IP: 90.255.108.93
Posted on July 15, 2018 at 11:26:59 PM by aura
TW: Aura's posts invariably contain strong death themes. Also swearing.
But all that has changed, and now I'm bold.
Dying brought about strange effects on the mind. For many, like the missing soldier, the immediate reaction was denial. This wasn’t the first time Aura had been physically assaulted on the job. In others, tears of rage, sorrow or relief might flow. Some met Death with readiness and curiosity, eager to taste its perceived exotics. Among those who had been dead for a while, the difference between those who yearned for life and those who accepted death was profound. It was that same quality which usually divided the travellers from the settlers.
For Aura, dying had stripped her of many things, and not all of them negative. Chief among the things she had lost was the propensity to give a flying fuck whenever she (frequently) didn’t meet someone’s expectations.
Too used to such dismayed exclamations to care about Kane’s, Aura ignored him, maintaining her search through the obstructive mist. It was amazing, really, that anyone still expected her to be… what? Seven foot tall, blazing in colour, crackling with magic? One would have thought that any text or oral account which referenced her would have included a footnote. For your information, Aura is small, grey, and trips over her own feet sometimes.
The seconds ticked by, causing her frustration to mount. Nothing was visible through this unrelenting fog. Experience had taught Aura that simply picking a direction and charging off into it was about as fruitful as a barren tree, no matter how determinedly she ran, so she forced herself to stand still and keep searching. Kane’s shout made her jump, and she spun around in time to see him bolt away to the right. By the time she’d recovered her senses, he’d been enveloped into the mist. Aura glanced sideways at Brock, who simply shrugged by way of explanation.
“Um,” she interjected into the silence, dissatisfied, “who was that?”
“That’s Kane.” Brock shrugged again and gestured at the point where the Lieutenant had vanished. “That just… is Kane.”
Haring off after him would have been a waste of time: he was long gone, and unless he’d sprinted off in a straight line, there was no way she’d find him in the fog. Aura ground her teeth together and folded her arms, trying to find a shred of patience. Brock fiddled absently with the hem of his shirt. It was impossible to keep time in the Realm Between Realms, but it felt like a hundred years had passed before the mist parted and two indistinct figures emerged, one behind the other. As they neared, the rolling waves of low grey cloud peeled back to reveal the white-faced wide-eyed soldier and then, a split second behind him, his grim-faced captor. The knot in Aura’s stomach untied itself and the weight of her failure rolled off her shoulders. She released a needless breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and glanced back at Brock, who smiled back at her faintly. Kane frog-marched the recalcitrant youth in their direction, but didn’t make it all the way before he was forced to kick him onto his knees. Taking the hint, Aura crossed the remaining distance between them, Brock scurrying along at her left shoulder.
Relief at the young soldier’s retrieval had softened the lines on her forehead. A ghost of a smile played at the corner of her mouth.
“Really, the height?” She asked Kane rhetorically, quirking an eyebrow. “You don’t want to go for a more original opener?”
But there was a hint of gratitude in her piercing blue eyes.
Mentally setting Kane aside for one moment, Aura squatted down on the ground in front of the sobbing soldier, meeting him at eye level. He squirmed and angled his body backwards as though trying to get as far away from her as possible.
“Listen to me.” She told him, clearly but gently. “You are dead. I can’t change that and neither can you. I’m here to help you.”
“I had a life!” He shot back at her, fighting against the Lieutenant’s grip. “You took my life from me!”
“I didn’t take anything from you.” Experience in the job had taught Aura to keep her voice measured, but these accusations never got any easier. “I don’t decide when it’s time. I’m just here to guide you to your loved ones. Is there someone you want to see?”
The man inhaled deeply. A flicker of hope lit in Aura’s chest.
“Fuck you.” He snarled, trying to jab his elbow backwards into Kane’s stomach.
Aura sighed. She stood up and thrust her right hand out, focusing on the staff. It traversed the distance in a fraction of a millisecond and spun into her hand with a crack of thunder. Her clothes shifted from the unassuming grey tank top and shorts into the icy blue robes of the Reaper. As always when the transformation took place, her hood was up, obscuring part of her face. The robes floated in an eerie, slightly unnatural way around the hem.
“Do you want to try?” Aura asked Kane, pushing her scythe into the ground and leaning sideways against it.
They thought I was weak, but I am strong; they sold me the world but they were wrong
And now that I'm back, I still belong.
Replies:
- Your heart felt good, it was dripping pitch and made of wood - By Kane August 14, 2018 at 08:19:27 PM
- the whole world shook - By aura August 21, 2018 at 02:01:00 AM
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