video - open to both courts

[digophelia]

[ Alice is outside of Caer Scima's courtyard in a brisk walk. She has the vorpal blade in one hand and elven sword in another. It feels strange, the sword. It's heavier than what she's used to and the way she uses it, she's not experienced in it. As usual, the way she attacks is frenzied, without a care of her own well-being, always bordering on being feral. She's already tried clubbing them with the knightmare hobby horse to no avail. The fact it didn't affect them leaves her visibly startled.]

It wasn't enough that we already made amends that we spilled blood on Death's Altar?!


[ She's cornered. Her mind's visions are twisted, there's a glimpse of something from her past. Fire. She is small, smaller than she is now. The way her visions twist together, it's hard to tell if it is a memory or a hallucination. She is small again, covered head to toe in bandages, wheeled down a dark, gloomy hallway by strangers-]

Stop it.

[ Alice warns holding out the curved sword. Now that her hands are shaking and she's nearly in a panic because what she fears most is fire.

You cannot help them.

But she refuses to fully succumb to this, she's never been this fearful in Drabwurld, not like this.]



[ She will not be pushed around, not anymore. She'll let the hounds of Hell have it by killing them. The horrified look on her face turns to a look of utter glee. She'll kill them.

She'll make sure they'll stay dead.

Because of the way she stabs them, even when they're dead.]

Comments

[erythristic]

[the next one to come is another victim of magic, slammed against the stones below their feet with one gesture, dragged over with a second, and then decapitated with the scythe. that puts them in the clear for now, and she glances over to Alice's display when she has breath again. there is savagery and then there is a useless display when the corpses would fade into the air.]

They're dead, Alice.

[just in case she didn't realise.]

[digophelia]

[ She hasn't.

Intermingled with her own paranoia and hallucinations, she almost overlooks it. Still, a part of her compels her to completely dismember anything or anyone that's fallen out of that fear. Her hands are trembling, there's hair in her face, and Alice has stopped.

She didn't see Grell on fire, right? ]

[erythristic]

[slowly, still trying to steady herself, Grell crosses the short distance to Alice.]

Breathe, dear.

[she says it for both their benefit -- an actress can manipulate her emotions as they please, but only makeup could hide the pallor. steady. you have dealt with them. at least Alice would not be subject to the severity to which Grell contains herself in order to come back and appear unbothered.]

[digophelia]

[ Once Alice gets a small reprieve in the wave of dogs, Alice turns to Grell, just to evaluate her well being. She does what she's told -- she breathes, air filling her lungs, but it does nothing. Disheveled with her hair all over her face, but of course it doesn't matter. All that matters is the well-being of those around her, those she's fond of. ]

Miss Grell... Are you hurt?

[erythristic]

Only somewhat. Does any of that blood belong to you?

[it stings, but give her some time and enough water to clean it, and she'll have it taken care of.]

[digophelia]

[ She pauses to look at herself. Of course when Alice fights, there's bound to be blood, almost everywhere. It's just how she fights -- erratic and fervent. Alice is just now realizing she's got a few cuts and bruises.

Until she notices the bite on her arm, her very skinny arm. Funny how the pain just now dawns on her when she's climbing down her high of adrenaline. ]

Not all of it.

[erythristic]

[...sigh.]

Come with me and we'll get you sorted.

[it'll also be an excuse to get away from the dogs, and if Alice does follow, the direction Grell takes is not one to the infirmary but rather the living quarters.]

[digophelia]

... Sorted?

[ Oddly enough, Alice feels comfortable to follow Grell. She remembers how secure she felt having another woman go to Redgate when she was surrounded by nothing but men. She eventually picks up her pace. ]

[erythristic]

[where they end up is Grell's room, where the older woman pulls off her gloves and undoes her sword belt, pointing at the bed.]

Sit.

[and it's from the attached room that she brings a pitcher of water -- there was more than enough unused and left over from this morning that she doesn't see a need to get any more. that goes on the nightstand, and opening the wardrobe, she takes out some cloth bandages.]

[digophelia]

[ Without much of a resistance from Alice, she sits. It's a good thing as well, had it been an infirmary, Alice would have been far from cooperative. There's something a little less alarming being in an informal setting like this, not a hospital wing.

Resisting the urge to look around, Alice keeps her head low. She feels as if even looking at her room would be an invasion of privacy.

Alice will still say a dog's bite pales nothing in comparison to burns. She can't help but shudder at the thought and the memory. ]

[erythristic]

[one of the cloth pieces she wets before carefully taking Alice's arm to clean away the blood from the bite. her motions are surprisingly gentle, practiced, as though she's done this times before.

her room, even from glimpses, is marked by being tidy. bed made, everything in its place save the few things she's cast aside for this duty.]

I don't think it got you too deeply. Your range of motion should be preserved.

[digophelia]

[ So far, Grell's room remains the opposite of Alice's. Her things are strung all over, drawings adorn the walls, and Alice's bed isn't made. No doubt her rabbit is huddled underneath the blankets as a result of the dogs. Alice barely glances up at her, praying that the next thing she asks doesn't seem insane. ]

You're not hurt? Are you burned?

[ Alice is sure she saw fire, then again, her visions were intermingled with hallucinations. ]

[erythristic]

They got my shoulder, though not harshly, and that I can tend to. But burns? No.

[and her hands prove it. they're uninjured, not even marked by heat, and she takes it as only the concern of someone who's not seen her wield fire before.]

[digophelia]

[ She could have sworn that-

No, if she isn't burned, Alice won't ask about it further out feeling overwhelimingly self-conscious. ]

Good, I'm glad you weren't severely injured.

[erythristic]

Worried for me, dear? I'm touched.

[whether she's mocking or just teasing isn't clear, but with the blood around gone, she can then start to wrap up the injury. snug but not constrictive, this is the tricky part.]

[digophelia]

I'm being serious.

[ Alice looks at her earnestly, unsure that she should bring up the fire that she saw. ]

I... I think that I must be confused with things that I saw, but I was sure that you were hurt worse.

[erythristic]

What did you see?

[Grell meets her eyes as she's tying off the ends of the bandage, satisfied that this won't slip off.]

[digophelia]

[ Alice is brave in the face of many things, except for fire. She can't stand to look at it, even a candle. Now that she had learned not long ago it was not Dinah who knocked over the lantern, the fear is still there. Alice's face contorts as she knits her brows together, as if to squint.

Well, she makes no secret she's terrified of fire. ]

Well, I saw fire.

[erythristic]

...You did see fire.

[she hadn't thought about it, she had only seen Alice after the fact, and by then she'd extinguished it from her hands.]

[digophelia]

[ And she does little to hide the fact she's a little disturbed by it. Of all things to be disturbed about, it's the fire, of course. She opens up her mouth for a few seconds, falters, and slowly closes it. ]

[erythristic]

It is one of the ways in which I can use magic. And what I thought would be the best to assuredly eliminate our enemies.

[she pauses for a second, then runs a hand through her bangs before standing to get a clean shirt from the wardrobe. she still has to tend to her own injury, after all.]

I was only aware you were there after the fact. My apologies.

[digophelia]

No, Miss Grell.

[ Honestly, she was doing what she could to defend herself. Alice can hardly fault her for that. ]

It is not your fault, you shouldn't apologize. I just really dislike fire.

[erythristic]

Any particular reason, or just a general distaste?

[she says it half absently, having returned to get one wet and one dry bandage of her own before she moves across the room, back to her guest. it's not as though she'd be shy about changing her shirt in front of Alice, but Grell knows she is more attached to the virtue of modesty than Grell is.]

[digophelia]

[ Modesty or not, Alice makes no comment, but she wishes that Grell wouldn't do so in front of her. Alice is able to turn her back completely. Had she been a man, Alice would haven't reacted so quietly. ]

My family home burned down as a child. I was the only one who survived.

[erythristic]

[there's a noticeable pause after Alice says the words, as Grell absorbs them. Hm. What a tragedy.]

...My condolences.