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Neden Isimir

"Cause I could touch a hundred thousand souls, but none of them would ever feel like home."

0 · 1,517 views · located in Greythorne

a character in “greythorne”, as played by Wolf's Bane109

Description



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"The world is so cold, now that you've gone away."

Gone Away -Five Finger Death Punch
Heaven -Pvris
Lips -The xx
Anyone Else -Pvris
All the King's Men-The Rigs
Death Stranding -Chvches
Runaway-Hayley Kyoko
How To Be A Heart Breaker-Marina & The Diamonds



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F U L LXN A M E
Neden Valkarie Toruun Orion Isimir

N I C K N A M E (S)
Doesn't really have any | Goes by whatever people call them

B I R T H D A Y
Unknown | Claims it's March 15th | Pisces

A G E
Exact age is unknown | Appears to be 26 | Somewhere around two thousand in human years

R O L E
Fallen/Cast-down Angel

S E X U A L I T Y & G E N D E R
Homosexual | None-Binary | They/Them/She/Her

E T H N I C I T Y
Considered "Caucian" | Angel Blood

H O M E T O W N
Unknown | Claims to be from Salem, MA

H E X
#4f5154



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S T Y L E
Neden wears whatever feels more comfortable for them that day, anything from a t-shirt and skinny jeans and boots, to wearing an oversized hoodie and sweat pants. Their sense of style isn't anything of note, except that it fits them and demonstrates how exactly neutral they are in every aspect. Their preferred go-to outfits are anything that is a t-shirt and jeans, to button up short sleeves with jackets and boots. Preferably leather jackets and skinny jeans are a must in their casual attire while wearing things that help increase their androgynous appearance, such as blazers and baggy shirts, as well as flannels.

H E I G H T & W E I G H T
5' 7" | 115lbs | Fairly fit

A P P E A R A N C E
Neden has been reported as being considered handsomely beautiful by most, and elegantly androgynous by others. They have a pale complexion that can hold the slightest bit of a tan before wanting to get sunburned, which is brought out even further by their natural platinum blonde hair with natural dark roots that is distinct to them alone. From their dark eyes against their pale skin, they are anything but ordinary. Essentially a walking enigma that is hard to figure out upon first meeting them. They are tall and slim, but not to say they aren't fit, as they are anything but defenseless. From their natural musculature to their outstanding physicality, they are one that no one would want to meet on the battlefield, or even dare say a back alley in the middle of the late hours of the night.

They keep the sides of their head shaven and eyebrows neatly trimmed with a notch in their left brow, mainly as hair never grows due to being sliced with silver years ago. Attaining a small and rather prominent scar if one looks closely. Along with that are a nose piercing on the left side of a single fake silver hoop, and very small gauges in both of their ear lobes. But they are rarely seen as they tend to have their hair down if they aren't busy in a workout or training.

As for any oddities and scarring, they have plenty and aren't ashamed of it. Scars and markings tell of one's journey through life without having to say a single word, and Neden is fully aware of that fact. They have a multitude of tattoos that cover their body, and then some. All of their tattoos give off a rather stylistic and almost gothic style, and that is precisely what they go for. They exude confidence and self-assurance in every aspect, even to go a little far as to even consider it a superiority complex and even arrogant at times. Whatever the cause, they have no shame in flaunting their body or even undressing in front of others as they aren't exactly sure why so many people are flustered by the human body.

Their true defining features, or well, scarring is on their back. From what one can garner, they house two very large scars that run along their shoulders and down to the small of their back. Once one knows of what they are, it makes sense. A being that was once an angel, who's wings were brutally torn out would indeed be ashamed. But not Neden. They hold pride in their scars and will gladly explain the story behind it. The only problem is, the fact that the scars still bring pain when touched, but normally there is just a slight numbness to their back, something they had gotten used of living with as long as they have.



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L I K E S
| Music, Neden was always a fan of it especially when they came to earth. They learned how to play several mortal instruments and is rather talented with what they have learned // Singing, before their fall from grace, Neden was one of the best and after their fall they took on singing for a hobby, proving to still be good at it they took up singing as a street entertainer for a rather long time, finding it rather fun at times | Playing guitar (both acoustic and electric), drums, bass, violin, cello, flute, and piano, they've had a love for those instruments even far before they were cast from Heaven | Folk tales, they love hearing what the mortals thought of other beings and creatures, and find it nothing but silly, but also charming what humans came up with over their course of existence | Animals, something about their innocence and endless affection and love for people causes them to have a soft spot for them, especially abandoned animals | Romance, it doesn't matter, every aspect from kissing and holding hands to the more intimate things like sex and cuddling, as long as it means something and not just a one night stand or hookup, Neden is all for it and isn't very shy about it either | Flirting, they are a massive flirt and will flirt with just about any pretty face that they lay their eyes on. While they don't hide their attraction to anyone, they do it usually out of a reaction for who they're flirting with, but also as a way of meeting new people and just have a good time | Learning new things, while Neden has been on earth for all too long, being able to know more fascinates them and they are constantly seeking out knowledge | The smell of cinnamon, peppermint, lavender, and fresh parchment. Something about those scents brings a sense of calmness and peace to them | Sweets and baked goods, anything from candy to cakes and muffins is an immediate way to win them over and are sure to share their food with others | Small gestures of kindness and decent human behavior, anything from a compliment, opening/holding a door for them, to showing someone cares is an easy way to win their favoritism and loyalty as they will return it ten times fold | Movies, anything from horror movies to romance movies can garner their attention and will possibly obsess over it for far too long | Rock climbing, spelunking, and all-around extreme sports are something they love and are often seen doing | Cooking, Neden adores being in the kitchen and since they have had time to travel the world and learn new recipes, they are a rather good cook and always try to find someone to cook for | Tattoos, whether their own tattoos, or someone else's, they find tattoos and body art fascinating and rather attractive to an extent | Combat/Sword-fighting, they were one of the best warriors Heaven had ever seen, and as such it isn't surprising that their skill in combat is something to not only be feared but admired as well | Jokes and good humor, Neden has a very interesting form of humor and enjoys making others laugh and will usually throw in a corny joke whenever they get the chance to |

D I S L I K E S
The sound of loud chewing, something about it causes their skin to crawl and grosses them out | Loud or sudden noises, especially if the cause is unknown | the smell of something burning, especially toast and coffee | The smell of alcohol and cigarettes, they can't stand the smell or how anyone can damage their body in that manner | Having a guitar string break while playing, nothing angers them more than a busted cord | Bigotry of any kind, even if it's a joke, they don't find it funny and will get loud over it in a split second and stand up for whoever is being bothered/harrassed | Being asked what they are, as in what species as no human is really allowed in Greythorne, for the most part, | They like almost all music, except for country, they don't get how anyone can like that kind of music | Attention seekers and liars, as they can read people's minds they know the true motive behind it and are bothered by it | Senseless killing, that part of them hasn't changed and never will. They've always stood up for the small person and always will |


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P E R S O N A
Contrary to their first impression that they give off, and their rather rough-looking exterior, Neden is quite the opposite of how they may seem once someone gets to know them. While they can be rather reserved and is typically a better listener than a talker, they make for an interesting companion to say the very least. If they aren't busy in their own little world in their head, then they are easily, in one word, cocky. They may not come across as such when making first impressions, as they tend to be rather guarded and reserved. But once someone manages to wiggle in and get to know them, they then understand why they typically keep their circles of friends small. They are very easily in simplest terms, annoying at times and overtly arrogant for the most part. Not to say they are heartless or big-headed, but they know what they want and what they're good at, and they make that fact know.

Once someone can look past the rough, tattoo-covered exterior, they can see that Neden is an incredibly kind, caring, outgoing, and loving individual who, that once given the chance could prove to be one of your best friends if given the chance. They can be rather possessive and clingy, once getting close to someone that is, but for the most part they are happy to be by themselves. When they are out in a crowd of people that they are comfortable with, they hold nothing back and tend to be one of the biggest flirts in the group. Having no shame with physical contact or making it obvious if they like someone or not. If they like you, it's rather obvious, and if they dislike you, it's even more so. They aren't the best at hiding how they feel, and their face often portrays their emotions. Whether they are happy or angry, enjoying someone's company, or are completely disgusted with someone's existence, their expression says it all. And they aren't ashamed of being such an open book. They learned the hard way that pretending like everything is okay was harder than accepting that certain thing in life would happen regardless and grew to accept it.

Essentially, if Neden doesn't like someone, they're all too overt with it and aren't afraid to say it to someone's face, and if they like someone, they make it even more evident. From either constant physical contact, poking fun at them, possibly flirting if they're more interested in that aspect, or simply giving gifts or doing small favors. Essentially, they have more than enough manners and don't shy away from it. If they see someone in need, they will gladly help them without hesitation. If it be simply holding a door open for someone, or helping lift something or carrying a heavy object, they are all but happy to help someone. They've never gone out of their way to show that they dislike someone, as even then if the one they dislike needs help, they will help. Whether that is the former angel in them or not, that remains to be seen. But over the inhuman amount of time Neden has spent on earth, they've learned one thing, what's the point in making someone else's life shitty with the world being already so cruel and hopeless? If they can make someone else's day better by the simplest act of kindness, then that is all that matters to them. They love people and will do anything for them, especially those that they are fond over and will go to no ends to make sure their friends and loved ones are happy and taken care of.

When it comes to relationships, there is something surprising that people notice. While they are generally a massive flirt and have no shame of making their feelings known, it's when they come to care for someone when someone truly care for. When they are serious about someone and their feelings for them, they focus solely on them and have no one else in view. Making that person the most important thing in their life and will do whatever they can in their power to make them happy and safe. Often being considered overbearing and too smothering at times, they have tried in recent years to tone it down and do their best of making sure they aren't so overprotective of those that they care for, romantically or not. They know how fleeting mortal life is and will do whatever they can to make their short life the best it can be.


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H I S T O R I A
Angels. The very beings made by God Himself meant to be the perfect example of all of his creations. The beings made in the purest form and were the epitome of both handsome and elegantly beautiful in one as Angels never had a specific gender or sex. However they felt is what made them themself, and no one could judge them for it. The beings made to serve him and watch over the mortals that he too created or defend Heaven from any and all insurgences, when he was too busy with other affairs. Neden doesn't remember exactly when, but they remembered that one minute they didn't exist, and then the next they did. It was a simple thing really, beings made or born (which was a rare circumstance) solely for the purpose of servitude and protection whether to the mortal realm below or protecting Heaven itself. Wherever you fell into the ranks, is where you would reside until the end of time itself or until God saw more in them. Which is where Neden came into existence. Originally named Orion after the Constellation of stars, they were made to serve God himself, and do his bidding. Mainly as a soldier in his Angelic army. Neden showed that they were a perfect fit, as knowing how to form nearly perfect battle scenarios and ways of making stronger strongholds and where certain angels should be and where others could avoid. It was until even God himself realized that Orion was more useful down on Earth as a Guardian Angel for humans and mortals over being in Heaven. As well as a way to test their loyalty to him.

It started out simple enough, watching over the humans that needed protection, and those that needed it more than others. Such as children or those that were going to die soon, who Orion would then move onto the next as the Angel of Death took their place. Their existence was what others would consider mundane and simple grunt work, while others were either servants back in Heaven, or soldiers who protected the realm from the Others. It was then that Orion's life or well, existence would change.

One of the people they were sent to look after was a young, kind and caring woman. The girl had lost everything and was going to end her life as she had no point in existing, no family, no friends, no nothing. Just an empty and hollow husk of her former self. Orion watched as the woman went to complete her self made task, but before the woman could, Orion found them reaching out and...grabbing onto the woman's shoulder, telling them not to do it, that there was more to life and that there was a plan for them. What Orion hadn't anticipated, was the response. The woman turned around and could see Orion, who was normally unseen by humans, but because her life was on the verge of ending, she could see things no one else could normally. Orion had formed an attachment to the human as time went on, observing her from afar and close as they began to spend time together, conversing, explaining that Angels and Heaven were real, and Orion was Elizabeth's (the woman Orion had saved) Guardian Angel. As time went on, their bond and interactions became more intense and personal, more than what an Angel should have with their mortal subjects. Something that they knew was wrong, but couldn't help it. There was something about earth and the humans that fascinated them more than being a mere watcher and protector. Perhaps even jealousy that they got to live a life Angels could only ever dream of.

It was then that He heard the whispers of one of his very own creations flirting with mortals and being seduced by one's own filthy and wicked desires. Orion was called for and was summoned back to Heaven, where they were damned by God himself. He gave them an ultimatum. Forget the mortal and their feelings for them and return to heaven and become a soldier once more, or...Give up the title and status they held and be made mortal to simply wallow in the filth that disgusted them all. Neden chose to defy their creator, and in a final act of rebellion as well as an ultimate form of a 'fuck you', they removed and tore their own wings from their back. Feather by feather when parts wouldn't rip out or tear off. It was a slow and painful experience to say the least, but when the process was over, when their hands were covered in their own blood and soaked feathers were scattered around their feet. They gave their creator one more final word before being banished to Earth. Which, may have been a blessing. Neden roamed the earth for years in search of their long lost lover, and when they finally tracked them down, it was then that reality hit them. Elizabeth had died four years ago alone in a hospital bed due to an illness that was usually uncurable. Years had passed when Neden was in Heaven for their trial, and the woman they were in love with and gave everything up for had passed away all the while.

For years, they wallowed in self pity and anger. Not towards themselves, but to God. He took away the only thing they truly cared for, and Nedn had no doubt that it was something that He did to make their punishment all the more cruel. Since then they have hated all religions, as what God would truly do that to their own creations if they truly cared? After years of traveling, they had taken on a mortal name, allbeit it was a very odd one, but it was staying true to who they were, as well as a last ditch attempt to stay under the radar from any and all supernatural beings as long as they could. They had been to most of the world in their time on earth, which had been an estimate of a few thousand years, learning new languages and cultures, meeting new people and seeing them age and pass on while they never aged. Never grew old, never had an ache or pain as they couldn't really feel anything that involved pain. But what they could feel was the sense of emptiness and hallow. It wasn't until a year ago that they finally heard of a place for people like them, a place called Greythorne. They have kept to themselves and have lived in the outer part of town, never really talking to anyone and watching as more of a phantom or shadow that kept the town safe.

It was until the attack happened that Neden hadn't interacted much with the people there. On that night however, during the siege, they had managed to take out four hunters that attacked the town. It was a much larger group than what they had seen in all of their years, and it terrified them. News spread of how many had been killed, including some long-time residents, and their loved ones. Now, Neden knows what they have to do, and are preparing for the next attack and then...That is when they plan on making their presence known to the people of Greythorne. And perhaps, they could regain their wings in the process..




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A N G E L PHYSICALITY
Neden originally was an Angel, sitting up in the clouds serving the Creator for an unknown amount of time. They used to have immense strength, speed, reflexes, senses, ability to read minds and had an inhuman healing factor of being able to heal any wound, as well as take no damage as nothing could pierce their once impenetrable flesh aside from silver. Among that, Neden was adorned with beautiful pure white Angel wings, but since being cast down to Earth as a mortal, their wings had been torn and ripped out, leaving nothing but gnarled and grotesque scars behind.

Aside from having no wings prior, they have since attained most of their powers since. They have increased speed, strength, stamina, and agility. Surprisingly light and fast on their feet and deadly in combat, with a sword or bow it's all the same. One day they hope to regain their wings, but they doubt they ever will, as doing so would require them to sacrifice their life for someone else's, as well as being in the good grace of God once more. Besides, if they regained their wings, would they ever be the same or work like they once did? But as well as not feeling pain, they can't feel anything either, essentially numb to both pain and pleasure. Rion can feel it when someone holds their hand or kisses them on the cheek, yes. But the feeling one gets when experiencing said touch isn't there, the butterflies in your stomach doesn't happen to them, as much as they would like to, they don't. Which is another reason why Neden wants their wings back, so they can feel things again, and not just pretend to feel.

T A L E N T S
Music, shouldn't come as a surprise that they are naturally born at music and instruments. Before they came to earth they were playing instruments and singing when they weren't watching over people on earth as their Guardian Angel | Archery, while it is a cliche vision, seeing an Angel with a bow, Neden is rather skilled and adept with the weapon, almost never missing a shot | Extreme sports or adrenaline jumping, such as rock climbing and cave spelunking, whatever the case, Neden is a clear fan of it and lives for the small adrenaline boost they get from anything | Swordsmanship, they are spry and light on their feet and it is almost hypnotic to see them in action with a blade | Cooking, they find the smallest of things to be the greatest of things to do, and cooking is no exception |

S T R E N G T H S
| They can go days without eating or sleeping due to their lack of being human, but they do partake in eating if they want to | Their protective nature for others, whether it's the Guardian Angel in them still, or simply being a decent being, they have a love for others that come all too naturally for them | They are undyingly loyal to those that earn their trust and will easily do whatever it takes to help those they care for | Their knowledge is immense as they spent much time reading and learning new things | Combat, no surprise considering they were once a soldier in heaven |

W E A K N E S S E S & F E A R S
| The fact that they are a hopeless romantic, even after being cast down to Earth for it, they crave wanting a relationship, but are afraid when someone finds out what they are, no one would want to be with them | The fact they cannot feel pain, while its hard to break through their diamond-hard skin, they can still be injured over time and not realizing it could get them killed one day | Their main weakness is silver, as it is the one thing that can pierce their hard flesh and can cause burns and rashes to the skin if only exposed for long periods of time | Neden's cockiness has gotten them into a few fights that they wished they could have avoided | The scars on their back, they cause immense pain when touched and is their biggest weakness as it is the one part of their body that is incredibly weak to damage | Threats to the innocent and children, one thing that truly pisses them off and sends them into a blind fury is innocent people being hurt for no reason | They aren't exactly the best with people and as such they suffer from minor social axniety | They fear of never getting their wings back, and if they did, they doubt they'd be the same as they heard horror stories from former angels of having gnarled and deformed wings when they reearned them, or even worse, the dreaded black wings that are a rare occurence among Angels and is usually a bad omen when one attains those raven , jet black wings |


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So begins...

Neden Isimir's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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rosie 0 | 0 travis



Christmas had been a welcome break from the fear and the tension of the previous attacks. But the peace and quiet had to end at some point, and it ended two days after Christmas, when Neden called her to tell her that Markus had died. It didn’t take long for the anxiety to start seeping back in. Rosie knew it was time to do something. Something that could make people feel a part of something, let them know that they were doing something. So she called another town meeting. Neden was going to update them on the patrols, let them know if or how they could help. Rosie was going to see if there was any more interest in her self-defense class, and see if anyone else had anything to contribute. And more than anything, she was going to try and give everyone hope.

After the holidays things seemed to get back to normal, though unfortunately normal meant people being paranoid and scared of the Branded and the town being vulnerable. Travis had slowly been spreading rumors of another attack to keep people on alert and not to get comfortable, though he did feel bad making people freak out. He was thankful that another meeting awas coming together, would give the town a chance to come together, as well as get some more information for him to report back to his superiors.

Travis set up in the same spot as last time, towards the back of the room and keeping an eye on things, the only thing he had on him this time was the knife gifted to him by Alex. He took a deep breath as people sat down and the meeting was about to get underway. Though a running figure through the crowd caught his attention, Kaylessa. She handed something to Rosie, and glanced at Travis, but didn’t keep eye contact before backing out of the light and people turned their attention back to Rosie.

Rosie didn’t quite know how to react when Kay ran up to her as she was about to start to speak and shoved a note into her hand, telling her she had to read it out to the crowd. Rosie didn’t have time to read it beforehand, and so opened it on stage, in front of the entire town. She didn’t know how she managed to keep herself composed, her stomach feeling as though it had plummeted through the floor. For just a moment, she was tempted to just read out the statement and let what happened happen. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She needed to get his side of the story first. And so she read out the statement, but instead changed the final line.


“Dear monsters of the so called town of Greythorne,

From our recent attack on your encampment and what we have observed, we have seen that you are somehow able to act somewhat like actual human citizens. So this is a letter from us to let you know we will be withdrawing our resources that were used to try to smother you from this world. We will be keeping an eye on all of you from a distance to monitor our new peace.

Also, to prove this to you here is some information. There is a spy amongst you, and has been for an extended amount of time. Providing us figures with your numbers, the details of the type monsters you are, points of interest, and other information so we could have the advantage.

We will reveal the spy in three days.

Sincerely,

-The Branded”


She shot a look at Kay. “Trust me, I’ll explain later,” the look said. She took a deep breath as panicked and angry discussion broke out. “Listen to me.” She said with enough power to make everyone listen. “We cannot let this divide us. For all we know, this could all be another ploy. We need to trust each other. We have to work together, no matter what. Neden will now discuss the patrols, as well as how this changes in light of what we’ve just discovered.”

She didn’t particularly listen for the rest of the meeting, instead staring at the floor and trying to keep herself calm. The minute things wrapped up, she got to her feet and walked up to Trav. “My place. Now,” she ordered, heading straight outside to avoid anyone talking to her.

The letter. Travis leaned off the wall as it was read. He knew nothing about it, where it came from, why it was sent. Especially with the part with them almost blowing his cover. What is their plan here, why would they act like they are giving up? Possibly to make them lower their guard. Trav thought to himself as he watched Rosie take control of the situation. He thought about sneaking out, but knew that would quickly put suspicion on him, more than there already was. People would panic and probably quickly pointing fingers.

As the meeting came to the end Rosie caught Travis’ attention as she approached him, just about demanding him to follow her. He took a look around and followed her out. The two didn’t talk during the walk, Rosie keeping a slightly faster pace than Travis towards her place. After the two arrived, she closed the door behind him, a look on her face he hadn’t seen before. Travis quickly spoke up to try to ease the tension. “I don’t believe this letter, it’s a fake out for us to lower our guards. But if this spy talk is real, we sho-” Travis was cut off when Rosie held out the letter to him.

Rosie could hardly even look at Travis as they walked back to hers, her heart in her mouth. She was furious- both at him and at herself. Because she had never even considered it, not really. She’d let herself be drawn in, just let herself believe he was different, after everything. She let them both in, slamming the door behind them. She was almost hurt when Travis began trying to cover it. She couldn’t even say anything, just shoved the letter into his hands.

“Don’t you dare try and bullshit me, Travis,” she said quietly. “I could have turned the town on you, so the least you owe me is the goddamn truth. Is this for real?” She asked, her voice low and even and too calm.

Travis was surprised how Rosie spoke to him, asking for the truth and if it was real. He opened the letter and saw it was exactly what Rosie had said during the meeting, except for one thing, something that Rosie hadn’t said, but changed.

The spy, Travis Richard Graveson.

He was petrified. They had ratted him out. Just about threw him to the wolves, and it was only Rosie that had prevented it. Trav stuttered for a second before letting the letter fall to the ground as he looked up at Rosie with soft eyes. “Rosie… I…” Travis took a deep breath. “Yes…” He sighed as he confessed the letter spoke truth about him being a spy and working for the Branded. “But Rosie, you have to listen to me. I didn’t mean for any of our friends to get hurt. I didn’t know how amazing any of you were, are.”

Rosie knew it long before he said yes, but that didn’t stop that one word from feeling like a punch to the chest. She raised an eyebrow as he said he’d never meant for any of their friends to be hurt. Our friends, Travis? Are you actually being serious right now? Is that the only part of it you regret? Every single person that died in those attacks was somebody’s friend. They were all people, and you had a part in their death. Don’t you dare say you regret our friends being hurt.” She shook her head, turning away slightly. “So… what was this? Just… a way of working your way even deeper into the town? They don’t trust you, but they trust me, so if they know I trust you, maybe they’ll trust you too?” She asked.

Travis just listened to the retort coming from her, everything she was saying was true. He was responsible for the death of many people in Greythorne. He regretted all of it. The morning after the attacks, seeing not just the bloodshed, but the internal pain and mourning that people wore. Trav barely kept himself together after seeing the misery he had caused. “Rosie, listen. You’re right, I am responsible for all that, and it’s eaten away at me. I regret all of it, I wish I could take it all back, never come to Greythorne and not bring the death that had followed me here…” He trailed off as Rosie turned away from him.

Hearing her question what they were hurt more than anything, after everything that had happened, being with her actually brought joy to Trav’s life, bringing light to the darkness that had been clouding him. “What? No, this. Us. It’s real. I promise. Just listen to me.” Travis said as she reached and gently grabbed onto Rosie’s shoulder.

Rosie felt his hand on her shoulder and for the first time, she snapped. She slapped his hand away and whirled around to face him. “No, Travis. Nothing you can say is going to change my mind. You came here with the sole purpose of hurting people, and you succeeded. Markus is dead because of you!” She yelled, her voice cracking. She took a step back and reached up, undoing her necklace and pressing it into his hand. “Get out of here. You have two days before I tell everyone what you did,” she said. “And if you’re still here then… it’s your own problem.”


Travis took a step back as his hand was slapped away and was quickly met with Rosie yelling at him, he had never seen her like this before. He barely had time to respond to what she had yelled about, bringing up Markus, saying he was dead because of him. Rosie had come to Trav when she found out, and telling him. He was speechless and his heart sank along with a pain in his chest. He wasn’t exactly close to Markus, but they got along well enough, and he was dead because of him. The next thing that came out of her mouth was telling him to leave, that he had two days before she would tell everyone. Travis wanted to stay, say whatever he needed to convince Rosie, but he knew by the tone of her voice that there was no way. He closed his hand around the necklace forced into his hand. “If this is truly what you want…” He said in a low voice, pain building up in his chest.

After stuffing the necklace into his internal jacket pocket, Trav turned around and went to leave Rosie’s place, but stopped and turned back as he opened the door. “Rosie, I lo-” He paused, realizing there was no point in saying the next two words. “Thank you…” Travis said as he walked out and closed the door behind him, keeping his head low as he went back to his place. He had two days to leave, he didn’t want to, but he knew he had no other choice. Travis had realized he had lost the greatest thing that had been gifted to him, not just friends, not just someone that cared for him, but just happiness in general. I’m sorry for everything Rosie, but I’m not sorry for loving you…

Rosie couldn’t even look at him right then. She only stayed in the hall to make sure he actually left. Then when he left, she just sank down against the wall, the tears starting to stream down her face. After everything, she’d really let herself think there would be one good thing in it all. She’d been wrong. She gave herself a few seconds before standing up, brushing herself down. She went to the bathroom to fix her makeup, before taking a deep breath and heading back into town. She had to keep it together. She had to lead by example, and that meant going back out to see if anyone needed her help.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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Phoenix flinched a little as someone yelled at them, his grip on Alex’s hand tightening for a fraction of a second. Then he looked and realised that it was just Kay. But her usual smile was gone, and she seemed… almost angry. Phoenix had never seen Kay properly angry before. And it… seemed to be directed at him. He glanced at Alex, before remembering Zoe was there. He forced a smile and handed Coco’s lead to Alex. “I’ll be right back, okay? You two play nice,” he said. He walked a short way away before turning to look at Kay. “Is… everything okay?”

Kay heard Alex say hello but ignored him as she just waited for Phoenix, and then followed him until he stopped and turned back to her, asking if everything was okay. “No.” She said short, pausing for a second. “Why did you kiss Alex? And now why are you two, you know, a thing!?” Her voice raised a little, as she scowled.

He knew the minute she spoke that he was right about her being annoyed with him. His stomach plummeted as she asked why he’d kissed Alex. “Kay I- I’m sorry, okay? I just… that night in the graveyard, I wasn’t thinking straight, I didn’t mean to rub it in your face, okay, but we were- I was scared.” He’d tried not to think about it since, because the guilt was too much. But now he had to come to terms with it.

Kaylessa eyes squinted as Phoenix gave excuses, about how he didn’t mean to rub it in her face. “I told you, I told you everything and how I felt!” Kay shouted and gave him a light push. “Why did you just let me tell you everything? Make me look dumb and stupid, I felt pathetic.” Kaylessa paused for a second.

Phoenix didn’t fight back, let Kay push him. He probably deserved it. Why hadn’t he stopped her from telling him all that? He hadn’t needed to know, he hadn’t wanted to know but he’d just let her because he couldn’t say no. He should have said something, but he didn’t. And now he’d probably just ruined their friendship forever.

“Kay, I never meant to hurt you, okay? When you were telling me this, I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that he felt the same way. And I tried to tell you that Aex was like that with everybody,” he said, dropping his voice so that only Kay would be able to hear him. “I don’t know what you want me to do, or say, but I’m sorry.”

Kaylessa scoffed when he said he didn’t want to hurt her. “You didn’t hurt me, what hurt was when I fell out of the tree and couldn't swim. You weren’t there for me then just like you weren’t there for me when I confessed how I felt.” She stared at Phoenix, as her mind went back to the attack, and how Travis saved her from drowning, the same guy being accused of being a spy. “You know what I want? I want you to not be with him, I want you to feel what I felt when I saw you kiss, when I saw you holding each other at the christmas party.”

Phoenix just stared at Kay at her response. This… this wasn’t her. Part of him wanted to reach out to her, wanted to find out what was wrong. But he was also so hurt by what she was saying. The newcomer from the Christmas party, Hayden, appeared, almost from nowhere to take her arm, obviously trying to calm her down. But Phoenix was too angry, too hurt to even acknowledge him. “Kay. I died that night. I’m sorry you got hurt, but I couldn’t be there, because I had just bled out in a graveyard. I told you that Alex was that way with everyone, and you didn’t listen. I’m not saying I didn’t make any mistakes, but this is not all my fault. You have your role in it.”

“Kay, come on. We should go,” Hayden said, pulling on Kay’s arm, trying to get her to leave with him.

As Phoenix talked, Kay noticed Hayden was there but just focused on the man in front of her. “Yeah, you died, but the second you were alive you kissed him. And you know it wasn’t just because you weren’t thinking. If I had healed you, would you have kissed me?” Kay kept speaking as Hayden held onto her arm. “First you destroyed the flower crown I gave him, and then pretended to care about it and fixed it. You pretended to listen to how I felt, pretended to be my friend... “

Some tears started to form under Kay’s eyes as she spoke. Hayden turned her towards him and into a hug, trying to calm her down. “Just take me home, please.” She said to Hayden, muffled into his shoulder.

Phoenix just froze, his anger dissipating. Even through all this, he’d still thought of Kay as a friend. And he’d ruined that. Just like he’d ruined everything else. As Hayden pulled her into a hug, Phoenix took a step back, and glanced at Alex and Zoe. With a chill down his back, he realised that Neden was also there now, and that they’d all seen- and probably heard the whole thing. They were going to hate him too. Everyone was going to hate him for hurting Kay. And could he blame them?

“I’m sorry-” He stammered out, before turning and heading back towards the apartment, needing to be anywhere but there right then.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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A L E X GARCIA
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xxxi ain't happy, i'm feeling glad
xxxi got sunshine in a bag
xxxi'm useless but not for long
xxxthe future is coming on

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Alex let Zoe and Phoenix do most of the talking as they walked through town. He was tired. The nightmares and visions had started again the night Markus died. If he’d been less upset about them, he might have found some poetic beauty in it. Instead, he was just annoyed. He heard someone shouting, felt Phoenix’s grip on his hand tighten, and shot his head to the source of the yelling. It was just Kay. He was halfway through the process of relief when he realized that something was wrong. “Hi, Kay,” There was clearly more he wanted to say, but between Kay ignoring him, and Phoenix handing Coco off to him, the words never left his tongue.

As Kay and Phoenix began to argue, Alex looked over to Zoe. This probably wasn’t the welcome into town that she’d envisioned. When she quietly asked what was going on, all Alex could do was shrug, “I honestly have no idea.” A part of Alex wanted to take Zoe and pull her away from it; this wasn’t any of her business, and it honestly felt like it wasn’t any of his, but something about what he was hearing was connecting dots in his mind Honestly, Neden just about running him over was a welcome distraction.

Neden rambled on for a short while, only really stopping long enough to get Zoe’s name. Alex smiled when they picked Coco up, some familiarity would do the little dog good. She’d been, understandably, upset since Markus died (well, since he left her with Alex and Phoenix, to be exact). She was adjusting, but Alex knew that her whole world had been turned upside down. She missed Markus, and there wasn’t anything Alex could do about that. “We were just showing Zoe around town when we… Ran into Kay.”

Normally he would’ve said more, but Phoenix and Kay were getting pretty intense, and Alex desperately wanted to say something, to try to break it up, but he didn’t even know what was going on. He would probably make things worse, and he didn’t want to leave Zoe there with Neden to watch everything go down. He wasn’t the fondest of her, but she honestly looked like she was witnessing something traumatic. Maybe she was. Thankfully, the argument seemed to end shortly after Hayden stepped in, but then Phoenix just turned and left. Shit. Alex looked to Neden, then Zoe, “Phoenix!” He called out, to no avail.

It became pretty apparent that Neden was going to go after Phoenix, so Alex took Coco back and looked at Zoe, “So, I know we asked you to join us for dinner, but that isn’t happening.” The thought that Alex owed her nothing, and didn’t have to do anything to help her crossed his mind, but that would only serve to upset Phoenix, and Phoenix didn’t need any more reasons to be upset. As badly as he wanted to go after Phoenix and try to make everything better, Alex knew he had some other business to attend to. “Here,” He handed Coco off to Zoe, who was still standing there like she had no idea what was going on. He sent a quick text to Jaiden, explaining that they needed to take a rain check on dinner, if she was still planning on coming, and he started once again down the sidewalk, not bothering to check if Zoe was following behind.

They didn’t talk as they walked, they didn’t talk when Alex bought Zoe something to eat, and they didn’t talk when Alex found her a room to get checked into. Alex almost left for home without saying a word, but he finally spoke up just before he left, “I don’t know how the next few days are going to go. Phoenix is… Upset. Obviously.” Alex paused, trying to decide how much information to share, “He’s not really used to people sticking around when things get rough, and even I don’t have the best track record of being there for him. So,” He sighed, “I’m trying to do better. I definitely don’t deserve him, but I’m trying to.” He shrugged, “I guess… Listen, I’ll talk to you, I guess you deserve that much after the shit show you went through today. But I have to put Phoenix first. I don't know how much he's going to need-or want-me around, but...” He shook his head. He had some thoughts to add, but Zoe didn't need to know, "Anyway, I'll come to you." With that, he left Zoe for the night, and went to carry Coco home.

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Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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Z O E PEÑA
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xxxsomething is familiar
xxxlike a dream I can reach but not quite hold
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xxxlike a friend I've always known

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The whole thing may have been foolish, but now that she was here, Zoe was really starting to enjoy herself. She wasn’t sure she had expected to find Alex in some sort of relationship, but Phoenix seemed to be genuinely wonderful, and definitely had a cooler head on his shoulders. Then a woman’s voice yelled out at them. She heard Alex try to greet her, and Phoenix walked a short way away. Not far enough. She half expected Alex to talk to her, walk away farther with her, try to distract her, something. Zoe didn’t know Alex well, but judging by his face, the things they were hearing was news to him, too. Still, she leaned in and whispered, “Ale-Alex. What’s this about?” Only to hear that he didn’t know, either.

She had halfway been hoping that asking about it would remind him that she was there, and that he’d do something. She felt like she was listening to something very personal that she had no right to know, and it was more than a little uncomfortable. She was having some first day in town.

Eventually, someone else appeared-having almost run right into Alex, clearly not paying attention to where they were going. They just started talking, and introduced themself. “Oh, I’m Zoe,” She replied, when asked for her name. She thought about clarifying who she was even farther, but between the argument happening behind them, and Neden welcoming her to town and then picking up her brother’s dog, she had no idea what to do.

“I died that night.” Zoe wasn’t really listening to the argument at that point; she’d been trying to tune it out, but something about that comment hit her ears, and a look of horror crossed her face. She didn’t know a lot about Alex, but she did know that he was a necromancer. Their father had told her as much when she asked why he lived in Canada, so far away from the rest of him. She’d always been under the impression that necromancy was a dangerous and shameful thing, and now she had some strange ideas running through her mind, and she couldn’t help but wonder what Alex had done. She tried not to be too obvious about it when Alex turned to look at her, but she felt like her thoughts were painted across her forehead.

After that, it wasn’t long before things ended and Alex was handing Coco to her. Zoe didn’t mind holding the dog- she was soft and cute and very clearly getting tired of walking. At first, she’d just assumed he was planning on going after Phoenix, but he started sending text messages, and then turned and started walking the opposite direction Phoenix had gone. Honestly, Zoe was planning on standing there until she’d figured out what to do, but then she realized that she had his dog. “Hey, wait!” She hurried to walk beside him, and one look at his face told her not to try to talk to him, so she didn’t.

Zoe quickly learned that the good thing about living in a town populated with a variety of magical beings was that there was always something open. Alex went to buy her something to eat, and when Zoe started to stop him, trying to explain that he didn’t have to do that, he just shot her a look that pretty effectively communicated his desire that she just shut up. So she wound up letting him buy her some dinner, and, since she had Coco, he even carried the takeout bag for her. He was using his phone quite a bit as he walked her through the town, and when they came upon a bed and breakfast with plenty of open rooms, she realized why. She didn’t remind him that all of her things were back at his place. The plan had been to find her a place to stay and bring her back there after dinner, but they’d had to adjust the plan. At this point, she figured she would swing by in the morning to pick it all up on her way out of town. This had gone so badly that she was willing to admit it was a terrible idea to have come in the first place.

Then Alex finally spoke to her, and though she didn’t really know Phoenix and Alex, the words just about broke her heart. They’d lived very different lives than she had, and she was only just realizing it. She wanted to thank Alex for being willing to give her a chance. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t think he was all that bad, and she was sure Phoenix didn’t think he was too good for him. But she didn’t. Instead, she just said, “Okay.” And watched him walk away.

Then she closed her door, sat down, and ate her dinner. She had a lot to reflect on, and a lot to think about.

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Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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What had come next wasn't something Neden had expected. Once seeing their friends, some semblance of normalcy and possibly even something to help lift their spirits, but that wasn't the case. They simply watched as Phoenix excused himself to talk to Kay, who Neden simply gave a small, awkward wave to as they could tell she was rather upset. But what happened took Neden by surprise. Neden knew that there were some unspoken feelings there, but with the ensuing argument they didn't know what to do or say, if they could even help. Which they highly doubted. This was between Phoenix and Kay, no one else. Neden simply just stood there awkwardly as they put their hands in their coat pocket, waiting for the argument to eventually end. Which, when it did, all Neden could do was sigh, pinching the arch of their nose. "I'll go talk to him...Alex you...You and Zoe just take care, I'll check up on you guys later." They said with a half smile and turned after Phoenix. Neden quickly jogged up to him. Taking a moment of what to say or do, all they did was walk beside him in silence for a moment as they silently walked. After a few minutes, the unbearably awkward silence began to be a bit too much and Neden decided it was best to try to break the silence since the look on Phoenix's face told them everything they needed to know. "Hey uh...Look. I don't expect you to want to talk about...Whatever the fuck that was back there, but...I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to. I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk to right now but, my offer still stands, I guess is what I'm trying to say." Neden said with a small smile, which quickly faded just as almost quickly as it appeared. They knew that neither of them were the closest of friends, but Phoenix needed someone to talk to or at least be there for him, and as much as they knew he probably didn't want to be bothered, something in the back of their head was telling them otherwise.

Phoenix just wanted to go home. He had to hold it together until then, had to just make it home. And then someone appeared beside him, a surprising, but friendly presence. Neden walked beside him for a while, but then they spoke. Their words were almost enough for Phoenix to crack and break down. But he was nearly home, so he just numbly nodded. Having someone there felt nice, someone who didn’t want or need him to talk about it. He knew he’d need to talk to Alex about it later, that Alex wouldn’t let it drop until he did. They reached the door to the apartment and Phoenix cleared his throat. “I, uh… Do you want to come in for tea? Or coffee? I made cookies yesterday, I think we should still have some left,” he said, his voice cracking. He forced himself to try and keep his voice level, tried to keep it together. Everyone probably already hated him, Neden probably wouldn’t accept, they probably just pitied him. He was already expecting them to decline. “It’s fine if you have somewhere else to be. Thanks for walking with me,” he said. Him and Neden had never been particularly close, not really, so he couldn’t blame them for leaving.

Neden gave him a gentle smile and small nod of their head as Phoenix more or less said that it was okay for them to walk with him. Silently arriving at his home, they looked at him as he spoke, it was even more evident now than ever that Phoenix did need someone. Neden softly closed the door and stepped inside as Phoenix unlocked it, asking if they wanted to stay or if they had some place to be it was okay. "I actually don't really have any place to be so, I don't mind, and no thank you is necessary." They said with a small smile looking around the place, "Tea actually sounds nice, Phoenix. But, you want some help?" The angel asked giving him a reassuring smile once more.

Phoenix was, for a moment, pleasantly surprised when Neden agreed to come in. He shook his head as they asked if he wanted help. “No, thanks. But make yourself at home, sorry if you have to move anything,” he said. Usually the action of making tea was enough to calm him, but not tonight. Tonight, it didn’t do anything to help. He handed Neden a mug and dug out the box of cookies, leaving it on the coffee table in front of them. There was a moment or so of awkward silence as he just stared into the tea. “I think I’ve messed everything up, Neden,” he suddenly blurted out. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly needed to talk about it, to say something about it. “I hurt Kay, and I didn’t mean to, but… But now, everyone’s going to be mad, and Alex is going to be mad and… I don’t want anyone else to leave.” Once he opened up, he couldn’t stop, the tears starting to trickle down his face.

Neden gave him a simple nod of their head as Phoenix said he wouldn't need any help, and chuckled slightly as he apologized if they needed to move anything out of the way. The apartment was by no means entirely mess, but wasn't entirely a cleaned to perfection either. After clearing a few things to the side, Neden took a seat on one of the chairs as they awaited for the tea. Which, they returned with a smile once it was finished and served. Neden held the mug in their hands as silence took over the room, before Phoenix finally spoke up. Saying how he was afraid that everyone was angry and upset with him, how he hurt Kay and how he just messed up in general. A small chuckle escaped their lips initially, but a feeling of genuine worry overtook them when the tears started to roll down his face. Neden didn't know what to say or do, if they even could, but they never regretted coming along with him. Phoenix needed someone and while they probably weren't his or anyone else's first choice, they were going to help as best as they could. Neden's hands wrapped around the mug for a moment as they tried to think of anything, anything at all. All they could do was give a soft sigh as they looked around the room before looking at Phoenix, a small pit forming in their stomach. "Phoenix, I...I don't know what entirely happened, and I'm sorry if it makes me sound ignorant but...This isn't your fault. No one can blame one person for this. You didn't want any of this to happen, right? So it's not your fault….Humans aren't infallible...Neither are any of us…" they said softly, looking around once more before finally looking at him again, "I'm not going to judge you on anything, okay? You only have to talk about what you feel comfortable with."

Phoenix appreciated Neden trying to help, he really did. But they didn’t know. He just traced the pattern on the mug with his thumb, just still staring into his tea. “Everyone leaves,” he forced out. “I was the reason my parents couldn’t leave town so they would just leave anyway and leave me behind. Every- every single guy in high school, I was always too much or not enough or just not right. And then my parents left for good and then… and then Cas just left, just left without saying goodbye because I wasn’t good enough for him either, I have never been good enough for anyone,” he choked out, rambling. “And now, everyone knows I hurt Kay, they’re all going to leave too.”

Neden listened silently as he spoke, taking in everything that they could know to help better understand. Not just the situation, but Phoenix as a person. They felt their heart sink when he began to talk about his parents and everyone he knew in high shool. How they just left, like he was nothing. Neden bit their lip as they tried to think of something to say, anything at all. But it was only when Phoenix said the name "Cas" and how "He left without saying goodbye", that Neden snapped back to attention. "Wait, wait, wait!" They exclaimed, slowly standing up as they did so. "Cas? When you say Cas, and He. Do you mean, tall, overly pale and blonde hair?" They questioned, looking Phoenix over. "Basically me if I was a dude? Well, more so kind of like you but...less you?" They gestured rather vaguely to Phoenix overall.

Neden’s reaction startled Phoenix enough to distract him for a moment from everything. He stared at them for a few seconds. What they were saying was vague and yet still made sense. “I… yeah, I think we’re talking about the same person. How… Neden, how the hell do you know him? He was here for like a week and hardly spoke to anyone,” he asked. That had been Cas’ first time in town, as far as anyone knew, but… Phoenix honestly didn’t know all that much about Neden, so it was entirely likely they could have crossed paths somewhere, somehow.

Neden gave a short and awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of their neck for a moment as they were questioned on how they knew Cas. And if it was even possible considering how short of a time he was in town. "Well ya see…" another small chuckle escaped their lips, before sighing as they sat back down. Looking up at Phoenix as they spoke, "Alright, look. I'm about to be real with you on some things, okay? And I swear, I am not bullshitting you." they gave him a look once more before looking around, slowly standing up as they paced the room, "I've know Cassiel, well...Cas for a long time. We have a complicated history, to say the very least. He was part of why I got screwed over and got sent to...Well...Here." they gestured vaguely with a small shrug, "And I don't mean to Greythorne. Much like Cas...we...Have the same general backstory. But, we were a lot alike, but for the most part I am nothing like that douche bag. Where he left you, I would never." Neden said, giving him a small look before turning their back on him for a moment, biting their lip. They hadn't told anyone much of their past before, and the anxiety of it was begining to get to them. Taking a few deep breaths they continued on, "I uh...I've been in Greythorne a lot longer than people probably realize. I don't want to sound like a creep but, I've been watching Greythorne before the first attack even happened, before the patrols became a thing. Well, a known thing…I was there the night of the first one but...If I could have helped stop it, stopped what happened...You losing your friend I...I would have changed so much. I'm sorry, Phoenix.." Neden said softly as they were finally able to look Phoenix in the eyes after their long rambling.

He’d known that there was something… more about Neden after the night in the graveyard. He hadn’t dwelled on it, because dwelling on that night just hurt far too much. But he wasn’t terribly surprised to hear that they’d known each other. He didn’t know if he was relieved or sad to hear that Cas had screwed Neden over as well. He just shook his head a little at the mention of the first attack. “We all fucked up that night, Neden. Most of us had never experienced anything like that. I don’t know how long you’ve been around but I’m willing to bet it was the same for you. I don’t know if any of us could have saved Aurora. We… we all made mistakes and I’ve been trying to figure out how to make them right even still. I don’t know how, and I don’t know if I can, but I’ve got to try, right?”

Neden sighed as Phoenix said that they had all messed up, and as well as how he doubted any of them had ever seen anything like that before. They gave a small smirk and chuckle for a moment, as a feeling of unease slowly crept through. Neden quirked an eyebrow at the mention of the friend that had been killed the first time. Neden hadn't known her very much, like the others in Greythorne, Neden kept at a distance. But from what they saw, her passing was still affecting some. They gave him a simple nod of their head, "All any of us can do is try. From what I've seen in...my...two hundred years on earth, trying to do anything is sometimes all you can do." Neden gave a small smile before it faded away as they looked to the side. "Phoenix I…I have seen a lot of things in my time and, have done some bad things myself but...What's happened to Greythorne can't happen again. All we can do is work together on this. I know I haven't always been the best but, I hope to live up to what Markus...what he wanted. I'm just sorry I couldn't have helped in any way. But if you ever need someone, just let me know and I'll be there." Neden said with a small smile, this one being more genuine than any of the others. "And Phoenix? Fuck what your parents and all those people did to you in the past. You don't need people like that around you. What I'm trying to say is, I'll try my damndest to be there for you, Phoenix and everyone else. Guess you could call me the Fairy Squad Mother, or...well...ya know. We can work on that later." Neden said with an awkward chuckle and smile.

Phoenix nodded, swallowing a little as Neden said it couldn’t happen again. None of them wanted it to happen. He wished he could do more, but he wasn’t meant for combat. He’d learned the hard way that he would just freeze, would only be able to act if it was too late. But Neden’s comment made him smile despite everything. “Thanks,” he said. “Really, I… I mean it. I’m no fighter, even with that cool ass sword,” he said with a smirk. “But… if there’s anything I can do for you, for the patrols… Coffee is on the house and if you need any food after a patrol or anything, ring me any time. I’ll sort you guys out.”

Neden smiled at his comment of not being a fighter. "Not everyone is, and nothing wrong with that. Hell, we always could use another pretty face as our new poster child." they said with a wink and smile. "And you're very welcome, Nix. We'll figure something out. After all, we're all some sort of messy family, right?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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ROSIE THOMPSON
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outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxwhen you act like this
xxxwhen you get so into yourself
xxxi lose track of common goals
xxxand letting go so i can be all alone
Rosie was been relieved and delighted when Jaiden had taken her up on her offer. Jaiden was spending much more time around Rosie’s, which was making Travis’ absence a little less difficult. The town knew by now, and people had started regarding her with a degree of suspicion. But it had only lasted a day or two until they’d realised she was deathly serious in her warning that if he was found within town limits, he was to be captured and taken to whoever was leading the patrols at the time. A vampire by the name of Evelyn had stepped up to help with the patrols following Markus’ death. A young vampire by all standards, even younger than Rosie herself, but she’d quickly proved herself. And she’d promised Rosie she would only kill him if really necessary. He’d left town after three days. She’d been reassured of that by the spriggans, who seemed to be of the opinion they were much better off without them and that she could do better anyway. Rosie had thanked them for their information and had left it at that.

Training Jaiden had been a welcome distraction. She was trying to keep it as broad as she can, teaching self defense as well as offensive techniques. She’d been taking it slow with the magic, partially because Jaiden was still unsure, and partially because Rosie herself was unsure of how to best train and advise on it. But she was seeing progress. It was small, but it was there, and that was something.

She’d all but stopped giving her classes assignments and tests. Partially so she’d have less to do herself, but also because she could tell they were scared and stressed enough without her piling work on top of it. More than once, her class had gotten derailed as they talked about what was happening. She let it happen, knowing that talking about what was happening was important.

Seeing how scared her students were had prompted Rosie to do some thinking. People were feeling scared all over town, holding their breaths, waiting for something to happen. People needed hope, needed a sign, needed support. There were families who had lost a loved one or who were trying to help a loved one heal. So Rosie had approached Phoenix with an idea, and he’d organized the whole thing in a week. A brunch in his cafe, donation only. All of the money raised would be going to the families that needed it. She had no idea if they’d even make that much, but it was also something to get people out, to get people interacting again.

She woke up a little earlier than usual, showered and got ready. She’d volunteered her services to Phoenix to help keep things running smoothly for the morning, but she’d also accepted the leadership role she seemed to have been handed, and she knew it was important for people to see her there. She found herself ready a little earlier than needed, and decided to make herself some breakfast, figuring that she was going to the cafe to help, not get brunch herself.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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0000Neden0Isimir 00000000000000000|000000000000000000000| Violet0 Marsden

Fallen Angel | Outfit x|xhex: #a39d9d 0000000000000000000000000000000Revenant | Outfit | xxhex:#2b2a2a

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The following days had been a blur for both of them, as well as everyone else. Things had been leading up to the brunch and fundraiser at the cafe, and everyone had been looking forward to it. Well, mostly everyone. Neden would have passed on it, if it hadn’t been for Phoenix and being at his own cafe, Neden knew they couldn’t say no. But it was Phoenix, and after they had been through, they knew they had to. The morning had been a slow one. An almost painfully slow morning. Neden rolled out of bed, and haphazardly dressed thselves in an outfit of clothing they just threw together, not caring if things entirely matched or not. Tying their hair up in a pony-tail and put a black beanie on, Neden glanced in the broken reflection of the mirror once more and sighed. Maybe all of this was a big mistake coming here, to Greythorn in the first place. They were shaken out of their thoughts when their phone buzzed in their pants’ pocket, bringing them back to earth. It was a short message from Violet.

Meet me at the cafe, it’s important. Come early, we need to talk.

Was all that the message read. Neden quirked an eyebrow in response. They didn’t know what or why Violet needed to talk to them about, they hadn’t really talked to anyone in the past few days. Deciding to be a hermit and just give themselves time, to just...Think. Think of everything that lead up to this, and it was something they hadn’t wanted to think about, yet here they were. Greythorn had become their home in the short amount of time that they had first arrived, and nothing was going to change that. At least that’s what they wanted to think. Neden sent a quick text back to Violet in response as they shoved a few things into their pockets, and quickly left for the cafe with an ever growing pit in their stomach.

Alright, will be there soon. Just leaving now. Cya in a bit.

---

The walk to the cafe had been a long one. It wasn’t that they lived far away from the town, it just seemed to go on for miles. Being in their head tended to do that. Neden didn’t know what Violet wanted to talk about, or if it was even really important, or if Violet was just trying to throw them off track. Seeing the small cafe in the distance, Neden tried to cheer up. They didn’t want anyone to see them so distressed, even if their overall appearance may have portrayed otherwise. Neden watched as a few familiar and unfamiliar faces walked in through the main door of the caffe as they grew closer to the building, but stopped as they were a few yards away from the entrance. Maybe they should just turn back and leave now, go back home and just not go. Act like something important came up, but something in the back of their head told them they had to, and that they really didn’t have much of a choice in this. Stepping into the cafe, and seeing familiar faces, who seemed to be in a better mood caused a small smile to crease their lips, but only for a moment. Neden gave Phoenix a small smile and nod of their head as they passed by him and Zoe who were in a small conversation by the front end of the building, not wanting to disturb them now.

Looking around for anyone else they may have recognized, they saw Rosie who was talking to a few different people, giving her a small nod and smile before passing on to the back part of the cafe. Looking around silently, Neden spotted a familiar figure off in the back corner, in a small booth by herself. Taking a deep breath they slowly strolled over and weaved through the dozens of people that flocked to the event. Neden gave a small smile as they neared the table, “This seat taken?” they said with a small, but obviously fake chuckle. Violet simply looked up at them with what seemed to be like dead eyes. “Sit.” she said simply to the Angel. Neden nodded and slipped into the booth, looking across at Violet with a quizzical look. “Everything okay? You haven’t really texted me in a while, nevermind not much before so...I started to worry-” Neden started, but was cut off as Violet shot them a look, one Neden had never seen from her before. It wasn’t one of anger or anything like that. It seemed like one of sadness. As if she had been crying prior to coming here. “Vio...I mean it. If something happened, you can tell me.” Neden said softly, giving her a small and genuine smile. Violet simply shook her head for a moment as she looked down. The two sat in silence for a moment before Violet looked back up at Neden, breaking the silence after what seemed like an eternity. “While I was away, again...I talked with someone. Someone that knows...Things and...Neden...I know. About...Everything.” she said softly, making sure that they kept their conversation low and between the two of them. Thankfully the music playing was helping to drown out most of what they were saying.

Neden was taken a back by the sudden exclamation by Violet. They weren’t expecting this, whatever it was. A genuine look of confusion overcame them as their brows furrowed. Leaning forward to be closer to Violet as they sat across the table from one another, “Sorry, but what? What are you talking about, Vio? You know what? And who did you talk to, nevermind where you went.” Neden said softly. Genuine concern and worry was now forming in their stomach, the more Violet spoke. “I know, Neden...About everything. Maybe not everything, but I know more about you than I did before. I know what you are, and what you’ve done.” Violet said, as her face began to slowly turn redder as tears began to slowly fall from her eyes. Wiping her tears away, she began to talk again before Neden could speak. “And don’t try bullshitting me, alright? I’ve seen the things that you’ve done...I just want to know why. How long did you think you could keep this charade up, Neden? Which, I know isn’t even your actual name.” tears burned behind her eyes as she looked at Neden, which only caused a small pit to form in her stomach. Having to look away from Neden, as even looking at them now became too much. Neden listened silently as Violet spoke, the words hit them like a brick wall to the chest. Neden felt like they couldn’t breathe, like all the oxygen in their lungs had been ripped out violently. Left gasping for air, as they just sat there motionless. Neden tried to think of what to say, anything. Anything at all, but their mind just went blank. For the first time in years, everything was just blank. Neden had no words to say, nothing to even try to say to her. Everything came out left field, leaving them in so much confusion. But worry soon overcame like waves in the ocean.

Neden struggled for a moment to regain the ability to speak as they felt their heart stop for a moment. Shaking their head for a moment as they looked back up at the girl that sat across from them. Neden wanted to just get up and give Violet a hug, apologize for everything. Explain that it wasn’t true, that it was all a lie. But feeling the emotions radiate off of her was so palpable, and real. Violet wasn’t lying, she was telling the truth. She knew, somehow she knew. She knew it all, and Neden didn’t know what to do. Biting their lip for a moment, Neden finally gathered the words to say as they could feel their own eyes beginning to burn, “Violet, I swear...Whoever told you those things...I’m sorry. I want to say that those were lies but...I can’t. I just don’t know what to say to you, I can’t say it’s all a lie and didn’t happen...Even though I wish it was, and never did happen. But I’m not that person anymore. I’m not.” Neden said with a look of sadness that overcame their entire face, leading up to their eyes as they looked around. “It’s all just really, really fucking complicated and a long story it’s just...I don’t know what to tell you or do...I’m sorry, Vio…” they said as they finally made eye contact with Violet, who simply looked up at them in return.

What came next, Neden wasn’t expecting and their heart sank at the words that came next from Violet. “I don’t want to hear that you’re sorry. I just want to know why. Why you lied for so long...You have to tell them. Everyone, Neden. Not just me. They all deserve to know.” Neden felt their heart skip more than just one beat. “Wh...What? Violet, I can’t. I can’t tell them. You’ll know what they’ll do. No one will-” “You tell them, or I will, Neden. That’s your choice. They know and find out by you, where you can explain everything. Or I’ll tell them. What one would you prefer?” Violet asked as she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at the angel that sat across from her. Neden swallowed hard for a moment, looking down and away as thoughts rushed through their mind. Coming here was a mistake, and they knew it. They should have left, but Violet would have told them all anyway. And no one would have been able to trust Neden again. They would have been viewed and seen as a traitor, that simply left before they could have been caught.

Neden exhaled sharply, looking up at Violet as they gave her a small glance, “Fine...I’ll tell them.” Neden slowly removed themselves from the booth. Looking about, they saw that everyone was still scattered across the building, and there was no way that they were going to make it a public display. Neden took out their phone, and after a few moments, multiple texts had been sent to those that needed to know, telling them they needed to talk in the backroom and that it couldn’t wait. Neden simply gave Violet one more look, one of sorrow and regret, before they turned and excused themselves to one of the backrooms, where they would await the others to arrive. A massive pit formed in Neden’s stomach as they stepped into the extra room in the back. It was small, but big enough for more than a dozen or so people to stand in. Neden felt a sudden urge and ran into the bathroom, and emptied whatever the contents in their stomach was. Everything felt like such a nightmare, that everything was out of touch and reality. Like this was some sort of dream or nightmare that had come to life. None of this was supposed to happen, and now they were forced to face one of their fears. Looking in the small mirror for a moment, Neden simply shook their head and exited the bathroom and returning to the backroom once more.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser
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PHOENIX WOODS
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outfit : herex|xhex: #c4a7be
xxxhey, i promise you will be fine
xxxgot the universe on your side
xxxwhen you're out in space
xxxdon't be afraid, no.
The first instinct that maybe there was more going on than first appeared was when Violet appeared... and also slapped Alex. It didn't seem like an angry slap though, almost as if she was trying to slap Alex out of something. And then it sank in. The dazed look on Alex's face hadn't just been caused by the presence of a shirtless woman. And Violet apparently knew it too. He wouldn't do anything like this to you. Of course he wouldn't. But Phoenix had jumped to conclusions and probably had just made everything worse.

Zada's explanation didn't do a whole lot to make him feel better. Apparently, the stranger's plan had just been to kill Alex after Zada had made an offhand comment. The thought, the feeling made Phoenix feel vaguely nauseous, and yet there was still a part of him that was glad that that was all that was going on. The stranger gave a half-assed apology, and Phoenix had to resist the temptation to shoot her a glare. When it was just the three of them left, Phoenix leaned against the wall, running his hands down his face. "Alex, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise- I didn't think- I just-"

Just what? Let years of shitty relationships ruin the one good relationship he'd had in years? Let his own damn insecurities take priority over trusting his boyfriend, his best friend, the person he should have been able to trust over anything else? Perhaps if he'd taken a minute to just read the situation, he would have noticed what was really going on. But no, he'd let his anger get the better of him, and he'd probably ruined everything.

He had no idea how he was supposed to go in and face a cafe full of customers. Forcing on a smile seemed like his idea of hell right about now, and he just couldn't face it. But when his phone buzzed in his pocket, he still dug it out to check that nothing was going horribly wrong. Instead, it was just a text from Neden, asking him to meet them in the back room. "Neden wants to talk to us about something," he said, wiping the last few tears from his face and straightening up. He headed in to the room to see Neden already standing there. They looked uncomfortable, and Phoenix got the impression this probably wasn't good news. He had to resist the temptation to just turn back around and go home, sleep it off and hope this had all been a bad dream. Instead he managed a weak smile at them. Rosie was there too, looking somewhere between impatient and concerned.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden
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Whispers are creeping
Under the gallows
People are talking
We could lose it all
Tell them something is coming
There's blood in the water
Give them a warning
Let it all come crashing down
Burn the castle to the ground
Hang the lies, no disguise
It's our time
Let it all come
Down down, down


Neden waited as patiently as they could for the others to eventually show up. At first they were beginning to think that no one was going to show up as it seemed like hours had passed by since they had first sent out the message. It was only when the door opened, and in stepped Rosie that some relief filled them, but it went away quickly as they remembered why. Normally seeing their friends would have brought a sense of happiness and safety, but now...Now the only thing it brought was pain and regret, Neden hated every moment of it. They stood in awkward silence as they continued to wait for the others, which soon all filed in one at a time. Zada and an unknown woman entered shortly after, and soon did Phoenix and Violet, who Neden could barely make eye contact with before they had to look away. They swallowed hard as they hoped others would soon follow, but after it was clear that Alex nor Jaiden, or Kaylessa would be joining, Neden knew it was time to finally talk. Neden licked their lips as they thought for a moment, taking in notice that Violet sat off in the corner on a stack of boxes that were on the floor, looking down and away from the group. Neden didn't know what had happened outside, but due to the energy and general emotions they were getting off of everyone, they were already all stressed and rather frankly didn't want to be here. They couldn't blame anyone, Neden didn't even want to be here anyway, but yet here they were.

Neden simply let out a soft sigh after two or so minutes of pure silence had filled the room, making it feel like it was entirely suffocating to be in such a small room. Neden stood amongst the group in the middle of the room as everyone was either off to the side or what have you. Neden scanned the room, taking in how everyone was currently looking and feeling, knowing full well everyone was on edge and was wondering why they were called there. Neden couldn't keep dragging it on, if they did, something bad would happen and that wasn't what they were willing to happen. The angel finally bit back the feeling of anxiety that was slowly creeping up and began to talk, their voice sounding a bit shaky and unsure they looked around, "I'm sure you're all wondering why I asked you all to meet me here...Normally I would have waited for a better time but.." Neden took in a deep breath as they looked around the room once more, realizing how small they truly felt in this moment. "It was time that I was honest with you...And it would be better to hear it straight from me than someone else. I wish I didn't have to but, I can't keep lying to you all, or more so keeping the truth from you all." Neden bit back the feeling on onrushing anxiety that began to bubble up, having to keep it down as they knew if they let it slip, everything could come crashing down. More than it was about to anyway.

"I do want to say one thing before I begin the reason of really bringing you all here...I have been nothing but honest with you, about everything. I just never once told you anything about me, because that's where I couldn't. I knew that...If you knew the truth, you wouldn't, nor could you have trusted me. And it wasn't that I was trying to deceive you it's just...I'm not that person anymore. I swear I'm not." Neden could feel a slight burn begin to form behind their eyes, but quickly dismissed it as they knew they couldn't break down, not yet.

Neden looked around at everyone, trying to gauge how everyone was feeling. With a simple glance, they could already tell how everyone was feeling. Biting their lip for a moment before they spoke up again, "That night, at the graveyard when I was with Alex...The same night as the latest attack. Some of you learned the truth of what I am...At least partially. I don't think anyone has been able to exactly guess but..." Neden took a deep breath, slowly shrugging off their outer layer jacket, letting it fall to the floor. Neden took a slow, deep breath as two large, raven black wings spread out from their back, finally revealing them again for the first time since that night. Neden would have normally relished in regaining their wings, something they had missed for so long, but with how they looked now, Neden couldn't help but feel slightly repulsed. Looking back up at everyone as they began to speak again, "I haven't always had these...Nor were they always this color." Neden stated softly, looking back at their wings as they slowly spread them out for a moment, before retracting their wings closer to their body. "Not many creatures have wings, some may look a lot like this, such as Sirens. Like Rosie here. But, that's not what I am. Not exactly. It's been such a long time that I really acknowledged this about myself but...I guess I'm what you could consider to be an angel?" Neden said as they took a few steps around the room, never fully looking up to meeting anyone's eyes. They just couldn't bring themselves to.

"You see...I used to go by the name of Orion, while I was still rightfully an angel. I was part of what humans consider a military group? But, after a while I became what many consider a Guardian Angel. You know how people think of having this supernatural force around them? Somehow protecting them from danger? Or some consider a small voice in the back of their head? Well, since most humans can't see us, that's what we come across as most. Just a small voice making sure you don't do anything stupid." Neden said with a small chuckle, before quickly regaining their composure and serious tone. "I was such for a long time. A very long time...Until I met someone. I'll spare the details, as they're rather boring and of no real interest, I was given a choice. Give up everything I had and become as mortal as I would be on Earth, or forget everything that I came to know and love and return back to being a soldier. I gave up everything I ever knew to become like one of you. My wings were clipped, well...I took them off myself, but that's besides the point. I gave up everything, my powers and my beautiful white wings...For a human." Neden's voice dipped down as it seemed to almost crack, they hadn't talk about any of this in years. Neden hadn't realized how much it hurt till this day to talk about their past, and they were only just getting started.

"But in doing so...I was forced to roam aimlessly. I lost everything, my wings, my powers, and the one I gave everything up for. She...She died before I could get back to her and...Ever since I have been just roaming the world from one play to another. I never realized how things really had changed over time...Myself included." their voice sounded soft and saddened by what was next to come. Neden took a slow, deep breath. Taking a small look over at Violet who only gave them a small nod, to keep going. Neden gave her a small smile and nod as they continued to talk once more, "There was a time where...I had done things that, I wish I never had. If I could go back in time and stop myself, I would have. I never would have let myself hurt people like I had." Neden took in a deep breath, "I wouldn't blame anyone for hating me after what I am about to tell you. If you want me out of this town, and to never come near any of you, or Greythorn ever again...I wouldn't blame you. Or if you just wanted to kill me outright, I wouldn't blame you either." Neden said as their voice cracked, for just a moment as they regained their composure.

Neden looked down for a moment as they turned over their left arm, revealing a mark on the upper part of their left forearm. "I know this doesn't mean anything to any of you, but...This was given to me years ago. All of those that were a part but marks like these to show where they stood in ranks. Most have them on the back of their ear, some of the back of their wrists, arms, abdomens, or the nape of their neck. The ones that have this mark on their forearm showed leadership..." Neden took another deep breath as they turned their arm back away, not being able to look any of them in the eyes. "If I had known what was going to happen both those times, I would have stopped it long beforehand. I would have given you all a warning. I haven't been a part of them for years, I swear. They tried killing me both of those nights during the raids. None of them know I even exist anymore, and the ones that do are too afraid to come out of hiding." the angel said as they bit back the feeling to vomit, they didn't even want to acknowledge their past, yet here they were. Knowing full well that everyone had lost all sense of trust and faith in them completely. "I know this doesn't justify any of my actions...I hurt people, and I wish I could take back what I had done. I was lost and confused, I was in a dark place and I know that is no way of justifying have hurt people like you. But..It was way before I realized that...There is no difference between humans and you. You all live lives, you all have your own issues and problems. You're no different than humans, you just have things that make you special...And...The only monster there was me. When I finally realized, I changed. I betrayed them and ran. I was hunted down for years before they believed I was dead. If any of them knew I was still alive, I would be hunted down again and they'd have me killed." a sigh escaped their lips as they looked down, tears having finally fallen as they tried to compose themselves.

"I've spent...The past, forty years of my existence trying to make it up to anyone that I came across. I know my past actions and sins have no way of being justified, but I swear to you, I've done nothing but tried to make amends for those that I have hurt. If I had known about any of the attacks, I would have done so much more. I should have done more...I am so sorry for betraying your trust. You all have a right to hate me for everything that I've done, but I really have tried to right the wrongs of my past...I don't know what else to say but...I truly am sorry, and I never wanted to hurt any of you, ever." Neden's voice fully fell and cracked as they finished their long speech, they could tell before they even looked up how everyone in the room was feeling. They betrayed them all, hurt people by having any involvement with the branded at all. There was no rescuing this or coming back from what they just told everyone, and they fully accepted what was to come.




Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden
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ROSIE THOMPSON
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outfit : herex|xhex: #cc0460
xxxdon't make me laugh, i'll choke
xxxjust let me cry a little bit longer
xxxi ain't gonna smile if i don't want to
xxxhey man we all can't be like you
Rosie began to launch into her explanation of how everything worked, when the girl interrupted her again to ask about Alex and if he'd always been that much of an asshole. "I taught him in high school. And... yeah, pretty much. Although I think he has grown up a little in the past few months." He'd held down a decent relationship for a few weeks, which was something. Almost as if summoned, Phoenix himself appeared and began chatting to the girl, who he addressed as Zoe. The name didn't mean anything to Rosie, but she and Phoenix seemed friendly enough.

There seemed to be a bit of a disturbance, as Phoenix seemed to leave all of a hurry, followed by Zada. Rosie figured that one of them would text her if they needed her, and that someone probably needed to hold down the fort in front of house for a while. Things were starting to quieten down a little, but new people still seemed to be arriving in search of their usual coffees. Even if Phoenix himself was absent, it seemed that he'd made sure the whole thing could run smoothly even if he wasn't there. Now things were calmer, Rosie felt comfortable enough stepping into the back hall to check her phone. There was a text from Neden there, asking her to meet them in the back room. She stepped in to discover that there was already a few others there. She seemed to be the last to arrive, as after a few more minutes of waiting, Neden began to speak.

Their revelation was honestly shocking to Rosie. She hadn't known what to expect, but knew that she never could have anticipated that. Phoenix almost ran out of the room without saying anything. He looked like he'd been crying earlier, and now he was white as a sheet, almost grey. Rosie made a mental note to check on him almost by reflex, a defensive mechanism kicking in so she wouldn't have to try and process this herself.

First Travis. Then Neden. How many hunters and former hunters did they have in this town? How much of a threat did they pose? Rosie sighed. She believed that it was a long, long time ago in Neden's history. They were as passionate about protecting the town as she was, as Markus had been. But right then, Rosie couldn't just carry on as normal. "Thanks for telling us, Neden. We... I believe you. That you've changed," she managed to say, before turning around to leave.

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden
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Z A D A min ALBAHR
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outfitx|x#78b0ad
xxxdon't do love, don't do friends
xxxi'm only after success
xxxdon't need a relationship
xxxi'll never soften my grip

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xx
Triss followed Zada to the back, while Zada didn’t mind, she didn’t know if any of the others would object. Still, she wasn’t about to tell Triss what to do. Ordering people around outside of manners of life or death had always felt horribly barbaric to her. They arrived fairly early to Neden’s little meaning, and Zada offered a small, tentative smile as greeting. It was, perhaps, the kindest gesture she could convincingly, and Neden looked quite nervous. Hopefully she could do something to reassure them. The people that were gathering in this room had all been through so much, it seemed impossible that anything Neden could say would surprise them much.

Then Neden started to speak. At first, the words whirled around Zada’s head, not making much sense. Did Neden think the town would be upset because they were an angel? Zada didn’t think anyone here would care a tremendous amount about that. Then the real confession came. Neden had worked with them.

They had worked with the branded and then here they were, running patrols, claiming to be protecting them. Zada’s head spun, this wasn’t right. It couldn’t be. Neden claimed it had been years ago, a Zada’s entire life had passed since Neden left their ranks. Yet, somehow, that didn’t matter to her.

People who hunted supernatural beings, no matter how justified they may think they are, were some of the worst in Zada’s eyes. They hunted down innocent people, slaughtered them in their sleep, burned their homes. They created orphans and widows, tore entire towns apart. They came to celebrations and slaughtered people in the streets. To say she was angry was an understatement. A fire burned in her eyes, an unforgiving rage that no one in this room had been subject to before. She made sure to lock eyes with Neden, so they could see the anger there.

And without a word, she turned and left the room.

Zada didn’t believe that people could change. Not humans, angels, or mermaids. Not in any way that mattered.

She was going home. Triss followed, she seemed confused, and Zada wasn’t sure she had the capacity to explain. She couldn’t believe that she’d been so foolish. She trusted the people here, she’d let it feel like home. She never should have trusted anyone. She was mostly silent on the walk home, but upon walking into the house, she turned to Triss. She kept her face neutral, but there was a sadness to her eyes, “Maybe I was wrong about the people in this town being good. I suppose that you cannot know anyone as well as you would like. I’m sorry.”

She left Triss with that, and headed to her bedroom. A part of her wondered if she could trust Trisstana, and another part of her wondering if she could bear not trusting the nixie.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser Character Portrait: Violet Marsden
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Jaiden Price
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Witch | outfit : herex|xhex: #800000
xxxYou move, and I don't really know what to say
xxxToo soon, am I supposed to feel this way?
xxxReach out but I don't wanna get in your way
xxxToo little, too late, I know that's what you're gonna say
Jaiden smiled as the girl introduced herself as Zoe and explained that she was just visiting family in town, happily shaking hands with her as they introduced themselves. Jaiden was curious for who her family was, maybe she possibly knew them, but wasn’t going to pry into someone else’s business. Jaiden gave her a small smile as she was complimented on her jacket, “Oh uh, this? Thanks. I like your sweater.” she said with an awkward chuckle as the two made their way towards one of the booths, might as well wait for Alex to come back anyway as well. Which she was beginning to wonder where he went off to.

Looking back up as Zoe started talking again as they sat down, explaining how ever since she got into town, she had been very much so alone, but quickly brushed it off as she asked if things were always so exciting in Greythorne, clearly in reference to the fundraiser. Jaiden thought for a moment as she bit the inside of her cheek as she thought. “Well, no longer alone now, right?” she started off with a small chuckle, “And as for if this place is always exciting? I mean, as much as a small town like this can be, it’s...It’s not bad. Not much usually happens around here but, if you manage to surround yourself with the right people, you’ll never have a dull moment.” Jaiden said with a small smile. There was a bit of an air of familiarity about this woman, and Jaiden didn’t know what it was, but something just felt nice about talking with her.

A small chuckle escaped her lips as Zoe explained that Greythorne was nothing like her Coven back in Arizona, confirming that she was a witch as well. There were plenty of witches and warlocks in Greythorne, but Jaiden didn’t exactly spend much time with any of them, except for Alex and Phoenix, and sometimes Alex’s Abuela. But that was about as much interaction that she spent with others of her kind. “Yeah, Greythorne isn’t so bad. It’s rather quiet and not much goes on half the time but, this isn’t a bad place to live. I’m originally from a small town in Maine so, in comparison, this place has become my new home since I’ve been here. I hope you enjoy it here however long you decide to stay here.” she said with a small smile.

Minutes shortly passed by as the two of them exchanged small town and small casual information about themselves, helping to hopefully be less awkward with each other. It was finally about an extra ten minutes when Alex returned and thanked Zoe for keeping Jaiden company while he was gone. Both, as if on instinct, gave Alex a look, one of surprise and confusion came from Zoe, while one of judgement and annoyance came from Jaiden. She rolled her eyes when Alex asked if they could speak outside and that he needed to smoke, didn’t he just ask that they could talk inside? She gave a roll of her eyes as she began to get up from her seat. Looking back at Zoe before she fully excused herself, “Well uh, it was nice talking to you. If you ever need someone to talk to, or just help you find your way around town, feel free to just call or whatever. I’d be happy to introduce you to Greythorne.” Jaiden said with a small smile as she placed a small piece of paper with her number scribbled on it, and a small note and quickly followed after Alex.

Jaiden arched an eyebrow at him when he asked what she thought of Zoe, giving a small shrug as her hands were stuffed in her jacket’s pockets. “I dunno, she seems nice. Bit awkward and shy but, what else is anyone going to expect when you’re new in town and don’t really know anyone? And you find everyone annoying, and everyone finds you annoying, so maybe that’s a good sign?” she said with a shrug, turning her attention back to Alex as he asked if she could help light his cigarette. She got him her usual glare, and with a snap of her fingers she lit the cigarette, using her middle finger to do so as a small flame lit up her fingertip.

She rolled her eyes yet again when he started to appologize, she didn’t know about what, but whatever it was going to be, was probably something stupid. But she figured she might as well actually listen to him. Jaiden was genuinely surprised when he started to say how he was sorry, for everything, and how he was so self absorbed with himself after the first attack that he never realized how that affected everyone. “Well yeah, that was kind of an asshole move. And I did what anyone would have done. You may be an absolute pain in my ass, but I wasn’t going to let you die, even if Violet ended up doing more than me...But you’re welcome.” she said with a small smile, shaking her head as he continued to talk. My god, did this guy like to talk.

Her face fell slightly when he said that he thought she hated him, and how he felt so guilty about that first night and the attack. She understood what he was trying to get at, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. At least none of their’s. Jaiden gave a small sigh, “It wasn’t your fault, Alex...I only blame myself for what happened to-” Jaiden found herself stopping as felt a small tinge of pain, at even mentioning the name seemed like too much for her. “It was no one’s fault for her dying...if it was anyone’s, it was mine..” she mumbled, feeling that burn start behind her eyes. Quickly looking up to the sky, Jaiden closed her eyes, trying to find some peace in all of this.

She quirked her eyebrow when he mentioned when something almost happened with Phoenix, or when something happened to Phoenix, and that he didn’t know what he would have done, and how he continued to apologize. She didn’t exactly know what he was trying to get at, but she figured this was the only time she was going to get an apology from him, “It’s whatever, Alex...But I accept your apology, even if there isn’t much to forgive.” she said with a small, but very genuine smile. Her demeanor changed when she was asked how she was dealing with the whole thing with Markus, it couldn’t have been easy for her after everything, and that if she needed to talk, he would be there for her. Jaiden just gave a small shrug, “Dealing with it, I guess. Best as someone can after they got someone else killed but...I’m slowly getting there, thanks Alex.” her voice dipped a bit. She looked back up at him when he finally spoke up again, explaining how he wanted to know if it was okay for him to stay at her place for the night. She thought it was a bit odd, but considering how he seemed a bit off after he came back at the cafe, she figured something went down between those two, again.

Sure, it’s whatever. You can stay the night. But expect to deal with cats, Lumo and Nox haven’t seen you in a while. So, let’s get the fuck on with getting to my place, huh?” she said as she motioned for Alex to follow her back to her home, not waiting for him any longer than she had to.






Violet Marsden
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Revenant | outfit : herex|xhex: #2b2a2a
xxxI'm so fuckin' sorry, I'm so fuckin' sorry
xxxI've been playing somebody and it's helping nobody
xxxAnd her lipstick arithmetic didn't stick
xxxAnd now I'm sick, throwing fits
Violet sat in silence as she waited for the others to come in, not knowing who'd actually bother to listen to what Neden had to say or not. While she may have been shocked that Jaiden didn't show up, she wasn't exactly shocked at Alex dipping out and not even bothering to show up. She'd make a point to talk to him later. Silently, Violet sat and waited and listened as Neden explained everything for themselves. She felt a pit form in her stomach as Neden confirmed everything that Violet had been told and seen. She just didn't want to believe it, she hoped that maybe some of it was false, she was holding onto that much. But the more Neden spoke, confirming their name and what they were, as well as their past involvement with The Branded, it made her sick. Knowing that someone that Violet had begun to consider a friend, no-family, was in fact at one time or another responsible for such horrific acts. Killing and tormenting supernatural creatures and beings all due to thinking they weren't at all human, or had their own thoughts and lives.

But the more Neden spoke, the sincerity in their voice, made Violet feel bad about everything. Maybe she shouldn't have confronted them about it all, maybe bringing it up the way she did was something she shouldn't have. But at the same time, everyone deserved to know. But it still didn't sit with her, Neden was still leaving some things out, like how much influence they had, but maybe it was for the best. Seeing the pain on Neden's face and how they talked, was enough for her to understand. It had been many, many years ago and Neden wasn't that kind of person anymore. They were different. They were kind, compassionate, and genuinely cared about the people in Greythorne. The way Neden acted with everyone, especially with her was real, it wasn't a facade to help try and deceive them. Neden really did care about everyone, their friendships and relationships with everyone was real, and seeing it all slowly fall apart by how some reacted, made Violet feel sick. Everything Neden tried to work on, and try to better themselves, she just caused to crash down and burn. Violet watched as some of the others either left without a word, like Zada and Phoenix, or those like Rosie who said that they believed them and just left.

Silence fell in the room as it was only Neden and Violet now, seeing how everyone that bothered to show left. Violet closed her eyes for a moment, before looking back up and watched as Neden simply caused their wings to become hidden once more, and gathered their things. Violet stepped off of the stack of boxes, and walked over to the Angel. She silently looked up at them as Neden just looked down, as if the light in their eyes was gone. Violet didn't know what to say or do, if she could even say anything that could help them. After biting her lip for a moment, she gave Neden a small smile, as if trying to help cheer them up. "Hey...Neden?" she called out softly, looking up at the Angel who was only able to silently look back in return as tears slowly slipped down their cheeks. Violet sighed and found herself wrapping her arms around Neden in a tight hug, "Not all of us hate you...For what you did...You've changed, I can see that. I'm just...I'm sorry." she said softly as she moved away from Neden, gently wiping away a tear from the angel's face as she gave them a saddened look. "Just...Give them all time...It's what they need. Okay?" she gave them a small smile, gently squeezed their hand, and silently left the room and cafe. Making their way, wherever they were going to go now.






Neden Isimir
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Fallen Angel | outfit : herex|xhex: #a39d9d
xxxI've tried to write it out on paper
xxxBut my words are buried in my skin
xxxLost without a way, a hope, an answer
xxxThe tears I've shed I'm swimming in
xxx'Cause you're tearing us apart
Neden didn't know what to expect in all honesty. What they didn't expect, was what happened. Most of them just stood and listened in silence until they finished speaking, not that they had given the others much of a choice to interject. As if things weren't bad enough, Phoenix just bolted out of the room as soon as he could, the look on his face said it all. Neden had noticed that he already looked like he had been crying just moments prior, and now he looked like a ghost. The expression on his face said it all, everything that Neden needed to know. He felt betrayed, confused, hurt. Everything Neden never wanted anyone to feel while around them. But now, here they were. They managed to make everyone feel safe and secure around them, while also knowing they weren't going to be judged, but now. Now everything changed. Neden could tell everyone hated them, felt scared and lied to. Betrayed and deceived for not telling them sooner, even if some of them said that they believed them.

The angel watched as Zada just gave them a look, one Neden had seen so many times before from others, and silently left with the woman she had come into the room with. Neden wanted to call out to Zada, tell her that it wasn't like it seemed, to beg and plead for her to just listen and give them another chance. But they couldn't. Neden was stuck in place, frozen in their own stead as panic and fear over-took them. They could only watch as Rosie looked at them with a similar look, but this one was more saddened and hurt, not angry. Neden knew that Rosie's reaction wasn't going to be a good one, especially considering they all found out that Travis was a traitor and a mole. The mole in Greythorne that had told the information to the Hunters and everything. And now Rosie knew that Neden was no different, even if she said that she believed the angel, there was no changing the past and the reality of what they did, or how they used to view people in Greythorne. Neden didn't want to be here. They just wanted to leave. Hopefully, just wake up from a nightmare, this had to be a nightmare, right?

After what seemed like hours, Neden was finally able to move. Tears poured down their face as they knew this was all over. Their wings slowly enclosed themselves back to their body, disappearing from sight as they picked up their jacket and overshirt. It was only when Neden stood back up that Violet came over to them, and said something. They couldn't tell what she said, but the feeling Neden got from her was enough, to know that even after all the anger and resentment they felt from her earlier, it was now nothing but sadness and sorrow. Neden wanted to hug Violet back when they felt her arms wrap around them. They wanted so badly to just hug her in return, to have someone not hate them in this moment, to feel something. But they could only stand there, clenching their jacket in their hand. The only thing that Neden heard Violet say was, 'Just give them time'. Time. She was probably right, but Neden wasn't able to process anything. It was light a blanket of an endless cold encapsulated them as they stood in the now empty room.

Neden finally found the strength to move again, as they slowly left the backroom. But not before placing something shiny and looked like a pen, on the desk in the backroom, and left. The walk back to their home was long, as tears didn't stop falling, the sound of their footsteps crushing fresh snow and ice under their feet as they walked was the only thing they heard. They were in their head the entire walk back, and it was an endless whirlpool of confusion, anger, and pain. They didn't know what they were going to do if there was anything they could do. Which they doubted. Everything they did up until this point just came back in their face and spit on it. No one would trust them, no one. Rosie would soon have to tell the town's people, no one would feel safe with them anymore. They would feel like they were betrayed.

The door to the small home that had become Neden's was unlocked as they got out the key and entered the small home. They silently made their way through the home, which has since in recent days become silent and empty. Except for themselves and the sound of droning clocks, it was lifeless. Silent, cold, empty. Neden turned and made their way towards the bedroom, and without even getting undressed, they crawled onto the bed and just laid there. Looking up at the ceiling. Trying to think of what to do, if anything. Neden didn't know how much time had passed exactly by the time they finally sat up in the bed, but it was enough time for the sun to have gone down one, and already come up once more. At least a day. But it wasn't enough time. If they were lucky, a mob wouldn't be outside of the door until another day or so. Neden shuffled over to the desk in the room, which had more than a few sheets of untouched papers and pens.

Neden sat down in the chair, taking a few pieces of paper and pen, and began to write.

They didn't know how much time had passed, but when they looked up, the sun had been down for a long while and dozens of crumpled up pieces of paper were scattered across the floor. Clearly showing that, no matter how hard they tried to write things down, words just..Didn't want to work. In frustration, they sighed as their hands rubbed their face. Feeling like they had looked at scratched out words and re-written papers for hours. Neden silently sat back in their chair for a moment before they gathered the papers and letters that didn't have entirely scribbled out none-sense. There were at least six, neatly enclosed letters, properly addressed to people, simply with their name on the front in legible writing.

The angel slowly rose to their feet, bringing the papers to the kitchen counter and leaving them in a neat stack, that if anyone bothered, they would be seen rather easily. Neden returned back to the bedroom, retrieving a large backpack from the closest, and retrieved things they would need. Extra clothes, some small things that they kept over the years, and some of the things they had received over the past holiday. Neden changed into different clothing than they had slept in previously, as they knew the weather would be cold, and where they were going, well, they didn't know exactly where just yet. Retrieving their backpack, they slung it over their shoulders and left the bedroom, leaving the door cracked open.

Entering the kitchen once more, Neden grabbed a small piece of paper and wrote something down with shakey hands, propping it up against something for it to be seen. Looking over the house once more, they gave a small sigh and walked out the front door, closing it behind them. Overturning the doormat, they slid the key under it, and left the property. The night air was cold against their skin, thankfully they had enough layers to keep warm, as well as not getting cold very easily, they made their way through the woods. The animals and creatures of the night helped keep their walk less than eerily silent. Neden knew where they were headed, and stopped as they walked past the outlining of trees that faced the town, which was softly lit up with street lights and house lights, showing some were still indeed the night owls that they were. Something that caused a small smile to crease their lips, for only a moment. Making their way through the treeline for a few more minutes, Neden felt something tug against their arm as they were pulled back.

Acting out of reflex, Neden got into a defensive stance, until they realized what had pulled on their arm. Standing before them were three figures. Tall, slender, and all too inhuman. They silently looked down at the angel, who only silently looked at them in return as they extended out what would have been a hand, if it wasn't entirely made out of branches and leaves. Neden gave a small smile as they extended out their hand in return of the handshake with the Spriggans. No words were shared or spoken between them, only merely glances and lingering smiles. The tree-folk gave the angel a small wave as Neden turned their back and walked off in the distance, disappearing from their sight.

Neden let out a small sigh as the sound of their footsteps turned from wood and grass and dirt, to that of pavement. Looking behind them, Neden let out a small smile crease their lips as they stared at an old sign that read Welcome To Greythorne on the wooden plaque. Neden nodded their head slowly, before turning and following the hard pavement beneath their feet as they disappeared into the night.





Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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phoenix woods
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i know the world's a broken bonexxx outfit | #c4a7be xxx but melt your headaches, call it home


Phoenix hadn’t known what to expect from this. The way his day was going, he hadn’t been expecting anything all that good. It took a few minutes to try and process what Neden was actually saying. It was only when they rolled up their sleeve to show the tattoo that everything fell into place, and it felt like the floor was about to go from under Phoenix. He’d seen that tattoo once before. The night in the graveyard, on the neck of the hunter that had attacked him. The memory made him feel sick, and he was shocked when he stood up and discovered his legs could still hold him. He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. He managed to make it to the kitchen, where his legs finally crumpled and he almost fell onto one of the stools he had by the counter.

This couldn’t be happening. This had to be some horrific dream, a nightmare that he could wake up from, no matter how vivid it felt now. But he could feel the sting of nails embedded in his palm as he clenched his hands into fists. The scar on his side, on his shoulder, they seemed to be burning with the memory. He knew that Neden had said it had been years ago, knew how sorry they had seemed, but he couldn’t shake the fact that they had been one of them, that at some point they had hated people like them enough to kill them. It was starting to feel like everything he had, every good relationship was falling apart, and it was all so far beyond his control and he couldn’t change a goddamn thing. He wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to yell, but his body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t react. He was frozen in his hunched position, just wanting to try and shield himself from anything else that could happen, anything else that could go wrong.

He didn’t know how long he’d been there before he heard a soft, familiar voice. It wasn’t the one he wanted to hear, though. “Phoenix, you need to go home. I can handle things here for you if you want,” Rosie said. “But you can’t work like this.”
“No, I can… I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes.”
“Phoenix, you’ve been here for half an hour already. Go home. I’ll look after things here. You okay going home by yourself?”
“I- yeah. Call me if anything goes wrong or if- if you need to check anything or-”
“I will, alright? Just go home, if I see Alex, I’ll tell him you’ve gone home, you weren’t feeling well.”

The mention of Alex made Phoenix’s stomach tighten. But he shakily got to his feet, feeling the tension in his muscles from sitting in one position for so long. He left out the back door and made his way back to the apartment. He just kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, staring into space. He had no idea how he was supposed to process any of this, how he was supposed to deal with it. His phone buzzed and it felt like it took all of his energy just to roll over and look at his phone. His stomach twisted again as he saw Alex’s name pop up on the phone. He was staying with Jaiden for the night.

Phoenix had ruined everything again.

At some point, he managed to drag himself up and get something to eat. It tasted like nothing, felt like it was just a routine, just something his body demanded he do even if he didn’t want to. He fell asleep shortly after going back to bed, still in his clothes, just wrapped in a blanket. It wasn’t a restful sleep. It was nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. He was in another attack, running to try and get to Rosie, to Zoe, to Jaiden, to Alex, and every time, he was too late. Alex turning into a demon. Everything, everyone Phoenix touched turning to sand. He kept waking up and kept falling asleep, could never stay awake no matter how bad the nightmare was.

He only woke up properly when he heard the door to the apartment shut. He went to check the time on his phone, but realised he’d forgotten to plug it in the night before and it had died.

The silence at first was heavy. Phoenix had no idea where to start. I’m sorry. I missed you even though it was only for a night. I’m so scared and I don’t know what to do. I should have trusted you. I didn’t sleep as well without you, He started with telling him about Neden.

Over the next few weeks, things started to get back to normal. They talked about it after Alex had forced Phoenix to shower, change his clothes and have coffee, and Phoenix had made breakfast for them both. But Phoenix wasn’t able to let it go. He still found himself getting stuck on how easy it had been for him to give into believing Alex was cheating on him, how easy he’d given in to his own insecurity. Even that morning, when Alex had disappeared for a few hours, the possibility had crossed his mind, if only for a second before he’d denied it. They hadn’t talked about that morning, but it still weighed on Phoenix’s mind. There was something… different now, something unspoken, and Phoenix didn’t want to ask. Because now it was Phoenix who kept waking up in the middle of the night, haunted by nightmares. They’d been there before, they’d been there since the first attack, worse since the second. But now it seemed like Alex slept the whole night unless Phoenix’s nightmares were bad enough to wake Alex up too. And Phoenix had no idea what that meant.

A day or two after everything, Rosie had swung by with letters from them both from Neden. Phoenix had opened his. It was a mess of scrawling writing, of sentences written and scribbled out until they were illegible. But the main message was there. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. He hadn't thrown away the letter, had kept it wedged between two books on his bookshelf. Somewhere safe, where he could find it if he wanted, but also where he wouldn't have to stare at it every single day.

The morning was the first warm day in weeks. It was the first day things felt like spring again. The sunny weather made Phoenix stupidly happy. He hated winter anyway, and now he associated too many bad things with snow on the ground. The market was open for the first time in the season. The familiar sights and smells made Phoenix feel at peace, even just briefly.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Travis Graveson Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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rosie thompson
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can't let this moment endxxx outfit | #cc0460 xxx you set off a dream in me


With Neden gone now too, Rosie’s hands just seemed to get ever more full. She wasn’t training quite as much as she had been, but Jaiden seemed to need it a little less than she had before. With class being back, she was back grading essays and trying to make lesson plans and doing everything else too. It was stressful and sometimes overwhelming, but it was also a welcome distraction.

She’d taken it on herself to deliver the letters that Neden had left behind. Some people just seemed to put them aside, and one or two ripped them up the minute Rosie handed it to them. Honestly, she couldn’t blame them. She didn’t blame Neden, but she also knew that people had lost too much to the hunters to just move on. She’d read her own, of course, and she’d kept it. A reminder that people could change with enough time.

She was taking some time for herself in the garden, drinking iced tea, when she could hear someone approaching. Evelyn emerged from the trees, her demeanor completely changed. She stuck to the darker part of Rosie’s garden, hanging back as if she had bad news.

“Everything okay, Evelyn?”
“Travis is back,” she blurted out. “I was on patrol and I saw him, he’s back-“
“Show me where you saw him,” she ordered. The two of them sprinted through the trees, Rosie’s mood cycling through a number of steps. There was relief, and she didn’t know how she felt about that. But overall, she was afraid that something was coming. That he was either there as the first wave, or he was there to warn them.

And then she saw him. Kay and Hayden were already there. “You go back to town, Evelyn. Get everyone from the patrols ready for a fight. And thank you. For telling me and not just killing him.”
“Any time, Rosie.”

“Kay, Hayden, get out of here,” she ordered as she approached them, almost stepping between them and Travis. Travis tried to interject.
“No, shut it. You don’t get to talk right now,” she ordered. When Kay tried to interrupt, Rosie shot her a look she knew Kay would understand. “Go. Now. Both of you.”

“Listen to me-“ she started, but Travis knew exactly what she was about to do and told her to stop, that he’d come regardless. “Me? Causing trouble? That’s ironic,” she snarled. “Try to run and you’ll regret it.”

They started back towards her house, staying a step or two behind him the whole time so she could intervene if he tried anything. The spriggans and the dryads seemed to bristle threateningly, as if backing her up. She had the upper hand here. “You shouldn’t have come back,” she warned.






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hayden byrne
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they love you so muchxxx outfit | #005555 xxx that you won't regret it


Things had been weird since the brunch. Him and Kay had enjoyed themselves. The food had been fantastic and everyone seemed to have a nice time. That was, until Rosie came by to speak to Kay. Apparently one of their friends had told them that they had been a hunter a long time ago. Kay seemed troubled at first, but Rosie managed to put her mind at ease, and Hayden was okay with that.

The warm weather was welcome, taking the edge off his constant cold, and everyone seemed to be a little more happy and a little more relaxed. He was enjoying being here, especially as people began to trust him a little more and things seemed to get back to normal. He had almost forgotten that there was some reason he was supposed to be here, even if the thought did appear in the back of his mind every so often.

It was a nice morning, and him and Kay were out for a walk when a voice called out to Kay. They both turned around, and Travis, the traitor and hunter, was standing there. Almost instinctively, Hayden stepped in front of Kay to protect her. Travis said he wasn’t there to hurt them and just wanted to talk to Neden. Hayden had a moment of wondering how he knew Neden was back, before realizing that he probably had no idea they had left in the first place.

When Rosie appeared, Hayden very much took it as an order to leave. Kay, however, didn’t seem to be so eager to leave. She wanted to defend Travis, but Hayden wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. He would have been happy enough to just leave Travis and Rosie to it, but Kay managed to persuade him that they did need to find Neden. He’d only seen a glimpse of them the day before, but his gut told them that they were back in town. So they made their way to their house, praying that they were in. Hayden took a deep breath and knocked.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Trisstana Glasser
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TRISSTANA GLASSER
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outfit xxxxxxx hex; #D4AF37
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xxx The price of your greed
xxx Is your son and your daughter
xxx What you gon' do
xxx When there's blood in the water?

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Triss and Zada had barely walked inside and into the crowded room when the mermaid pulled out her phone talking about if she was needed somewhere. Triss just shrugged and followed her into the back room, grabbing a drink off the table before they entered the back room.

Triss sat in a chair and crossed her legs as more people started to enter, and a platinum blonde looking female creature went to the center and began talking. She didn’t really pay attention to what she was saying, but was surprised when wings expanded from the creatures back, black in color. Ah… an angel… hadn’t seen one before… interesting. She thought to herself, not surprised too much since Zada had told her about how different types of creatures and beings lived their lives in Greythorne, it being a sort of a sanctuary.

Though as this angel continued speaking, revealing a sort of tattoo, everyone in the room started to show some symptoms of being upset, and the angel continued to apologize for something that was years ago. Trisstana glanced over at Zada and just saw her staring at the angel, before just getting up and storming off. Triss looked around at the others and finished her drink before trying to catch up with Zada, grabbing her jacket off the table on her way out.

It didn’t take long for her to catch up to Zada, assuming she was heading home and she was right. Triss kept her hands in her pocket and didn’t say much during the walk, feeling the energy off of Zada that she didn’t want to talk. Though she would ask her later on what this was all about as she had no idea what was going on. As they entered Zada’s place, the mermaid turned and spoke to her, about not knowing people fully and apologizing. “Its… okay?” Was all Triss really able to say before Zada went to her room and closed the door. She shrugged to herself before going to the bathroom and wiping herself down from the coffee and quickly going to sleep.

The next day Trisstana walked into Zada’s room and saw her still in bed. “I’m going to take a bath, soak for a little bit.” She said as she walked in, setting down a bottle of wine on Zada’s nightstand before starting the water and filling the tub, coming back to fill a wine glass and de-dress herself. Triss took a few sips before stepping into the tub and laying down, her body transforming and she submerged herself underwater.

It wasn’t long before Zada entered the bathroom with a book and sat on the edge of the tub, the two woman just relaxing and not saying much to the other. A few times Triss would move to look over the mermaid’s shoulder and catch a few words of the book in between her turning pages, but would then just circle back and submerged back under the bath water.

Over the next few days Zada finally told Trisstana at the table during lunch what was going on with the angel, their name being Neden, and that they used to be a hunter. Triss stared blankly as Zada said that, as she had a flashback back to when she was captured. The cold concrete floor and the metal bars keeping her in, only being given a bucket of water to keep her from drying out. The betrayal was all she could think about during that time.

Trisstana snapped out of it when she heard Zada say her name a few times. “Oh… yeah. Zoned out. It was just…” She trailed off and paused with the moment of silence. Triss had never told anyone about what happened, and never planned to. It was one of the few times she was weak in her life and she never wanted to be viewed as weak. “I just have some history with some sort of hunters…” She trailed off as she put down her food and went back to the guest room and closed the door behind her.

One night when Zada was taking a bath, Triss knocked and entered, actually saying sorry about the other morning about walking away. She then set on the edge of the bathtub and told her about the time she was betrayed by her lover at the time and sold to some hunters, though not sure if it was the same people Neden was with. Triss kept her eyes on the ground as she retold the story, not letting her eyes tear up but easily showing distress in her face. She felt weak and vulnerable telling this to the mermaid, not even sure why she was, but it just felt right to tell her.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Violet Marsden Character Portrait: Zoe Peña Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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Witch // Attire // Hex: #800000

Don't count me out, Just cause I'm down
Boy I've been down before
Fate has a way of playing games
And I've been keeping score


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The days that passed by after Alex had stayed the night at Jaiden's were, long to say the very least. The moment Alex left her home, everything seemed to come crashing down around her. Jaiden was told about what the meeting that Neden hadn't wanted everyone to come to, was about. Jaiden knew there was a reason that she ignored the message and didn't go, and it was when she was told by one of the others that it all made sense why she felt that way. Neden had betrayed them all. Lied to them the entire time. Lied about who they were, nevermind what they were. Jaiden didn't care that they were an angel, or whatever they were. It was the fact that they were part of the Branded. The same group that not only attacked them twice by this time, but had killed so many they cared about, including Aurora. There was no forgiving that. Sure, Neden may have left however long ago, but Jaiden didn't care. At one point or another, they were responsible for the hunting, torturing, and slaughter of who knows how many of those that were like them.

When Jaiden received the letter that was left for her from Neden, she took it, barely read it as some was scribbled out and re-written entirely, all she saw were the words, Jai, I'm sorry, and watched as the letter quickly caught fire and burned to nothing but ash and dust in her hands. She didn't care. Didn't care if they claimed to have changed. Neden had been responsible for so many deaths and pain, and she wasn't going to forgive them for that.

The weeks that passed by after that were long and tiresome. Jaiden spent more time learning and controlling her powers and abilities, spending more time with more witches that helped her harness her powers better, learned to control her temperament, which was something that unsurprisingly helped her control her connection to fire. She too practiced with knives and swords, as well as simply her fists as she practiced with the patrols as no one was really left in charge of it as Neden left. Jaiden wasn't leader material, and she simply gave someone else the position and helped with the sidelines of things. Helping when and where she could, if she was able.

Everything seemed to finally go back to being as normal as it could as the weather began to become warmer, somewhat. The sun was out more, something that Jaiden could appreciate. She spent more time with the others when she could, occasionally checking on Phoenix and Alex, making sure they were okay. But for the most part she was by herself, or was helping Zoe around town as she was still new to the town, and didn't really know anyone. She got to know Zoe more, some of her interests and likes, what life was like in Arizona, etc. It was nice being able to connect with someone again, and it didn't hurt that they had some things in common.

Things passed by and was slowly getting better when she found herself walking around town with some of the other witches when a few familiar figures appeared before her. Spriggans. The ones that had spent a lot of time with Neden, if she recalled correctly. "What's up, fellas?" she asked with a small smile. She had nothing against them, and if anything, in the past few weeks she grew closer to the tree-folk as they seemed to be rather lonely in the few weeks since Neden left. She didn't understand what they were trying to say, but one of the other witches, who was also a pyrokinetic like her, explained that there was something she had to see. Something was left in the woods for her, but it was told to bring others with her, as she would need company as Hunters had been seen. The Spriggan didn't explain who told her, or why. Just that it was best to go and see for herself. Jaiden was on edge, but was all too curious for what was there for her to see. Four of the witches agree to go with her for safety reasons, bigger groups were safer than being on her own. The walk into the woods wasn't as long as she expected, the small group talking amongst themselves as they made their way into the woods. Walking past a few large trees, Jaiden stopped in her footsteps, as an all too familiar figure was hunched over by a tree. Clearly tied up and still unconscious. Jaiden slowly made her way over to the unconscious woman, crouching down infront of the woman, Jaiden picked her head up as she grabbed the woman by the back of the head, making sure to hold tightly.

The woman left out a soft groan as she was slowly coming to, blinking in the morning sunlight as she cursed under her breath. "The fuck do you want from me, hu-" and stopped, as she looked up at Jaiden. Those same, big brown eyes. Once were filled with fear and pain, were now filled with anger and hatred. A smile spread across the Hunter's face as she looked at Jaiden with a sickening grin, the same grin she had on her face that day of the first attack. "Well hello." she said with a tone of innocence. Jaiden rolled her eyes, trying to contain herself as she looked down at the woman. "I have so many questions for you...But not now. It can wait. But first-" Jaiden said as she made a quick strike with the side of her fist against the woman's temple, knocking her unconscious yet again. "Bring her with us. I have questions for her, but it's not safe here. Let's go." Jaiden's tone was one not many people had heard before, one of anger and even resentment. The witches made sure that the Hunter wasn't going anywhere, as one of the Spriggans appeared next to them, and helped carry the Hunter back to town with the small group of witches.

The walk back didn't take very long as they were on edge and guard, as there was obviously more Hunters to be around somewhere. Alerting everyone as they made their way deeper into the main part of town, they had to know. They needed to. Everyone needed to have a fighting chance and be ready. Jaiden almost walked into someone as she turned around, stopping just mere inches before she entirely walked into them. "Oh shit, I am so sorry-" Jaiden began to say, before seeing that it was Zoe. A smile crossed her face as she looked at her. In the few weeks that passed, the two of them had gotten rather close, and Jaiden was rather fond of her, even if she didn't want to admit it. "Oh hey, Zo." Jaiden said with a smile, and started to walk with her, but first turned back to the group she was with prior, "Take her to the town hall and keep her there. I'll meet up with you all shortly. I promise. Be safe, everyone." Jaiden turned back to Zoe, her smile faltering for a moment as she remembered that was slowly turning to shit now, "Uhm...Zoe? I would like to continue talking to you and everything but...Hunters have been seen again in the woods and, the others need to know. This...This isn't a good sign. What I'm trying to say is, we need to be careful now. You can either stay with me and the others, or be safe and hide. Okay?"








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Revenant // Attire // Hex: #422c63

They tried to tell me I was lost in the forest
Like a cub with no mother when I actually was where I wanted
Bite off the venomous head, Follow the chemical scent
Look for the hole in the fence, Take everything you demand


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The days that passed by after Violet had last seen Neden went by slowly. She stayed by herself, and stayed at her grandmother's home, but stayed somewhere she wouldn't be seen. She just needed time to comprehend everything, and process what actually happened. It was only when it was two days later that Violet heard what happened, Neden packed up everything and left town, leaving letters for some people. Violet understood why she didn't receive one, she had been one of the last people to speak to them, or even see them before Neden left. They said everything they could have, it was enough for Violet. She didn't blame the angel for anything as she slowly processed it all. Unlike some of the others, like Phoenix and Zada, she wasn't angry anymore. She was just sad. But not for the reasons people may have thought.

Violet didn't know what it was, but whenever she was around Neden, she felt something. She didn't understand what it was, or what those feelings were, but she understood Neden. There was just something there between those two. They weren't exactly close, but as time had gone on, they were very close, and Violet felt like she could have told them anything. In fact, the day before she confronted them, she was going to ask Neden if they knew what she was. To help at least help her understand everything about her, and what she became. But seeing how everything happened, everything was ruined and just too much. It was two days after that they were going to speak and talk to Neden, about everything. Get a clearer picture about everything about them. Possibly see if she could have done more. But when she arrived at the small home in the woods, the door was locked. And no one was there. There wasn't any sign of Neden having been there in days. Which caused a pit to form in her stomach. Did Neden leave town? Because of what she started?

It was only when it was confirmed later, by Rosie that Neden was indeed gone, and left letters for some. She didn't know what was worse, the fact that Neden had left without a word, without saying goodbye to anyone that she knew of, or that it had been her fault. None of it sat well with her, and Violet made sure that she only kept to herself. She needed time to rethink things, but the more she was by herself and stayed away from everyone, she found the mark on her arm starting to turn into a burning sensation. It didn't normally feel like her arm was on fire, but the longer she stayed away, the worse it had gotten. It was only then, that she had enough. She needed to know what she was, and she only knew of one person in town that would have known, or even had a sliver of knowledge that could lead her in the right direction. It was only when she was asking around town if anyone had any knowledge of the darker things, mainly pertaining to ghosts. She spent hours and even days asking, only when she was told that Maria, an old necromancer would know better than anyone. She immediately knew what that meant, and who that was. She rolled her eyes, she didn't want to have to speak to him to know if his grandmother would know.

So Violet skipped the middle man, and found herself at the doorstep of Maria Garcia's home. She knocked on the door, and after a bit of waiting, the door opened to reveal a stern, but friendly face, that seemed to light of when she saw Violet. She was quickly let in and was offered some tea on instinct, but Abuela quickly apologized, which Violet merely chuckled at and said it was okay. The two sat down in the living room, and eventually, the old woman asked why was she really here. The room remained silent for a moment before she explained everything. First asking how extensive was her knowledge of the undead was. This only resulted in a loud laugh from the old witch, who merely shook her head before she calmed down and began to answer her question. With a bit of snark that Violet always appreciated. She explained that she knew most things, if not all, but why was she asking? Violet then went on to explain the real reason why she was there, along with the strange mark on her arm. Going into detail about everything that had happened since the first attack. The weird ghostly world where she was with Alex, and where the two got separated during the first attack, and ever since then things had been weird. With how she was now, and how she was scared. So scared. Specifically going into detail that, Violet wasn't even sure of how much time she had left, as every day that passed by, the mark on her arm only grew more painful in nature.

The old witch sadly gave Violet a look that Violet had been sadly anticipating. Abuela wasn't entirely sure about everything, all that she knew, was that Violet was considered to be a Revenant. Which was someone that had passed on, and by different various ways, came back as something else. Something, less than human, but not entirely undead. But made sure to give Violet a warning, that whatever happened for this to happen to her, wasn't good and if anything it was a bad omen. She was given some old books that may have had some more information on what she may have been, or possibly any connections she could make of her own if she really was curious. Violet thanked her, and after a short few more words Violet left with more questions than she originally had, but may have had some answers due to the books she obtained from Abuela.

Violet wasn't sure how many days had gone by, or how much time she spent going over the books, but all she knew was that she had been at the town's library for far too long. She had gone through all of the books by this time, and had spent countless hours writing down notes and looking at other books that had anything to do with Revenants or the undead. She had learned a few things that she didn't know, or was even told about by the one she made the deal with in the first place. When she thought back on about it, she hadn't seen him in weeks, nevermind even felt something that made her go back and talk to him. For the first time in months, she felt relieved. Maybe the deal had been broken off on his end? But that wouldn't have explained anything. As some of the things she learned was, if a Necromancer makes a deal with an unfortunate soul, then whoever was under their contract would either revert back to how they were before, or cease to exist entirely. Neither of those were the case. But she too learned something else, something that had taken far longer to read about. It was very vague, and even to a point, forbidden. As it was considered too dangerous to even pull off, nevermind even consider. But, there was a possible way for one to break the deal, via soul transference with a vulnerable and unsuspecting host. But it was far too risky of something to even attempt, nevermind something Violet would ever consider.

With no real leads, or anything as helpful as she would have liked. She returned the books back to Abuela. Thanking her for the help, as some of it was helpful, but most of it was pointless ramblings. The next few weeks that passed by, Violet spent with some of the others, trying to help the town go back to how it was. But things never sat right. Even as the weather began to become warmer and the sun was starting to come out from the clouds more, things didn't feel right with her. Like something foreboding was hanging over this town, and Violet didn't like it. But as she aimlessly walked around the town, she saw a small forming group of people begin to crowd around a figure dressed in black, with plenty of weapons on their person. She didn't know who this figure was, but if she wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened, or any misunderstandings were avoided, she found herself quickly jogging over to the group to investigate what was going on.







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Fallen-Angel // Attire // Hex: #a39d9d

Fast as you can, And run for your life
Run for your life, Don't show your face
They'll lock the cage, If you're an easy mark
I made a plan, Of sweet revenge
I want to take it too far


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The morning air was crisp and cold as the wind blew passed the trees and into the town of Greythorne. The sun had risen and was castly a golden glow over the town through the trees as wild life began to chirp and whistle amongst the woods. Everything was as peaceful as ever in the past few weeks. Nothing seemed a miss. Not until there was the sound of a twig snapping, and what followed was a rubble of foot steps as multiple figures darted through the woods, making their way towards the town. Animals ducked back into their holes in the earth, or their nests in the trees as the Hunters encroached the end of the treeline to the tiny town. "Fucking freaks." one of them muttered as they hid along the backside of an old and fallen log.

"You know the drill, we get in there...And we light them up with everything we got. We've been too nice in the past." said a female voice, who was clearly the leader amongst the small group of Hunters. Two of her men gave all too large of smiles as they seemed all too giddy. All fell silent as they waited for their mark to reak havoc on the town, and without any warning, one of the Hunters was torn away from the others and pulled up into the treeline. Disappearing from sight. The remaining Hunters withdrew their weapons, backs against each other as they continued to circle around, looking for whoever had made a move against them. "I thought we took care of that one-" one of the Hunters began to speak, but was silenced as the woman raised her hand. The woods fell silent again as they waited for a sign of anything to attack or give chase to. Before they had any warning, one of the Hunters reached for their shoulder as they felt something land on it from above. Feeling it to be something warm, liquidy, and fresh. The Hunter looked down at their hand to see a dark, maroon-colored liquid was coated over their fingers, slowly looking up as he let out a gasp. The sudden action caused the two other Hunters to turn and look upwards, into the trees, both gasped, covering their mouths as nausea overtook them. Up in the trees, was a form hanging upside down with a freshly slit throat as blood emptied out of the gaping wound. Whatever had done that to the Hunter had been swift and it one motion, as the wound wasn't from a claw or even possibly an accident.

With two of the Hunters distracted, one of the Hunters fell to the ground, going lifeless as two arrows found themselves lodged into the Hunter's body. One in the head, and the other square in the chest. "What the fuck is going on?" one of the Hunter's called out, clearly frightened. One of the older ones looked at the Hunter that yelled, grabbing him by the throat, "Don't wimp on us now, Matthew. Or so help me, I will feed you to those freaks myse-" the older Hunter was cut off, as a throwing knife had found itself lodged into the back of his throat, spirting blood out of his mouth as the Hunter fell to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Three Hunters down, two to go.

The female Hunter grabbed the younger one, who's name was apparently Matthew and pulled him to his feet. "Looks like it's just me and you kid. Now let's go." she said as she turned, grabbing their weapons as they began to run. The two Hunters didn't look back as the sound of running footsteps was slowly closing in on them. The Hunters stopped in their footsteps as a large, cloaked figure landed in front of them with impossible speed. The dirt and leaves around their feet scattered away from the figure's feet due to the sheer force behind their landing. "What do you want from us, huh? We're just trying to get back home." the woman attempted to a plea, trying to gain a sense of sympathy from the unknown figure. From which, the figure only let out a low chuckle as they slowly rose to their feet, unsheathing two large Seraph Blades from the placement on their back. Dark green eyes peered out from under the black hood as the figure stared down the Hunters. An emotionless face stared back at them. "This...This isn't your home." the figure said softly. The female Hunter let out a chuckle, silently unsheathing a knife from her cloak as she continued to stare down the figure, "But it soon will be-" she managed to say, before the figure lunged forwards, tackling the female Hunter down to the ground, and onto her back, getting in two good punches, before looking up to see the younger Hunter begin to make a run for it through the woods.

The cloaked figure reached into their cloak, quickly retrieving something from their pocket, and with ease and precision, tossed what looked like metal wire that wrapped itself around the Hunter's legs. Causing him to fall to the ground. As the figure began to make its way back to the female Hunter, another Hunter who was hidden from behind a tree went for a surprise slash with their own knife. But as the Hunter did so, a twig snapped, causing the cloaked figure to twirl around and with immense strength caused one of the Seraph blades to pierce their abdomen all the way through, bringing the Hunter all the way to the hilt of the blade, before removing the weapon from the Hunter's body and watched as it collapsed to the ground. Unmoving.

Slowly turning, the cloaked figure looked back at the female Hunter who began to speak up again, "We're going to burn down your town, freak and when we do-" she began, but the figure only picked her up with ease, using one of their hands to reveal a large burn scar that ran along the Hunter's forearm. "You're coming with me." the figure said, and quickly brought both of their heads together, knocking the woman Hunter unconscious. Dropping the body to the ground, the figure slowly made their way to the young Hunter, who looked on in fear at them. Kneeling down, they retrieved a small pocket knife, "Matthew, was it? Do one thing for me? Get the fuck out of here, go back to your leaders, and tell them that they fucked up this time. And that, is a very deadly and stupid thing to do." the figure finished, and with a quick flash, the wire was cut from around the Hunter's legs, and watched as he ran like his life depended on it as he ran out of sight.

A small exasperated sigh escaped the figure lips as they turned back around to see the female Hunter was still unconscious on the ground. Making their way back over, a small groan escaped their lips as they picked up the woman and walked over to a large tree, placing her down and quickly tied her hands behind her back, keeping her kept snuggly against it. This Hunter wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Slowly rising to their feet, the hooded figure touched their side, a small gasp of pain escaped their lips. They didn't have time for this. Turning, they made their way towards the small town that stood just outside of the woods.

A few figures rushed out and looked at the cloaked figure that slowly walked through the streets. One wearily stepped forward, a Spriggan by the name of Percy stopped the cloaked figure with a hand to their chest. Urging them to turn back, they weren't welcomed. Slowly, the figure removed the hood. Revealing dark hair that was held closely and neatly to the back of the person's head by a short ponytail, pale skin and dark green eyes greeted the Spriggan with a friendly, but rather annoying smile that they had seen many times before. "It's not safe, the woods aren't anyway. I took out some of them in the woods. One got away, and there's one more. She's tied up to a tree, will be out for another hour or so. Let Jaiden know she has a gift in the woods, she's going to need company." the individual said, two of the spriggans Spriggans quickly took off in the direction of where Jaiden was last seen, knowing full well that someone else needed to know that they were back in town.

A familiar face was in the group, looking at the figure, "I thought you were gone forever...The others, they need to know you're back. Percy, tell Rosie and the others." she looked up at the figure with a smile, "It's good to see you back here, Neden...I uh...I am so-" the angel gave her a small smile and embraced her in a tight hug before Violet could finish her sentence, "It's good to see you too, Vio...But now isn't the time. I don't know how much time we all have but, Greythorne isn't safe." Neden said with a tone of exasperation as they backed away, before holding their side as they did so. The shorter woman gave a nod as their eyes locked onto each other, a small smile appeared across both of their faces, but soon disappeared as Neden began to hobble along. "We need to go...Now. This can wait, warning others can't. We need to find the others, and let them know before it's too late." Neden made mention to the wound at their side, their tone was urgent and serious, a tone that didn't come from them very often. Something had changed about Neden in the past few weeks since they had left, and Neden hadn't planned on talking about it, not now. Important matters lied ahead, and they weren't going to make the same mistake again. Violet gave Neden a small nod and quickly ran off in the opposite direction, she needed to warn others so they had some possibility of a fighting chance against the Hunters. Warning whoever she could as she ran through the town.


What people hadn't known, was that Neden had been back in town for two days prior to now. They made sure to keep an all too low profile, only come out when they really needed to. They weren't sure how people would be of their reappearance back in town. The only people that had seen Neden since they came back were Kaylessa and Hayden. One of which, was ironically the last person Neden had seen before they left all those weeks ago. Their conversation was short and to the point. Asking if Neden was still the same, and if it was true that they had been a Hunter. Neden confirmed it, but ensured that they weren't that way anymore. Part of Neden was happy that Kaylessa had forgiven them, but another part of them still hadn't sat right with them. Neden had hurt people like everyone here, even killed and tortured some for the 'better of humanity'. It was a lie, brainwashed to believe that they were the worst the world had to offer. While, if anything, it was humans. But now, Neden was back and this time they were going to make sure they did what they could, but first, they needed to find the others, and warn them before it was too late.

With a small hobble as they held their side, they would need to tend the wound when they actually had the time. Which, wasn't now, they made their way through the town's streets. Not much had changed in Greythorne in the amount of time that they had been gone, which was roughly over a month or two, things were still the same. Still the same, peaceful town it had ever been. Something they appreciated. The walk back to the small house that was once their home ever since Markus-They brushed the thought out of their mind, was a rather quick walk. Slowly they stepped through the trees and bushes, stopping as they saw two figures approach the small home. Neden peered through the brush, trying to see who it was. A small sigh escaped their lips as they only saw that it was Hayden and Kaylessa. A small smile creased their lips as they slowly walked out from the cover of the brush that was previously hiding them. "Hayden? Kay? What're you doing here? It's not safe to be here." Neden spoke with a hushed voice. "I've already taken care of a few Hunters in the other end of the woods...I may have been patrolling the woods out of habit and came across a few. I don't know how many there are but...I have a feeling this isn't just a small scouting party." the angel looked around before walking closer to the two, handing Hayden a rather large dagger, with the same strange runes that covered their own blades that were strapped to their back, next to their bow.

The blade was oddly light compared to its appearance, which one may think was heavy and sluggish. "I am going to want that back by the way, elf boy. But for now, I hope you know how to use one. Let's get going, we're already behind on time." Neden said as they motioned to Hayden and Kaylessa to follow them, "So what's the update?" the angel asked as the three began to make their way back into town

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Kaylessa Valven Character Portrait: Travis Graveson Character Portrait: Hayden Byrne
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rosie thompson
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can't let this moment endxxx outfit | #cc0460 xxx you set off a dream in me


It was easier to show hostility to Travis than it was to listen. She refused to even endorse it for a minute. He was still a traitor, no matter what. On the walk back to her house, she was still trying to figure out what the hell to do with him. There would be one easy solution. She knew that much. But she also knew she wouldn’t be able to do it, she couldn’t even consider it. And that would be a risk. But she also couldn’t risk him somehow signaling to someone else and drawing others to her location.

So when she got him back to the house, she made a quick signal to some of the spriggans and dryads around her house. Guard. If Travis tried anything, they’d intervene. So she felt comfortable enough leaving him alone for a few minutes to go grab a few things. She was surprised to see that he’d emptied his pockets when she got back, but still quickly searched him before telling him to sit his ass down.

She wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, but tying him up, away from anyone else, and stopping him from making contact at least gave her time to think. God, it was times like this she needed Neden or Markus. But they weren’t here, and she needed to think for herself. She gagged him to make sure he couldn’t call for help. And then she left him there, leaving the house and walking in to town to get her head straight.






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hayden byrne
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they love you so muchxxx outfit | #005555 xxx that you won't regret it


Hayden jumped a little as someone emerged from a bush near Neden’s home, breathing a sigh of relief as he realised it was only Neden. They started talking about there being hunters in the woods, and about it not being safe. Hayden shot a look at Kay, wondering if they should just go home and hide and forget about Travis. But no, this seemed important to her, and so he had to do something. He raised an eyebrow as the angel handed him a knife. It was light and fitted easily in his hand. If they had a fight coming, then it would be useful to be able to draw blood.

Neden didn’t seem to want to stop to listen to them, so Hayden just followed them as best he could. “Travis is back in town. And… he specifically requested to talk to you. Rosie got to him first so I have no idea what she’s going to do…” he trailed off as he finally identified the odd tugging sensation in his chest. “Neden, you’re hurt. Let me heal you, if we’ve got a fight coming you can’t risk making it worse,” he said, holding out his hands towards the angel.

For months now, Greythorne had been an escape from his old life. But in a time like this, they needed leaders, and a leader was what he had been trained to be. Someone that people could trust and that could defend their people, and that was what he intended to do.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Zada min Albahr Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir
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phoenix woods
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i know the world's a broken bonexxx outfit | #c4a7be xxx but melt your headaches, call it home


The local grocery store was good, but it didn’t compare to the market. The fact that it only ran two days a week was a constant shame to Phoenix. Everything he used in the cafe came direct from most of these suppliers anyway, but that didn’t beat the feeling of being able to pick things yourself and haggle for them. He needed to try and shake up the menu for the warmer weather anyway, which meant he wanted to stock up on fresh ingredients. Which meant that he spent a significant amount of money buying every single fruit his usual supplier had.

In return for Alex's patience- and god, he’d really had a lot of it over the past few weeks- Phoenix bought extra strawberries and gave them to him as they searched over the more miscellaneous stands, the ones that had odd little trinkets. To Phoenix, a lot of the stuff looked like junk, but Alex liked it. And when the weather was this wonderful and the town this alive, everywhere just felt a little better, a little nicer. It was easy to spend time out and about here. With everyone around, with the friendly chatter and laughter of the market, things were starting to feel safe now.

All that was shattered at the first scream. They all knew what that sound meant now, especially as it was joined by another, and another. The first body hit the ground. They had never attacked during the day before. Things had been so quiet for so long, people had gotten complacent. And that meant that nobody was on their guard.

This all felt a little too familiar to Phoenix. Except now, Alex was beside him, his hand already clutched in Phoenix’s. The panic and the fear was almost suffocating, rooting Phoenix’s feet to the ground as his side and his shoulder began to burn, almost simultaneously again. He knew he needed to run, that they needed to get away as quickly as possible, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even seem to formulate a coherent thought other than no, this can’t be happening again, this can’t be happening, I can’t do this, I can’t lose him, I’m scared, I don’t want to die-

And then he snapped out of it. Freezing up was what had made everything go wrong in the first attack, and he refused to let that happen again. Things were only starting to fall into place again and he wasn’t giving up on that. Alex had spent so long trying to build Phoenix up again and Phoenix refused to let him down by freezing up. He refused to let any piece of shit hunters ruin the first good relationship he’d had in years. They'd ruined his life enough, and he'd be damned if he let them ruin it any more.

He tightened his grip on Alex’s hand and pulled him in the direction of home. He wasn’t a fighter, neither of them were. And he was stubborn, not an idiot, so he wasn’t going to waste his time fighting if he didn't have to. And he wasn't planning on giving Alex much of a chance to object either.






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rosie thompson
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can't let this moment endxxx outfit | #cc0460 xxx you set off a dream in me


Rosie was about halfway in to town when she heard the screaming. The attack had already started. Swearing silently under her breath, she broke into a run, emerging into chaos in the town. She scanned the scene in front of her trying to figure out where to start, what needed to be done first. Familiar faces were beginning to put up a fight, the ones who had defended the town before. A hunter appeared behind Rosie, but she swung around just in time, ducking under his swinging knife and tackling him to the ground. He rolled and tried to pin her, but she just shot him a sharp-toothed grin. "What the fuck-" The hunter started, and his momentary shock gave Rosie a chance to wriggle some freedom. "Listen to me-" She ordered, the command laced with siren song. He froze, his attention entirely on her. "Tell me where you're targeting. Tell me your plan," she ordered. "Town and woods. Two waves in an attempt to overwhelm you. Weapons that are a combination of iron and silver. Daylight to weaken the night-dwellers," he said, his voice a flat monotone. "Right. Go fight your friends. Only the humans, if you as much as touch a Greythorne resident, you are to turn yourself in and not move or object until I get there," she ordered. The man stood up, his movements almost robotic, and retrieved his dagger. Rosie stood up and brushed herself down. A familiar blue-haired woman stood a few hundred feet away.

"Evelyn! Go to the woods, there's going to be hunters there as well as in town. Tell the spriggans, the dryads, the druids, anyone who prefers to fight there, then come back and find me!" She called. The vampire nodded, punched a hunter in the throat before running him through with his own sword, before turning and running towards the woods. Rosie retrieved the sword from the fallen hunter and steeled herself for a fight, spreading her wings in a snap.

As she leaped into the air, she could see a familiar spriggan waving at her, trying to catch her attention. Spriggans rarely came into town of their own accord, Percy had to be here for something. It took her a few moments to understand him, mostly due to his excitement, but they got there in the end. "Neden and Travis have left my house? They're in the woods?" She asked, and the spriggan nodded. Rosie exhaled, knowing this was a split second decision. How much did she trust them in this scenario. "Right. Thanks for letting me know, Percy. Just... go help them. But keep an eye on them. If either of them starts acting suspicious, I want to know about it right away, understood?" The spriggan nodded and disappeared. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. Right now, she had to trust Neden. And if that meant trusting Travis again... well, they needed every ally they could get.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Phoenix Woods Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Travis Graveson
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/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/Outfit\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
xxx I know you know that I made those mistakes maybe once or twice
xxx By once or twice I mean maybe a couple of hundred times
xxx So let me, oh let me redeem, oh redeem, oh myself tonight
xxx 'Cause I just need one more shot at second chances
xxx Yeah, is it too late now to say sorry?




Travis followed Neden up stairs but waited inside as they spoke to the spriggans outside, quickly getting them to agree to letting Travis out and not immediately attacking him. Agreement was that he stuck with them and out of sight of the town, for his as well as the town’s safety. Travis quickly got to discussing their plans for defending the town for attack; their possible numbers, main points they were going to hit, strategy, waves, and much more. Neden wanted some defense around the lake, but Trav argued, talking about the Branded only know about Zada and he was pretty confident she could take care of herself.

The two of them quickly headed out to the woods to get in position, Travis would stay on the outskirts and try picking off hunters from a distance as well as try to keep any back that would try to come from the woods, knowing at some point they would. Neden said she would stick with him as back up, but Trav knew that it was more of babysitting than helping him out, though he understood why.

The attack quickly took off as they got to the edge of the woods on one side of town, screams started to come from throughout the town and Hunters began moving in. Travis and Neden got the drop on one of the main groups, quickly taking them out. Travis knew how they were trained and how they would fight, so it was easy to counter their moves and quickly put some down. He didn’t worry about Neden as the angel could take care of themselves and they certainly did with their daggers. After putting down the first group the two smirked to each other and went after a few more hunters, slowly splitting away from each other, but Travis felt the precense of the forest beings were still watching, babysitting, him. Though it was helpful as the occasional hunter would trip over something or seriously get pulled up into the high trees.

It was easy for Travis to pick off hunters from the woods after he made sure his flank would be covered, and he quickly hid in a bush. He had a suppressor on his rifle so attention couldn’t be brought to him, but there were only so many hunters on the outskirts and screams still coming from inside town. Stay in the woods Travis, it’s safer for you. He remembered Neden telling him. But he wasn’t helping just from the edge, and he came back to help. Travis sighed as he tucked some of his stuff away in the bush and quickly headed into town, not sure what the spriggans were going to do, but hoping they were busy with other hunters.

Travis quickly turned the corner as he got into town, already running into a few hunters, as well as other greythorne citizens, but got away mostly unscathed and not injuring any citizens, though most of them were just scared of seeing him. As Travis continued through town he heard a commotion down an alley and went to check it out, seeing multiple hunters cornering two people, two people he recognized. Phoenix and Alex.

“Hey assholes!” Travis yelled towards the men, quickly turning towards him. ”It’s the traitor! New target, dead or alive.” The guy hunter in the middle shouted as he went to charge at him, but conveniently got pulled to the ground by a vine. Another man came at Travis and was able to cut him on the arm before he tripped him and slammed him into the ground, knocking him out. But he was quickly pulled off and thrown aside by another man, the two exchanged blows as Trav started getting the advantage. Though some screaming distracted him and he looked to the side to see a hunter rotting. His skin and gone from a normal tan color to a greyish tone and some parts even turning black, the man crumbled into a pile and Travis quickly saw the source of this. Alex.

But while Travis was distracted with a man rotting to death, the hunter he had pinned kneed him in the gut and shoved him off, separating some distance between them. The two were probably about 8 feet apart when the hunter took our two knives and swirled them around, showing off his skill. Travis knew him, a hunter specialized in close combat and skilled with knives and swords. He smirked as he stared at Travis. “Can’t save them all, monster lover.” Trav just rolled his eyes and quickly pulled his pistol out and fired one shot into the man’s leg and another two into him, causing him to fall limp.

Travis dusted himself off, quickly looking around and making sure it was clear, and looking back at Phoenix and Alex and seeing they were safe. “Good job there, nice to see you two taking care of yourselves.”Trav said with a light hearted smile.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Alex Garcia Character Portrait: Jaiden Price Character Portrait: Rosie Thompson Character Portrait: Neden Isimir Character Portrait: Violet Marsden Character Portrait: Zoe Peña
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Witch // Attire // Hex: #800000

Don't count me out, Just cause I'm down
Boy I've been down before
Fate has a way of playing games
And I've been keeping score


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Jaiden gave Zoe a brief smile and nod as she said that she'd help, she just needed to be told what to do. In realty, Jaiden had no idea. She wasn't expecting any of this, nevermind knowing what to do in this scenario. Granted, she had the upper hand of having been in this exact situation two times prior, but, something about this was different. Why during the day? None of it sat right with her, but if she were to venture a guess, simply for the Hunters not having to deal with the vampires and those that can only come out at night. At least that's what was making sense to her at the moment, but she didn't have the time to think about it.

She either had to take Zoe with her, or send her off on her own. As much as she knew she probably shouldn't have, a part of her kept nagging her to not let Zoe be by herself. Jaiden wasn't sure if she was being paranoid, but the idea of her being alone just, didn't sit right with her. Jaiden nodded, "Alright, just stay close and-" Jaiden didn't even get to finish her sentence when a Hunter seemed to appear out of nowhere. He what looked like to be a long and jagged knife in his right hand and went for a quick few jabs at Jaiden. The witch managed to dodge his first few swipes of the blade, and managed to get a few good punches in before he managed to swipe down as she went for an uppercut to his chin, and slashed her arm.

Jaiden let out a yell as her arm was slashed by the giant blade, giving the Hunter a look no one had seen in months as she enclosed the Hunter in a cage of fire, and watched as his skin and clothing melted away due to the flames as the remains of the Hunter crumpled into a heap on the ground. Jaiden barely even realized what had happened until it was already too late, seeing a fuming pile of remains. Jaiden didn't even know how it happened, it happened all too quickly. But seeing what she had done had caused her stomach to tie itself into nots, as she hunched over and retched onto the ground. Jaiden didn't even take into account that she had been injured, the only thing that went through her mind was keeping others safe, she only noticed when her arm began to ache and burn. Looking down at the fresh wound she cursed under her breath before looking up at Zoe as she held her forearm, "Are you okay, Zoe?" Jaiden questioned, genuine worry and concern overtook her face as she looked at the other woman.








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Revenant // Attire // Hex: #422c63

They tried to tell me I was lost in the forest
Like a cub with no mother when I actually was where I wanted
Bite off the venomous head, Follow the chemical scent
Look for the hole in the fence, Take everything you demand


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Violet ran throughout the town's streets, warning people left and right as she passed by them, making sure everyone knew what was to come. And then it happened. The screams. She didn't know where they started originally, but they seemed to be coming from all around as Hunters just appeared from what seemed like thin air. Violet dodged out of the way as one of Hunters jumped out from an alleyway, and watched as a werewolf lunged at the Hunter, taking him to the ground. Violet watched for a moment before she turned on her heels and continued to run. She didn't know where she was going, or what she was going to do. But she ran. She didn't know how long she had been running for, but something didn't begin to feel right.

One moment, she was running down the streets of Greythorne, dodging and weaving in between panicked townsfolk, and as she blinked, Violet stopped in her tracks and fell to the ground with a soft thud. Violet pushed herself backward as she looked around in a panicked state, as she wasn't entirely sure of what was going on. The streets and buildings of Greythorne were gone, and in their place was a darkened hallway. Barely any light sources dotted the otherwise barren hallway that she was now in. The walls were covered in a dark, navy-blue color, which appeared to be black without the lighting. Hardwood floors replaced the old concrete streets that she had just seen moments prior. Something about this old and foreboding hallway felt familiar, yet foreign at the same time. The only sound she could hear was the sound of her own heavy breathing, mixed with the dull droning sound of an old grandfather clock that resided to the left of the hallway, but just a bit further down from where she was currently standing.

Violet stood in utter silence as she tried to think of where she was. It was only when a familiar voice broke the silence that she began to piece it together. The voice sounded far away, and disembodied, like an echo that seemed to be coming from all around her. "What do you think you're doing?" it sounded, like a booming voice that came from right behind her, which caused Violet to jump back and away from the voice, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. "What do you want from me? Why the fuck am I here?" she called out angrily. A low rumble of what could be considered a laugh sounded, almost shaking the very ground. "You know the deal, Violet. Or do I need to remind you-"

"You don't have to fucking remind me. I am well aware of what it was. But that doesn't give you the right to-" another rumble shook the ground, causing Violet to slam into one of the walls, "Need I remind you of why you are even alive, my dear? You are mine. And as such, you do as I say, and say as I do. You do not get to break the rules or make your own. Which includes putting yourself in harm's way!" the voice said angrily, slowly getting closer and closer the more it spoke. "I know, I know. But that doesn't mean that you get to break your end of the deal! This was to help them! I can't be here, I need to help them now! They're in danger and-"

"You are mine, Violet. You do not get to go and get yourself killed because of some idiots!"

Violet recoiled at the sudden shift in tone. Never had she heard him raise his voice, not like this. This was genuine anger, nothing like she had heard before. Taking a deep breath, she needed to think. She needed to get out of here and get back to her friends, even if she had to make a choice she knew would be hard for her to make. "Okay look...Let me back there, one last time and...I will help them, and afterwards..." Violet took one more deep breath before she finished her end, "Afterwards I...I'll be your's. For however long you want, I won't disobey another order. I swear.."

There was a few solid minutes of silence that fell over the room after she finished speaking. Violet didn't know what to expect, and then the voice finally spoke up one last time, "I will let you go, under one condition. You even consider betraying me, and the deal we made, your precious friends will die. Do you understand?" the voice said softly, almost above a whisper that caused the hair's on her neck to stand on end. "Okay...I...I promise." she stammered as she closed her eyes. Silence filling the room once more as she was left alone.

Violet blinked once more, as a harsh light assaulted her eyes upon looking around her once more. Gone were the prison-like confines of the hallway, and the eery silence that surrounded her. All that surrounded her were the screams of pure panic and fear as bodies were strewn about the city streets. Both Hunter and townsfolk. Violet felt a not form in her stomach as she looked around at all the death and chaos, but she couldn't help the nagging feeling that was slowly rising within her once more. It was the same feeling as the day when Alex was entranced by the strange woman that was with Zada. Something she had felt a few other times, but she understood it this time. Alex was in danger, and he was afraid. All Violet knew was to run, she had to find Alex. She didn't know why, but she just had to.







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Fallen-Angel // Attire // Hex: #a39d9d

Fast as you can, And run for your life
Run for your life, Don't show your face
They'll lock the cage, If you're an easy mark
I made a plan, Of sweet revenge
I want to take it too far


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Neden didn't initially wait for Travis to follow them up the stairs, but they made sure to wait by the front door for him, making sure to tell him to wait for them to talk to the spriggans and druids outside first. Last thing they needed was for the creatures to attack Travis out of miscommunication. Neden was outside talking to them for only a minute or so, managing to make a deal with them. Travis would be allowed out of the house and be able to help, if he stayed next to Neden and out of the town, staying to the woods only. Neden let Travis out and went over how things were to go over with him as they left the house and surrounding property. Going over how things were going to go, how many numbers they could estimate, and everything else that they both knew about the branded. Coming to an odd agreeance by the end. Neden even suggested that they have some defense around the lake, knowing that the last few times Hunters had been there. But Travis added how the Hunters only knew about one person that hung around the lake and ensured Neden that it would be fine. Something Neden wasn't absolutely okay with, but they didn't have the time to argue. They'd have to work together on this.

The two of them made their way deeper into the woods, and got ready for the fight that was to come. Knowing full well how they worked, something Neden was happy about having someone else on their side that knew how this worked. As they made their way towards the edge of the woods which led into the town, they could hear the screams and yells from the town, knowing what that meant. Hunters had already made it into the town. Fuck. They already wasted enough time, which they couldn't have afforded.

By this time, Travis and Neden had managed to get the drop on most of the first few waves of Hunters, easily taking them out as they fought side by side. This was something Neden didn't expect. Not only fighting beside Travis after everything but fighting the Branded once more was, something that never sat right with them. Part of them felt like something was wrong with that thought, that fighting a group that once they fought alongside just felt off. Choosing to shake it off, they didn't dwell on it for too long.

The two continued to pick off Hunter by Hunter, and easily took them out, giving each other a small smile before they saw more Hunters making their way towards them once again. Slowly the two were separated as they went after more Hunters, not paying much mind, as Neden knew Travis could take care of himself enough. And if not, that wasn't of their concern. They had something more of a concern to focus on. Mainly looking back as Hunters were occasionally pulled back into the trees by the Spriggans and dryads. Smirking to themselves as Neden continued to pick off Hunter after Hunter, barely breaking a sweat. Neden only stopped to catch their breath when they began to notice how silent the forest began to become. Looking around, bodies laid strewn about the forest, many were Hunters, few being forest folk, which made Neden feel worse as they hadn't been fully focused on the others.

Neden sheathed their swords to their back as they slowly walked through the woods, checking on the spriggans that were injured, or taking care of the ones that were hurt. Neden was planning on staying in the forest, stay out of sight of those in the town, but something didn't entirely sit right with them. Something from inside the town was calling to them, or at least that's what they could have sworn it felt like. Looking around once more, Neden turned and made their way to the town, using their wings to take them there at a faster rate. Landing on the roof of one of the buildings, Neden observed the chaos that unfolded before them. Bodies of Hunters and townfolk littered the streets, cars were on fire, as well as buildings had been broken into. Memories of the first few attacks came rushing back to them as they observed from above, a small knot forming in their stomach.

The angel retrieved the bow from their back, and looked down, taking aim at a few Hunters that were below, and watched as they fell to the ground as their bodies fell limp. Looking around once more, Neden spotted a familiar form in the distance. From what it looked like, the figure was slowly beginning to be outnumbered by Hunters that approached from the distance. Neden crouched down, and launched themselves forward, using their wings to help propel them forward, taking aim at two of the Hunters in the distance. Neden landed a few feet away from Rosie, rolling as their feet hit the ground, and used their bow to trip an oncoming Hunter. Slamming their foot into the Hunters head, snapping his neck with ease. Neden quickly turned to see two more Hunters encroaching at an alarming rate, getting two more arrows, they quickly fired and then backed away, seeing one of the Hunters being hit in the arm and the other dodged out of the way of the arrow.

Neden sighed and quickly retrieved a throwing knife from their pant' pocket and aimed it at one of the Hunters, and quickly threw it, piercing the Hunter's throat and knocking him off his feet. Bleeding out quickly as he gasped for breath as he seized on the floor and went still. Neden panted heavily as they were finally able to catch their breath, looking across the street as they finally made eye contact with Rosie. Neden remained silent and solemn-faced as they looked at Rosie, not exactly knowing how she felt about seeing them once more. Especially now.

The angel looked at Rosie in silence, quickly aiming another arrow and set aim towards the siren, watching as it fire passed Rosie and was lodged into a Hunter's head, falling down into a heap just behind the woman. Neden gave a small smirk and nod to Rosie, putting the bow back where it belonged as they quickly jogged over to Rosie, meeting her halfway, "Are you okay? I would have been here sooner I...I'm sorry. I just...I shouldn't have left, I'm sorry, Rosie. Everything was just...I'll explain things afterward just...I'm sorry." the angel said with a rather saddened tone, which didn't last long as they recollected themselves, "Anyway, if there is anything you need me to do, just let me know. I've already taken care of the woods, but...I don't doubt that more will come. Travis is around here somewhere but, we were separated in the woods. I know it's hard to trust us but...I promise you, we're together on this."