Kade often wore a look of apparent disinterest, her brows knitting towards the middle of their ridge every time Vale issued a compliment she didn't approve of. Kade wasn't cute. Kade was a survivor of the desolate wastes, a daughter of the swallowing sands; a creature bred to survive in the most extreme environments. Breaking the gaze she had been adamantly keeping on her company, cobalt blues tracked across the stretch of cityscape beyond their rooftop hideout. Listening was easy. For every story she had digested through the years, there was always room in the gullet of her mind for more. Lives she would never live, people she would never meet, and places she would never have the chance to go- those were where she ventured when the journey was tiresome, and her body wouldn't allow any more abuse. "Ye wouldn' want ta marry me anyhow. Ain' that sorta woman. Ye got too much heart fer a girl like me."
Left vague, Kade didn't often find ambiguous statements helpful, but there were times to get into personal details, and there were days spent with surface level chatter one needn't feel overwhelmed by. Twisting where she lay in continued attempts to get comfortable, the woman cleared her throat with a short cough. "I would've crawled through hell ta get my family out, but I never had that much ta speak ov, so I guess I always felt obligated ta do as much as possible fer their sake." With a face like hers, it was difficult to decipher pain from apathy, and an uneasy smile lingered over pursed lips momentarily while Kade wrangled something loose from her backpack. "Been meanin' ta see my sister again, but the oasis is a trek, an' I ain' too sure how I'm gonna explain just showin' up."
Progress below was slow, but it was enough to allow Kade peace of mind, if only for the hours the two had to spend in one another's presence. Now with canteen in hand, the lid was twisted off slowly while thoughts were gathered concerning his question. How had she gotten her scars? "Got caught." Kade began slowly, brows back to furrowing while her eyelids narrowed at Vale. "Was up ta somethin', I guess, an' I got caught. They didn't know I was a girl at first, so they were happy ta take a bat ta me an' leave me fer dead... When they found out, it got worse. Ain' all that many women in the sands, ya know. Men can get crazy when they come across one." Sipping at the contents of her canteen, her eyes strayed from Vale's once more, out towards the landscape beyond their perch.
"I ain' really too sure when people found me. Real nice folks in a caravan picked me up, thinkin' I was dead. When i wasn't, they kept me around an' got me back on my feet. Stayed with them for a while 'til I was 19, an' then I was wanderin' again, because that's what there is ta do." Chuckling darkly, Kade added, "I probably should've stayed with tha caravan, ye know? Ain' a bad life, tradin' an' travelin' with merchants. I think about that some times- about what it would've been like ta not scrape by alone..." She cut herself short with another long swallow before resealing the container and tucking it back into her bag. Instinctively, her fingers moved to play at the outlines of the scars, gentle where they traced while the woman subconsciously reassured herself they were old wounds. They certainly didn't hurt anymore, so why did she feel like crying?
"Anyway, if ye wanna stay here the night, I'll stay with ye." Propped against her backpack, the woman motioned over Vale with a slow gesture. "You got a lot of scars, Vale? Must've been hard ta get caught up like that, ye know. Ain' sure I've ever had much ov an issue with marauders, but I've been spendin' most ov my life headed in the opposite direction of em' when I catch wind ov a camp. Ma always said there was an evil out there, an' if I were ta see it, I'd never be the same. Ye ever think about that? About what sorta evil it would take ta change ye?" Finally, the fingers at her throat subsided their reminiscing so both the woman's hands could meet atop her stomach, and intertwine in a loose steeple of bandaged digits. "Maybe I just got too much time ta think about shit no one else is too concerned for. Reckon havin' too much time ta think can really drag ye down if ye let it."
Humming through the pause that followed, the afternoon heat was almost forgotten through the fog of conversation, though a warm roseate had risen to cover the woman's cheeks. Flushed, Kade closed her eyes and expelled a tired sigh before admitting, "As long as ye don' got nothing against me ramblin', then I can tag along for a spell. Like I said before, Oasis is a ways away, an' it's easier havin' someone with me, even if it's only for a little while. Where were ye headed, Vale? Before all this, where didja plan on going? Figure ye were combing this place for salvageable stuff, but did you have any destination in mind after ye were done?" Her features tilted away from Vale, her eyes remaining shut as though she were having issues staying awake. The heat made her sleepy, and the stillness of their set up was cozy enough to remind Kade she was running on fumes.
"Mind ya, if yer goin' in the opposite direction ov me, I'll leave ya to it. Friendly as ye are, there's no reason fer me to go east. I do appreciate it though, lettin' me stay under yer tarp while ye take care ov those mutts... Damn mutts. Almost as much ov an issue as the gangs an' the trappers an' the sellers... This place is probably that evil my ma was talkin' about. Sure feels it."
Left vague, Kade didn't often find ambiguous statements helpful, but there were times to get into personal details, and there were days spent with surface level chatter one needn't feel overwhelmed by. Twisting where she lay in continued attempts to get comfortable, the woman cleared her throat with a short cough. "I would've crawled through hell ta get my family out, but I never had that much ta speak ov, so I guess I always felt obligated ta do as much as possible fer their sake." With a face like hers, it was difficult to decipher pain from apathy, and an uneasy smile lingered over pursed lips momentarily while Kade wrangled something loose from her backpack. "Been meanin' ta see my sister again, but the oasis is a trek, an' I ain' too sure how I'm gonna explain just showin' up."
Progress below was slow, but it was enough to allow Kade peace of mind, if only for the hours the two had to spend in one another's presence. Now with canteen in hand, the lid was twisted off slowly while thoughts were gathered concerning his question. How had she gotten her scars? "Got caught." Kade began slowly, brows back to furrowing while her eyelids narrowed at Vale. "Was up ta somethin', I guess, an' I got caught. They didn't know I was a girl at first, so they were happy ta take a bat ta me an' leave me fer dead... When they found out, it got worse. Ain' all that many women in the sands, ya know. Men can get crazy when they come across one." Sipping at the contents of her canteen, her eyes strayed from Vale's once more, out towards the landscape beyond their perch.
"I ain' really too sure when people found me. Real nice folks in a caravan picked me up, thinkin' I was dead. When i wasn't, they kept me around an' got me back on my feet. Stayed with them for a while 'til I was 19, an' then I was wanderin' again, because that's what there is ta do." Chuckling darkly, Kade added, "I probably should've stayed with tha caravan, ye know? Ain' a bad life, tradin' an' travelin' with merchants. I think about that some times- about what it would've been like ta not scrape by alone..." She cut herself short with another long swallow before resealing the container and tucking it back into her bag. Instinctively, her fingers moved to play at the outlines of the scars, gentle where they traced while the woman subconsciously reassured herself they were old wounds. They certainly didn't hurt anymore, so why did she feel like crying?
"Anyway, if ye wanna stay here the night, I'll stay with ye." Propped against her backpack, the woman motioned over Vale with a slow gesture. "You got a lot of scars, Vale? Must've been hard ta get caught up like that, ye know. Ain' sure I've ever had much ov an issue with marauders, but I've been spendin' most ov my life headed in the opposite direction of em' when I catch wind ov a camp. Ma always said there was an evil out there, an' if I were ta see it, I'd never be the same. Ye ever think about that? About what sorta evil it would take ta change ye?" Finally, the fingers at her throat subsided their reminiscing so both the woman's hands could meet atop her stomach, and intertwine in a loose steeple of bandaged digits. "Maybe I just got too much time ta think about shit no one else is too concerned for. Reckon havin' too much time ta think can really drag ye down if ye let it."
Humming through the pause that followed, the afternoon heat was almost forgotten through the fog of conversation, though a warm roseate had risen to cover the woman's cheeks. Flushed, Kade closed her eyes and expelled a tired sigh before admitting, "As long as ye don' got nothing against me ramblin', then I can tag along for a spell. Like I said before, Oasis is a ways away, an' it's easier havin' someone with me, even if it's only for a little while. Where were ye headed, Vale? Before all this, where didja plan on going? Figure ye were combing this place for salvageable stuff, but did you have any destination in mind after ye were done?" Her features tilted away from Vale, her eyes remaining shut as though she were having issues staying awake. The heat made her sleepy, and the stillness of their set up was cozy enough to remind Kade she was running on fumes.
"Mind ya, if yer goin' in the opposite direction ov me, I'll leave ya to it. Friendly as ye are, there's no reason fer me to go east. I do appreciate it though, lettin' me stay under yer tarp while ye take care ov those mutts... Damn mutts. Almost as much ov an issue as the gangs an' the trappers an' the sellers... This place is probably that evil my ma was talkin' about. Sure feels it."
BDRP Admin. Writer. Villain. Personal Blog.
I tried running from the memory and the mourning.
I tried running from the memory and the mourning.
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RE: Nomads [closed] - by Kat - 05-22-2016, 01:59 AM