Nadezda Marinovic
Introductions had never exactly been Nadezda's forte. When she was younger she'd always had the bad habit of making Mairin do the talking and, well, she'd never really outgrown that. It'd been one of those things she'd always wanted to work on--and did intend to at some point--yet there she was, almost an adult and barely containing the urge crawl into a fetal position at the prospect of talking to another.
It was all just so...overwhelming, she knew oh too well introductions were the entire basis for what others would think of her from that point on; one mistake, one wrong gesture, one misspoken word, one look, and you'd earn someone's ire for a lifetime. There were just so many things she could screw up too--like she knew she would--that it seemed easier to avoid the entire situation all together.
So when her eyes made contact with the off-white haired one, saw his single wave and realized what it meant, Nadezda was predictably besieged by a wave of worries. Every single horrible, detailed scenario she could possibly imagine seemed to reel through her mind in an instant. For a moment, she near forgot she even had a body as she considered it all, until it was she recalled the import of appearance.
It was then that she became oh-so aware of the ragged...thing she called her body and the real anxiety started to bloom. Instinctively her hands reached for the scarf around her neck, adjusting the fabric with a quivering grasp to hide her exposed flesh. Even as her fingertips just grazed the skin beneath, she couldn't help but picture each and every scar that marred her body all too vividly. Though she would have much preferred a clean set of more stylish clothes, Nadezda found herself oddly grateful for the coverage offered by her dirtied attire.
Sure, she was a tad aghast at the prospect of anyone seeing her in such an undignified state--well, other than her little of band equally dirty companions--but nowhere near to the same level she would have been, had she been horribly dressed and had one of her greatest insecurities presented to guests. She hadn't even shown Micah or Elara that for goodness' sake!...Voluntarily at least, and if she couldn't trust even them to accept her with those ghastly things, surely she couldn't, wouldn't trust total strangers to either.
It'd seemed an eternity she'd been left with her thoughts, though in truth hardly seconds had passed; the towering off-white haired one had only taken a few strolls closer and Micah appeared to be--actually, she'd realized with a start, she had no idea where he was.
He hadn't left her had he--no, he wouldn't do that...unless, was she supposed to have already began running...?--Oh dear, had she miss a cue, was there a plan?! Panic furthered its grip on her, frantic gaze darting from where her companion had been moments before, to where the group of boys was now, before she'd felt the gentle tug of an arm against her waist. Pivoting on her heel to face whatever had grabbed her, she readied her still shaking arms to push and claw whatever she could should a struggle ensue against her captor.
It was with no small sense of relief that she realized it was only Micah and barely withholding the urge to hug him in her joy, she stumbled after his brisk pace. She wondered for a moment when he'd come up behind her, though vaguely recalled having heard someone talking during her little...episode a few seconds prior. It seemed best not to question such random acts of kindness by the universe though, so she merrily followed in his footsteps without another thought on the matter, secretly glad to use the chain of events as an excuse to avoid dealing with new people, at least for the time being.
When the older male released her from his grip, turned to her for a moment and then continued forward, she blinked thrice in confusion before scampering off after him. At first they'd been moving at a rather brisk jog, but the echo of thunder seemed to stir them both to near a sprint. They pressed forward in a haste, Nadezda's much shorter strides struggling to keep up with her companion's pace. She'd been about to finally ask that they take a quick break after only a few blocks distance away Elara had popped up.
"Popped up" being the phrase of choice if only as Nadezda hadn't seen even a hint of the girl before she was directly in front of her. It seemed to be a common occurrence today though, so she shrugged it off as a bit of luck not to be questioned like so many other things before it.
“There are Shadders… Micah, Nezzy and the sky… is angry…,” the smaller girl chirped, oddly cheery despite her words. Sometimes Nadezda couldn't help but wonder what went on in that girl's head. She was quite an oddity at times, that one; she must have had a pleasant outlook on things to be so chipper at the very least.
"You saw them too?" The bespectacled girl inquired, a deep frown etching itself across her face, "Are you okay then? Did they get to you at all?" She'd begun to grab for girls arms as though to inspect for injuries, before she hurriedly interjected again, "No, I suppose not, you're still here after all...and I wouldn't have been able to tell anyways, would I?" A hollow chuckle escaped her lips with her finishing words, arms worming their way around the older girl to envelop her in a tight embrace.
Though it was a concept she'd found difficult to grasp entirely, Nadezda knew well enough that shadows were a force to be feared for their psychological toll, not the physical. As far as she was concerned, she was infinitely lucky to still have her dear friend in-tact considering such an encounter.
They were all lucky to be quite frank; she hated knowing that at any moment any one of her friends could be left nothing but a husk, a shell of who they were, but that's how things were. One moment's carelessness, and poof, everything she held dear gone in an instant. Again.
Unconsciously, Nadezda's grip on Elara had tightened with her thoughts, her face all but buried in the girl's tendrils of ebony hair by that point in time. For some reason she tended to be a bit more open in her affections towards her than any of the others and what she perceived as a near-death experience had made what little boundaries she had towards the girl all but vanish.
The sound of another's voice though, echoing slightly down the lane on which they currently were, drew the girl back from her thoughts, "Library!" Wha-what...? Craning her neck in the direction of the voice, Nadezda was met with none-other than the sight of the trio from earlier, yet again. Odd coincidence that. To be quite frank though, such coincidence might be easily misconstrued as fate if it continued much longer... "Books!" Her eyes narrowed a bit with that addition, a tad indignant at the perceived implication she was illiterate. She might have been dressed in only a Drawers and Chemise, maybe slightly dirtied ones at that, but...well, actually, she did look awfully ragged at the moment...dammit, she looked like an uneducated vagrant, who was she kidding.
Why'd he bother yelling library at them though...? What was the point of that? Other than to get some books, perhaps...? Although, given the state of things, the library might be an ideal place to set up camp actually; if it was anything like the library in her world, it'd probably be a reinforced, rather structurally sound building...And she did quite dearly miss her literature, there was just so much time in reality and nothing to do with it she often found.
"Do we...want to follow them, perhaps?" her words wavered as she spoke, "I mean, maybe, it might be a good idea. Libraries tend to be old buildings--that is, um, they're often foundation pieces to a town and, well, they tend to be built with the intent of lasting through the ages. If anything in this town could hold up against a hurricane, I think that might be our best bet, if--if you all think so too, that is." She'd avoided eye contact the entire time she spoke, gaze downcast to rest squarely on their chins; she always felt ridiculous voicing her opinion, she'd always somehow say something foolish or stammer through her words, even after all this time it was hard to actually look them in the eye with stuff like this. It'd been an improvement over staring at their feet at the very least.