〖 A U R O R A 〗 [Frost / Erebus]

[F R O S T]

"It all happened so suddenly, this event we call the Aurora. So suddenly that people barely had time to react to those beautiful colors spilling across the sky and the changes started... the beginning of the end. We had just enough time for the whole world to become aware it. Some of the old timers claiming to have seen day one remember clamoring to see the colors spreading across the skies, completely unaware of what effect those colors would have on the world. Looking back you can pretty easily see how much we lost... just look at the ruins in the wastes to see all that. They say humanity had great technology before it happened, cities that had been built to resist the ravages of nature and man, to stand against both natural disasters and war. Of course none of that actually mattered... the end began just as those splendid colors spilled across the night sky and there was nothing we with all our technology could do to stop it. Nowadays, we honestly know little of the history of the end of the world now anyway. History of the event is lost now, the libraries and technology that contained that information are gone forever, or perhaps kept safe in some underground bunker well away from common knowelege. What we do know is that we now live in a world radically changed and that everything our species once took for granted was lost.

Hell, at least it was a beautiful apocalypse.

The splendid colors of the aurora have long since warped the world we once lived in beyond recognition, the natural disasters changed much, but the reintroduction of magic into the world changed far more. Continents have moved, landmasses lost to the sea or lifted up into the air seemingly without weight, entire biomes changed and some still changing nightly under the chaotic throes of the Aurora's power. Human civilization did not stand a chance against these epic changes, and now we as a species have been reduced to scavenging the remains of the previous civilizations. There were some groups of people who have formed pockets of civilization in realms otherwise known as either "Wastes" or "Wilds". Some survived by retreating deep underground; the wealthy and powerful among them, taking their technology with them. Most of us, however, are forced to contend with living on the surface under an event that changed the rules of nature itself and the fact that we are no longer on the top of the food chain. Animals, from common vermin to great beasts of the sea were forced to adapt, and under the lights of the aurora evolved with unnatural swiftness, becoming Monsters feared even today.

And now here we are... Don't even know how many years its been, some claim to have been alive when the Aurora first appeared in the sky... but people have been born into this radically changed world, raised in fear of the chaotic power of the Aurora. Some truly unlucky souls even feel it's wrath first hands. Amongst humans little has changed, we largely seem to be immune to the ambient energies that forced the changes in non-sentient creatures, the aurora has effected us in an entirely different way.

Some poor fools have been directly effected by the Aurora's power, branded with strange sigils on their bodies that give them the power to unleash and even manipulate a single color in the spectrum of the Aurora. These "Brands" are seen as monsters, inflicted with what is both a gift and an incredible curse, with great power and limited to no ability to control it right away. The common people see only people given incredible destructive power - the ability to animate corpses, entire buildings to mud, and produce fire and ice from nothing at all. Naturally many Brands are snuffed out by forces of the underground Government and of course crazed mobs the moment they manifest, but some live longer to sell their power to those who want it, or need it.

Our story begins in an area of the wastes known locally the "Ice Queen's Castle"... The area was rife with magic of the Cyan Hue, cold at best and frozen solid in many other places, with little life save for destructive Elementa and other beasts evolved to beat the cold, once a rather pleasant parkside business complex near the river and now a frozen hell the deeper in the zone one got. It was no surprise that this place became the lair of the Cyan Brand who gave it its' name leader of sizable group of raiders in the region. In one of the largest buildings at the edge of the Cyan Zone, the headquarters of Cyan herself the soft sound of vicious blows could be heard from outside the door of the penthouse, the sound of the Ice Queen enjoying her most recent catch - In her mind her greatest rival and the Crimson Brand.


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(Intro done! Actual 1st Post to come!)

 

[F R O S T]

Damnit...

She had been foolish, there was no way in hell people would have been so nice to a Brand with no ulterior motive... Ember hated how stupid she had gotten, the people she had initially helped had treated her so warmly she had let her guard down. It had been a trap set for her specifically. Not many would blame her for her decision to stay the night... the girls were cute and the food was good, she had told her own gang to hand back while she reveled in the thanks of the people she had assisted earlier that very week. She had helped them fight off Cyan's own raiders earlier that week, but the whole thing had been a setup. Cyan was of course more than happy to sacrifice a couple of her men to get her hands on her rival... the people who served under her were terrified of her. She wasn't called the Ice Queen for nothing, she was as ruthless as she was beautiful, and Ember's beaten body was proof of that. Still, if it weren't for Cyan's presence, Ember would have likely decided to go back and wipe that village off the face of the planet personally if she hadn't known that Cyan had had them under her boot for months, if not years. Really she pitied them, Cyan was the type of woman to abduct young men and women for her personal and rather gruesome 'entertainment' or as conscripts, bodies to throw at her enemies. She as a ruthless and sadistic bitch, and though Ember was in a shitty situation, this was also her one chance to take her out.

Both women grunted seemingly in tandem as Cyan delivered another blow, pain spreading through her body like fire as the vicious punch connected into Ember's defenseless abdomen, causing her body to jerk and twitch with pain, her eyes squeezed tightly shut while she tried to brace herself for the next strike and occasionally opening her mouth to release a gasp or a grunt. Her entire body ached... This beating had lasted much longer than any of the others and her body was feeling the effects. Cyan herself was sweating, her 'supersize' making it easy despite the fact that the room was seemingly kept at a constant freezing temperature. When Ember's eyes opened again her rival smirked with sadistic glee and wiped her blood off of the leather gloves she had put on for the beatings. Cyan looked precisely as one would think she would as a Raider Ice Queen, her appearance was still however slightly less rougish than that of her captive. Her hair was well-kept, a blonde color tinted bluish by either the power of her Brand or of course hair die... it was difficult to tell which really and braided into a simple ponytail that extended to the small of her back. She was slender, but not exactly petite, fairly tall and well-muscled, clad in a leather jacket and jeans with simple bits of body armor strapped to her legs and torso under the jacket, leaving a line of her toned middriff exposed. Her left arm was uncovered at the elbow, where her Brand glowed brightly despite the otherwise dim lighting of the sunset in the windows. Em opened her eyes and did her best to give Cyan a defiant glare, who cackled and grabbed her prey by the neck before letting go so she could back away from her. "Still can't get ya to scream huh Em? Maybe I am not cutting you deep enough? Eh?" She spoke up so her voice could be heard through the door, power-crazed bitch... Her own breath wasn't producing condensation in the air like her captive was, a symptom of her brand and eternally low body temperature, she sounded thrilled really, a chance to vent all the anger that the Spitfire had caused her and her band all this time, no way in hell she would let her just die.

Both women were panting, but Cyan was simply out of breath from her workout. She corrected her posture and presented Ember a toothy grin, observing her handwork while bringing one of her now ungloved hands up to brush away some of the stray blue locks that had escaped their bindings out of her face. Ember's own body was chained, unable to move... Her arms had been locked together over her head and the chain that held her was fastened to the ceiling and wall at its highest point and then to her wrists, meaning that the woman's feet were barely able to rest on the ground and of course presenting her as a literal human punching bag for the Ice Queen's enjoyment. Her own dark hair was in utter disarray, asymmetrically cut into a bob that was longer on the right side of her head than on the left, giving her a wild, but oddly attractive look. Her hair was also covered, but mostly just the ends of the hair, giving it a deep red tinge, especially on the much longer bangs that covered the right side of her head. Unlike Cyan Ember was VERY slender, her frame was also moderately muscled from both hard labor and combat training, but she lacked the width of hips and certainly the bust her old enemy loved to flaunt. Her body was also much more clearly on display... She had been wearing her normal getup but three days of beatings and torture had all but destroyed her clothing, leaving her only in a her trademark black halter-top shirt and a pair of jeans. The top covered only the front of her body and leaving much of her back and shoulders exposed while covering her front (as much as it died, Em had a bad habit of not wearing underwear, and in the cold temperatures this today was painfully noticeable through the thin material of the shirt). Ember's own brand was on her right shoulder, and glowed bright red from the pain she felt, fading slowly while Cyan circled her like a hungry shark. Her top and jeans had also been torn to shreds, and she was bleeding and bruised from the beatings, especially today's - Cyan had been kind enough to leave her face mostly untouched, though she was now bleeding from a rather deep cut just above her eyebrow, forcing her to keep her right eye shut tight to keep out the blood.

The Blue-haired woman sighed and patted her defeated rival on the cheek before turning away - and taking another strip of cloth off her top with her while she did so, smiling to herself while she walked away. "Mh, that releases so much stress, Em, thanks so much for the workout, Ill be sure to get you to scream next time, maybe I will bring in a couple of my boys to help me, heh, even give those boys in the settlement a proper... reward..." She giggled almost innocently despite the rather dark threat in her words and turned to walk away, making sure to smear some blood across her face for good measure before walking out of the 'cell' cackling. "Hey Girlie, Our guest needs some help again, better make sure she doesn't die. I wanna play again soon!" She didn't even bother looking for her, just shouting while she walked to her own quarters to clean up.

"Bitch" Ember spat some of the blood that had gathered in her mouth. She was angry, furious, but couldn't do anything about her situation. Once her captor was gone she again mustered the strength to support herself, looked up with her good eye and began to again work at her bindings. Ordinarily simple bindings would not be nearly enough to restrain her. Her Brand gave her power over smoke and fire, but Cyan was not alone in this endeavor. She had fastened some sort of collar around her neck immediately after her capture, a device that delivered a powerful electric shock into her body the moment her Brand started to stir. It took her a couple beatings to learn how to stop it from shocking her while the blows fell and longer to retain consciousness through the beatings. Her entire body was in pain, and the pose she was forced into didn't allow much for sleep. Her struggles also caused a fresh new pain as her shackles cut into her wrists and blood bubbled to her skin, rolling down her arms in little warm rivers.

She had a couple minutes till the girl Cyan had called showed up, if she could just work one hand free she could work on the collar and free herself. Her Brand seemed to seal most wounds when she used it, but for some reason - likely that collar - it would not wake. She would continue to struggle until she heard the door opening before slumping, exhausted. If this kept up she might not be alive by the time she was rescued.

What was taking those idiots so long?

 

[Erebus]

Liath perked up, standing tall as Cyan called for her. Her pale lips curled downward in discontent at the raider's brutish nickname for her, though it was far more likely that the bluenette simply hadn't bothered to remember her name. That was fine with her. Liath hardly felt the need to correct the bandit leader, not that she had the nerve to; the woman was terrifying even when subdued. Today had been no different, and it sounded like a particularly harsh session. Normally she would attempt to mute the sounds by simply ignoring them, bending over a ratty old book or rearranging her supplies. Sometimes it was difficult and she recalled the cries of anguish in her small cot. She nodded as Cyan brushed past smeared with blood; she gathered her things and edged her way into the dingy cell where Ember was holed up. The woman had been beaten badly, that much she could see from the dim lighting though she was already well aware of it. The shaft of soft light gave away her features easily from where she was standing.

Her eyes were colored silver, edged by silver-pink swirls woven through her irises. They resembled a pair of cut pearls, making her gaze seem oddly vacant and unnerving and framed with pale lashes. In fact, her entire, thin body could be considered pale. Her nape was where her own artificial brand was located; a solid, notched circle of murky grey, it did not glow so much as it was a sickly black-white bio-luminescence which peaked out from beneath long, white hair. The oddity there was the black undertones streaking just beneath the white. Liath hid her brand by leaving her locks to free-fall down the length of her spine, past her shoulder blades yet not quite reaching her waist. Her body was normally fully covered to protect her fragile form from the changing temperatures, but also under the order of her current boss. She wore a traveler's garb, paired with sturdy boots and gloves. A thick cotton muffler wrapped around her neck and covered her chin while the hood attached to it was pulled over her head.

She knew she was unnatural, even more so than the Aurora’s victims. She’d been taken from heaven knows where, an infant without a future and threaded with purpose. Or at least that was what she first thought. The by-product of a zealous experiment and impatient scientists, Liath was ever searching for the overarching reason for her existence. She had spent near fifteen years with the men in white coats, where the tail-end of that familiar life trickled away into one of neglect and behind-the-corridor whispering. With the power to suppress most brands, she was hoped to be used as an infiltrator; a weapon in the shadows to render their opponents useless. But something had gone wrong during the sequence. She could not nullify so much as she could simply dampen the effects, and in their eyes, she was considered a failure; a simple stepping stone to something much larger. Years of education, of nurture and training gone to waste; Liath was cast to the wayside, quite literally with nothing but the clothes on her back.

"You should stop struggling so much." Liath said with a frown, setting aside her small crate of supplies to survey the damage. She'd done so many times before that the sight of blood and bruises and battered bodies didn't bother her in the slightest. Her gaze roved up then down in clinical silence, brushing a gloved thumb over her own cheek in apparent thought. The collar was a necessity to Cyan and one Liath wished she could remove. Her powers, mediocre as they were, would have been enough to stave off the fiery woman’s attitude. As it was, she knew that temper could not be controlled and a simple spark could set off a network of electricity. She started with some cotton swab and water, wiping away the drying blood dribbling down Ember’s wrist all the way down her arm before cleaning up other patches of tarnished skin. “Only make it worse for yourself…” She muttered before discarding the stained squares and picking out some bandages and balm to begin the process anew.

"It sounded bad." She spoke up quietly as she worked diligently; the comment sounded out of place and awkward even as her fingers worked deftly to smear the cooling ointment over her patient's abdomen. “I mean, it sounded worse. It didn’t sound pleasant.” She padded each wound with cotton before wrapping bandages around them tightly. She knew that Cyan would remove them or simply allow them to fall off of their own accord. Further still, Liath had been ordered to remove bandages from the healing process from time to time. Whatever the reason, she would obey without question but considering Cyan hadn’t said so in particular this time… she supposed it would be alright. Once done, she looked over the woman once more, seemingly satisfied with her work and packing away her things in the little linen basket. She placed it to the side before turning her attention back on their unfortunate prisoner. It was this part she was most eager for. Tending to wounds was textbook, done with calculation and repetition. Liath highly preferred to talk when she could, about anything really.

Truthfully, she hadn't been told that she wasn't allowed to talk to Ember, even though it was clear Cyan would have told her no. She felt oddly attracted to the girl, largely because once she'd had coaxed her out of her shell, she had many fascinating stories Liath loved to hear about. She even went so far as to place two fingers on the other's cheek or wrist to temper her brand and in turn, stave off the pain from the shock collar (which was a barbaric instrument in and of itself). Ember should have been no different from the rest of those that Cyan brought in for her own personal entertainment. But she and Ember had a particularly... clashing relationship, and Liath had found herself tending to this woman a lot more than she would other poor victims. Either way, she supposed it worked out for the best though she didn't quite know where her curiosity would take her.

“I could try to talk her into getting you a new set of clothes… if that would be preferable.” Liath added, tugging on her scarf as if the personal pronoun flustered her.

 

[F R O S T]

Ember had stopped struggling only once Liath reached and started to open the door, waiting the moment it took her to enter the room before greeting her with a weak smile and a slight correction to her stance to ensure her (now bare) feet rested flat on the cement floor and her back was straight, taking some of the pressure off of her aching wrists from the shackles that held her in such a compromising position. Her smile did not last long however, turning into a bitter grin however quickly turn to a frown when the white-haired girl spoke as she surveyed the damage done by the bandit queen over the course of her last session. She would maintain eye contact with Liath with her good eye however for as long as she would allow it, greeting her with that bright gaze the moment she entered... Her own eyes were amber in color, flecked with bits of red like embers in a dying hearth. She kept one eye shut tightly to keep the blood out but let the other stay open to carefully survey Liath's motions. Liath's words made the young woman chuckle. She hid a lot of the pain, but if Liath was acute enough she could easily see that Ember was barely standing after such a beating... her heart was racing and her breath was still slightly ragged.

"I'll stop struggling when I'm dead"

She finally broke eye contact as those words left her lips and turned them to the floor. Her words and tone were soft, but bitter and barely a whisper, unsurprising for a woman who had just gone through such a painful encounter and knew full well that another just like it was around the corner. Her words of course were meant to sound more defiant than pitiable, and suggested that she intended to be defiant towards the bitter end. Cyan did truly seem to enjoy her sessions with Ember much more than any other prisoner she had taken in and that meant far more severe and painful treatments. Liath was certainly correct, that she was making her own injuries worse, but the potential of those injuries leading up to her freedom was well worth even the risk of cutting into something important and dying of blood loss before Cyan could do something truly unforgivable to her anyway, the thought of what she might do made the woman boil a little on the inside, keeping her warm despite the otherwise frigid temperatures. Even as she began to go to work the slight glow of her Brand competed with the dying sunlight - her Brand was a strange sigil, far more chaotic than either Cyan or Liath's Brands, and even larger than the former's. It was an arcane glyph that was formed from a semicircle with harsh, jagged lines designed into a strange but intricate design that was actually beginning to spread to her shoulder, the reason she couldn't wear clothing covering her shoulders shoulders.

She allowed Liath to work on her, sighing heavily while she went to work and allowing that comment to pass... she was too tired to be really mad, even if that glowing sigil on her back spurred her on whenever it could. Luckily, for now that trademark temper was only in a low simmer. Liath's presence and attention was... soothing somehow. It was odd, even during the moments when Ember would have been flying into a rage she managed to even out that fiery temperature... of course this had the biggest impact in stilling that Brand and of course keep the said mark from activating her collar which she certainly appreciated. The first time she had done this had actually foiled Cyan's plans for the evening - the bitch had set the collar to be too sensitive, and planned on having it continually electrocute her victim, a continual loop fueled by the pain causing her brand to fire up. The white-haired girl had earned a degree of trust with the captive through those soothing touches and careful ministrations, enough to make Ember slightly protective and more than willing to tell the stories that she seemed so fascinated with, about past battles and romantic affairs, Ember was certainly a good storyteller if anything. The trust that Liath had fostered also made it so Ember didn't mind showing just a bit of weakness around her, occasionally wincing or allowing herself to show those signs of pain that Cyan wanted to see so badly. Cyan had tried so hard to convince Liath that Ember was a demon no doubt, she had probably seen the spitfire fight, and she certainly fought like a demon, spewing smoke and flame... She had killed quite a few people before her capture too. Maybe it was this pitiful position she was stuck in that earned a bit of sympathy from her, that she didn't really know.

It was fitting that Ember allowed Liath to see this, having reserved the pain Cyan so desperatly craved for her subordinate was a good way to piss her off. Of course what she said threw her off enough to earn a sharp chuckle, and wince from her. Oh that hurt. She didn't answer Liath's statement, only giving her a pained look that said 'yeah, it wasn't pleasant at all', trying to not disturb her while she went about the work dressing her many injuries from the savage beating. She was glad that Liath went through the extra couple of steps to make her stay slightly more comfortable. It went a long way to making her able to withstand the torment as long as she had. She and Cyan certainly did have a volatile relationship, but it had gone far beyond fire and ice... the two woman had hated eachother since childhood, and that girlish rivalry had long since evolved into armed warfare... Maybe she would tell Liath that story some day, perhaps close to the end... she could feel them getting closer almost. "She used the pipe again..." She finally admitted, directing her attention to her legs and noting the reason she was having such a hard time staying standing, more bandages would be needed. Her legs were also stepped in pain, blows directed to her knees and legs meant to keep her from running should she ever slip free.

Once she was done tending to those wounds, the dark-haired girl did allow herself a sigh of relief and relaxed her muscles a bit. The ointment helped greatly with the aches from injured muscle and damaged skin. Once she got away she was going to have a bunch of new scars to add to her current collection, scars that Liath was now probably pretty intimate with (along with the rest of her midriff). Once of course she got out of here at least she would deal with those, in the meantime, she just needed to wait. She knew they were coming for her, and once she was out they would give her no end of shit. Her eyes turned to Liath, watching her put away her supplies carefully. She wished she could just ask Liath to undo the cuffs, but she knew Cyan had the only key, and trying to get that key would put her into horrible danger. Cyan wanted to keep Ember alive for some reason, likely because she wanted to draw out her torment, but she had seen her execute people for lesser reasons, the lives of those under her were worth nothing to her, and Ember had come to quite like this white-haired girl.

Liath's question was answered with a soft chuckle, thinking about it for just a little bit. "Its... very unlikely our Ice Queen would agree to that... I am actually pretty happy she let me keep any clothing at all." The idea of her hanging there naked was not one she liked, especially with the freezing temperatures of this. "Considering her little obsession, I am honestly surprised she didn't use me as a human decoration... besides, you have already done so much for me anyway. Its a shame I didn't discover you first, you would make a great medic..." She rolled her eyes a bit, a little life returning to her as she spoke. She liked telling stories as much as Laith enjoyed hearing them, and of course the idea of having the girl listening to another story brought a small smile to her pale lips. It didn't last very long though, another thought passed her mind. Cyan wouldn't keep her here forever, she had to have some sort of plot. Ember was certain that even Liath had figured that out too... "Liath" Ember muttered, glancing down at her. "You should get out of here, run away from Cyan and her goons while its still possible... I don't know what Cyan has on you, or your people, but she isn't going to keep me forever, and when she is done with me she is going to turn on you." Cyan likely saw her as at best an expendable asset, her medical skills were useful, but she still saw the only ends for her to be either turned in to a Brand Hunter, killed, or be kept as a slave the rest of her life like the other poor fools who followed her. "She won't let you leave by yourself... no matter what she promises you, its a lie, the only way out is to run, get away from her and as far as you can"

Ember took another breath and readjusted herself, sighing heavily, swiftly regaining her composure. Liath likely hadn't come here in order to hear her worry about her, even as valid as her concerns were. "Well, is there anything in particular you want to hear about today? While I am still lucid?"

 

[Erebus]

She hardly knew what to say. Ember's concern for her was touching but it was an unfamiliar emotion and one she was poorly equipped to deal with. She murmured to herself at first, looking away and biting the inside of her own cheek softly. "Unlikely, but possible." She said firmly at first, strangely fixated on the idea of offering at least a chance for some decency. Cyan had never abused her so bad, likely because her powers did strange things to people, and the bluenette simply didn't enjoy having control taken from her. "Well, it's because of this. It's not so hard to learn when there are others in need of it." Liath smiled wryly, forcibly stopping her fingers from wearing down the fabric of her scarf further. She blinked at the mention of her name, glancing up curiously at the sudden change of tone. "Run?" She repeated, as if she'd never heard the word before. Disobedience simply wasn't something she entertained as a daily exercise. It wasn't as if she liked being here, she just had nowhere else to go. "She wouldn't." Liath said. It was simple. She fell into the trap and now the walls were too steep to climb and so long as Cyan lorded over her, there was nothing she could do.

The thought unnerved her to the point where her hands were back on her scarf. The change in subject was welcoming and one she bit in obvious relief. She nodded at first, her gaze widening at the myriad of options presented before her. She didn't want to delve too deep into the girl's history, knowing that any small word could spell danger. But general questions like what life was like outside the fortress, what sort of herbs were best for this kind of bruise, that kind of wound...

There was so much she wanted to know but Liath felt strange for feeling so excited at the girl's proffer at another riveting tale. Ember was strung up like bovine for slaughter and with the wounds to prove it and yet, here she was wishing she could drag up a chair in preparation to immerse herself in another world. In an attempt not to sound too daring, she threaded her fingers together and pursed her lips. "No, nothing specific." She said finally, adverting her eyes. She knew the color of her pupils were borderline lifeless but she still felt like they held more emotion than she cared to carry. "You should sleep." She said firmly. "You will need your energy for tomorrow." The second the words came out, she heard how crass they were but it was too late to take them back. Playing with the frayed edges of her clothes, she didn't know what else to say. They both knew that Cyan would return; she always did without fail. If the raider didn't get what she wanted the first time, the bluenette was like a bloodhound. All she needed to do was make sure she had enough supplies to make sure Ember survived the aftermath...

Liath turned; her shoulders were hunched in guilt but she did cast a parting gaze toward the shackled redhead, an apologetic smile wired on her lips. "Maybe when we get you some new clothes." She swept up her basket from the ground and waved before hurrying out of the cell, closing and locking the door behind her. She leaned against the cool metal with a soft, almost agonized sigh. It hurt her to see Ember suffering, and usually she took it well, but sometimes it was too much to bear. She had to leave, she would have gone crazy otherwise. Liath began to count the bottles of ointment that needed topping up along with the rolls of bandages she'd used up. She knew how the conversation with Cyan would go regarding new clothes, but maybe she could scrounge something up... not that it would help any, the horrible woman would just tear them all off or worse, punish Ember further for Liath's transgression. If she really wanted to help, she'd have to push Cyan off a cliff or something similar and the thought made her shudder.

"Tomorrow comes and we shall see." Liath murmured to herself and with another heavy sigh, retreated to her own den she called her room located near the top of the stairs leading down to the dungeons. It was a small alcove screened off by pale, moth-bitten curtains hanging from a horizontally placed steel rod. There was a tiny mattress that acted as her bed and a medium-sized wooden box was where she put all of the personal artifacts she'd collected over the years. She placed her case of medicine on top of it before pulling down her hood, wrinkling her nose. She didn't know what time it was, given that the fortress had little in the way of natural light source. She dared not to venture out from her hole in the wall, lest she come across the blue-haired coyote and be forced to tend to some unpleasant task or another. Maybe once she was certain that Cyan was nowhere to be found would she search for some spare cloth but for now, she took to her bed and closed her eyes for some well-needed sleep though she knew before drifting off that it would be plagued by unwanted dreams.

 

[F R O S T]

Ember couldn't hide her disappointment when Liath turned her offer down, sighing softly but allowing the female to leave. She likely felt terrible from being forced to help capture her in the first place, much less being left to tend to her wounds and be constantly reminded what she and her people did. Ember said nothing else as she left, save for a weak "Sleep well",adjusting her position so she was resting up against the wall of her cell, closing her eyes and sighing again, trying to allow sleep to take her despite her extremely uncomfortable position. Ember was still worried about her, whether she was rescued or died, how would Liath and her people get along with Cyan lording over them? She rested her head back and tried to relax, and eventually exhaustion overtook her.

It seemed like no time had passed at all before the sound of heavy footsteps woke her. At first, she shifted back against the wall and relaxed, amber eyes fluttering open and a soft smile touching her lips. It seemed at least that Liath had changed her mind, maybe she wanted to hear a story after all? That smile died instantly when she realized that the approaching person was not her caretaker as those steps grew closer. They weren't Liath's boots; her steps were lighter and softer - no these were the heavy boots of her adversary. Cyan had left her quarters with a huge grin on her face, the entire route to Ember's Cell she practically stormed to the point where her heavy bootsteps practically shook the floor as she went. She passed by Liath's quarters in a storm, chuckling to herself and dragging something heavy and metal behind her as she went, not caring at all if she woke the white-haired girl. When she finally reached Ember's door she flung it open with flair. The brunette cringed as the door was struck from the other side, almost flying off its hinges as the cyan tyrant burst through and slamming into the wall with a resounding bang. Cyan could have been angry; her temper was almost as bad as Ember's, and with her sadistic tendencies she was far more dangerous than friends and foes alike when she was angry, however, upon seeing her face Ember realized the situation was far, far worse. The look she bore sent Ember's heart plummeting into her stomach, eyes focused on her expression. If she could have gone any more pale despite her exhaustion she certainly would have.

She was smiling... wickedly. Ember had not seen her smile like that since her capture, a true smile of glee... this expression could have meant anything, but this kind of joy had to mean worse news for her than any anger she might be able to soundly vent on her body. "Em!" the bluenette stepped forwards and rose her hands to brandish the items she held in each... In one hand she held a pair of handcuffs, and in the other she brandished a new weapon, an enormous and still bloody wrench. The wrench was something Ember was not familiar with, but something Liath had likely become accustomed to, and one she learned to despise. For whatever reason it was this was one of Cyan's favorite toys. Unlike the other toys she used however this one she only used to break people... arms and legs, spines and skulls. It had a tendency to cause some of the most gruesome injuries that she couldn't cause with her powers, injuries that not even Liath could mend. When of course she didn't play her favorite game and froze them first before removing whole limbs. "Great news!" Cyan continued, smacking the wrench into the wall and leaving it to rest to make sure Ember was fully awake and to draw her eyes down to it, chuckling as those bright blue eyes met with Ember's defiant gaze. She waited until she had her captive's attention before continuing. "As you may or may not know, based on how much my blabbermouth girlie might have told you" Liath had told her nothing, she had explicitly told her not to, she already knew, or at least had her hunches, and didn't want Liath to suffer Cyan's wrath for telling HER anything that might get her in trouble. Ember opened her mouth to tell her rival this, but she was interrupted, speaking loudly to her, with victory in her voice and almost a sing-song tone to her high tone.

"I wasn't planning on keeping you forever, as sad as that makes me, and I have worked and thought on a fitting end for you, o demon of the wilds, and as it turns out..."

Oh fuck no, she wasn't...

... I was able to make contact....

Ember's eyes widened with horror and Cyan's with Glee, she gestured to finish her statement.

'She didn't!'

"With a Brand Hunter!"

Cyan threw her head back and laughed, so pleased with her decision and her brilliant choice of deaths for her adversary... anyone else she would simply kill, turning their body to ice and smashing them to bits with her favorite wrench or impaling them and hammering her icy spikes in... but this was a fitting fate for her ultimate foe in her twisted mind. She straightened her body and ran some of her fingers through the stray strands of blue that had flown about during her little show, making eye contact again and taking in the horror on her bitter enemy's face and watching her expression flicker from horror, to disgust, then barely controlled rage. She stepped back just a bit to allow her victim to take in this information, carefully monitoring her expression and drinking in her horror. Ember's breath was caught in her throat, she couldn't breathe... Why? How? She pursed her lips and swallowed, gathering her thoughts for just long enough to form a reply. "You fucking bitch, are you completely insane? A brand hunter is going to take- " Ember's head snapped to the side and pain spread through her skull when Cyan stepped forward and slammed the back of her hand into the side of her face, stunning her long enough for her to throw those handcuffs on the ground and use her now free hand to grab hold of her slender throat to further silence her, her other picking up her wrench again. "No no Em" She tisked "He is hiring *Me* to deliver you... not only do I get to subject you to the worst hell possible, I get to make a ton of money doing it, do you know how much you are worth to the Hunters? They hate you even more than *I* do, and that says a lot!" She allowed her grip to briefly loosen to allow Ember to breathe, cyan eyes focusing on her throat as she worked painted nails over Ember's most vulnerable flesh, tracing little lines up and down her trachea. [color= cyan]"They won't try to take me, or any of my people for that matters, and if they do, Ill keep THEM for a little bit and just kill you myself, or just maybe keep you as my pet... I was on the fence for soo long Em."[/color] Her voice almost sounded childish... was this how far she had fallen? Taking such stupid decisions just to spite her? It would almost comical if it weren't so horrifying. Brand Hunters, were something that every Brand without a death wish had nightmares about... they were nearly boogeymen, humans with the technology and skills to drag Brands back to wherever they came from and conduct horrific experiments upon them. It was a fate worse than death could possibly be, far worse than the beatings or anything else that Cyan could do to her.

When she was able to return her gaze to Cyan's eyes Ember's were full of hate, and Cyan's smile only widened, oh so pleased to see that expression finally, it was written so clearly across her features. Cyan moved her hands again, slowly drawing them up Ember's throat while leaning bodily into her, putting enough weight onto her wrists to start her bleeding again, her hands moved to her chin, forcing her to make eye contact as she leaned in close. to her. "He will be here in just a couple hours Em. I am gunna make a huge wad of cash and he is going to haul you off to whoever they take us naughty boys and girls to be flayed alive or whatever else ..." She moved her right hand, pulling her wrench closer to the two of them, almost at a kissing distance from ember. "But first... you and I are going to have one last playtime... Im gunna break your legs Em... the Brand Hunter doesn't need those does he? Means you cant run. Then I am going to take L- She didn't get to finish her sentence.

In the dark outside, there was a scream, a man screaming, and out of nowhere absolute chaos broke out. It started with a single shot, an echoing boom that took seemingly minutes to vanish, and was followed by confused shouting and automatic gunfire from all directions. The Ice Queen's Fortress was under attack, and by something her men could clearly not handle. Cyan's eyes averted for just a second, but a second was all was needed, enough for her prisoner to act. Ember's body tensed in her position and she moved as violently as this chaos had started, cocking her head back and slamming her forehead into Cyan's face with all her might. For a moment, her ears rung and her vision blurred, but her foe stumbled back with a cry of pain, bleeding profusely from her nose and stunned long enough for Ember to continue her plan. This was gunna suck. Ember closed her eyes and focused intently, taking a deep breath and for the first time in days allowed her Brand to stir, focusing all the agony that had been inflicted on her, all the anger she felt towards this woman, and all the passion she held for her own people into her brand to fuel the power of her Hue. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, She began to thrash violently in her chains, back and forth while Cyan reeled with pain. Before she could react Ember needed to act, she knew this full well. Her hands smoldered and burned as they wreathed themselves in smoke and flames, blood boiling against her chains as her wrists and and then arms were enveloped by those crimson tongues, filling the room both with the smell of flame and scorched blood and lighting her cell with the crimson light of her Brand. Ember's head tilted back and her mouth opened, a frenzied scream leaving her lips as the collar clicked to life and pulses of electricity arced through her body, causing her muscles to tighten and her mind to fill with pain, and another cry of pure pain as she violently ripped her right hand down and out of the shackles, tearing skin as she did and enveloping her hand in searing pain.

"Fuck you!"

Her scream echoed through the building and competed with the gunfire outside as her still smoldering blood spattered the floor in an arc as she cocked her fist back and delivered a single flaming punch right into the left side of Cyan's face, fueled by her own fury and pain as that Brand glowed bright on her back. The blue-haired woman's body jerked back like a ragdoll, tripping off one of the bricks she had left lying on the floor and spilling back to slam her head into the wall by the door, landing in a heap. Cyan wasn't done though, it was only a split second before she was grabbing at the door and trying to pull herself up, a look of pure fury distorting her badly burned face.

Both women screamed in unison; one of frenzy and rage from Cyan and one of pure pain from Ember. Cyan recovered quickly enough from the blow, but Ember's collar did not deactivate, and her body arched and twisted with pain from the currents running through her, setting her nerves ablaze with pain until she couldn't even stand, falling to her knees with her still bleeding hand lifted to grip helplessly while the collar discharged all its energy into her helpless body and her head tilted up with her mouth open in a now soundless scream. Cyan's face was sizzling from her brand new burn that covered the left side of her head. Much of her hair was singed clean off and her eye was forced shut among the her black-scorched and still smoldering flesh, little embers still burned in her hair while she stood and her own brand's light competed with Ember's as it sprung to life on her arm. A cloud of ice and frost swirled and gathered around her arm, condensing into a single wicked dagger of ice that she brandished with a wicked gleam in her remaining eye. "Fuck this!!! I am just going to gut you myself. Fuck the Brand Hunter... Then I am going to kill all those people you were so fond of and as many of your precious fucking innocents as possible!" Her voice was a low hiss, dripping with bloodlust and intent to murder, muscles tensed and mouth watering with rage.

Ember's plan had failed, she couldn't cauterize her wound, or break the collar, or even land a killing blow on Cyan before she went down. She was too weak, too tired and hungry... Pain overwhelmed her as Cyan advanced on her with murder in her eye and everything in her vision slowly went black, her flames dying as the color drained from her sight. As Ember slipped into unconsciousness she smiled... well, shit... at least she got one good hit in.

 

[Erebus]

There was no end to her restless dreamlike state where every passing minute she felt the brush of something cold against her cheek. But she never broke out in chilled sweat, nor did she leap up in shock. She knew it was simply the air of the abandoned building and the state of her sleeping place curling and sneaking about. Liath was a light sleeper, a fact easily proven when her eyes flickered open, bright silvers peering through the thin cloth of her makeshift door. A well-known silhouette passed by, loud and determined footsteps ringing the bells of dread in her ears. She knew Cyan’s pacing well enough that she didn’t even have to see the tell-tale blue hair as the raider stomped past. Surely it wasn’t evening already, she thought to herself with a troubled frown. Cyan always had other business to attend to, at least to her recollection. The bluenette hadn’t been ranting or screaming either as she billowed her way to the prison cells. Liath knew something was wrong but she dared not follow. Instead she placed her hands nervously on her medicine kit and waited for a sign.

It was hard to hear anything with the distance, but even Liath could pick out the creak of a rusty cell door being opened. There was a mute, cool silence after before a spine-chilling laugh broke through. It was Cyan, no doubt, going through her paces. The woman was crazy and she had seen her fair share of crazy. Her fingers picked at the weave, waiting for the yelling to start or, at worst, Ember’s cries of anguish. There was no way around it, and she half thought to scamper away to replenish her stock and hope there was something to tend to at the end of the day. It made her feel cowardly, but she couldn’t match the brute strength of Cyan. The sudden echo of a far off scream almost had her slicing her finger on the stiff fibre. Liath jolted up from her sorry bedding, near hitting her head on the wall as she pushed away the cloth and crawled out with her kit clutched in her trembling arms. She was no stranger to shootouts and gunfire, but she hated the noise. It was something she couldn’t help. Her first thought was to hide somewhere safe, but the second more prominent one was to turn her eyes toward the direction of the cell, muting the sound of bullets and the loud yelling which could be heard throughout the building.

It was her chance to help the person she thought of as a friend. An uncharacteristic swell of determination blossomed in her chest, large enough for her to edge her way toward the stairs. She faltered briefly at the harsh rattle of chains dancing about in their metal locks. It gave her hope that Ember was still alive. She flinched and looked about whenever a gun fired, which was much too often as she peered around the corner. Smoke billowed out from the room and a bright glow of yellow-red fire seared the concrete walls. The duality of both women’s screams of rage could be heard over the crackling of flame, and her brand tingled at the presence of a brand flickering to life. Not one but two, she realized as Cyan’s voice was well received over all the noise, the anger all too evident in her voice. Liath pushed forward despite the pain at her nape, an aftereffect of all the charged energy crackling through the air around her. Her eyes were wide as threw herself into the room, and it was in that moment she could truly say she did not hesitate.

The second she drank in the sight of the bluenette with a dagger raised right above Ember, Liath let loose a hitched cry and all but heaved her basket straight at Cyan with surprising strength. Bandages flew and scattered, the vials smashing and breaking against the raider dangerously. The woman let out a grunt of surprise, having been caught off guard and Liath took the opportunity to fling her body at the badly burnt raider, wrapping her arms around her waist tightly. It was in an instant did the weapon evaporate in thin air, the whirling frost dissipating into non-existence as her artificially created power kicked in. Cyan screamed near bloody murder, shaking and clawing at Liath’s clothed arms but they were locked firmly despite the searing pain those raking nails were inflicting on her. It wouldn’t be enough to sway the woman considering her lack of physical prowess, but she hoped Ember would waken – though it was unlikely as she noted dimly from the fresh flow of blood and the ghastly state of her wrist and neck. Cyan continued to rant, working to pry Liath away from her form and finally succeeding as she was wrenched off and thrown to the floor. A solid, bruising kick had Liath gasping and wheezing for air as the raider wheeled on her, spitting venom and hissing things that held no meaning to her dizzy thoughts as more beating rained down on her.

She barely noted the march of boots and voices and gunfire coming closer and closer. Cyan whipped around, abandoning her abuse of the healer. Liath paid no attention to Ember’s backup as she crawled over to the unconscious girl. She touched the redhead’s bruises, wishing distantly that she hadn’t thrown her ointments so hard. More screaming could be heard in the distance and she felt a stray leg or arm jostle her from time to time but it was as if she was in the dark all over again. She saw nothing but what was in front of her, heard nothing but the faint beat of Ember’s pulse beneath her fingers and could think of nothing but hoping she could help her get better. It was innocence amidst the chaos, and one that persisted even as Cyan fell, the residue of Liath’s brand lingering still on her own which rendered her icy powers into mere puffs of mist. Rough hands tugged her away from Ember’s body, to which Liath fought against but ultimately relented when she realized they were not foes.

“Make sure she’s okay.” She said stubbornly right before passing out.