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The result of another magical battle, the Lake of Atlantis used to be the site of a town. However, it was caught in the crossfire and sank. All its people drowned. However, it has been long enough that all of the corpses are decomposed (though magic may have played a role in that). Out of all of the sites of former battles, this is by far the most pleasant.

Roleplay!

Kat sat by the edge of the Lake of Atlantis, plucking absently at a strand of grass. She wondered what it must have been like, drowning here; in the end, your body nothing more than a faded memory. She shuddered at the thought, memories from her mother and father's hanging flashing before her eyes. Kat clutched her hands to her head in pain and began rocking back and forth. "Go away, please go away..."

Vespasia de Luce, as the woman known as Allannah Brannon had chosen to be called, walked towards the lake. She had gotten scratched on her arm by a sword earlier in the day. While it wasn't remotely life-threatening, she wanted to cleanse it. Besides, some of her old scars seemed to be aching in sympathy, and she hoped that would go away if she cleaned it. She was almost at the edge of the lake by the time she noticed Kat's presence. The other female seemed to be in some sort of great pain, so she rushed over to her. "Everything alright?" It was a stupid question, she knew. After all, she was here because the answer was a clear "No".

The sound of another human voice broke Kat (at least temporarily) out of her trance-like state. She turned suddenly, staring suspiciously at the woman now in front of her. A somewhat manic grin broke out onto Kat's face and she rose slowly to her feet. "Duchess Alannah Fionnlagh Brannon." Kat's voice was thick with an accent that didn't currently exist, and she gave an over-exaggerated bow. She rose quickly and began pacing the area around her, keeping her eyes on her feet.
"Aged 18, height estimated to be five-foot-eleven, weight circum 165 pounds," Kat's voice rose in intensity and speed. "Black hair, blue eyes, birthday the nineteenth of June!" Kat looked gleefully up at Ves, eyes glittering with excitement. "You're supposed to be dead."

Ves frowned at the use of the name she had left behind five years in the past. She could not claim that she particularly appreciated the use. After all, that was a name that would get them to try to execute her (again). She tugged at the collar that hid the scars from the noose and gulped. "Clearly the world has drastically underestimated my lifespan," she quipped. For now, she decided not to attach the name "Vespasia de Luce" to her old name. Not even the most trusted among the criminals she worked with knew, and she was not about to entrust that piece of information to a total stranger. "I don't believe I know who you are."

Kat's smile widened at the former duchess's attempt at a joke. "Katherine Avelina Primeveire. Awful, isn't it?" Kat didn't wait for a response, continuing with, "People call me Kat. Rawr," she said, miming a cat scratch. "Well, they would if they talked to me much." Kat dropped her voice to a loud whisper, "I'm kind of insane." Her body vibrated with silent giggling.

Ves arched an eyebrow and detached the mask part of her outfit from one side of her hood. She made sure that her wounds from the noose were covered both from force of habit and from simply not wanting to show it to the other girl. "It's a nice name," Ves said simply, "but Kat fits you better." She stood still for a second, evaluating her options. She was very calculating when it came to people -- too worried she would be betrayed that she had become cold and a little paranoid. She wanted to say something that would keep Kat neutral to her until she decided what she wanted to do with her in the future. "And I'm kind of a living ghost."

Kat's eyes widened and her face resumed seriousness. She pulled out a folded piece of parchment from her shirtfront pocket, gingerly unfolding it and smoothing it out on the leg of her trousers. She pulled a quill pen from behind her ear and, after giving Ves a quick onceover, began making scratches on the paper.

"Careful," Ves said, her eyes slightly wide. She was worried that someone might see. "I'm on the king's guards' kill-on-sight list without their knowing who I really am." She grimaced. She could definitely understand why people would think the other girl insane. A moment later, she decided to watch Kat draw whatever she was drawing.

Kat stopped after a moment, raising an eyebrow. "I appear to have forgotten my ink." She frowned at the paper she was holding, cocking her head to one side. She shrugged and placed the paper back on her trouser leg. "I suppose it's better this way. Wouldn't want anyone else finding this." Kat was talking mostly to herself by this point, having forgotten the other girl was there, continued scratching at the paper with her inkless quill.

Ves nodded. She was highly relieved even if she tried to hide the fact. While it was flattering, she was still nervous about the idea of a portrait for obvious reasons. She sat down next to Kat. "Quite right," she decided to say moments before the words left her lips. "So, you know a lot about me and I still only really know your name and the fact people say you're insane." She focused her blue eyes on the water and then walked over to the edge to clean her wounds while she waited for and listened to Kat's response.

Kat looked up from her drawing suddenly, realizing that the former duchess was speaking to her. "People don't usually talk to me for this long," she said. Kat lowered her voice, averting her eyes and picking at another blade of grass. "Maybe they just think my madness is contagious...and if they stay too long, they'll catch it."

The woman known as Vespasia de Luce snorted. Not bothering to sugar-coat anything, she said, "Or you creep them out." She emphasized them as if to point out that she was still standing right there. Ves finished rinsing her wound. The blood only gave a slightly pink tinge to the surrounding waters. She had been right. Her wounds did feel a bit better after, particularly the ones that had ached in sympathy.

Kat smiled again, looking up at Ves. "I like my way better. But, then again, anything's better than the people who pity me," Kat started back on her drawing. "Freak, psycho, nutcase, weirdo, creep, basket case - all that I can handle." Kat finished her sketch, and held it up in front of her face. "But I'd rather die than allow myself to be pitied. "

Ves watched her drawing, slightly nervous. She was worried that it would recognizably be her even without the ink, and if it were, she could not let it remain. Ves stared at Kat, her expression level. To some, it would seem she were reading them or looking into their souls. While useful at court, people hiring the likes of her were not the type that liked the effect. "Then show them you're not one to be pitied," she told Kat. Her tone was level and her stare even. She herself could be pitied for her past -- her scars could prove the point -- but no one would pity someone who did the things she did.

Kat saw how Ves looked at the paper, so she did the only thing she felt would work. She crumpled it up and ate it. A moment later, when the parchment was finished, Kat spoke. "Less likely to be found or traced back. Plus, anything they do find, they'll have to dig through a pile of my sh[tuff] for." Kat flopped onto her back and blew her hair out of her eyes. "See? I try. But when people find out why I'm eating paper, why I act the way I do, for whatever reason, I go from the resident nutcase to the f[rea]king princess of the realm." Kat shot up straight. "Do you know that one girl, Kat?" she asked, her voice changing to a higher pitch. "Yeah. She's the crazy one, ain't she?" Kat answered, voice deeper. "Yeah. Well, I heard she watched her parents' hanging when she was only seven." Her voice was higher again. Kat's expression turned into one of shock. Deep voice now - "Aw, poor kid!" Then, high voice, "I know."

Kat clamped her hands over her ears and drew her knees to her chest. With eyes clenched tight, she began whimpering - and she hated it. Whimpering was for the weak - and Kat wasn't weak; yet whimper she did "God, please stop. Just stop. Please."

((Use any cursewords you wish to in this group, Gabbu. =) I allow it. I will post later after I sleep))

((I enjoy my creative censorship))

((Okay))

Ves's shoulders sagged from relief. She was glad that no one would be able to see her image. She was just a smidgen safer that way. However, when Kat began to imitate the other people she was forced to deal with, Ves just crossed her arms. In an entirely level tone, she asked, "Want me to get rid of the main culprits?" It wasn't necessarily meant to be a serious suggestion, but it was something within her powers to do. After all, she did thieving, assassinating, body-guard type jobs now in order to sustain herself. "I'm not going to pity you. You've just seen the hanging of your parents. I was on the noose with mine." She then saw Kat collapse in front of her eyes. Acknowledging that this was generally odd behavior from a member of the human species, she knelt down next to the other girl and put her hand on her shoulder. "Hello?"

Kat began to rock slowly, back and forth and back and forth. "I should've listened. Why didn't I listen? Stupid, stupid, stupid..." A pounding in Kat's temple grew steadily, adding to the images and sounds already buzzing around in her head.

Ves bit her lip as she looked at Kat. Never having seen someone behave in such a way, she had no clue how to act. Instead of doing anything else, she just stood there awkwardly. Finally, after it continued for what she thought was far too long, she tried tapping Kat's shoulder again.

Kat tensed at the other woman's touch. She turned slowly to face Ves. Her eyes were tinged pink.
She sniffled and did her best to straighten her now quite ruffled hair. "I'm in one helluva state," she smirked, blinking away any remaining tears. Her voice was soft, but the raw emotion was definitely there. "My apologies. Let's restart this whole ordeal. I'm Kat." Kat held out her hand for Ves to shake.

Ves snorted and quirked an eyebrow at Kat. "One helluva state may be putting in lightly." She sighed and rolled her eyes. She thought the whole re-introduction thing to be more than a tad silly, really. It was just a formality that was not really about to do anything. Still, a little worried about what would happen if she didn't, she said, "I'm --" She stopped short. Should she say her real name or the name that she would rather go by. "Ves," she decided to say. It was not her real name but neither was it her whole false one.

"Ves..." Kat muttered, trying the name out. "Ves. Ves. Vesvesvesvesves." Kat scrunched up her face in distaste. "I don't like it. I don't like a lot of things, though. Cheese, for example." The mere thought of the substance sent a shiver up Kat's spine, making her look quite possessed.

"It's what I'm called, so you're going to have to deal with it," Ves retorted, raising an eyebrow. Such a small facial gesture was hidden by a combination of her mask and her hood. She was not sure what to do about the other woman's reaction to such a little thing like cheese. It made her wonder how many things could set her off like that.

"Ves," Kat repeated, not knowing what else to say. She looked out to the lake, admiring the view. "It's pretty for a massive cemetery, don't you think? Must've taken effort to drown this place."

"I wouldn't honor it by calling it a cemetery or a burial ground or a graveyard," Ves told Kat in a cool, even tone. She sounded unmoved by the atrocities that had happened. "I reckon calling it a disgusting waste of humanity is more accurate. " It was part of why she could justify her work. Maybe the person she was killing hadn't done something like this, but in their own ways, they had done their own crimes. It wasn't right, but it was something to keep her conscience and morals from destroying her.

Kat grinned at Ves's remark. She was starting to warm up a bit to the masked mercenary. Pessimism was something Kat enjoyed very much, and the other girl seemed to have it in abundance. "You know what they say," Kat began, "the name's in the eye of the beholder."

((I'm not sure vigilante is the right term. More like mercenary))

((Yes ma'am
))

"Strangely, I have never heard that said," Ves quipped with a shrug. She wasn't sure what to think of Kat. Kat was clearly a bit off, but she seemed nice enough. She had a feeling that Kat wouldn't be quite as friendly if she knew she was talking someone who would kill and steal and protect the wicked for the sake of money. Sure, she hated the king, but she, his niece, was not morally white either.

Kat cocked her head to one side. "Probably because I made it up. I do that sometimes. Actually, most of the time." Kat grabbed a nearby rock and tried skipping it across the water. It plopped into the lake, not bouncing once. Kat swore under her breath. "Waste of a perfectly good rock."

Ves, raising her eyebrows, which still were in the shadows cast by her hood, picked a stone up from the ground. With ease born by years of her line of work, she skipped the stone across the water. She smirked at Kat. "What a waste of my effort," she quipped.

Kat stuck her tongue out rather childishly. "No one likes a show-off. Bastard." She took a deep breath and blew her hair out of her eyes, letting her head loll back. Kat was definitely warming up; she couldn't recall having gotten on so well with anyone aside from Andrew prior to today, and she frankly found it a bit disturbing.

"You mean to insult my parents who live beyond the grave?" Ves inquired, an eyebrow raised. She had learned plenty of insults in her four years as a mercenary, and such insults failed to bother her. She would have produced more corpses had she cared. No, what she wanted was to see Kat flounder and squirm. That would be interesting. Maybe it wasn't right for her to tease the mental girl, but neither was killing a sane person.

Kat averted her eyes to her hand, which she was flexing at odd angles. "Someone's a bit...touchy," she said, making eye contact with Ves. Kat was sent into another one of her giggle fits, though she was tantalizingly close to losing it again.

Ves shrugged and averted her eyes from Kat's almost instantly. It wasn't guilt that she felt. It was more of discomfort. Sure, she did sometimes steal from the rich, give to the poor. That wasn't enough though. If she were being honest, it was some thing to ease her conscience and no act of philanthropy or nobility. Sure, she could struggle to justify her actions and make herself believe it. But still, Vespasia de Luce knew that a lot of what she did was wrong. "Touchy or literal, take your pick," she chose to say.

{Here was another}

((i'm half listening to my cousin and half doing this so i'm sorry if my replies are shorter and/or lazier than usual. also, gabbu has grown comfortable with using whatever curse words she wants in her writing.))

Kat's giggles died down. She twisted her face into an obviously over-exaggerated frown. "Why the long face? You're in such good company."

((Kay))

"That is an oddly disturbing sentence," Ves added with a deep frown, "considering the fact it is unlikely anyone remotely respectable would consider either of us to be remotely decent company." She sighed heavily and readjusted her hood. She sat back down on a rock almost gingerly.

"You won't be jack shit with an attitude like that," Kat said. "Besides," she continued, scratching at her head, "none of the 'remotely respectable' people are all that fun to be around." Kat poked Ves playfully in the stomach. Her eyes widened afterwards, as if her own action had surprised her.

"Thank you. I have had enough experience with the jack shit side of it and the respectable side too," Ves said, somewhere between bitter and melodramatic. She frowned and readjusted her position. She sighed inwardly before slowly removing the gauntlets on her wrists. She shook them out before replacing them. She didn't like removing her armor. No armor meant weakness. Armor meant she could pretend there was none.

Kat nodded empathetically at Ves, though her experience was more of the jack shit variety than respectable. Then, eyes still wide (more out of questioning at this point), she looked Ves over again. "You're pretty dressed up to be sitting in front of a 'disgusting waste of humanity.'" Kat commented, the last part said in a rough imitation of Ves's voice when she'd said the same thing earlier.

"And underdressed for most things impractical," Ves quipped, referring to court gowns and ball gowns and all those ridiculous things that sister of hers loved. Her voice echoed her strong distaste for the matters. Ves had more experience in those than she would want in a million years (though she did not want any, so that point was rather moot).

Kat gave a curt nod, replying with, "Of course. Sitting in front of a disgusting waste of humanity chatting with an eccentric stranger is pretty practical, after all." She shifted her weight so she was leaning back on her hands and wiggled her toes. The constant movement changing was something Kat mostly did to keep her mind off of other things, though it did add to the nutty personality she'd so carefully constructed.

Ves quirked a dark eyebrow, and action hidden by her hood. "Perhaps not, but cleansing wounds is useful." The water from the lake soaked her sleeve around where she had dipped the wound earlier. She didn't move her arm to delineate her point, however. Instead she just gave a sigh as if to say, All these struggles. There was a splash a few feet off in the water, and she curled her lips. There was another splash, and she drew her sword and stabbed at the water. She lifted it up to see a frog impaled on it. "Now I don't have to look for dinner."

Kat made a sound low in her throat, almost like a growl. She hated seeing dead things, hated what they brought up. She squeezed her eyes shut and dug her nails into the ground. "That's fucking disgusting." She kept clawing at the ground to push away the gruesome images that immediately rose to her mind.

"Not everyone had palace kitchens to run off to when they're hungry," Ves explained with a shrugs. "I'll have to start a fire tonight." She frowned. This was a really bad idea. The guards were likely to be after her, and she had just told someone who worked at the palace exactly how to find her. She tried to keep her expression neutral, and the mask covered any traces of a less-than-neutral expression.

Although Kat couldn't see the expression on Ves's face, she realized she was being given a lot of information from someone she barely knew. "Oh, don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." She gave an over-exaggerated wink. "With all the shit I've made up, they wouldn't believe me even if I did say something."