[center][img]https://googledrive.com/host/0ByCDZX18AmmONzZWYW96RjlQZUE/fancy-horz_zps742090b3.png[/img][color=483D8B][h1][i]LYANNA[/i][/h1][/color] [img]https://googledrive.com/host/0ByCDZX18AmmONzZWYW96RjlQZUE/fancy-horz_zps742090b3.png[/img][/center] [center] Laughter….it was laughter that she last heard. It started as a low cackling and escalated to an all-out bellow. The feeling of her body becoming numb as a solid blade made it’s way through her, rending flesh and breaking bone, struggling to be removed. Laughter, that loud…maniacal laughter was always present as her vision began to blacken. Yet…before all life would leave her as she knew, that laughter…changed? It sounded more erratic…twisting into…into…sobs? Finally it did not matter. The darkness had taken her and the world around was swallowed by the darkness clouding her vision…and then… She heard a scream. This scream jolted her senses awake. A gasp escaped her, only to be replaced by a coughing fit as the old, stale fluid evacuated her nearly-shriveled lungs. She struggled to get up, her vision blurry and a ringing sound in her ears. In the end she only managed to get on all fours, leaning on her elbows as she continued to cough, the rotten red fluid escaping through her mouth and nostrils as she gasped for air. It took a bit for her vision to clear, ever-so-slightly, just enough to paint a picture of her environment. A horrific place… ‘[i]By all the Gods![/i]’ Another gasp escaped her along with those thoughts. She was on her knees, glancing around at this place she found herself into. A dark place with barely enough light to see, the ground was humid with a mucky fluid of a sickly, red coloration. It’s consistency made it clear it was…something other than water. Around her were nothing but old, lifeless bodies, all shriveled up and in mid decomposition. This was a place where no life was welcome as not even maggots seem to thrive on the bountiful piles of corpses around. Instinctively she gazed upwards, her colorless eyes widening in horror as she saw…she couldn’t even describe what it was. Some sort of gigantic, fleshy monstrosity, pulsating and dangling from the celling by a number of great chains and hooks that perforated its bulbous surface. The mucky fluid seem to originate from this…thing, cascading from a few places where it appeared that the hooks caused too large of a gash. The mere vision of such an abomination was enough to break one’s mind. She could feel her body shaking as she just stood there, her gaze affixed to that creature, unable to move. A whimper nearly escaped her as another coughing fit snapped her back to her senses. Still alarmed at the sight of that.. thing, she struggled to rise to her feet. The sloshy surface did not make it easy and the still semi-numb feeling in her muscles only made it that much harder. She struggled to hold her balance, damn it all, it felt like her muscles atrophied due to a prolonged time of inactivity. The familiar weight of her armor also weighed on her, yet this burden came with an odd sensation of comfort, the comfort of something she was well accustomed to. Her left side felt much heavier, upon looking she could see that it was not only due to the gross lack of armoring on her right arm but it was also because her left hand was tightly grasping at a battered shield. The shadow of a smile creeped on her face, it felt oddly comforting to know that she held on to her all-familiar shield even…even in.. It hit her. Her mind raced, struggling to recall the last moments before she blacked out. A shiver ran down her spine and her knees began to tremble as she came to the same conclusion. She, Lyanna, had died. Worse even, she found herself in such a…horrific place. Was this the after-life? Was this the place where wicked souls came and awaited punishment? No..No.. this could not be….Could it? A scream snapped her once again to reality. It was the same scream that she heard when she awoke. She quickly turned her head, trying to distinguish the source, barley making out what looked like someone curled up with their hands on their head. Numb or not, her instincts kicked in, forcing her to run with heavy feet, her armor, or what was left of it, clanking as she strode through the muddy fluid and past a number of corpses lying around. She reached the person, making out their features more clearly. It was a man, with messy, yet bright, hair. His attire may have once been of fine make but just like their owner they were now worse for wear, a series of shackles around his wrists and ankles completed his visage. With a firm hand, Lyanna shook the man, forcing him to turn and face her. “[color=483D8B][b]Calm yourself, sir. This is no time to lose your head, get up![/b][/color]” The tone and the words came out by sheer instinct. She spoke like some sort of soldier… Ah, yes… That’s right. She was a soldier…of some kind. From…from Badarium…right? Yes…yes. Her name was Lyanna and she was a soldier…a guard! A guard of Badarium. Memories slowly came back to her, piece by piece. Yet there was still much left in the fog. For now, she was content with knowing who she was and…how she apparently died. Her gazed turned to her vicinity. She was not alone. A few corpses from a nearby pile had toppled down in the messy puddle of red fluid. There was someone else there…yet who…or what? Fearing the worst, Lyanna reached for her sword, a sensation of relief washed over her as she felt the handle on her side…yet it was followed by disappointment when she discovered that the sword was utterly broken in half. Ugh…no matter, it was better than fighting empty handed and she still had her shield. Stepping between the unknown presence nearby and the frightened man behind her, Lyanna adopted a defensive battle stance and bellowed. “[color=483D8B][b]Whoever is there, show thyself! Now![/b][/color]” [/center]