I need to kill?"

MONTY

[Amelya Shipwright]

 

Amelya shivered and shook as the rain came down. The longer the seconds ticked on, the more abandoned she felt. No one wanted her, no one wanted to save her. She'd die alone, suffer alone... just like back then, when she'd been left in a similar state in an alley. A sob choked her and she hacked and coughed, even as her tears continued. So cold, so tired... but it wasn't safe. She couldn't rest.

 

Her head snapped up as the door finally opened, and Marius stood there, staring at her. Amelya's chest was partly covered, merely by her left arm clutching at her right bicep to steady the broken limb, but everything else was exposed to him. She felt vulnerable, and she tried to curl up to hide before he scooped her up and held her close. The movement jostled her broken arm, and she cried out in pain. Had she not been terrified, it would have shamed her. This was not how she acted, not how she was. Amy Ross never cried.

 

She was stronger than this, dammit! And still, she leaned against her guildmaster, his cloak around her partially and shielding her from the rain. She trusted him more than most, and was glad he had her now. It was an ache, deep in her soul, that he filled by holding her like this. She shook from everything that had happened, and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to remember what it was like to breathe. His quick movements up the stairs forced her to grit her teeth as she grabbed her arm more tightly.

 

Safe. He was safe. She was safe here with him. Safe. Home. She was home and safe. Her face buried in his chest, trying to hide the pain she was in. She breathed in deep, then let it out, trying to calm down. Scared. So scared.

 

Even as he put her down, her eyes went to the door in panic, as if the monster that attacked her would materialize. He certainly seemed to on the roof, there, and it sent a shudder through her. The weight of his cloak on her lap was noted, but she carefully draped her arm over the edge of the chair, her left arm pulling the cloak up around her neck to hide her nudity. In the time it took for him to get the fire going, she'd remembered how to calm down, to breathe. Safe. Marius was safe.

 

"Attacked. Cliff's Edge... dead walking... my folks..." The pain slammed into her anew and the tears started again, and she hid her face behind the hood of his cloak, crying into the material. "My folks are dead, Marius...! I was almost raped!"