Realistic or Modern When Hell Freezes Over

[Steel Tiger]

The skies had long began to darken to a dark shade of grey. Despite it being toward the beginning of the early noon the suburbs of one of Dosil’s towns, Tosavey was dark as night. The air around had seemed to bring a sour like taste and scent along with it. Many were gone or still in their homes, hiding and afraid that another bomb would go off. The whole neighborhood seemed to be in a deafening silence. In that silence, there were screams of horror not from the people themselves who for the most part remained in their homes expecting or another bomb to go off like the previous one had an hour prior, but instead screams of silent fear inside the mind and some of anger.


Some stranger had already created a small fire, for warmth and perhaps to guide others hopes or attention to the area. The fire itself was not large, perhaps the size of a small campfire such as for young campers to tell stories around. The was in the middle a street yes, with houses on either side of it seeming obliterated entirely. The fire seeming much more welcoming then the houses and nightmarish buildings of which may have been once called home brought forth someone to sit among them. Farah sat near the fire the hood of her coat up over her head, and holding into a clear jar containing a purple ooze inside of it, inside both arms for her hands were trembling all too much at the moment. Curses were muttered under her breath all the while, she sat near this beckoning fire in her sweat pants and waited, waited for something or someone.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

Dark as hell.


Dimitri walked down the road, trying to see at least something in this all-consuming darkness. He knew that this god foraken town is abandoned, yet he had absolutely no intention to stay in one of the houses. He has nothing to lit up a fire with, and without a fire he would simply freeze to death. Even though Dimitri was born in a place, where winter is almost always there, he couldn't stand this cold anymore. Situation is almost hopeless. He is hungry, cold and sick, few more meters - and he will fall. Nothing is going to save him. Yet...


He saw a distant light.


Dimitri forgot about his weakness and ran towards the light. He can see the campfire now, and the figure sitting near. What a miracle! But wait, this person may be native Docilean. And conscript Krindin knows that Docileans hate his guts. He thought about it and lost his footing on a snow, falling loudly on the ground. "Okay... okay, maybe they haven't heard it..." - thought Dimitri and started to get up. Only to suffocate in a cough and fall again. "Goddamnit... no need to hide now, huh?" - he whispered, finally got up and strolled towards the fire, trying to hide Caitruvdeamonian coat of arms on a trenchcoat with his hand.


"Don't be alarmed! I am friendly!" - he shouted as he closed the disance between him and the stranger.


@Thane Korino

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah continued to hold onto the jar between her arms and stayed by the fire. Looking into it, and barely seeming to notice as more and curses flowed out of her mouth and practically seeming to go into the flame as if attempting to feed it in such a manner. Most of the curses were generally just simple and common ones but a few were more long winded and a condemnation of Caitruvdeamon for causing Dosil's destruction and the murder of her own father. There was a sound, though it was dismissed for a moment as for perhaps a building falling further apart. It did not catch the attention of Farah yet, but the second time she had begun to slide the jar of goo under her coat and turn to face the source of it. Being warned not to be 'alarmed' while the man was wearing the trench coat like some of those soldiers did, made her feel quite the opposite. She couldn't make out quite which side this person may have been on. She regretted not having a knife, though was reaching toward the fire behind her back for a possible makeshift weapon. "Prove it!" Farah shouted, although having not thought it through, the issue of a challenge seemed natural.


The fire continued to burn on as brilliantly as it had been before. Being a light in most of the darkness that was around. The fuel of the fire, which seemed to be both actual large chunks of firewood and pieces of likely what was remnants of a house let out occasional cracks and oddly sizzles in terms of sound. The whole neighborhood had maintained its quietness beyond that and even a very faint echo could be heard from the shouting.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

"Prove it!" - barely heard Dimitri from the stranger. As he came closer, he was able to examine them. It was a 15-year old girl. And she was angry. Dimitri had absolutely no intention to hurt her, she was the only living being he met in a long time! While he desperately tried to tear the coat of arms from his shoulder, he answered:


- I-I'm friendly, I really am! Look, I'm unarmed! And don't you think that it's not the time to kill each other?


Dimitri closed the distance enough to see the girl clearly. And she clearly saw him. Coat of arms was tightly sewn and Dimitri couldn't tear it off with his frozen fingers. And he completely forgot about another one on his fur hat. He stopped. His scarf was waving in the wind.


- I mean no harm. Really. I'm just another survivor, just as you. We will not fight, yes?

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah slipped the jar of goo into an internal coat pocket. Reaching out slowly behind her with one hand to grab onto one of the logs from the fire and getting ready to possibly pull out and use. The heat from the fire was hot, though it did not really bring a noticeable discomfort to Farah at the moment. Her attention was at the person approaching. Being unarmed, was something not entirely proven yet in Farah's mind, she could imagine a gun or a knife somewhere hidden in or under that trench coat, similar to how her sewing kit was hidden and that was surely enough room to hide a knife in its place instead. Everything was already starting to go to hell, a time not to kill each other seemed to have long passed but the willingness to do so was lacking, nor did she know who this man was. Upon seeing the coat of arms on the other's fur hat, things seemed to freeze. He grip on the burning log grew tighter, and she didn't respond to the man. There was a mixture of fear and rage in her eyes, and her hands started clench and tighten as if gripping for someone's throat.


The fire continued to blaze behind Farah. The log from the fire was longer than the others, perhaps enough to the size of a flashlight or so. The fire itself was eating more at the other half of the log, but it shouldn't be tempted like so. The feeling of being watched, may arise among those with excellent intuition. As, there was, another.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

- Listen, if I wanted to kill you, I would've sneak up on you, yes? But I approached head-on, and...


Dimitri saw the girl's face. She was burning with desire to kill him, her eyes were aimed at Krindin's hat. Oh. She saw the crest. And, evidently, she'll have no mercy on a Caitruvdaemonian servant. "But... hey, she is just a teenager, right? What can she possibly do to me?" - thought Dimitri. As he saw the burning log in the hands of the furious girl, he came up with the plan. The fight seems inevitable, so he'll just disarm her, leave her without the weapon. With just bare hands. Considering his clumsiness, it would be a hard task, but there is no other option for him. Of course, Dimitri could've use his shovel to... pacify his young enemy, but it would be too much. He wanted to cooperate, not murder.


He raised his hands.


- See? I have nothing. Only my good intentions and a shovel on my back. So, please, throw your stick back in the fire. It would be a shame if you burn your hands because of me, yes?


"Last chance. If she rushes on me, I'm ready. I'll knock the log out of her hands and... maybe she'll stop being stupid"

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah, did not buy or believe in the words that spilled out of the soldier's mouth. He did not approach head on, and if had not been for the others clumsiness, she had no doubt that she would have been sneaked up upon. Her attention seemed to be focused, if not paralyzed on that crest upon the soldier's hat. She continued to stare in silence, words of what to say, and barely actions on what to do were not piercing through her thoughts or voice. Only the words 'prove it' seemed to be locked deep within the clouds of her mind. Farah's grip upon the log had remained quite tight, although the warmth of the fire was growing steadily more noticeable but no specific movement had yet been made. Her challenge remained on the mind despite its ridiculousness it had been made, and despite her rage, Farah could not yet attack. Practically frozen in place. Mentioning the weapon that she was trying to go for in a sly manner and how it may harm her, made Farah grip onto it all the tighter. Her teeth remained gritted, and her breath began to slow quite noticeably and audibly if someone was within a few feet of her.


It seemed most things were at a stand still as of this moment. Entertaining even to some degree or another as suspense began to fill and cloud the air, similar to smoke filling a room. An observer continued to watch from a long distance from the site. The fire itself continued to blaze along. Light snow begins to descend from the sky above.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

They were standing still for such a long time now. Weakness again started to take over Dimitri. If he will continue to stand like this, letting the cold to crawl under his skin, he will collapse. An unfortunate end for someone who survived the terrible blast. The girl, though, kept constrainedly holding the flaming stick, waiting for the opportunity to strike him down. The campfire was giving her warmth and strange (and weapon, for that matter).


Dimitri couldn't take this anymore. He will either get some warmth, or pass out. He spoke, his voice suddenly sounded desperate. He didn't even noticed how he weakened a grip on his actions.


- "Those, who will doubt our peacefullness, will choke on their blood". That's how my countrymen say. Now, I beg you. Drop your damned stick before this situation gets violent. Okay? I just ask for cooperation and the place near the fire. The war is over. We are on the same side now.


Dimitri started to walk towards the fire, his mind clouded. Disarm, not kill. Too much blood on his hands already.

 

[OdysseyImperfect]

"and... she knows I'm here. Fantastic." Dale thought to himself as he glanced at the young girl who'd thought it would be a wonderful idea to use a burning log as an improvised weapon from behind the chimney of his twelfth abandoned house that day. "Can't quite see who she's talking too, but it looks like they're about to wake up the whole block with their squabbling." he paused as the other man quoted something he'd heard a while back.


"hopefully this may break the tension a bit. Doesn't seem like either of them have a gun, otherwise they'd probably have used it already." He thought as he finally spoke up "Interesting choice of words. Perhaps you'd like to break bread rather than each others skulls? With the way you two are going at it, you could probably wake the dead."

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah continued to stare at the man before he, mostly on the hat. The flame continuing to burn and thrive behind her was growing further upon the improvised weapon and the heat starting to sting at her hands. He grip loosening somewhat from it though not entirely sure or ready to let go of it. She still felt unsure of how the other would or even could prove himself to her. The curses and anger that were spit into the fire earlier seemed to be faintly there but no will to act upon them and take the others life. Although there seemed a bit of a way around.


The soldier issued their own challenge of sorts to Farah. On one hand t sounded like an excuse that Caitruvdeamon used to justify killing people. On one hand it irritated her further but in a different way. It seemed like something she needed to tackle, but there were some other possible things to add to it. Farah started to stand up as Dimitri approached closer. Still holding onto the flaming stick and quickly brining it around to try and aim at the other’s hat as if to try and shoot it off. “Burn the damn hat, and I’ll think about dropping the stick.” She mentioned, stepping a little out of ways from the fire. Burning that cursed hat and symbol, might be the closest to damning and turning against Caitruvdeamon in some way, or another or that’s how Farah felt. Trying to ignore the approaching flame on the stick toward the hand holding it.


Upon hearing another voice in the area, Farah’s grip on the improvised weapon tightened. She tried to face the source of the voice and barely noticed as a brief snicker escaped her mouth. Biting her lower lip after letting that sound slip. She was distracted from the soldier, partially so while doing so.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

She asked him to burn the hat. Burn his precious fur hat, which kept his head somewhat warm for god knows how long. Every piece of warm clothing is valuable now, and leaving even one body part exposed equals death. Dimitri already opened his mouth to object, but the figure in the distance caught his attention. He said something, Dimitri couldn't make out the words, but at least he wasn't pointng the gun on them or anything. That was mildly reassuring.


But the girl's attention was pointed at the other stranger now. Cold, cough, weakness and itch in the lungs were driving Dimitri insane, and girl's stubborn attitude made Dimitri completely furious. That's something that is hard to accomplish. Now is the chance to leave her without a weapon and, сonsequently, more compliant. He rushed towards the girl, aiming his grip for a hand with the log.

 

[OdysseyImperfect]

Dale finally stepped out from behind the chimney and gave a slight wave, his face still mildly obscured by shadows, thinking "Just keep smiling. That's right, we're all friendly here -" just as she yelled at the man to burn his hat. He glanced to the right of his perch and was finally able to see the man, no, the soldier who seemed to be stumbling towards the girl. He backed up a few feet for a running start while slipping his knife out of his sleeve and quickly planning out his next moves "Okay. I tried the peaceful method. Now we jump down there, stop the soldier, befriend the girl, and maybe I can fake the hero role long enough to finish searching this area out before anyone else shows up."

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah was indeed somewhat distracted by the other person. Her focus no longer being entirely upon the soldier that was standing before her. Farah had barely gone half way through a small wave back to the person who was hiding behind the chimney before noticing something rushing at her. Quite rapidly as seen in her peripheral, although her mind had not had the time to figure out what it was nor did she take the moment to fully observe what or who was rushing toward her. Reaction or muscle memory began to kick in for Farah, instead of regular analyzed response. The soldier may have been able to get to a few feet in front of her by this point.


As the blur of motion approached toward her. She quickly started to lean and try to move away from it, possibly walking out of the way from in front of the fire. While with the hand that contained her main weapon, and quite tightly so thrusted out toward the blurr. The speed of this was slower that Farah’s normal focused attacks but a bit faster than the average person’s stab. It was loosely aimed at an upward angle and if it landed contact may have hit anywhere from the lower neck up to the lips.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

He thought he had it. But in a last moment, girl moved out of the Dimitri's way and the only thing Dimitri saw was the log flying in his head.


- Shit.


He managed to turn his face off, but the log still hit him in the neck covered by the scarf. He screamed in pain and stumbled to the side. The hit actually saved him from running straight into the fire, and he managed to keep his balance. The strike with a burning log may put a regular person down, but Dimitri was tougher. He wouldn't survive in this hell without his strength. The excruciating pain was fueling the tempting desire to pull out the army shovel and put an end to this conflict, but Dimitri was holding back. The girl is still pretty close. She still hasn't recovered from the thrust, so Dimitri dashed forward to grab her. Or her stick, at least. It would be easier to tear the log out of her hands directly than to try to knock it away.

 

[OdysseyImperfect]

Dale took a running leap off the edge of the roof and landed a moment later as the snow crunched under his shoes. He turned towards the fighting and gave a slight chuckle just as the girl had smacked the soldier with a burning log. He was surprised the man was still standing after that last hit, but he rushed him anyway thinking "it's possible I may've underestimated her a bit".

 

[Steel Tiger]

As the burning log managed to make contact with the soldier’s scarf and harm the soldier himself. It likely would have caused the scarf itself to start burning although not rapidly perhaps with a small spark or flame growing from where the burning log had made contact the soldier. The fire was still nearby the two and might be seen as practically dancing and flickering around with the fight and fray that was currently going down between the two. The camp like fire may have come off as a bit excited or thrilled with this match, and with its liveliness may have consumed the soldier if he ran right into it. Light snow continued to descend and gently fall down from the darkened skies of the heavens above that held back or hidden the sun away from view.


Farah herself had been caught pretty off guard and surprised at the situation. Her instincts and reaction had saved her from the first charge of the soldier. The soldier screaming soon after in pain from it brought even more surprised to Farah as she had not fully thought through the actions , instead of it being more of a reaction to the rush coming at her previously. This time though, her attention was beginning to shift back into focus and back toward the soldier. Although it may have been quick to notice that the soldier was gunning for her. The surprise, needing time to fix back into focus and a bit of hesitance would mean she would likely be grabbed or grappled by the soldier. Although her weapon, was still held tightly as ever, would be attempted to slash at the soldier’s lower abdomen on the right side. This attempt was even slower than the first reaction, and nor was it her best.


Farah’s attention was no longer on the other person at all by this point. Not even upon the mind, and no idea whether he was still around or had dashed off elsewhere. Her current vision could not see him coming, but only the soldier that was charging at her yet again.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

- Disarm, not kill. Too much blood on my hands.


The only thoughts that were stopping Dimitri from slaying his opponent. He was running towards the girl, waiting for another strike, so he can block it and enforce her to cease her attack. He never wanted this to happen. He just wanted to have a nice place near the campfire, to share his story with a fellow survivor, but... It seems that the old grudge is still not forgotten, and he is the pure embodiment of evil in the eyes of this girl.


This is a bit awkward...


But now is the moment. She tries to hit Dimitri somewhere in his stomach, clearly out of desperation, because her attack was rushed, too slow to be effective. And Dimitri was ready. He caught her wrist and squeezed it, hoping that she will drop her weapon. He readied his other hand to fend off any other resistance from her. She is helpless now. Made sure that he have everything under control, Dimitri said:


- Please, listen now. I didn't want this to happen. I. Am. Not. Your. Enemy. For the sake of our lives, please, stop fighting. Let us just sit there and act like nothing of this happened, okay? And... gah!


Dimitri coughed, nearly losing his grip. He needed that ceasefire, or he will collapse right here.

 

[OdysseyImperfect]

As the soldier appeared to subdue the girl, Dale stepped behind the man just as the soldier began speaking and finally made his move. Grabbing onto the man's scarf, Dale yanked it upward to expose the soldier's throat as he slid the knife's edge near his jugular. A second later the soldier would've felt Dale's warm breath on his ear as he spoke in a mild tone "You're just full of interesting phrases today, aren't you? A soldier who doesn't want to kill? If you really want me to believe that, I'd suggest you let go of our young friend here and give her a few minutes to cool off."


Dale's expression turned into a slight smirk as he thought "Perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone here. As long as she doesn't immediately turn around and stab him we might be able to arrange a temporary truce. However, if she does... I'll probably use him as a meat shield and then run for it. I guess it's all up to her how this goes."

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah’s hand and makeshift weapon were caught at the time. The soldier’s hand squeezed tightly around her own wrist and she bit her lower lip in some pain. Her grip upon her weapon starting to loosen, although she continued to fight and resisted to let go or drop the weapon all together as the solider squeezed in order to disarm her. For the sake of our lives? She nearly wanted to spit at the words if she could. Seeing as, the lives of many were left in ruins, and already destroyed, perhaps barely remnants or fragments being left over to be spilled over into destruction like the curses into the fire. Although, oddly she did not quite persist to attack again, yet anyways. Her gaze looking to the soldier’s scarf and neck.


She had nearly forgotten the other man from earlier. Seeing as Farah was caught up in a bout or small fight of sorts between herself and this solider. It shocked her somewhat to see the other man go up to the soldier like so, without having really noticed him approaching. It seemed the second time already that Farah had been caught off guard by an attack of some sort. A bit of worry glinted in her eyes, not much but a small amount. As she stared at the knife being placed up against the soldier’s throat. Starting to bite further down upon her lower lip. Farah was even a bit unsure, on what to do or whether to keep this up. The feeling didn’t particularly sit well.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

Interesting situation. Dimitri certainly did not expected to have someone threatening him with a knife. It's most likely that the man from before decided to help the girl and sneaked up from behind. Luckily, stranger had at least some sort of conscience and haven't slit Dimitri's throat yet. He can feel how sharp that blade is. One careless move, and a mighty stream of blood will stain the stubborn girl in front of him. For some reason, the image of a shocked girl completely covered in blood weirdly amused Dimitri and sqeezed out the fear of death. He suddenly felt more relaxed.


- Oh you sirenical son of a bitch. If only you was in my place... But alright, okay, I'll let her go, man. We don't want any blood on that snow, right? And look, it seems like she burned herself with that log. That's just sad. I'm releasing her, just put that sharp thing away.


As he was talking, he thought that he is a bad guy in the eyes of that man. After all, he saw Dimitri charging the girl, grabbing her, and so on... He could be accused of a really questionable stuff, so the faster he will get a chance to redeem himself, the better. He let go of the girl's hand and lifted his arms up, mocking the surrender gesture.


- It seems that my life is in your hands now. Quite literally, ha-ha.

 

[OdysseyImperfect]

As the man raised his hands Dale chuckled "Sirenical son of a bitch, eh? That's a new one, points for originality if nothing else. As for the knife, I'll be happy to move it if you just cooperate for a few minutes. I'm sure you're used to following orders by now anyway." Dale said as his attention shifted towards the girl. He gave the girl an expression he'd hoped would say "please go along with it" before stating "If you're okay, I'd suggest you either pat him down for weapons or keep watch for a few minutes while we have a chat." While waiting for a response, his eyes searched the girl 's body trying to discern if she'd been injured and locate any weapons she may've been trying to hide.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah backed up for a minute, looking at the other man holding the knife against the soldier’s throat. She had just been freed or let go by the soldier. Although, she felt unsure exactly how to react to this. It seemed like someone stepped into her fight, she was not entirely too happy about that. It stung a little, not much though. The image of seeing the soldier having a knife to his throat, she was not sure if she was enjoying it or disliking it or why exactly. They deserved to die, to some degree. It was a bit hard to choke down. Although it seemed the soldier was almost right. Farah had not noticed how close the fire was growing to her hand on the log. If any longer, there might have been some considerable pain to worry about. Looking to the man, she oddly and feeling stupidly for doing so tossed it into the fire.


Seeing the expression displayed by the other. She was reluctant, but, decided to go with it. Likely because they had a knife, that could be either useful or harmful and seeing as it wasn’t pointed at her yet and they seemed to be trying to be a hero, there wasn’t particular a good reason to attack them. Although, she still somewhat disliked the scenario. She approached over toward the soldier, and tried patting them down in search of other objects or weapons. It seemed like a simple task to do to a person in concept, pat them down if there was something that felt like a lump or out of place have it checked out right? Was a brief thought given.


Farah, didn’t seem particularly injured, there may have a few scrapes hidden under the coat. As the other man, who was not the soldier looked her over. There may have been a bulge of something cylinder like on the left and lower side under her coat and a likely less noticeable bulge of something like a box on the right. Both were fairly noticeable for someone looking close enough, especially up close.

 

[Shiki Kenju]

Dimitri sighed in relief. Looks like they are not planning to murder him and rape his dead body, as some other survivors wanted. Slowly, but steadily, things started to work out, and soon all three survivors will rest peacefully near the fire. But Dimitri heard that his captors want to search him for a weapon and flinched. A bloodstained army shovel was resting in a case on his back. The case was covering only the blade, so the shovel can be easily pulled off. This sharp tool definitely counts as a weapon, so it would be better to mention it now, so maybe the girl, who was searching him, won't take it out from the case.


- Hey, no need to pat me! I have nothing to hide! The only things I have are a shovel on my back, and compass and flare in my backpack. I doubt that you can kill someone with a fucking compass, seriously. And shovel... um... it's just a shovel, really. The HQ is probably gone, so I'm not following Caitruvdeamonian orders anymore. I'm not a threat, never was, never will be.


Finishing his little speech to the girl, Dimitri addressed to the man with the knife:


- See? I'm cooperating as hard as I can. Maybe now you'll hide your knife and let me explain myself? Or at least put the knife a bit farther, I don't want to cut my throat while coughing.

 

[OdysseyImperfect]

Giving a brief sigh, Dale finally moved the knife away from the soldier's throat and released his scarf. "Okay, things seem to be going well thus far. No one has stabbed anyone." Dale thought as he clicked the knife back into a folded position. After taking a few quick glances to either side of the street to ensure no one else was coming, Dale placed the knife in his pocket and took a seat by the fire. "Okay. I'm listening, soldier." Dale said as he pulled back his hood to show his face to the soldier and the girl.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Farah continued to pat the solider down. From hearing the soldier’s warning or statement, she began to do so in more a rough manner and even tried to double check or double pat, certain areas where there had been a moment of doubt about. Although, it did not seem that she particularly found anything out of the ordinary quite yet. Nothing specifically, yet anyways, although it seems like there was one thing that would needed for confiscation, or perhaps just briefly. The mentioning of a shovel, could be used to knock someone unconscious or maybe stab them in the back, although sounded more like a spade than just a shovel. The flare too, sounded somewhat dangerous in the right hands, but not too much so.


Instead, Farah tried to take the shovel from the soldier. Even if only it was for a moment or so. Her eyes perhaps coming off with a bit of a cold glare to them, with more of a slight irritation rather than outright anger at the moment. Although, this wasn’t particularly aimed just at the soldier himself. Farah, let out a bit of a glare toward the other man as they back off of the solider and decided to go ahead and sit by the fire! Muttering another curse in one of the languages from Migir. She grew somewhat tense and perhaps looked capable for dashing to the fire for another weapon, or trying to clock the soldier at this close range.


The snow continued to fall gently upon the ground. The fire was still going for the moment as well. It appeared as if no one but them at the moment, had been around. The silence around may be a bit, empty as well.