Application for Castiza, The Revenger's Tragedy

[chasteasaknife]

And where was this place? No sooner had her family been reconciled, than they'd faced Antonio's wrath, that Vindici had dared brave the deeds that had increased that fickle lord's holdings. It took little imagination to guess at what fate awaited them, and yet she was here, in a room too drab for the Duke's liking even in a dungeon. Some oubliette

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[fantastic_nine]

Since his return to Hogwarts, the Doctor had been having a truly fantastic time. He had talked to his future self, met old and future friends as well as an old nemesis. The school was a bit mad, but he was having fun.

"Hello," he said, leaning against the wall, arms folded. His grin was wide and friendly. "It's not a jail.. not really anyway. It's a school. And it's not always too late. Time can be rather flexible when you work it the right way."

[chasteasaknife]

At the first sight of him, Castiza's face lit up with joy and relief, but she hadn't even taken the first step toward him before she stiffened, startled.

The clothes were unremarkable, but the speech was wrong, the sentences put together strangely. Even the way he moved was subtly off.

"Brother," she murmured to herself, "I knew thee, even when I knew not thy face." Crossing her arms, she spoke firmly and clearly. "I know thy face, but I know thee not."

[fantastic_nine]

Oh he did always find the clever ones. It was part of what made traveling so fun. He positively beamed at her. "Someone else had this face? Hn. You'd think they'd get the ears right the second time around."

"And later on, your lot will figure out that time isn't as linear as you think. It doesn't run out, it can't. It's fluid, it can flow and eddy like a river. It's quite marvelous, really. I'm the Doctor, by the way. Who are you?"

[chasteasaknife]

"Even the smoothest river may hide jagged rock," she said a little crossly. His words were odd, and took thought to unravel. "And it matters not for thy sake, but I'll not hear my brother's looks mocked."

[woocha]

It's not a jail, it's a school!

[chasteasaknife]

A dog was addressing her? Had she been drugged, then?

"In truth, I begin to think it a madhouse," she said quietly.

[woocha]

Hey! I'm not crazy! There are some that are, though. Mean, too.

[chasteasaknife]

"That's the way of it, yes?" She set her jaw firmly. "'Tis the mad and cruel who seek out power, only to be deposed by like-minded wretches. I need no schooling on that score."

[serrulata]

He should have been recovering, but the apartment was small and Kurama has never been one to just lay around and do nothing all day, even after having the life nearly beaten out of him. Besides, he had to acclimate himself to moving about with one eye out of commission for now, and he was sure it would bring great joy to everyone to watch him stumble into crap his unreliable depth perception wasn't picking up.

He managed to just barely nick his shoulder on the door to the sorting room when he came in, all in fresh bandages and a ratty old Ramones t-shirt and ratty old designer jeans. He looked like a fashion-conscious mummy.

"And surviving it, which is more useful than succumbing to the pain," Kurama said, of her answer to the Hufflepuff question. "That trait is admirable."

[chasteasaknife]

Castiza openly gawked at his condition before remembering herself and lowering her gaze.

"Canst thee think of nothing, then, that it would be better not to survive? I can."

[serrulata]

Kurama smothered a smile at her expression, then considered the question.

"I can't speak for most people," he said at length, putting his hands (carefully, they still ached something fierce at times) in his pockets. "But I can't think of a single time I'd have rather died than survive and come back stronger. I may lose a limb, or," he smiled wryly, "an eye, but if I have survived intact enough to deal back what was done tenfold, then I consider it an accomplishment."

He paused a moment, and then added, "being dead is not all that great a gift, even in the most painful of experiences." He should know; he'd been there more than once.

[chasteasaknife]

"Perhaps for thee, dishonor leads to strength. I would use strength to fight in the first place, and see if I might thus save myself." She bit her lip, seeming to shrink in on herself. "And that only if guile failed me."

[eleventyrags]

The Doctor hadn't been able to resist meeting someone he'd already met, and swept into the sorting room, snatching up Cazista's application and reading it with a little bit of theater but no small amount of interest. She was a very, very interesting young woman, that was very certain.

"You have turned pragmatic melancholy into an art form," he said, peeking at her over the top of the paper, an impish grin on his mouth, but studious attention in his eyes. "That is very impressive."

[chasteasaknife]

More flattery; Castiza looked at him warily. "Do not doubt that I can be choleric, and turn my rage at any deserving soul." Despite her talk of rage, the melancholic air he'd mentioned was very much evident.

[eleventyrags]

"WEll," he gestured grandly, the paper flying from his hands and landing again, as if guided, on the table. "Anyone can get angry, that's a fact. I get angry and it's never a nice thing to see. But that's nothing compared to being as patently dour as you are. I bet you'd cause stars to supernova if you bothered with a smile once or twice." He lifted an eyebrow at her, daring her to prove him wrong. He'd always been able to find the bright ones, and this one was brightness all wrapped up in iron.

[chasteasaknife]

"Perhaps thou'rt less skilled in charming maids than thy fancies claim," she said archly, the corner of her mouth twitching up faintly. The mockery in his tone had less in it of the crude cat-calls she so often had to dodge, and more of the gentler barbs and more of...

More of the words a brother might use...

Words a happy brother might use, a brother delighted by his coming marriage, to a sister too young to grasp the words, but old enough to hear the fondness behind them.

[rose_of_powell]

"Sounds like you've had things pretty rough," Rose said sympathetically. "I don't think anyone is actually going to bother you, though."

[chasteasaknife]

Though she'd hate to admit it, Castiza was overwhelmingly relieved to be addressed by someone, well, nonthreatening and not a talking dog.

"I don't surrender," she said, not as concerned with the other woman understanding her as she was with reminding herself. "If thou'rt mistaken, I will be no cheaply won prize."

[rose_of_powell]

"That's good. Stand up for yourself." Rose nodded. "You don't need to be afraid of most of the people here, though.

"What was your life like before coming here?"

[chasteasaknife]

"How long before?" She smiled without humor. "There was joy, once, ere the old Duke sought to have my brother's wife."