• This section is for roleplays only.
    ALL interest checks/recruiting threads must go in the Recruit Here section.

    Please remember to credit artists when using works not your own.

Nova

Characters
Here
Lore
Here
Other
Here
Alma had just the same sad frown on her face as Katy as she carefully made her way through the dim streets of Low Under, looking left and right constantly to make sure they wouldn't run into anyone who'd cause trouble. Low Under was a lot like a giant Bronx.
"They used to be free people, living all over Nova, but attacks happened more and more frequently, until the government declared them animals", she explained silently. "Look, while I, for example, am a human with a bird shift, Cainssons are wolves with a human shift. The original shape makes the bigger part of who we are, especially our mindset. That made them so dangerous. My sisters and me were amongst those who voted for Cainssons to be classified human, but we were a vanishingly small minority. It's-"

She broke off at a sudden turmoil.
A man with deep green eyes, dark blonde hair and pointy ears, canines and fingernails had faught off one of the guards who was holding his chains and was about to attack the second one, his sharp teeth bared in a vicious, desperate growl, when a fifth guard came from behind and knocked him out cold.

"Hey!", Alma called, nervously clenching her fists. "Is that one for sale?"
The guards looked at each other. "This one is up execution. It is too dangerous, attacked fifteen owners in three months."
"I offer whatever price you want for him."
The guards were frowning for a moment, but then shrugged. "Fifty thousand."
Alma just nodded, got a bag of money out of her seemingly endless bag and threw it to the guards, who handed her the chains of the unconscious Cainsson.
When they were gone, Alma carefully pulled the man into a dark alley, where they were unwatched, removed all chains and kneeled down in front of him, watching cautiously.
"I have a good feeling about him, Katy.i think he might just be the one we need."
 
Katy had followed Alma around like a puppy followed its owner, gulping nervously at all the strange- and dangerous-looking people that were walking by, feeling extremely uncomfortable at what they called the 'Low Under'.
At the abrupt stop of Alma in the middle of her speech, Katy bumped into her, hiding behind her as she talked to some guards and lastly buying the unconscious Cainsson.

She was nervous, and scared - not of the Cainsson, but of what she had to do next. What if she wasn't good enough in getting the Cainsson on their side? What if she'd fail miserably?

The psychiatrist kneeled down next to Alma, watching the unconscious man for a moment before she just let out a sad sigh.
"Did you hear how they referred to him? 'It'! I can't believe it. He's a living being, not a thing! How is it that we humans even refer to the worst murderers in history as people and those guards there aren't even able to refer to him as a him!", she muttered under her breath, balling her hands into fists. "Unbelievable.", she added, before she just shook her head and finally ripped off a piece of her doctor's cloak that she was still wearing, carefully wrapping it around the Cainsson's wrist, doing the same for his other wrist.
"They're bloody red because of how tight the guards shut the chains. They treated him like an animal."
Katy shook her head once more, ripping off the other sleeve of her cloak to gently wipe away the blood on the Cainsson's neck.
"Only a tad tighter and he could've choked on his chains."
 
"I can only agree with you, but the problem is that the people who think like that are a tiny minority", Alma sighed sadly, sitting back as she watched Katy vet the man's wounds. "He defend himself and they wanted to kill him for that... There's so much wrong about this."

When suddenly the man began to move, she made a small step back, knowing how dangerous a Cainsson could be when his instincts overtook them, but his eyes remained closed.
Instead, the faintest of smiles formed on his lips for a moment, before he apparently dank back into unconsciousness.
However when his neck was touched, his deep green eyes shot open, pupils narrowing to tiny spots, and he jumped to his feet, growling as he stood on the floor on all fours, teeth bared.

Alma bit her lip. "Sir- please-..."
He just growled louder. "What now even Aeterna stand against us?", He hissed, whereas Alma shook her head, frowning slightly. "We never stand against anyone", she said calmly. "Everyone is worth the same, that's one of our gospels, you know that."
The man narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, before sniffing audibly and turning his head to face Katy. When he tried to stand up, he clenched his teeth in pain and slumped back against the wall, pushing his hands against his side. "Human-... Been a while since I've last seen one-"
"Would you tell us your name?", Alma asked carefully.
"You know we don't have names."
"You aren't called by your names, but many were given one at birth."
"... Caine..."
 
Katy had jumped back upon the Cainsson's abrupt movements, and had watched him from a close distance before she slowly approached too.
She gulped as he mentioned her being a human, wondering how he had been able to know that by just her scent, shaking her head to clear her thoughts as he whispered his name.

"Caine. Canine. I like it.", she mumbled, swallowing thickly while slowly approaching on her knees, her eyes sparkling sorrowfully - She wasn't scared of him.
She had seen how he had fought off those guards, and every normal living being would be afraid of someone like that.
But she had analyzed him faster than other humans would be able to find out somebody's name.

He was not aggressive. Far from.
He was protective. Protective of himself.
His quick reaction to her touching his neck showed that he feared being touched, that he thought he would be hurt if he'd let anybody touch him - even if it was only to help him.

Abuse, she thought, her frown saddening.
How much pain had this Cainsson endured that he was this traumatized? That he didn't know what affection was, that he thought everything was bad and would hurt?

The thought of every Cainsson feeling like this made Katy sigh sadly.

"Caine - can I call you Caine? - I am Catherine.", Katy whispered softly, a warm smile appearing on her face as she stretched out her hand to him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir. I won't hurt you. You can shake my hand if you wish to, but you don't need to if you don't feel comfortable doing so.", she said, her eyes a soft, friendly sparkling, her warm expression empathic and sad at the same time.
"I understand, Caine. You don't like to be touched, I understand. But you see, if you don't clean your wound on your neck it will infect and that'll hurt even more than the wound itself. Here, you can use this to clean it if you don't wish me to do it for you.", she slowly moved her hand, handing him the sleeve that she had ripped off of her cloak.
"Do you have a wound on your side too? Would you like me to look at it?", she asked, motioning to his hands that he was pressing against his side.
"I also want to apologize for touching you. Even if it was to help you, I should have waited for you to wake up and ask for your consent. So I apologize for that."
 
"you aren't scared-", Caine mumbled silently, a deep frown appearing on his face as his eyes seemed to dig right into Katy's soul.
What was going on here?
Humans didn't come here, for hundreds of years already, and Aeterna treated everyone the same.
So either this meant he was having incredible luck right now, or this was just another way of the guards to torture him- getting his hopes up just to destroy them again.
But it would make sense that they'd include a human. Too much risk.
He wouldn't trust them, but he at least saw no reason to destroy this was might be his only chance.

Eyes narrowed, he carefully slid his big hand into Catherine's smaller one, giving it a quick shake- leaving it blood stained.

"We should find a safer place at first", Alma threw in while she looked up at the building on their left.
It didn't look inhabited.
"Caine, can you smell if there's someone living in this house?"
The wolf man closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply before he opened his eyes again and slightly shook his head. "Abandoned."
"Good!"

The inside wasn't much, but the house at least offered a bedroom, a living room, bathroom and kitchen.
"Kate, would you help Caine take care of his injuries?", Alma asked, nodding subtly to let her know that she was doing great.
"I will go and grab some groceries from the next store to make dinner. Kate, if something comes up- here's my phone number."
She handed her friend a piece of paper with her number on it, before leaving through the back door.

Meanwhile, Caine had halfway given up.
It wasn't that he didn't want to live anymore... But he was so, so tired.
So, remembering Catherine's question, he sighed, taking off his ragged shirt. "Pick your favorite", he mumbled, turning his back to her- that was covered in bruises, lacerations, big and small, shallow and deep wounds, not an inch unharmed.
"And don't call me 'Sir'. Sounds like a bad joke."
Turning his head to look at her from the corner of his eye, he growled silently. "Why are you even caring?"
 
Catherine watched Alma walk away with big puppy eyes, letting out a soft sigh to calm her nerves before she turned back to Caine.
What if a guard would find out they were here and would try to hurt him? She wasn't very strong - physically at least - and wouldn't be able to protect him.
She shook her head to let go of those negative thoughts and kneeled down next to the Cainsson, gasping as he turned his back to her to show her his wounds.

"How could somebody hurt you like that...?", she whispered silently, a sad frown on her face as she got up again, taking off her doctor's coat and walking over to what looked like a kitchen, turning on the sink and throwing the coat in.
After the entire coat was wet, she made her way back to Caine, kneeling down again and checking out the wounds for a moment.
"I have to clean the wounds before I can treat them. I will do this by gently rubbing my wet coat over your back, it shouldn't hurt, but some wounds - especially newer ones - could sting when in contact with the water, alright? Tell me when I should stop, or when it starts hurting too much.", she explained, taking a deep breath before she carefully started cleaning his wounds.
"Why I care? Well, why shouldn't I?", she replied, closely watching Caine's movements so she knew when to stop touching him.
"You're a living being. Shouldn't living beings help other living beings?", she mumbled, shaking her head at the thought of those guards. The sad thing was that Katy was used to things like that already. How often hadn't she treated patients that had been locked up in tiny rooms their entire lives, tortured and chained up as if they weren't worthy of anything else.

"You're not someone people should be afraid of. If then they should be afraid of those guards that treated you. The way they handled you as if you were nothing is clearly a sign of a psychopath, so they put you with psychopaths. No wonder you're afraid."

She smiled akwardly, shaking her head.
"Apologies for the analyzing. It happens automatically, and leaves most people quite annoyed. Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself, Caine? How old are you?"
 
Caine flinched, his constant silent growling growing loud for just a second when Catherine had touched a new wound just below his shoulder blade.
He wasn't sure whether she was crazy or sadistic or actually trying to help, but he knew he could kill her with one flick of his hand, so he just let her do what she was doing, knowing that she couldn't hurt him more than the world out there.

At her analysis, he just shrugged one shoulder, before letting his head hang a bit as his stained, beaten back slowly started to uncramp, even though his wounds were still aching as hell.
He scratched around on the ground with one of his sharp, claw-like fingernails, his eyes only half open.

"There's nothing to tell about me", he growled silently. "I'm 26... I believe... And that's about it. Been born into slavery but they realized I'd be better for illegal dog fights. I always won. But life ain't hold no glory for us, no matter. I am so good because I lose myself in my killer instincts, but not only in fights; also when they try to hurt or confine me- so I attacked owner after owner."
He shrugged. "Doesn't matter anyway. I'm past saving. I know how my story ends. It's at the edge of a blade, or the barrel of a gun, so why try? Better a quick end than another lifetime of-"
He slightly flexed his back muscles for a moment, scoffing. "-this."

Slightly turning his head in Catherine's direction, he frowned. "What's going to happen now? Another dog fight? Field work? What did your friend there buy me for? And who are you,a human in Nova?"
 
Catherine sighed at Caine telling her that his life would end at the edge of a blade or the barrel of a gun.
"Well if you've already given up then why should I bother trying to help you?", she mumbled, getting up and just walking over to the little table in the middle of the room, sitting down on a chair.
"I thought you Cainssons were fierce and didn't give up, especially when given the chance to roam freely and live a happy life. Guess Alma was wrong when she told me about you.", she scoffed, turning the chair around to Caine, looking deep into his eyes.
She knew it was risky approaching the matter like this, but she had to see if she was right about him. If he'd get annoyed at her telling him he's given up, then he was exactly what Alma needed.

"Life holds no glory for you? Do you really believe that?", she asked after a while, crossing her leg over her other, shaking her head. "Caine, everybody has a purpose. Life holds glory, happiness and love for everyone. You just have to be strong enough to find it."

She got up from the chair, walking over to the window and just looking outside for a moment before she went on with her talk.
"I've only learned about this world's existence not even a couple of hours ago. Before that, I was just a lonely human working as psychiatrist at a mental asylum, trying to help people with their issues and worries so they could at least live a peaceful life behind bars.", she explained, sighing. "You know why my friend, Alma, bought you? Because she saw something in you none of those guards would ever be able to see as they're too blinded by their own stupidity. She saw someone worth saving, someone worth of love and affection. She saw you. And I see it too. I see a young man who needs love, a young man who's only known hate and pain for his entire life."

Katy turned around to Caine, walking up to him and heeling down in front of the man with a fiery sparkling in her eyes.
"You now have the chance to get what you want, Caine. Aren't you sick of all the pain? Sick of being trapped, forced to do things you don't wish to do?", she asked him, grabbing his hands - that were ridiculously big compared to hers - and giving them a gentle squeeze.
"I believe in you, Caine. Even if it sounds absurd, but I believe that you are here to achieve greatness. To be someone others look up to, someone worthy. Someone that exceeds all expectations. Someone with the will to do something about life here. The question is if you believe in yourself too. You don't know it yet, but Nova needs you. We need you. But we, Nova, need someone that won't give up because life's been tough in the past. We need someone strong, someone fierce, someone with the capability to spread hope wherever we go. And that is you."

Katy smiled softly, letting go of Caine's hands and just sitting in front of him, closing her eyes.
"I probably pissed you off with what I said, didn't I?", she mumbled, keeping her eyes closed.
"The truth hurts sometimes. But it wakes you up."
She spread out her arms, still with her eyes closed, and took a deep breath.
"Do whatever my pose wants you to do. Hurt me. Scratch me. Bite me. Or wake up and see that I am not trying to hurt you - on the contrary. Wake up and see the opportunities in front of you. What do you see? Someone vulnerable, not able to see what you'll do. Someone with their arms spread open. What does that usually mean when someone has their arms like that? It means pain for you, doesn't it? Well - you know what I think when I see someone with their arms spread aside, closed eyes? Someone who trusts the other that much that they make themselves vulnerable for them. Like I am doing here. Will you do what everybody expects you to do, and hurt me? Maybe even kill me? Or will you do what you want? What you need? A hug, perhaps?"
 
Caine just blinked a couple of times, completely dumbfounded by everything that had just happened.
His mind was racing, still trying to piece together what this meant for him, for his life and future, and at the same time trying to figure whether Catherina was insane or a genius. What a thin line.

"To live means pain for me", he mumbled after a while, before he just watched on in a mixture of confusion and fascination.
No one had ever talked to him like that, as if he was a person and not an animal, and he had absolutely no idea how to deal with that.
He was pissed, yes, but also confused, fascinated, wonderous, and maybe, just maybe, in the very back of his soul, a little bit hopeful.

One thing stood out above everything she had said though-
given the chance to roam freely.
how?
He had never been free, how was he supposed to know how to be free? To trust and care about anything else than staying alive somehow?
And how was he supposed to understand this situation?
It was all so overwhelming...

What did she mean with 'Nova needs you'?
They weren't really trying to save the world from the rising darkness, were they?
And why would they need him for that?
The chance to get what he wanted?
A life without pain?
Someone to trust?
A... A home?

Taking a deep, shaking breath, he closed his eyes and transformed into a beautiful, majestic, 5.7 ft tall wolf, his gaze lingering on Kate's bared, unprotected throat for a moment. Up until now, all his instincts had always screamed to dig his claws and teeth into that throat and have a run for dear life, but the wild animal inside him was silent now, for the first time in so many years.

He slowly blinked once more, before carefully pushing his head against her shoulder, his snout covering her throat in the wolfish way of protecting another.
He made a step back again, after a couple of seconds, and lifted his head, sitting a bit straighter, a bit taller.
His tail was flicking, giving his calm, collected outside away.
Yes, she was right.
Nova needed someone to save it, and if they needed him to be a part of it, he'd be damned if he wouldn't tag along.
"May the gods be my witness; I'm in."
 
Catherine slowly opened her eyes again, a soft smile appearing on her face as she saw the big wolf sitting opposite of her.
Her face said more than a thousand words.
Her eyes showed pride. The kind of pride parents had for their kids.
Her eyes showed love. The kind of love that made someone's frozen heart melt.
Her smile showed happiness. The kind of happy family members of a soldier felt when the soldier came back home.
She showed everything that was good about humanity.

"Thank you.", Katy whispered, her voice cracking for a second before she took a deep breath to talk on.
"I will help you, Caine. I can help you learn how to trust. How to live a normal life. I can help you learn how to love. I will help you if you want me to help.", she added, getting up from the floor and walking back to the spot she had started cleaning Caine's wounds when they had arrived, grabbing the wet piece of cloth and turning back to the wolf.
"Come come, back to human Caine. I can't properly treat your wounds like this."

She honestly felt so relieved.
Katy had feared failure, she had feared letting Alma, letting Nova, down. She had feared not being able to help.
Yet, here she was, slowly gaining the trust of someone who had endured pain and torture his entire life. And honestly she wasn't just proud of herself for succeeding with her crazy method, but she was so proud of Caine as well.
She could only imagine how hard it must've been for him to make the decision wether to trust a complete stranger or flee.

"You know, you can be really proud of yourself. It takes great bravery to take that big step."
 
The wolf just made a soft yelping sound, looking his nosetip against Kate's arm for a second before he turned back into Caine's human form, immediately sneezing.
That always happened when someone touched his nose- for some awkward reason, it immediately made him sneeze.

He slightly tilted his head to the side while his deep green eyes scanned her face.
Why had her voice had broken for a moment there? Why was she looking at him like that?
The last time that someone had looked at him like that-
No, actually that had never happened before, but even though it confused and overwhelmed him, it also felt good to see a friendly face.
He just hoped this wasn't some sort of farce to punish him for fighting those guards. But it was unlikely, wasn't it? They wouldn't risk letting him run away and kill an innocent person, right?
Though, to be honest, he wouldn't put anything past them. They were as little human as him. And probably even had less sense for humanity.

"If you can really help me... I'd be thankful if you did", Caine mumbled silently while he turned around again, so Katy could finish treating his wounds.
"I-..."
He slightly shook his head.
"You said you were lonely in your world. I don't understand. Someone like you must have many friends... And don't you humans have packs- families- too?"
 
Katy let out a soft giggle at Caine's sneeze, firstly not having expected him to sneeze, and secondly because that sneeze sounded as if it came from a kitten. A kitten sneeze. Hers were always extremely loud - loud enough to wake up an entire airplane - and made her sound like a mix between a seal and an elephant.

"I promise I will do everything I can to help you, Caine.", she replied, smiling softly while she vetted his wounds.
As he asked her why she had said that she was lonely in her world, she stopped moving for a second before letting out a sigh and continuing taking care of his back.
"Yes, humans have packs - we call it family. Parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, just to name a few.", she explained, the happy tone in her voice slowly disappearing, going monotone. "I used to have many friends, but that was before I went to college to study psychology. You know, many humans don't really like people like me - psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists... they don't understand mental illnesses, and not understanding something is scary, so in order to feel better about the things they don't understand they talk it down. They talk people with issues down, some even to the point that they commit suicide. And of course, people working with 'crazy' people themselves are crazy too, that's what society thinks. So yeah, my friends all left me when I wanted to become a psychiatrist. I thought I'd get new ones, but nobody really wants to befriend someone who works at a mental asylum. A mental asylum is like a hospital for people with extreme issues that can't be fixed, people that are a threat to other humans and thus can't live normal lives. These patients are usually psychopaths, but we've had other weird cases too. I remember this one patient who believed they were a rock and ate rocks to 'fully transform' into one. He died. Obviously."

Catherine had just finished cleaning all of Caine's dirty wounds and got up to throw the now dirty cloth into the sink. While she was thinking about what she could use to treat his open wounds, she continued explaining.

"But if having no friends means giving sick people the feeling of being normal and seeing those happy, big smiles on their faces when I bring them gifts... then so be it."
Katy sighed silently, just staring down at the bloody coat in the sink, a shiver running down her spine. Those flashbacks she was having wasn't something pretty to think of.

"So- yeah. Quite a lonely person. That's why I spent most of my time in the mental asylum. Then I'm not alone, nor the patients are."
 
caine was watching Catherine with big, sorrowful eyes.
He had followed her into the kitchen when she had brought her coat away, and now he stood in the doorway, fiddling around with his hands helplessly.

Sure, he was like a wild animal, and he probably really was more wolf than human, but what people constantly forgot was that wolves were no vicious monsters.
Yes, a healthy portion of respect was surely good, minding they were wild animals, but despite that, they were highly social, and cared about the well-being of those they considered a part of their pack.
And as sad as it sounded- the Aeterna and Kate were the only ones loosely comparable to having a pack for him.

When Kate was leaning on the edge of the sink, staring at the bloody coat, he took a deep, shuddering breath and carefully, slowly approached her, to lastly put a clawed hand on her shoulder.
"I don't have a pack either", he said silently. "My siblings and I were taken away from our mother just a couple of days after we were born, and we never met our father." He sighed softly. "There are institutions that... That breed Cainssons. Like dogs, you know? It's a profitable business."

His heart racing because the animal inside him was all against approaching a stranger so much, he gently rested his chin on her shoulder, looking at the coat away. "I don't understand it though... Shouldn't you rather be seen as a hero because you help those in need? Your world is just as messed up as mine, hm..."
Straightening up again, he grabbed some old towels and put them over the coat to hide it. He could smell Kate being everything but okay.
"I don't know if it helps you anyhow but-... If you want we can be a pack. Then we aren't entirely alone..."
 
"You were born in a puppy mill?", Catherine asked, shaking her head in disgust. "I just don't understand how people can be so cruel to living beings! You're not things, you're breathing beings that can talk, feel and - urgh! It makes me so angry!"
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before she looked back at Caine, a confused expression on her face as Caine rested his chin on her shoulder.
It was one thing to accept a hand shake, but to immediately seek physical contact like that - Caine really was not like other abuse victims Katy had worked with.

"A hero?", she repeated, giggling. "Oh no, on the contrary. People see those in need as attention seekers, problems and threats to society - I agree when we talk about psycho- and sociopaths, but society degrades mental illnesses that much that mentally ill people are so ashamed of themselves that they don't seek treatment... and kill themselves.", she explained. "And I, by far, am no hero. I just talk to people, listen to them, and give them advice so they can feel better. It's nothing extremely complicated."

Katy smiled softly as Caine hid the coat under some old towels, lowering her gaze to the floor.
"I never met my mother. My father tried his very best to look after his two daughters and three sons. My oldest sibling, my sister Denise, killed herself after years of being bullied for her anxiety. I lost my father and brothers a couple of years later in 9/11. A terrorist attack that killed 2.998 people, including my family. My father had won a free vacation so he took the boys with him - I wanted to stay at home to take care of our dogs - I saw the plane my father and brothers were sitting in crash into the Tower only to watch it explode and collapse in front of my eyes. I was still a child, but managed to get past security to what was called 'Ground Zero' to look for my family. They were dead, crushed - but I saw other victims, parts of other victims, victims that had thrown themselves out of the burning building onto concrete looking like pancakes, blood everywh-"
She abruptly stopped mid-sentence, taking a deep breath to calm herself down before she just smiled up at Caine again.
"Let's just say it left its marks, and I've been afraid of heights ever since. Seeing my blood-stained coat just brought back some memories."

Catherine nodded, not even sure why, maybe to assure herself that everything was alright? - and walked over to the other room again, just sitting down on a chair, fidgeting with her fingers while she stared at her tattoo.
"I wonder when Alma gets back. I have a feeling you must be starving, no?"
 
Caine frowned sorrowfully, watching Kate while she was apparently having a hard time keeping her countenance.
She wanted to help him, she had said that, but he was starting to wonder who helped her.
If she had heard so many sad stories, so many misfortunes and bad fates- wouldn't that get to her at some point?
She didn't seem like the kind of person who could just block the misery of someone else out and carry on.

When she was sitting on that chair, he slightly tilted his head to the side.
There had to be a way for him to make up for what she was doing for him!

He slowly came into the living room and squatted down in front of Kate, looking up at her with concern written in his forest green eyes.
"...One of my owners used to listen to radio programs from your world. There was this song...I don't remember the name or the artist but the man sung 'I know it must seem frightening
To have the world fall apart right under your shoes
Trust me, you'll make it through'.
He lifted one shoulder. "You must be overwhelmed by everything that happened today... You said you want to help me, but who helps you? Aren't you carrying far too much on your shoulders right now? Maybe you should talk to Alma or me, when you feel like everything's getting too much."

He lit up the fireplace in the living room, transformed back into his wolf shape and curled up near the warming flames, slowly relaxing in the soft light and gentle warmth.
"Alma should be back soon. Those... Those stars on your arm- do they have a meaning?"
 
Catherine listened to Caine trying to cheer her up with a soft smile, nodding when he asked her if she felt overwhelmed with everything that had happened today.
Just this night she had just been an ordinary woman with a life that wasn't really spectacular, and now she was in a different world with stuff she didn't even have time to process, being the last hope of Nova. That wasn't overwhelming at all.

"I might feel a bit overwhelmed with all this heroic trying-to-save-the-world...", Katy admitted, smiling akwardly. "I mean it's not every day that you discover that there's an entire world with a working civilization..."
Her expression softened as Caine mentioned nobody helping her, a soft smile on her face.
"Caine, don't worry about me, okay? Focus on yourself becoming the man you want to be."

Katy watched the Cainsson light up the fireplace, slowly pulling up her legs onto the chair, resting her face on her knees.
Her eyes sparkled softly as Caine asked about the meaning of her tattoo.

"Well, there's four stars. The big purple one represent my father and my sister, who both raised me - my sister being like a mother to me - and the two pink ones represent my two brothers, who were twins, and the other star represents my other brother. They're all up in the sky now, and as it's always told to little children that deceased people turn into stars, I turned my family into stars too."
 
reminder to myself- ask Alma to keep an eye on Kate's well-being, Caine thought to himself, his left ear slightly hanging down as he watched her for a while.
Was she really okay?
He knew he should focus on himself becoming better, but the pack animal inside him worried for the one it saw as the alpha.
The alpha was important, after all.

When Kate explained the meaning of her tattoo to him, Caine made a thoutful face for a moment, before his eyes widened and a wide, wolfish grin appeared on his face, so bright one could almost forget that he still had a long way to go till he would be okay.
"Follow me!", He said, his voice excited and mysterious as he shifted into his were-form, half wolf, half human, and carefully took Kate by the hand to take her with him.
The house they were in was one of the many 'stake' houses of Siam'han- starting at the bottom of Low under and reaching all the way up through the ceiling of Sky Deck- under the open sky.
The elevator at first counted up- 0 to 37 - and then down again to 0.
Caine went furtoor, where gravity changed oncce more, basically back to normal.

The sun had gone down by now, and thanks to the floor of Sky Deck blocking the city lights from below, a breathtaking sky full of stars was visible.
"Did you know that the sky of your world and our world are the same?", Caine asked silently. "They share one sky. So if you ever feel homesick or miss your family- it's all up there. A piece of home."
 
Katy was extremely confused by Caine's behavior. She had never, absolutely never, seen someone gain that much trust in such a short time period - especially for an abuse victim.
The Cainsson really was someone special. He had just changed so much after their talk, it was almost magical.

She followed him into what seemed an elevator, swallowing thickly as it went up - heights - and sighing relieved as it went down again.
Katy walked behind Caine, wondering why he had taken her up to the roof - gasping silently as she saw the beautiful nightsky.

It was just like the one on Earth, but so much prettier.

"Caine- this is-", she looked at him with big, sparkling eyes, thanking him by gently squeezing his hand.
"It's beautiful. Thank you."
 
Caine just flicked one ear as a response to Kate thanking him before he switched to his human appearance.
"Don't mention it", he mumbled, watching the sky with his everlasting frown on his face, his shining eyes piercing through his dark lashes.
The moonlight made them look almost mint green, glittering like one of the stars above.
He had never looked less human- or less magical.

He didn't understand the entire situation he was in; he didn't understand why he was free all of a sudden, why this person treated him as an equal and why she thought he'd be the right one to take on a journey to save Nova. But it certainly was better than being shot in the head, so he went along.

"As weird as it might Sound-"
Turning his head to Kate with an intensity in his gaze that could have set ice on fire, Caine frowned deeper, as if what he was about to say was incredibly important to be mentioned.
"Feeling homesick is good, you know?The true misery isn't missing home- it's having no home to miss."

He slightly shook his head, looking away, and lastly got up. "Alma is there and calling for us."
 
"Caine wait-", Catherine interrupted, grabbing him by his shoulder to stop him before he'd walk off.
"I know you want to have a home - but having a home doesn't always mean having a roof above your head. Home can be a person, too. Home can be many things. Home is where your heart is. A pack can be your home, a friend... - everything. Just keep that in mind.", she smiled softly, her big blue eyes sparkling as the moonlight touched them.

Katy let go of the Cainsson's shoulder, just flashing him another smile before she made her way over to the elevator, waiting for Caine to catch up.
What would Alma say of Caine's transformation? Would she be content?

"Hey Caine - how come you didn't freak when you saw me? I mean - I'm technically an alien for you guys, aren't I?"
 
Caine's lips curled into a little smirk as he ran his hand through his hair once, resting his other hand on his hip, his eyes closed in an expression of silent amusement.
Sure, the home thing still bugged him, but Kate's question distracted him from that for now.
She was just so adorably naive.

"Oh don't make yourself so important!", He chuckled, playfully nudging his shoulder against Kate's while the elevator brought them back to Low Under.
"When you've seen what I have seen in my life, a witty pretty little human lady won't freak you.
His expression turned cheeky, almost challenging, as he bared his sharp teeth in a saucy grin, running the tip of his tongue over his pointy canines and winked.
"It's not like you could win in a fight against me anyway."

With a sudden, screeching sound, the elevator stopped at the 23rd floor.
"What-?"
Caine frowned slightly again, looking around.
"...looks like we're stuck..."
 
Catherine playfully raised an eyebrow at Caine's comment, a soft smirk appearing on her face.
"Witty pretty little human lady you say?", she repeated, laughing. "Please - my height says nothing about me - except that I'm able to wear really cute dresses without looking weird. And yes, I am humorous.", she winked, gasping as he mentioned her not being able to defeat him in a fight.
"Oh yeah? You think? I might not be as muscular as you but I'll out-trick you that will lead to your defeat.", she replied, sticking out her tongue at him - her eyes widening in terror as she heard the screeching sound that brought the elevator to a stop.

One look at what floor they were on made her fall back against the wall, spreading her arms as if she had to hold on to steady herself and the elevator.
"We're on the 23rd floor-", she mumbled, taking sharp breaths before she realized that she should start doing what she told her patients with panic attacks to do. Breathe. Focus. The peak of a panic attack only lasts for a couple of seconds, nothing to worry about.
They were only in a tiny elevator stuck on the 23rd floor and if the elevator would fall they'd be smashed into bits.

"Are you sure we're stuck? Maybe it was just-", she stopped mid-sentence as the screeching sound was heard again.
Oh god.
"We're gonna die-"
 
"oh yeah? You know that you just choose your own fate, don't you? Once we're down on safe ground- you and me, we'll see who wins", Caine chuckled, trying to distract Kate from her panic.
He had never seen her like that, and though he didn't really understand why heights scared her so much, minding that it wasn't really height that had killed her family, he knew how she was feeling right now.

As if she was looking right in the eye of death.

"We won't die", he said seriously. "Kate, mind my words: we will not die here."
But when a darkness, slick as oil but floating like smoke slowly entered through the doors of the elevator, even his eyes widened.
"What-", he whispered, before he pushed himself back against the wall, covering Kate from the approaching smoke.
"Ezekiel...Mercy." a black, shadow-like, probably female creature formed out of the darkness, her breath rattling and voice choked as if she was fighting for air. She just stood there, pointing one crippled finger at him.
Caine raised one eyebrow. "...wrong address. I'm his way younger brother."
The deep black eyes of the creature widened as its arm dropped and it stood there like an idiot for a moment. "Where...?"
It took a few moments until Caine stepped away from the wall to leave Kate a bit space and made an 'i don't know' motion.
The thing let out a rattling sigh before it diapered through the door, looking actually quite annoyed.

Caine however was just standing there with one raised eyebrow. "I'm, like, 50 years younger than him but okay. Confuse me with a 76-year-old. Rude!"
Turning back to Kate, he sighed relieved as the elevator continued its way.
"It's okay, it's okay... Just a dark omen. They often cause outages."
 
Catherine was just staring at the elevator doors with an empty gaze, her entire body shaking terribly, her face having gained a slight blue-greenish color.
The elevator was moving again, and not with rapid speeds which meant that nothing would happen to either of them.
They were fine.

The thing that totally freaked her out was there had just been black mist in the elevator, some creepy creature appearing out of that wanting to hurt Caine!
Then again it had actually wanted to hurt somebody else, at least Katy thought that creepy thing was there to hurt, and not Caine.
But still, Catherine was used to hearing creepy stories from her patients - but she never watched any horror movies because that scared her too much, and that creature there had scared the shit out of her.

If it weren't for Caine talking to her, she probably would've just kept on staring and shaking - instead she shook herself out of her thoughts and looked up at the Cainsson with big eyes.
"A dark omen?", she repeated, slowly calming down with every floor the elevator passed.
"That thing could've killed us - right? But it didn't because it confused you with somebody else- right?"
 
"what? No- no no no", Caine said quickly, shaking his head while he carefully held Kate's arms to steady and comfort her a bit.
"Dark Omens are unable to cause any physical damage to anyone but their target. They show up to collect souls of those who made deals with Djinns."

When the elevator arrived on save ground, Caine gave Kate's hand a last, comforting squeeze before he stepped back into the abandoned Appartment and crossed his arms as he saw Alma standing there and waiting for them.
"Ah Caine. You're up and better as I see."
"Yeah... I guess."
Alma held out her hand to him for a handshake, smiling softly. "Alma Khalesia Fredclarkeara. I am glad to have you joining."
Caine just stared at her hand for a while before he made a step back, the old frown back on his face before he looked back at Katie with a kind of helpless expression. "I'm out in the garden if anyone needs me."

When Caine was gone, Alma raised one eyebrow. "Whuff, that man has a behavior like a steak knife..."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top