Private Tales Fallen from grace..

[Lailah]

The light rain gave her just cause to keep her dark hood up over her pearly white hair. It was often recognised, and she was putting her life at risk as it was being in the market. They needed food and she was sick to death of fish. Lailah tried her best to look anything but as paranoid as she felt, and she tried to blend in to the bustling marketplace, her face cast downward to avoid meeting any unwanted gaze.

"Baked fresh this morning lass.." a plump older man grunted at her as he thrust a cob of wheat bread in her face. She flinched slightly, and his head tilted at her.. "Or how about some sweet breads, eh?" he gestured toward the honey and lemon breads, and then to the jam tarts. Lailah allowed the faintest smile and nodded in silence as she lifted the basket she carried out to him, allowing him to fill it with the loaf and a few delights. "A good day to you miss!" the man bid her as the coin was handed over, and Lailah continued on her way.

The basket weighed heavily on her arm, now filled with meats, fruits and vegetables as well as the breads, and she decided it was time to go. Of course, if Lailah didn't have her bad luck, she'd have no luck at all.

"Oi! Girl!" .. Lailah had started out her day without two coins to rub together. She'd planned on ending it with a basket full of food, and a few coins left over for her troubles. Unfortunately the man whom she'd accidentally bumped into on the outskirts of the city had realised that his coin had been replaced by a bag of rocks, and had set out looking for the woman who'd so sweetly apologised from under her hood.

Lailah picked up her pace, and with a glance over her shoulder she strode straight into another man and her basket fell to the ground. "Shit." She fell to her knees, fumbling as quickly as she could to grab the rolling apples and potatoes to throw them back into the basket. The time had cost her, and by the time she was at the end of the street, a hand grabbed her by the nape of the neck and pulled her into a quieter street to slam her against a wall, the basket falling from her grasp.

"You crafty little bitch. Hand it over." the grisly man growled by her ear, his free hand patting at her hips and thighs in attempt to find his coin purse. Empty handed, he spun her around and shoved her back against the wall again, his hand continuing his search. His dark eyes settled on her face however, and realisation caused a wicked grin to spread across his scarred face. "Ahhh.. Alvaro's girl, int ya?..." he chuckled and whistled as his head shook in disbelief of his own luck.. "Seems you've got the whole city chatterin' an' chirpin', lass.. Lotta people lookin' fer you." his gaze narrowed and his hand slid lecherously up her torso to wrap a hand around her throat, a blade appearing in his free hand. "Sure I'll be handsomely repaid for my troubles if I return you to em'.." his brow arched.

Lailah squirmed and brought up a quick knee to throw it into his groin. She used his buckling reaction to shove at him and make a run for it, but his hand reached out and slammed her harder again into the wall. Lailah let out a growl in pain as her head struck stone and she felt the cold steel of his knife bite into the skin on her throat and she winced. "Alright, alright, alright!.." she snapped in panic, feeling his weight press against her.

"Good lass. Now lets go, quicker I get my money the better for you..." He grinned and laughed at his own words.."Well, maybe not." he shrugged, and took a firm hold of the nape of her neck again to walk her through the dingy streets and alleyways.

Caliane Ruinë

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Alliria.

Caliane took a deep breath in and let her nose fill with the scents of fish, sweat and grime she would only ever find in this extraordinary city. Despite its ugly side it had a special place in the young Avariel's heart for it was the first real city outside of Thyasari she had ever seen. Taken from her home and bundled into a too small cage, experimented on to the point of nearly losing her wings and her magic, she had only ever known hate and pain in the outside world until the Monster Hunters had saved her.

It helped that this had also been the first place she had been introduced to chocolate.

"Back again, Feathers?" the woman chuckled as Cali eagerly edged along the queue to finally place her order of one chocolate fish. The chocolatier made her creations into all sorts of shapes but the fishes with their silvered latticed scales were her favourite. She shuffled her wings in a gesture of shyness. It still felt odd for her to not be wearing her cloak out in the open but it was a ridiculous thing to do after Bhatharik. Her exploits had travelled across both continents; the Angel of Fire.

"Always, Anja," the redhead smiled, dimpling her cheeks, and accepted her chocolate prize with greedy fingers. After a few more pleasantries back and forth Caliane continued on her walk through the market. Children followed shyly behind her, hoping against all hope that one of her feathers might fall for them to add to their collection. Normally she would have let one or two loose ones go but some movement caught her eye.

The market was a busy place and people rammed the narrow walkways but despite the chaos there was an... order to things. And someone was going against the grain. Her keen elven eyes tracked the cloaked figure with curiosity and then frowned as she noted the man following her. Chocolate forgotten, Caliane made her way after the two at a quick walk. Despite her urgency the tide was against her and it wasn't until the two were walking out of the alley a little too close and awkwardly, that Caliane managed to catch up with them.

"Excuse me," her voice bounced off the brick walls like a songbirds morning melody. It had most people nearby turning. "Exactly where are you taking this woman?"

 

[Lailah]

That voice.. She knew it, but she couldn't place it. The man gripped her neck a little tighter in his frustration at being accosted, and he swung her around with a violent shake. Lailah's hood fell, and her stormy-grey eyes widened slightly as they fixed on the red headed woman. Lailah felt what colour there was in her alabaster skin drain, a white wash of shame that rushed through her and she dropped her gaze to the floor rather than look at her any longer.

"Never yeh mind. Little bird got out of her cage is all, I is bein' an upstandin' member o' society an' returnin' her to her rightful place I is." he grinned, showing the only few rotted teeth that he had left in his mouth. "Now if yeh don' mind lass I has places teh be an' coin teh be paid." he winked. Lailah swung an arm and slammed her elbow into the man's ribs so hard that he swore and let her go but as she tried to make a run for it he reached out and grabbed her hood, dragging her to the ground.

"Let me go you stinking sack of shit!" she yelled at him as she deftly untied her coat and wriggled out of it, forgetting that all she had on was her vest and corset. Her shoulders and upper arms had been decorated with inked wings, and her lower arms had been bandaged from wrists to elbows. She rolled herself to her knees and pulled the jacket, trying to free it from his grasp just as he aimed a swift kick at her face.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Stormy grey eyes met ones the shade of a summers forest leaves. They widened almost in the same moment Lailah's did; surprise, no small amount of horror, and above all else confusion. There were not many among the Avariel who had committed a crime so bad that they were devoid of their wings and exiled. Lailah was the only one Caliane had ever heard of in her lifetime. The shock almost rendered her useless and the mans words might as well have fallen on deaf ears. It was a struggle to tear her eyes away from the sadness in those grey depths but the other avariel managed to do it for her. Their small scuffle brought her back to the present and snapped her out of any dreary daydreams.

As the man aimed a kick at the young girls face Caliane moved. The Avariel were far more suited to the skies; their large wings often made them clumsy on the ground but she had grown used to using her feet and she put them to good use now.

The man seemed a tad surprised when his foot didn't connect with Lailah's face but was caught by the ankle by Caliane instead. Anger simmered in her eyes in the form of two very real emerald flames, flames similar to those that were beginning to lick at the ends of her hair and wings.

"I suggest you leave," even in anger her voice was a song and she dropped the man's foot unceremoniously. After a moment she fished around in her pocket and threw one fat gold coin towards the man who snatched at it greedily. "And do not bother her again."

 

[Lailah]

Lailah’s eyes closed tightly as she braced for the impact of the man’s boot with a grimace. When it never came her tension eased and her eyes opened with a blink. She’d been pulling so tightly on her coat that she fell back with an ‘oof’ when the man let it go to catch his gold coin. She huffed a few unruly strands of hair from her face and looked up between the avariel and human for a moment as he considered the coin in his hand. Finally, he decided that it was enough for him to leave Lailah on the wet ground and he took a theatrical step back, tipping his invisible hat to Caliane as he bowed. “Since y’ asked so nicely lass.” He winked, and tucked the coin inside his coat as he wandered off, whistling to himself.

“Prick..” Lailah muttered under her breath as she frantically fumbled with her coat to pull it back on. She wished the ground would swallow her, and she felt colour return to her cheeks as they flushed furiously. “Thanks.” was all she’d say as she pushed herself back to her feet and quickly lifted her hood. She hesitated for a moment, but she was still unable to look the woman in the eye and turned away quickly.

“S-sorry I have to go.” She called back in a fluster and rushed back into the alley to retrieve her food. Tremulous hands picked up the spilled fruits and vegetables and threw them unceremoniously back into the basket as quickly as she could, muttering under her breath to herself.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane watched the mans retreating back with narrowed eyes. The flames that had began to curl the tips of her waist long red hair and turn the primary feathers of her wings a blazing white had vanished though. The Soulfire clearly believed the threat to be over with, though Cali was less than certain. It was her watching of the man that almost lost her Lailah though.

"Hm?" a slow blink at the apology brought her out of her thoughts in time. The Avariel turned to catch the others retreating back disappearing into the alleyway from whence she had came and Cali hastened after her. As the woman was stooped to bundle food back into her basket the redhead watched helplessly for a moment, then stooped to pick up a block of wrapped cheese. Carefully, as though she were afraid her actions might spook her, she held it out towards Lailah.

"Please... Lailah, let me help you."

She was not entirely sure herself what kind of help she was offering with her sentiment.

 

[Lailah]

Lailah’s heart was pounding and she could feel her chest tighten with panic. Calaine was, quite frankly, terrifying. She considered for a moment that the avariel hadn’t been here by sheer coincidence, that she was here to drag her back home for further punishment. She’d been punished enough, but then, she hadn’t exactly kept her hands clean since then.

She flinched as she felt the woman crouch next to her, and her eyes settled on the hand that offered help. Her fingers curled into trembling fists for a moment before she reached hesitantly to take the cheese and drop it into the basket. The shudder that ran down her spine had nothing to do with the sound of the woman’s voice and everything to do with the memories it conjured of home.

Help?.. Perhaps she was here by coincidence. The thought eased her slightly, but not enough to look at her.

“I don’t need help, I’m fine. It’ll take me some time to pay you back, but if you give me a few weeks..” her brow furrowed. She hated owing people anything, and gold coins weren’t exactly easy to come by. She stood and lifted the basket in the crook of her elbow before hugging her ribs, intent on leaving as soon as she could.

“I can’t stay here..” she murmured and turned to continued down the dimpled path of the alley. There was little doubt in her mind that the man who’d grabbed her was on his way to La Puta Madre’s turf, they’d be swarming the place soon and she wanted to be as far away as possible when they came looking.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane stood there mournfully watching her retreating back for a moment, torn at what to do next. She didn't want to leave her when she could see the other Avariel was upset and shaken after the ordeal, but neither did she want to anger her more by following her and insisting on being in her presence. Her wings shuffled against her back, fluffing up and then smoothing back down as she debated with herself.

"Wait!"

She had to jog to catch up but in a few strides of her long legs she was back beside the white-haired fallen. Cali clasped her hands in front of her and chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously. She was thinking back to what she knew of Lailah. The girl was a lot younger than Caliane by a good few centuries, but she had made her name in the short few years she had lived in Thyasari. Not many Avariel's had their wings taken from them. Some would argue death was better.

"You don't have to pay me back..." Cali murmured quietly, glancing to the other woman and then back down at her hands, working on her cheek again. "How... how have you been?"

 

[Lailah]

Lailah bit down on her lip to stop herself from groaning aloud as she heard Caliane follow. She turned down a narrower, dingier lane, the sounds of her rushing feet slapping at the wet ground bouncing off the walls. She ignored the refusal of repayment, but the question of how she'd been caused her to halt abruptly in her tracks. Her gaze fell, and her brow furrowed atop it, but no matter how hard she clenched her jaw she couldn't keep her words locked behind her teeth.

"How have I been?...." she repeated with a quiver of anger, and she turned to gaze at her from under her hood. Her once bright, silvery eyes were stormy grey, her skin was paler than it should have been, and her cheekbones were a little more prominent. Her head tilted at the woman with incredulity.

"You mean since my own people tore off my wings and threw me out of my home with nothing?" her eyes watered but she lifted her chin and pulled in a breath, refusing to let her emotions spill over. "I appreciate your help, Caliane, but I'm used to men like him. My life has gone from bad to worse, but I'm alive, I'm handling it, please don't waste your breath by pretending that you or any of them care." Lailah frowned at her, and a single tear betrayed her.

She'd begged her own parents to stop them taking her wings and they'd been too ashamed to even look at her, she highly doubted anyone else really cared what happened to her. "As you can see I've outstayed my welcome here as it is." she let out a huff and glanced anxiously up and down the alley.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane looked as though the other woman had just slapped her. Her eyes screwed up slightly at the corners, her lips thinned as she tries to stop it from trembling, and her fingers dug into the palms of her hands. What had happened to Lailah had been horrific. She had listened to her parents argue over the decision for months afterwards. Her mother had been the only Elder who had voted against the punishment, but her father had pushed it through. There were not many things they disagreed on but it had been a rift for many moons between them.

Caliane had thought of the girl often, especially when she had had to execute one of her own not long after for a similar crime.

"Lailah please..." she swallowed the lump in her throat and started after the other girl again. "I didn't mean to upset you, forgive me," she ducked her head a little in shame. It had been an insensitive question; how would she ever be truly well, truly whole, without her wings ever again? "Not all of us agreed with what was done. Things are changing, Thyasari is opening its doors once more to the world you-- You could come home."

 

[Lailah]

Lailah let out an irate grumble as the woman apologised to her. She didn't deal well with guilt, and she already had enough of that on her plate. She'd been about to tell her it wasn't her fault and tell her it was alright, but the avariel continued and the rage that boiled in the pit of her stomach travelled back up her gullet and spilled out of her mouth.

"Come home?!". Her stormy eyes darkened a little more and they narrowed in disbelief. "If you seriously think that I'd ever want to set foot in that city again then you should really get your head checked." Lailah lifted her hand to her head and laughed, but it was more a sound of hysteria than amusement.

"I can just imagine them all staring at me, the disgust and the pity they looked at me with before when I staggered and fell all the way to the city gates. Takes you a while to learn to walk, after they cut your wings off, did you know that? They made me walk the whoooole damn way.". A few tears dripped from her lashes at the recollection, but her face showed far more bitterness and anger than sadness.

"Trust me. I will never be welcomed back there, I am as dead to the lot of you as you all are to me." her jaw clenched. Her attention was called to the end of the alley, the silhouette of a broad shouldered man lurking around, staring up at them from under a hood. "I suggest you get out of here. They'll want to ask you questions." she told her and continued to move onto the next street.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

A kicked puppy probably looked less hurt than Caliane did right then. Her emerald eyes refracted into a thousand tiny gemstones as tears filled her eyes and she wrung her hands desperately. Lailah's words cut her deep. Not only because it was her home - their home - she was spitting at, but because she felt like she was a part of the problem. She hadn't stood up to the council when the decision was made, none of them had. She had only found her own voice and confidence to do so after her torture. What if she had found it sooner - would she have been able to have instigated more change?

"I'm sorry..." the Avariel swallowed the lump in her throat. Slowly, she managed to pull her eyes from the Fallen's back and to the figure at the end of the alleyway. She was not as naive as she had been when she first began to explore the Ground World, but nor had she really learnt all of the dark and twisted things that lurked in cities like Alliria.

"I.. I don't think they would look at you with pit, Lailah. They've changed."

 

[Lailah]

She couldn't handle the guilt of making Caliane feel bad and so she tried her very best not to look at her. "I don't want your apologies. I don't need them." Lailah told her as she stopped, seeing another figure at the opposite end of the alley. Her pulse pitched to frantic, and she wasn't sure if it was sheer paranoia or if her actions had finally caught up to her.

Her grey eyes were wide with panic as she looked up and down the path, Caliane's words only half registering with her. Changed?... Lailah snorted at the word.

"I don't care if they've changed. I've had no choice but to change. I begged their forgiveness, I physically fell to my knees and cried and pleaded and begged them. You saw how far that got me." her head slowly shook. "They will never have my forgiveness.." she told her firmly and met her gaze for a brief moment.

"Now I really have to get out of here. Unfortunately, these people will not oh so mercifully let me go on my way after they tear me apart." she sneered.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Another wince, but still the Avariel didn't turn to go back the way they had come. Instead her eyes began to flit about their surroundings for the first time in order to try and see what it was that Lailah was so paranoid about.

Of course the Allirian slums had a bit of a reputation but Caliane had the innocence of a child despite being nearly two centuries old. Where the seasoned city-goer would see dark corners as places to hide knives, the red-head only saw what was there. Or, perhaps, a monster or two given her line of work. She still had yet to discover it was most often people that were the worst monsters of all.

"Well... if you are in danger why don't you come to my apartment for a little while, until you feel... safe. It is the least I could do," she shuffled her wings awkwardly, mindful to keep the largely white wings away from the dirty walls and floor.

 

[Lailah]

Absolutely not. That was what she had been about to say, what she would have said if she wasn't absolutely terrified of being followed back home. She stared at the woman, her eyes wandering over the shuffling wings for the briefest of moments before she dragged her gaze away from them and swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth.

"How far is it? I.. I don't want to lead trouble to your door." she frowned and chewed on her lip, the memory of the burning bordello house still very much on her mind. “If they know you hid me..” her head shook and she let out a shuddered breath rather than finish the sentence.

She really had no desire to sit and chat to the woman over tea but she had even less desire to be caught. Her paranoia and panic was crashing down on top of her and she felt her chest tighten and her breathing restrict.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

It was the first time Caliane smiled and it held a secret within the subtle curve.

"No trouble will come to this door," a slight shake of the head, red thick tendrils of hair whispering over her shoulder. She might have been naïve but the daughter of the Elder in charge of the Avariel's military was not a shy wallflower. At least not anymore. Since joining the Monster Hunters, nearly dying at the Battle of Bhatharik and setting the Soulfire that lived inside of her free, Caliane had at least grown confident in her own skills.

"It's just back this way, the other side of the market, c'mon," she tilted her head and nodded over her shoulder, half turning to lead her but she didn't fully turn away. Clearly she wasn't convinced Lailah wasn't about to take the opportunity to leg it.

Slowly she began to walk, though she checked over her shoulder ever few moments to make sure Lailah was coming with her.

 

[Lailah]

Lailah stared at her uncertainly for a moment. She'd rather do anything but accept this woman's help, but if she wanted to get home safe she knew she'd have to lay low, and that meant putting her pride to one side. She clenched her jaw and nodded with a sigh of resignation, glancing over her shoulder once more and tucking a few unruly locks of pearly hair under her hood.

She followed, watching the woman's feet as her gaze remained downcast, afraid if she looked up in either direction she'd catch an unwanted gaze. She flinched every time she brushed or bumped against something, and although the small woman had taught herself how to walk again, she'd never regained the grace she'd been able to carry herself with when her glorious wings had adorned her back.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Once she was sure the other Avariel wouldn't slip away unbeknownst to her, Caliane lengthened her stride a little and cut through the throngs of people in a haphazard manner. It was a habit of hers really, from her Hunter days that had bled into her life as a Monster Hunter. Trails were much harder to follow if they weren't an obvious line. So she looped through people, cut across strong scents and larger groups of people.

"It's just a little further," it wasn't too far from where they had initially started. The building she was heading for would become obvious as soon as they rounded a corner; the Monster Hunter Guild in Alliria. It sat at a junction of two roads splitting off further into the city. The weird angle it sat in meant the building was an odd triangle shape and it jutted into the street like the prowl of the ship.

Caliane half turned to catch Lailah's reaction with the dawn of a smile.

"My apartments are on the top floor, c'mon," she pushed open the front door. It was relatively quiet inside for once - just a few Hunters who were stopping over between jobs. Nobody even battered an eye when the two entered and Caliane quickly led Lailah up the three flights of stairs to a suite of rooms compromising of a living area and small bedroom on the top floor. They looked run down and shabby but there was a balcony with the windows thrown open.

"It's not much but... I like the view," Cali said almost shyly as she shut the door behind them.

 

[Lailah]

Lailah managed to keep up and only just managed to stop herself from running straight into the woman as she stopped. She hesitantly lifted her gaze, and her mouth fell open as she tilted her head back to regard the building. "You don't live here?" she asked incredulously, but the woman answered her question and Lailah paused for a moment before following her inside.

She hugged her arms and gazed around, shy in the knowledge that there were other people here, but they didn't seem to bother. She stepped into Cali's room and swept her gaze across it and looked back at her as she spoke. She didn't answer, and instead stepped over to the balcony to take a look for herself.

Lailah stared out at the view over the city and the sea, her eyes glassy and distant as she couldn't help but be reminded of flying over cities and towns. Now she was used to looking up at everything. Her lips curled and she gave a slow nod, tightening her hug on her own arms. "It's a nice view.." she agreed quietly.

Her gaze fell to the streets below and she frowned as she searched through the throngs of people for any she might recognise, any that might have been looking for her. She let a pregnant silence fall before finally breaking it.

"They burned down the last place they found me hiding.." she murmured, her brow knit at the all too recent memory. "Murdered some of my friends." she told her, the words tumbling out in a whisper, afraid her voice would break if she spoke them any louder.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

Caliane's smile withered like a dying rose at Lailah's words. Every hurt she had suffered was because the people who had stripped her of her wings. Their people. It was hard not to therefore feel guilt over everything she had been through. The silence stretched once more between them. What on earth could she say into that void to make her feel any better? Nothing. It wasn't her job to make it better and she doubted Lailah would appreciate it either.

"Fire," Cali said slowly, picking up a thick wool blanket woven with a mix of reds, blues and oranges and motioning for the girl to come sit down. "Is definitely not a problem here," her lips twitched a little. They were only acquaintances really, or had been, and she wasn't entirely sure whether Lailah knew about her affinity for the element.

Once the girl was sat Cali gently tucked the blanket around her.

"Tea?"

 

[Lailah]

Regardless of how vaguely she had known Caliane, it was impossible not to know of her gifts, everyone knew of her gifts. The woman was renowned, and it only made her all the more intimidating. She pulled in a breath and shook the memory from her mind's eye before turning to face her, her gaze falling on the blanket.

Lailah was always cold. She was wet through from the drizzling rain and the blanket looked particularly comforting. She sighed and swallowed her pride, setting down her basket and dropping her hood. She kept her wet jacket on, awkwardly, preferring to keep her scarred back and arms covered, but she sat and allowed the avariel to cover her.

Tea.. She'd been intent on refusing but her body gave a shiver in protest of the thought and she offered a small smile in gratitude.

"Thank you... I, don't want to put you out. I won't stay long." she assured her and dropped her gaze to admire the woven blanket now swaddled around her.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

"Oh you're not putting me out at all!" Caliane waved her hand with a smile and then bustled about to set about making the tea. The sweet Avariel was never one to lie nor play down a situation so Lailah could take what she said at face value; for her there was no bother in having somebody sharing her rooms.

There was no fire currently going in the room but it didn't take long for one to be roaring away. Cali piled it high with wood and then set the kettle over the top of it, not bothering with the thick gloves that sat nearby designed for such an occasion.

"I have some spare clothes if... if you want to get changed into something dry," she wrung her hands awkwardly, equal mixes nervous and shy about offering.

 

[Lailah]

Lailah watched the woman busy about, her lower lip captured between her teeth and she chewed idly, pulling the blanket a little tighter around her in attempt to soak in the comfort of it. The offer of dry clothes was tempting, she was shivering with cold so much that her muscles ached. She really didn't want to be in the woman's debt any more than she currently was, but Lailah knew she'd be cutting her nose off to spite her face if she said no.

"If you're sure.." she answered in a shuddered breath and her shoulders rose and sagged in a sigh.

"Look, I'm.. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I just haven't seen another in so long and it just. It was a surprise, that's all. Brought it back.. I'm sorry." she frowned and dropped her stormy gaze to the floor in shame over how she'd spoken to the woman. None of this had been her fault.

 

[Caliane Ruinë]

"You don't need to apologise to me, Lailah..." Caliane watched the other Avariel for a moment and then her gaze slid to the open french windows and the view beyond. For a moment she was lost in her thoughts, of a time gone past and her own lack of courage. "What happened to you is something I will regret for my whole life," a sad little smile played about her lips and when she looked back there was not pity nor disgust in her eyes but understanding. Never for the whole of her pain but some of it.

Saying nothing more on the matter she stepped light into the tiny adjoining room that contained a battered wardrobe and bed. It took a few moments before she returned with a pile of clothes; tunic, leggings, a warm cloak. Everything was in muted tones of green and brown as was traditional for hunters but they were thick and warm.

Carefully she set them down beside the girl.

"Feel free to use the bath and such, it's all warm."

 

[Lailah]

Lailah's head tilted slightly at Caliane's words of regret, and she idly gnawed on the inside of her cheek as she considered them. She hadn't realised anyone from home ever thought about her at all (other than her parents, whom she was sure, would never forget their shame). She realised though, that it wasn't exactly an every day occurrence that one of their own had their wings cut from their backs in the middle of a trial. She still remembered the sound of her own screams echoing in the great halls, met only by silence and the stares of those who could bear to watch. Her father had watched, but her mother had simply stared at her own feet and tried not to faint.

"Still... It wasn't your fault. You have nothing to regret." her gaze fell. "And nor do I." she added with a soft frown. If she'd been faced with the same choice again, she wouldn't have done anything different and she knew it.

Her eyes rose as the woman returned with clothes for her and she offered a small, gracious smile. "Thank you, I'm sure the clothes and tea will warm me up.." she assured with another shiver. She stood and turned away from her to slip her jacket and vest top off, showing off the tattoos that ran across her shoulders and down the backs of her upper arms, as well as the two, thick, mottled scars where her wings had once been. She was more intent on keeping her arms out of the woman's view as she quickly pulled on the warm clothes, and wrapped herself back up in the blanket.

She lifted her own clothes, and scooted closer to the fire to sit, spreading them out in front of it to dry.