[color=turquoise]Cinera
[u]Day 17 - Afternoon - Lvl 13[/u]
[@Zelosse][@PyroDash888]

Cinera glanced up as her friend approached, only to once again bury her hands in her face as the tears secretly escaped her eyes. She didn't even want Sapphira to look at her, right now... It probably wasn't that big of a deal, but she hated the embarrassment. Her heart raced and she just wished that she could fade away into the air and disappear from sight, for awhile. The young fox had just been through a lot, and she wasn't trying to make things any harder on her friend. What if she were upset from the whole encounter? Her head swirled with all the different ways she could apologize when her friend finally spoke.[/color]

[b]"You like him, don't you?"[/b]

[color=turquoise]The unexpected words were spoken so softly, so suddenly, that Cinera almost didn't understand them at first. It was such a strange thing to say at a time like this! Not only that, but it wasn't helping with the embarrassment factor. Her face grew redder, if that were even possible, and she slowly peeked out from under her fingers to gaze at her friend. She was... serious. Extremely. Sapphira's comfort felt like that of a mother, and rather than run from it as she had been Cinera now relaxed and shifted her gaze to the ground. This was a question she hadn't really considered seriously, if she were being honest. Of course, being around Delcastle made her happy... and he was always looking out for her... but was that really love?

[i]Do I like him...?[/i] Cinera didn't have the slightest idea. She was such an airhead sometimes, she hadn't ever had a real romantic relationship in real life. Love was something she preferred to avoid thinking about, having seen the stresses it put upon her own parents. A sort of aching feeling crept up her chest, and she slowly dropped her hands into her lap. [i]Do I... like him...?[/i] As the blush slowly faded from her cheeks, a faint cherry red rested on her youthful expression. All of the memories of these few weeks with Delcastle ran through her head in this moment - meeting him in the inn, training the next day, their picnics, camping together, training together... their kiss... - and the more she thought about, the more her chest ached. She couldn't deny what she was feeling, no matter how much she wanted to. Even if she had only known him a few weeks. Even if she knew how badly love always ended. Even if she had decided to never love someone in that way. Somehow, some way... here she was.

[i]I... I...[/i] The thought of admitting it out loud was too much, so she simply and sadly gave her friend a brief nod. Sapphira would knew what she meant. [i]I... I don't know why I'm nodding... She's going to think I like him...[/i] Cinera's thoughts swirled in her head, making her feel dizzy and sick and nervous all at once. [i]I... I... Even so, he saw me like that...[/i] Sapphira had offered to go talk to them, but the idea of it made her even more sick. Shaking it off, she stood and wiped away any remaining tears. [b]"I... It's okay..."[/b] Those useless thoughts of feeling and such could be thought of later. It was too much to think about, right now. [b]"I'd probably just be in here worrying. I can go talk to him."[/b] Cinera reached out to her friend to help her from the ground with a weak smile. [b]"You should be resting, anyhow. And Delcastle brought you those clothes to change into. I'm... I'm sorry about that... awkwardness..."[/b]

She gave a bit of a laugh and helped Sapphira to the bed. [b]"By the way..."[/b] Before she left, she turned to Sapphira with her own face once again bright red. [b]"Can you, uhm... m-maybe not mention to Delcastle... u-uhm... Well, you know..."[/b] She looked down at her hands, fiddling them together. [b]"I-I still don't... know... a-and I hadn't really thought about it, so... uhm... Just don't mention it, okay? I promise you will be the first one I tell if I ever have feelings like that!"[/b] Once again, she laughed a bit and looked up at her friend. [i]She really does understand me so well...[/i] A genuine warmth crossed her eyes before she left to find Delcastle. [i]I want to help her... Somehow, we'll get her ear fixed...[/i]

As Cinera opened the door, she looked over to see Delcastle standing there, his face full of warm, rushing blood. [i]Oh, god...[/i] Her own expression mirrored his as she very nervously closed the door behind her. [b]"U-Uhm... H... Hi..."[/b] She held her arms behind her back, rubbing her hands stressfully. Delcastle might recognize the signs of stress in her, but she did her best to hide them anyhow. [i]I'm sure he got the wrong idea...[/i] Unsure of what to say, she just kind of looked at her feet, shifting a bit as she stood there. [b]"Uh... S-Sapphira's changing, so... y-yeah..."[/b] Cinera mentally slapped herself for that one. [i]What the heck do I even say?![/i][/color]

[hr]
[color=red]ScarletRain
[u]Day 17 - Afternoon - Lvl 15[/u]
[@Zelosse][@BlackPanther][@Tracyarmav][@Haeo]

Scarlet gawked at the sudden terrible situation to befall her comrades. Edgar was suddenly pinned on the ground, with Reaper thrown clear across the inn, tables and chairs broken, blood flying. It became a mess in the less than 10 seconds it had been since her grandfather had walked in the room. Why were they here, anyhow? And why did they know where to find her? Had they followed her here? Even if it was the only inn in town, it did not give them permission to follow her around or [i]attack her fucking teammates[/i]! She had just sent Dom that PM about how they saved her life! Why were they attacking in a safe zone, anyway?!

Scarlet now understood their intent. They wished to cause her party members pain. Even if they couldn't kill them, they wanted to see them suffer. Even after they had risked their necks for her, the two old bats had jumped to insane conclusions about these strangers and decided to rip them apart where they couldn't die or hardly defend themselves. The glare from Edgar said all about what they were feeling, too. As this all quickly played out in front of her, Scarlet could feel a hot fire burning under her skin. Enough was enough. Even after she had told them to leave her alone, told them to mind her own business, told them she didn't need their help... [i]Even after I made it VERY clear that I wanted to be LEFT ALONE, they still... still...[/i]

Her hands shook with her growing rage, and her eyes struck daggers into the vicious form of the fat asshole she had to call family. Enough WAS enough. Scarlet moved in the blink of an eye to equip her axe, immediately taking hold of it as she charged forward. [b]"GET THE BLOODY FUCK OFF OF THEM YOU GOD DAMN COCKSACKS!!!"[/b] This was her battle cry of choice as she slammed the flat edge of her axe against Dom's body, like a painful wall of metal pushing him back in the blink of an eye. The force would propel a normal person clear through the opposite wall of the inn and into the street. In an instant, she turned the other way and did the same to Smart, aiming him like a baseball to the other side of the room from her grandfather in an attempt to break it all up.

Her sudden entrance into the fight seemed to create a pause, and it could be seen that she intervened only to quickly end this "skirmish" of sorts. A small tear of frustration had formed in her good eye as she tried to take hold of just how [i]fucking furious[/i] she was, in this moment. With this break in the physical contact, Scarlet settled her gaze on the old fartbag she could no longer stand. In this moment, where she was already feeling very raw and alone, she could no longer hold back the fear and pain she had been holding inside. Like a child, she let it all out at once.

[b]"What the [i]fuck[/i] is wrong with you?!?! I replied to your PM to let you know what happened, because you seemed so [i]damn[/i] concerned, but shit..."[/b] She laughed a bit angrily and placed her hand on her head. [b]"You just don't fucking understand me at all anymore, do you?! No, of course you don't. You're too fucking old to understand anything that I'm feeling! Or to even have decent human courtesy, it seems! You could at least fucking introduce yourself before you [i]beat the shit[/i] out of the guys who [i]saved my fucking life[/i]!!! Which, by the way, I TOLD YOU IN THAT MESSAGE YOU WERE TOO FUCKING STUPID TO READ BEFORE RUSHING OVER HERE TO ATTACK MY NEW FRIENDS!"[/b] She pulled her hand away from her head and stepped down from the table she had landed on, dragging her axe behind her as it gave a loud scrape against the floor.

[b]"They didn't do anything to me while I slept. In fact, they've been nothing but gentlemen since I met them. Edgar might be a fucking sarcastic asshole sometimes, but god damn it I [i]chose[/i] to be in their party! We have the same goals, and we're strong together! Is that a fucking crime?! NO! None of that even matters, though, because what I do is [i]none of your goddamn business[/i]! I told you to stay away from me, but you didn't listen! Neither of you fucking listen!"[/b] She turned to glare at Smart now, revealing the tears that had now formed down her cheeks. [b]"You old fartbags want to know what happened to my eye?! Here! Since you couldn't wait for me to just fucking explain it to you!"[/b]

In one swift motion, Scarlet ripped off the already-loose eyepatch to reveal her clouded eye. Once Smart saw, she turned to her grandfather, who was now right in front of her, as tears fell from only her good eye. [b]"I fucked up, okay? I ran too far and hit the game's barrier. Fell off a fucking cliff. This guy-"[/b] Her finger pointed harshly at Reaper. [b]"-patched be back up when my arms and legs were all but falling off!!! And this guy-"[/b] She now pointed to Edgar, her heart racing as she let it all spill out. [b]-this guy fought a monster at the gorge that had locked onto me and was twice his level! You still want to accuse them of being bad people who took advantage of me? No. I didn't fucking think so."[/b] Having boiled all her anger down into this sharp, concentrated fury, she now unequipped her axe, allowing herself to be fully vulnerable to her grandfather for the first time in years.

[b]"We tried potions, bandages, everything... No matter what, I can't see out of my fucking eye, anymore. At all. And you know, this normally would have been the sort of thing I would have gone to you about. I used to think that you could fix anything in the world, Grandpappi..."[/b] Her face twisted into pain as she forced out that endearing nickname, not at all caring how guilty she might make him feel. [b]"You used to be the only one who understood anything I felt. Mom was just trying to make up for all of dad's shit, but you were the only one who would actually give me my space and let me figure things out in my way. You knew that I needed that. But when mom left, you... you..."[/b] Her heart ached heavily as sobs escaped her chest. [b]"... You started to act just like her! Trying to make up for her being gone the same way she made up for dad leaving! Trying to 'get to know me' or 'spend more time with me' to make me feel better! I never wanted any of that!"[/b]

She took a few steps back, feeling her overpowering emotions taking control. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and Scarlet had no idea what to do with herself. [b]"I just wanted my Grandpappi... I just wanted you to be there when I cried by myself at night... to be that person I could go sit with at night and watch late-night TV and forget about Mom crying over Dad's letters in the other room, or forget the fighting, or the bullshit! I don't want anymore of the fake smiles or caring. I don't want to be spoiled. I just want a fucking normal family that treats me like a fucking normal person! I've only ever wanted that! A normal family with TWO parents, not one... Where I got scolded, had to do chores, could have friends over... The more you try to make up for the emptiness in our house, the more lonely I feel. I thought you were the one person who understood that..."[/b]

Scarlet clenched her fists tight as she stared hard at the ground, letting the tears drop at her feet. Now they had heard... All of them had heard her... She kept her gaze fixed on a small pebble in front of her, not wanting to look up to face anyone. It had just spilled out, but she didn't want everyone to know. She didn't want to admit that she felt lonely. It felt like her family was all gone, now. Of course she wanted to stay in this game forever - she was just a normal person in here. Her mom always treated her like an angel, like she could do no wrong. Her grandfather's discipline had been her last foundation to make life feel real after the divorce drama. When her mother left, that reality had faded into special breakfasts together and random trips to the mall. Just like her mother, he tried to force her to get friends at school and even let her skip school once or twice (though to be fair, that was kind of a grandpa thing to do). He probably thought he was helping, but she hated it. Scarlet hated being treated like she came from a broken family, because it was just a constant reminder of all the shit she had endured through it all. Her shoulders shook with the released sobs, full of the pain from her secret feelings. [b]"... I-I hate you..."[/b] She sobbed, angrily wiping her tears away. [b]"J-Just leave me alone..."[/b][/color]