Fortune favours the brave but fate has the upper hand
Athart. The city on edge of a jungle, embraced by the lapping of the ocean, with stone moulded into specific shapes by the will of those who could reach them. City of controversy, hate, pride and secrecy. Certainly not the nicest place to be especially if you were an unfortunate, enslaved human, yet it never failed to lure travellers into its streets, trapped within the walls. Alaion, an Eidisi scholar, did not fall prey to the enticement, however. At least not that of the city.
His undoing was also an undoing of an Avriel woman who never thought she’d find herself in a position with two half-breed children whom she loved and hated at the same time. Isdya saw them as mistakes of a few careless nights. Yet, she carried them inside her for so long that not forming a bond was almost impossible. The dilemma of adoration and damnation was then undoing for all of them.
Adrienna, from the first trial considered an abomination with her life on the line of death and survival, was born on 98th Vhalar in secrecy in her mother’s cave in the lower parts of the Forest of Stone. Following close behind, her twin brother was brought into the very same world.
Her childhood was that which no child should be exposed to on such a constant basis. There was little love from her mother who kept on hiding them and insisting they not be seen by anyone. If she were to be noticed, consequences could be fatal to all of them, her mother said. Adrienna rarely saw her father. She was left only with her brother Nikolaas. He was her one true companion and she loved him more than anyone else. From an early age, Adrienna understood her position at least in their relationship if the outside world baffled her. She was to protect him. He was to keep her sane. Yet, fate has decided the course of their lives before either could do as much as consider their possibilities.
Nearing ten arcs, Adrienna felt alienated from her mother. It was just a woman who gave them food, looked at them with strange disdain, controlled their lives. She wanted to be free from her mother’s obsessive nature, her insistence that they shan't ever venture outside alas they’d be discovered and hell would break loose. The constant threat of danger over her head was suffocation even at that young age. So with a scoff and quiet steps, Adrienna stole her way outside. The breeze brushed against her skin as she stood on the landing, the rising moon her only source of light. The Forest of Stone looked magical at that time. Adrienna wanted to take off and explore. But unlike her mother, she could not see the wind patterns that would safely carry her. Up until that point, she only fly-played with her brother around the cave. There was only one time when their mother took, too hesitantly for anyone to enjoy, to practice flying. It did not end so well.
Now, stood there on the edge, the idea of sailing on the winds thrilled her as much as it frightened her. Quietly she spread out her wings, trembling with anticipation. She would have tried then to conquer the chasm below and would have most likely died in the attempt to do so, if it wasn’t for an older Avriel child flying by, noticing the oddity that was Adrienna.
From then on, news spread like wildfire in a jungle. It burnt everything - their somewhat secure lives, the remnants of their mother’s love for them, Adrienna’s childhood dreams and illusions. In a matter of few breaks, or even less, other Avriel children would fly to their landing, utter demeaning remarks, throw stones when either of the siblings would dare to show their face. Their attackers cared not for their real names. They collectively called Adrienna and Nikolaas shameborn as stones flew through the air, causing bruises and tears. Adult flight-bourne citizens were roused from their sleep and in rush of great rage flew to the cave to purge the impurity. It was then that the young girl was faced with extremely direct animosity aimed at herself and her brother. In the young mind, it solidified the seed of normalcy of it all. It wasn't just her mother who had that trait. Everyone must have been the same. For some reason, even though they should be respected like anyone else, their lives mattered not to those around them. She sponged that hatred as if it were her own because no one cared to explain it differently to her. Rage blossomed inside her chest like the most beautiful of roses. She would turn its thorns towards any oppressors, or even those perceived as such, whenever they would arrive.
However, there was no chance they were to stay in their mother’s place who was teetering on the edges of punishment for her transgression of sharing a bed with a lesser being. With an unprecedented speed, the woman that gave them birth began making arrangements to move the children out of her quarters. Perhaps, she cared after all but neither of the siblings would know because their mother did not have the time to share that with them.
The last drop in the overflowing chalice was shed when a few children became braver than usual and landed inside the abode in their mother's presence. A nasty quarrel ensued, name calling became heated, their collective actions soon turned almost fatal. One of the children brought out a stone and from close distance cast it at the siblings. Adrienna dodged but from the corner of her eye, she saw the rock hitting her brother just above his eyebrow. Immediately blood was flowing. Enraged, she launched herself at the aggressor. It was her first taste of uncontrolled fury that felt as if she could take on all of them. The feeling of strength was the first powerful image that overtook her ever since her birth. She knew no calm, only the red rage of hatred that consumed her and was about to consume those she directed it.
Needless to say, injuries were suffered by both Adrienna and each of the children that stood against her. It was a vicious fight and its consequence was conclusive. They needed to flee or they'd face certain death. There could be no more delays.
The flight from the cave was painful. It was the only home Adrienna has known even if it was full of difficult and somewhat unhappy memories. She knew little of the outside world which appeared too vast now and more frightening than the fight. As they landed in the Harbor Sector where their father was renting a place to stay, Adrienna realised she was never going to make it back to the Forest of Stone. Without Avriel eyes, she would be risking a treacherous journey to a place where nothing but scorn, malice and pain awaited her. She could make her peace with that in time.
The following arcs living with her father were...difficult to say the least. She did not belong in the lower parts of Athart. She could feel eyes on her all the time, the judgements silently passed when she walked down the street, knowing she was not meant to be there. That she was not meant to even exist. She only did what she saw other do. Putting on a mask of carelessness and assumed dominance, Adrienna began to consider others cowards. If one could not pick a bone with her directly, then one should keep their eyes glued to the ground and move on.
Their father wasn’t much of a pillar to lean on either. Focused on his research, the siblings were to care for themselves with only a few nels drip fed to them on occasion by their father. It did not help that their father left few arcs later, either having satisfied the needs of his research or wanting to get away from the responsibilities and sideway looks he was continuously receiving. Either way, he did not extend an invitation to his children to join him on his journey back to Viden. From one day to another, they became homeless and orphans because to Adrienna, both of her parents just died and lost importance to her.
Since then, treated like freaks, Adrienna took on odd jobs here and there, ran errands for questionable individuals who could afford to lose her if caught. She was rubbed by conceitedness on every turn of her life, gradually growing accustomed to it, ingraining it in her own self as a defence mechanism.
It wasn’t until the adolescence began settling in that she had to leave the city. She was quicker to choose violence over her Eidisi inherited intelligence. She became a danger not only to those around her about who she could not give rats' ass. Mainly, she was worried for her brother who she could not bear to hurt. Sometimes he vexed her and she could not gauge when it would be that she'd snap at him. She left under the cover of night, avoided by others, almost unseen. Almost... As she slipped outside of the city, she heard a way too familiar voice not that far off. She remembered the shock, surprise and relief. As much as she wanted to protect her brother, she was torn inside for leaving him behind. But then, he stood there, curious about what was happening, why was she heading out. So the two left Athart to deal with their adolescence together. Immortals guide them so they would not rip each other's throat out.
Unlike other Avriel spawns, Adrienna was not curious about the outside world, however. It held no meaning to her because as far as she could tell, wherever she would go, people would treat her the same way. In fact, when she was in the jungle that surrounded Athart, she felt the most at peace. There was no one judging her every step or action she made. Nature was a quiet companion that fulfilled her feral needs just fine. There, she hunted, survived but lived free. In the jungle, she could at last fly however she liked, wherever she liked even if it meant getting bruised in the process, she was getting better at noticing wind patterns.
Perhaps, she got too comfortable with her new hermit lifestyle. Perhaps, she let her guard down a little too much. Whatever the reason, she failed and fate has decided her future for her once again. Adrienna and her brother fell into a trap set by humans. From there on, Adrienna was to discover the true, twisted potential of the genes that her parents left her with.
Their imprisonment was not a swift affair. Chained and bound for trials, she did not know where Nikolaas was and if he was still alive. Her captors who cleverly hid their faces spoke a language she only heard in the Harbor sector. It was the common tongue and from what she gathered when they spoke, an execution was not on the top of their list. She was starved and dehydrated, ridiculed and tortured. Her keepers went as far as grounding her.
The pain was inexplicable. It was as if burning metal was shoved into her back and twisted over and over again. The agony consumed her body, mind and soul. These wretched beings were taking away her wings. They were a symbol of her supposed belonging. A symbol of her superiority even if she was a half-breed. They were hers and not theirs to take them! They protected her from the stones thrown at her so often, from predators in the forest that did prove too strong for her to kill so she took to flight. Now, she was to lose them.
Adrienna could hardly tell whether she was awake for the whole procedure or passed out on occasion. But when she was awake, she was lost in the red mist of animosity so strong that as she writhed within her bounds, blood trickled down her forearms. The moment that they threw them on the ground in front of her, feathers bloodied, the joint ghastly sticking into the air, they cauterised her wound, knocking her out for good.
Next time she woke up, water was trickling somewhere near and as she struggled to open her eyes, she heard his cries. With a jolt to stand up, she collapsed back down hanging on the arms of the men who handled her. Who knew how long she's been out for, breaks or trials, but her back was incredibly sore. Only the breeze of the day cooling the burn marks on her half naked body. But in the moments before pain obscured her vision, she saw enough. These monsters were drowning her brother, taunting him with safety to they push his head back into the stream. She felt it again. Back when they were children, she allowed fury to take hold of her. With her mind thrown into chaos, thanks to her Avriel genes, it was no surprise she allowed it to happen again. Anger gave her strength to withstand the pain as adrenaline flushed through her body. Growls and twitches should have been a warning sign to the fools before Adrienna went into a proper battle cry. Jerking her hands in her binds, she reopened the wounds, her blood the liquid to set her free.
To this day, she remembers little of what transpired. When she gained consciousness again, she could not even move from the shore of the riverbank, her eyes set on the dead, nearly dismembered bodies of their captors. Niko was at her side. He was alive and that's what mattered. She tried to give him a confident smile, reassure him as she so often would. But she could only stare into his dreamy eyes. What she did felt right and she'd find the rest to follow the same fate.
Adrienna’s path has been forged over the arcs to go a certain way. With a conceited mother and father a snob, neither of the two saw anything more important than themselves, Adrienna had to create her own sense of importance. After the kidnapping, torture and forced grounding, her mind settled into methods she was already adopting. Everyone was an enemy. No one was to be trusted.
After recovering from the assault, Adrienna returned to Athart only once. It was to gather supplies and leave the damned place behind before she’d give in to the need to level it to the ground. She then travelled from Athart to Nashaki to live there for a while with her brother and make a living. With her tendencies to get physical more often than not, Adrienna knew her calling laid with mercenaries or related professions. And so she devoted herself to that as much as she did to her revenge. There rested her fate. A future where Adrienna could do whatever she wanted, where she would come out on top by any means necessary. It was to be a life of dominance where inciting fear in others was to keep her safe.
Perhaps if her high intelligence and determination were directed in the right way, it would not end with her tricking her brother into leaving for Etzos without her.
![[Approved by Golem]](.//images/icons/cs_ok.png "[Approved by Golem]"){kind=icon}
