order within chaos, peace within war

[expiatrice]

Who: Ciel, people who expressed interest, and anyone else who might've ended up coming to the Church after her PSA (as civilians, checking up, or helping defend)
What: Zombie shelter/safehouse
Where: Church of Salvation
When: Sunday, September 18th until the end of zombie shenanigans
Warning: Maybe gore, for potential fighting?

Comments

[lunawolves10th]

[ A grey knight stands watch for a moment, taking a moment's respite from avenging rampage throughout the town. His armor is caked with blood and entrails, the grey mostly red and brown, now, but his blades are still sharp, and his bolter still clamped to his thigh. He watches the church for... a familiar face? He doesn't approach though. Just checking in on someone. Or maybe a few someones. Who can say? ]

[dclassreyvateil]

[Aurica looks out through the window in her room, depressed from the earlier events. She sees a lone figure, its head covered in a pattern of red, before she bolts downstairs, and peers out the grand doors.

Seeing the coast clear, she walks out toward the knight, her dress slightly ripped at the skirt's hem and her hair slightly disheveled.]

Garvi...? Is that you?

are you canon familiar with garviel? I swear you have a lot of insight into him... :D

[lunawolves10th]

Yes. [ He shifts his bolter a bit, not pointing it at her, more... covering her. As if unsure if he's about to have to engage someone nearby on her behalf. ]

It's largely coincidence, though I've read some bits of you before & did a fact check of WH40k. =)

[dclassreyvateil]

[If she noticed, she didn't show it at all, either oblivious to the bolter or fully trusting in him. She walked closer to Garviel.]

I'm glad you're well. This town isn't being very nice to us at the moment..

[She looks over his splattered armor, the difference taking light. Her expression changes to a sad one as she looks then towards the ground.]

How's it going for you...?

Re: It's largely coincidence, though I've read some bits of you before & did a fact check of WH40k.

[lunawolves10th]

I am... beset by memories of the past, young one. [ He leaves the helmet on, aware of how dangerous the blood all over him is. ]

I am glad to see that you are well. I am taking a moment's respite, before I fight once more, on behalf of all those who are left.

[ He is quiet for a moment, and then decides to ask. ]

You have taken protection from Ciel, then?

[dclassreyvateil]

[Memories... She wanted to pry, but she thought it was likely personal hells of his own, and he still had a job to do today, protecting other people. She says nothing as well for that time, her depression already kicking in.]

Yes, I did...not all of us made it though.

[lunawolves10th]

I'm sorry....

[ He kneels, very slowly removing his helm, so as not to get blood on her. ]

Who did you lose?

[dclassreyvateil]

[Her gaze shifted to Garviel as he kneeled and took off his helm, focusing on his face and eyes. She wondered if it was a good idea for him to take his helmet off if the blood could get inside the suit now if he wanted to put it back on, but she still trusted him. He was one of the only people she could trust in right now.]

...My mother that I was living with here. They took her. I tried to save her, but she...

[Aurica hanged her head, not knowing what else to say about it. She closed her eyes, feeling an episode come over her that she did not want him to see, having troubled too many already since her stay in Mayfield, as she fought back her emotions. Emotions that could only bring people down further, as valid as her not!mother told her they were.]

[lunawolves10th]

I'm sorry. [ He crosses to her, and looks down at her. Normally he'd probably put a reassuring hand on the mortal's shoulder, but as covered in virulent plague-blood as he is, he'll pass this time. Instead, he just stands close by and says. ]

You will be safe here until this ends, be assured of that. Ciel will protect you.

[dclassreyvateil]

I know...thank you...

[Token words for a token concept. There wasn't anything words could do for the loss of another.]

...please...

[But there was something, something he could do, to put her selfish heart at ease, if only a little.]

If--...if you see a blonde-haired woman, my mother, and she seems alright, bring her here...but if she doesn't look like she'll make it...

... [She can't bring herself to say it. It's hard enough as it is. Why can't I go through life without crying every so often...?

The girl closes her eyes tighter, her voice a forced and broken whisper. ...but I don't want Dakki to suffer like this.] ...please...

[lunawolves10th]

I'll show her mercy, yes. [ He slips his helmet back on. ]

Describe her further, I will seek her among the living and the dead, and give her rest.

[dclassreyvateil]

[She looked towards the ground, blocking out everything else she could think of, to see Dakki's face, her appearance, just her. It was hard to differentiate her from the terrible image that had planted itself in her mind, that of her being lost and taken to the horde.]

...short blonde hair...she has a little bit of hair sticking up in front... [((This does not sound unlike Saber, what do, spehs marehn?))] and...she...

...she... [Remember! For her sake! Don't block it out!]

...neck...leg...she got hurt there... [It was too much to even speak at this point, her pain evident in the streams of her lifeless, distant eyes.]

...help her...please.

♪ BGM: Theme spacemarines 01 (R)

[lunawolves10th]

In the Emperor's name, then.

Be safe, Aurica Nestmile. We shall not meet again until this is over, I think.

[ He checks the magazine on his bolter briefly, and turns as if to leave, pausing only briefly. ]

[dclassreyvateil]

[Aurica's eyes shift back to normal as Garviel mentions her family name, though still on the verge of fully crying. She puts both hands, balled into fists, stacked on each other to rest against her collarbone, her breathing staggered.

My real family...is not here. In its own way, it makes the ordeal infinitely worse, reopening the wound of her lost parents back home all over again. But this brings her ease as well, being able to distinguish between the two sets of parents finally, even if it creates a much greater burden of loss.

She looks and shifts forward toward Garviel, a hand reaching out slightly from her, as he turns to leave.]

Garvi!

[lunawolves10th]

[ Garviel pauses in the midst of putting his helm back on. ]

What is it, Aurica?

[dclassreyvateil]

[The hand clenches into a tight fist. If only... popped into her head so many times today, and now was no different.

Still, she tried to send him off in the warmest smile she could muster without breaking eye contact, even if her face was filled with perpetual sadness, blinking to fight back the tears.

She had opened up possibly to Garviel most of all since her time here. It felt comfortable knowing that, even if they might have an aligned disagreement, she could trust him so willingly.

Even if he wasn't her partner... and even if he could make the choice not to ... it still felt indulging to think of him as a white knight of his own accord, as if he was just like a Knight of Elemia back home.]

...Take care. And...thank you.