Sifr

Iris Ascendis

@Estylwen@Nanaya@Psyker Landshark

Hildegunde, despite what her instincts tell her, allows Davil to exchange contacts. There is silence from Freischütz, but once again, she can feel its smile. It gives her a sinking feeling, but she ignores it, setting off with the other girls.

She watches Gulliver with some interest, but makes no comment on the principal or him. He isn't causing mayhem right now, and Raja seems to have him under wraps; so she doesn't pay too much heed. She makes a mental map of all the different shops, as well as the general layout of the campus. Places of interest. Roads to follow. Spaces to hide. Something to distract her from the question. More important things, at the moment.

In truth, she's also still mulling over this whole faction thing, and while she did originally wish to discuss it with the others, the idea was intimidating - especially upon seeing how firm Iraleth was about joining the Shield of Nero. She has the feeling that it might cause some dissent. So thus she remains quiet. Her eyes dart to and fro as the carriage carries the trio.

Once arriving, Hildegunde steps out of the carriage and stretches, grabbing an envelope and giving a curt nod to the mannequin. While following at first, she did wander off from the duo for a moment to find her own room, scowling at what she found on the door. It wasn't far, so Ciara and Chloe could still see her easily. Room 9.

Chloe + Hildegunde

"Yeah, uh. Found it," she says with disdain, pointing at the door. Mostly so that Iraleth can look and understand her pain.

Then there comes the second part. There's space for all of us. She blinks, processing this. Did she actually offer? Is this a temporary offer, or a full time one? Hesitancy about getting close or not, Hildegunde decides it best to stick with the others. So she'll accept the offer, whatever the case, gratefully. Not only that, but...

"You think there's room for my luggage as well? I don't have much, and something tells me my roommate wouldn't mind having the space all to herself. If you'll have me."

The question. She needed to ask the real question. But not now. Not unless one of the others brings up her silence over alignments first.

Iris Ascendis

Maybe this is just me, but I think co-ed dorms is not nearly as crazy as whatever the fuck this school day has been. Although part of it might just be my own distaste for sex and/or gender segregation :P (If there was sarcasm there I failed to pick up please excuse me, I am on the spectrum LMAO)

Anyways! Wow it would SUCK if Hildegunde or Iraleth had to room with Chloe.

Iris Ascendis

@Estylwen@Psyker Landshark

The voice that greeted her was not one she wished to hear. Unlike last time, however, she found herself able to at least communicate her thoughts mentally.

Fräulein Nachtnebel.

You.

But of course. Is it not fitting to accompany and serve you? My will is your own, for as long as you can maintain such a thing.

You have no such power. We both know what you are, little wisp, and you are not what you make yourself out to be. There's a mocking laugh, and for a moment, Hildegunde is full of doubt. The woman had warned about a wildcard, but this was...this was a bit much. She clenches her jaw, eyebrows furrowing. No, no. This was her own mind playing tricks on her. Dozens of other students had these things. It must be her brain's backwards-ass way of helping her in some roundabout way. The way fear drives prey away from danger.

Laugh then, bitch. 'Cause until I fall, you're mine. More laughter, and another wave of doubt. She silently decides she'll keep quiet about whatever it is she's got going on, just in case this is something worryingly abnormal.

And for the record, my first command is for you to shut your fuckin' mouth and do as I say, unless I explicitly ask for your input.

The laughter dies instantaneously. Eeriely so. She expected more resistance.

Hildegunde turns her attention back to reality, frowning as Raja goes on. She cares not for binaries or loyalties, and as someone who lived on the outskirts of Seer's Loft relatively sheltered from society at large for the majority of her life, she is at a loss. Nonetheless, she copies the salute, before turning away. Her eyes flick towards the two girls she had accompanied herself with moments ago, but she immediately regrets doing so. Looking away from them now, she turns her attention to her Adapa.

You. Speak.

I'd like a name other than 'you', Fräulein Nachtnabel.

Hildegunde rolls her eyes.

What would you like to be called, then?

She can feel it curl its fiery lips in her mind's eye. Freischütz.

Freischütz. Marksman. Her prime essence. The figure from her fairytales. The one whom, in some accounts, would become a devil himself, after piercing the hearts of his beloveds. One and the same. She almost rolls her eyes a second time.

Okay, Herr Freischütz. Help me with whatever nonsense this faction stuff is.

I know you care not for false binaries, liebe Frau. So I ask instead, not what you believe, but how you'd like to be believed. What reputation do you wish to have? And more importantly, which can you live up to? As a hunter, I think there's one clear choice.

Which is?

That which your Ethos is better suited to.

Sword of Wund. Her heart sways slightly towards Shield of Nero now, if only out of spite. But there is still doubt. Much of her values went one way or another; almost all of which were situational. She might very well turn back and discuss with the others. On the other hand...spending more time with them means the risk of growing attached. Hildegunde can feel Freischütz smile at that thought.

You are dismissed, Herr Freischütz. She reluctantly approaches Ciara and Iraleth, pointing at a carriage.

"You must both be tired. Wanna find the dorms together?"

Iris Ascendis

I legit couldn't decide so I had to wheel it LMAO

Iris Ascendis

Hate that wildcard is an option because now I'm here



Also, I cannot imagine Ciara is happy about having another voice in her head.

Echoing ERode's question about Goetia. I'm probably not going to have a post up for a bit because of Life Stuff, but I'll get one up once I can.

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth behavior.

@ERode

REAL

Iris Ascendis

And there's my one liner /silly

Iris Ascendis

Her fingers touch the Adapa with little hesitantion. Funny, how it always comes back to overcoming this moment. It was the reason her parents moved her from Seer's Loft. It was the reason she came to this school. It was the reason she didn't turn tail as soon as the going got touch, as all her instincts told her to.

Good thing she's had practice.

---

Winter. To some, the hardest season of the hunt. Many an amateur hunter are intimidated by the bitter cold and the decreased amount of game. To the Nachtnebel family, however, Winter was a blessing. Clear sightlines. Few pests. Easy trails. Little competition. And, of course, lots of hungry families to feed. It wasn't just prime hunting time, but prime trading as well, with various family gatherings, tourists, and the like on account of the many festivities held around this time of year.

The world is cold and crystalline and quiet, freshly blanketed in snow. Two sets of footprints break apart the picturesque scene. The first set belongs her Hildegunde, a young teen who would turn 15 in two days. The second set belongs to her brother, Gunther, whom Hildegunde shared a party with each year. He had turned 19 today.

The two of them crouch by the brambles, having tailed a deer. Hildegunde's frozen breath hangs in the air. She inhales sharply, finger on the trigger.

Deer. Brainstem.

"Freikugeln."

The sound of a singular gunshot followed by dozens of flapping wings fill the air. Then after, a sigh follows.

"You forgot to silence your gun again?" Gunther scolds, and Hildegunde scoffs.

"I hit it, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but what if you hadn't? And you should know better than to aim for the head. If you miss the brain-"

"-Which I obviously didn't-"

"Then you'd have caused a lot of unnecessary suffering. Plus, it's just harder to hit. You're giving yourself more trouble for no reason."

A grin spreads on Hildegunde's face. "Harder for you, maybe," she taunts, approaching the fallen deer. "Maybe you're just jealous 'cause I'm a better shot than you."

Now Gunther smiles. "Right. In your dreams." Hildegunde rolls her eyes, beginning to bag the carcass.

"Have I missed a single shot these past six days? Face it. You've finally been outclassed~" Gunther snorts.

"You just got lucky."

Hildegunde stares at Gunther, eye twitching. Even now! Even now he acts high and mighty! She's finally got something she's good at - even than him better at - and he refuses to acknowledge it! She inhales sharply again.

"I can literally aim with my eyes closed," she brags childishly, to Gunther's amusement. His laughter is soft, but to a younger Hildegunde, it is sandpaper to her eardrums.

"Do you even know what literally means?" Hildegunde crosses her arms.

"Shut up, yes I do." Gunther smirks and raises an eyebrow. He stops his bagging of the deer to cross his arms.

"Alright Hilde, let's see it then." Indignation boils in Hildegunde, going to grab her rifle. There's no living being around besides herself and her brother, so she sets her sight on an icicle off a treebranch.

"That icicle. There," she points, looking at her brother before closing her eyes and turning away from him.

Icicle. Base.

Another gunshot rings through the air, and a snow-softened thud follows.

One far too big for an icicle.

Hildegunde opens her eyes, confused. She turns around, and her blood runs colder than the winter air.

He was behind her. He is behind her. The gun was pointed in the opposite direction of him. It shouldn't. It couldn't.

And yet, here he was.

Red seeps into white. All of her indigination, her jealousy, her vitriol, evaporates.

"Gunther?"

No response. Why would there be one?

"Gunther!?" Hildegunde calls out again, dropping her rifle to shake the boy.

There is no third cry. Just quiet realization.

He does not wake.

He never will.

And no one can know the truth.

A thousand familiar thoughts she has grappled with flood her.

This is all still just your childishness. Even now, all you care to do is prove your own worth. He is just a cover to your ugly inferiority.

It wasn't true. She knew what she felt in those moments. And besides, so what if it were true? It wouldn't change a thing. This gift, first a poison, needed to become a blessing. Or his death would never be more than a shameful accident.

You'd never had surpassed him. He should be here, not you.

Maybe that was true too. Maybe she'd never have made it out of his shadow without his ethos. Maybe he should've sat where she did. But again, what did it matter? What was done is done. Besides, he was four years older. It was only natural.

You wanted this to happen.

Never. No matter the childish thoughts she would have, she never truly wanted him gone. She knew that she'd give up just about anything to have him back.

This scene has become so familiar to Hildegunde that it is almost banal, almost numbing in nature. Each thought has a rebuttal, each one almost practiced.

But then, something changes.

"Aren't you happy? I've done just as I promised."

A shadow, one not from this memory, passes over Hildegunde and Gunther.

"You knew the stories. If you really didn't want him dead, you'd have known better than to keep firing."

The girl looks up at the looming figure it belongs to, and a sudden spike of fear floods over her. While he had been depicted many a way over the millenia, a towering figure made of black flames was the image that had stuck with Hildegunde the closest.

"How far can your spite go, before regret finally consumes you?"

And here he was, before her.

"When despair wears down the mind and drains one's will to go forward. When one feels there's nothing left to go for, their soul falls down to Hell. That day draws nearer, my dear lady. That day draws nearer, and I look forward to it."

She wants to scream at him to leave. That he's full of shit. That she does know better, that he isn't real. She's had enough nightmares about this memory, to let it fuck up her chances here. No hallucination of the devil from her stories will make her hesitate in her resolve. She wants it over with already so she can get on with the day.

"Whatever you want to say, it need not be said. It's all the same in the end. Death makes all equal, after all."

A low chuckle, a mockery of Gunther's voice, echoes through the frozen forest.

"Until then, do as you wish. These bullet with pierce as you please."

---

Hildegunde's eyes snap open. There's a strange tremor to her body, but her eyes burn with resolve, her expression darker than before.

Whether he was right or wrong about her motives, there was one thing she would take to heart.

She would do as she wishes. And right now, she wished to be here. And so she would remain.

Hildegunde makes brief eye contact with Chunji, before looking back at Raja.

Iris Ascendis

Hildegunde, who's probably had to relieve this moment multiple times during therapy: Oh FUCK YEAH!! Maybe I won't even cry this time!!

Iris Ascendis

"The same goes for this one. I have witnessed many soldiers wield such primitive weaponry in fair Rekordia. You are as expendable as a bargain bin toy soldier with none of the usefulness. Those, at least, are capable of distracting the children during the cold winter nights."

There's an odd smile on Hildegunde's face at those words, and an odd slew of emotions that bubble within her at it. None of which included anger.

Expendable. This was true. Everyone and everything was expendable. Even since coming to Vaal Shakta and becoming overwhelmed with all the messy rules and practices that complicated her once blissfully simple worldview, she knew this to be true. Even those who sat upon thrones and thought themselves gods, or were even treated as such. Death made all equal, and she was a hunter. And despite his words about her weapon, she knew that, if she really wanted, all it would take is a single gunshot to prove it.

And yet, the thought made her sick. Her sick, and something happy. Maybe a buried part of herself she wished not to acknowledge. Perhaps the devil from the old fairy tales of Der Freischütz she likened herself to. Whatever the case, she felt her stomach twist itself in knots.

None of the usefulness. Perhaps that was true. While she was a sharp shot in her own right, none of it compared to the pin-point, horrific accuracy of her Ethos. And her Ethos was just barely in her own control half the time. She knew there was potential, no matter what this arrogant prick said.

There had to be a use. She had to be useful. There had to me more she could do this with gift and curse. The image of a ifeless, glassy stare burns into her mind's eye, and her smile fades. She could tell herself she was here for her parents' sake as much as she likes, but deep down, she knows why she's really here.

She will not let his death be meaningless.

Hildegunde hardly acknowledges the horned woman's words. Clutching her rifle, she seats herself; knuckles white and face dark.