Maddison found herself relaxing ever-so-slightly as Cullen agreed with her suggestion, allowing himself to rest on the floor. That was one less thing to worry about, at least. She didn't let her relax too much, though, as there was still the matter of the snake venom to deal with. She wasted no time in opening up the container and producing what she believed to be the antidote.

"Right, this should be it. Here," she spoke, kneeling down to match his level and offering it to him.

Katarina simply smiled and nodded along as he spoke, clearly oblivious to any attempts made on his part to hold back his true feelings. Partly because she wasn't about to go second guessing the person offering her a chance to escape her boredom, but also partly because she didn't even fully understand what he did say (seriously, "exuberant"? Sounded like some made-up nonsense to her). What she knew for sure is that she was getting a chance to learn in the way that suited her best- no reading, no memorization, just pure hands-on experience. It wasn't too surprising, then, that she had almost immediately forgotten what she had been doing there in the first place and seemed genuinely a bit surprised when he suggested that she collect her things before leaving.

"Oh, right! Ahahaha..."

She spent a few moments hurriedly picking up her assorted items, stuffing them hastily into a bag and slinging it over her shoulder before lifting the hefty textbook into her arms and turning back towards him.

"Alright, that should be everything. I'm ready to get moving if you are!"

"Useful like...?" She repeated after him, waiting expectantly for him to finish his sentence while she began taking note of whatever she could identify within the container. It was only after a good few seconds of waiting for an answer that she looked back up at him and took note of his rapidly deteriorating condition. Instantly she was at his side, gently sliding an arm under his in preparation to support him in case he started to fall.

"Hey... hey. Stay with me, alright? At least for a little bit."

She gave his arm a gentle squeeze, monitoring him closely for a reaction before continuing.

"We really should get you sat down. There's no sense in taking the risk of you falling now that we've found what we need."

Maddison visibly tensed up, apparently not particularly amused with Cullen's attempts to keep the mood light. "I do wish you'd take your own life-threatening situation as seriously as I do..." She pushed a few more objects aside before pausing to examine one that looked particularly promising. "Although... I suppose it's comforting to know you're at least well enough to still be making jokes." She gave a small smile, although it was fairly obvious that she had to force it. Taking the container off of the shelf, she turned to hold it out to him.

"What do you think? Is this what we're looking for?"

Two fluffy ears perked up suddenly as a voice sounded out from beside Katarina, and she wasted no time in swivelling around in her seat to meet its owner- or rather, its owner's torso. There was a brief bewildered pause before she craned her neck up in order to make eye contact, staring blankly at his face for a moment before coming to a realization.

This was... er... that guy! She'd never gotten the chance to speak with him face-to-face, but a lot of the students she'd talked to seemed to have some kind of opinion on him. Gods only knew what someone like him was doing coming to her to ask something, but she wasn't about to throw away a perfectly good excuse to go and do anything that wasn't reading through a bunch of books for once.

She hopped energetically to her feet, producing a variety of quiet jingles from her various accessories as she did so and shooting him an excited grin. "Oh, thank the gods. If I had to read through one more page of that thing, I might have lost my mind. Anything to get away from it for a while..."

She trailed off suddenly, catching herself from rambling on for too long and potentially scaring off her newest acquaintance right off the bat. Instead, she glanced down towards his injured arm, giving a small nod before continuing in a quieter tone.

"Uh, right. That is, I'd be happy to help. I'm guessing you're probably looking for someone to help with that arm...?"

Maddison paused her search for a brief moment to hear him out before giving a silent nod and hastily making her way over to the wall that Cullen was pointing at- so hastily, in fact, that she misjudged the distance to the wall in the darkness, bumping into a shelf as she arrived. If Cullen was listening carefully, he might have picked up on some... uncharacteristically colourful language muttered under her breath as she felt around, but soon enough she returned to focused silence.

A small shiver overtook her as Cullen casually brought up the possibility of there being no antidote stocked up, although there was no telling if it was out of concern or simply a result of her unpleasant encounter with the water earlier. She spoke up suddenly, half trying to distract herself from her growing anxiety.

"Please tell me you'll sit down or at least lean on something if you feel like you're going to collapse. It won't do you any good if you fall and hit your head on something before we even get the chance to treat your bite."

Maddison frowned as he pulled away from her and started to search through the shelves, but she ultimately decided against trying to stop him.

"Alright, I'm not going to force you to rest. But if you're not going to, then you can at least let me help look for the medicine. It's the least I can do, and I'd never forgive myself for sitting around doing nothing." With that, she left Cullen to his search as she hurriedly began one of her own, struggling slightly to make out objects and labels as her eyes adjusted to the dark.

Gods, is it really necessary for us to learn all of this? When on earth am I going to use any of it? I bet not even the people who wrote this damn thing can remember any of it...

Katarina's thoughts ran wildly off track as she idly flipped through the pages of the hefty textbook placed in front of her. Magic theory had never been a strong point of hers- she picked up on things much quicker through hands-on experience than she did through reading, and even then, her methods of using magic relied much more heavily on raw intuition than knowledge. She'd spent her fair share of time scanning through books, for certain, but she couldn't get the information to really sink in for the life of her.

Several other Airelos University students went about their business scattered in different locations throughout the study area, many of them forming small groups and discussing the material amongst themselves. It might have done Katarina some good to join up with a group of her own, but for whatever reason, people always seemed to be too exhausted to stick around with her for very long and weren't too keen on approaching her while she was studying.

The cat-eared student made one final effort to understand what exactly she was looking at before suddenly letting out a frustrated sigh and burying her face in her hands, apparently oblivious or uncaring of any odd looks she may have earned by doing so. How was she supposed to make sense of any of this? She'd never even seen that damn symbol in her life! What she wouldn't give for a good distraction right about now...

Given their close proximity to each other and the fact that they were holding hands, it wasn't hard for Maddison to pick up on Cullen relaxing as they entered the basement and she soon found herself following suit, letting go of his hand and taking note of his gesture to sit down.

She moved to take a seat on the stool, only to suddenly stop herself short as she caught a glance of Cullen's illuminated form resting against the wall. This time around, it was her turn to show concern for him as a moment later she was at his side, gently taking hold of his uninjured arm in an attempt to offer him some support.

"Please, Cullen... don't try to act like you're feeling okay if you really aren't. I won't have you suffering needlessly for the sake of easing my worries. If you need to rest or if there's something I can do to help, I want you to tell me, understood?"

Maddison resisted the urge to glance around at the patrolling guards as she followed Cullen silently through the darkness, remaining intensely focused on making her movements as inconspicuous as possible. It was a good thing she did, too, as it was quite possible that she might have run straight into Cullen when he came to an unexpected stop if she'd been paying less attention.

She hesitated for a moment when Cullen gestured for her to take his hand- she could tell her hands were still shaking a bit from earlier and she wasn't particularly keen on letting him in on her nervous energy- but she figured it was better than taking her chances waiting around or stumbling aimlessly down the dark stairs. She took his hand, giving a quick nod before following him down the steps.

Maddison gave Cullen a quick nod of understanding as she listened to him explain the guards' movements. It was reassuring that he seemed to have a thorough understanding of when exactly they would need to act. However, she frowned a bit at his show of concern.

"Yeah. I mean... I should be. It's just... being tossed into the water like that must have taken a lot out of me. I'm not really used to it. Not like that, at least." With that, she finished steadying herself, pushing herself back off of the wall and standing back upright before continuing. "It's nothing to worry about, really. Besides, I'm the one who should be concerned about you. You are injured, after all."

It wasn't too difficult for Maddison to keep up with Cullen as the pair moved stealthily through the weeds. While stealth may not have been her area of expertise, she was a trained soldier at the end of the day and something like this was well within her capabilities. At least, that's how she viewed the situation, but when they stopped in the alleyway she couldn't shake the feeling that something felt off.

She took a moment to glance down at her hands, noticing them faintly trembling despite her efforts to remain collected. Damn. The whole ordeal must have rattled her more than she realized- adrenaline had been doing a lot of work in keeping her moving, especially during the brief scare when she had fallen into the water.

The built up exhaustion from the previous events of the night began to take hold of her, and for a brief moment Maddison had to brace herself against the wall to prevent herself from stumbling over. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths to steady herself before opening them back up and glancing over at Cullen.

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Do you have an idea of when it'll be safe for us to start moving?"

QUICK STATS

Name
Katarina Leclair
AKA "Kat", or "Kitty" if you're feeling particularly mean.

Age
18

Gender
Female

Species
Some sorta fae!

Height
4'8"

Occupation
Student at Airelos University

Residence
Darken Vei

IN-DEPTH STUFF

Physical Description

It doesn't take too much for one to guess at Katarina's strong fae-blooded origins. She's a small and compact girl sporting a head of bright pink hair accompanied by vibrant turquoise eyes. For whatever reason, she also has a pair of big and fluffy catlike ears (touch at your own risk!) as well as a matching tail, both features having fur colour matching that of her hair. As far as clothing is concerned, she has an affinity for black and other darker coloured clothes that contrast with and complement the lighter colours of her body. She can also typically be found wearing a few small bells, chimes, bracelets, and other assorted accessories that make subtle jingling noises as she moves about.

Personality

Katarina is a highly expressive and passionate person who isn't at all afraid to let her true feelings be known on any particular matter. Her emotions run deep and it's not at all difficult to discern how she might be feeling at any given moment. Fits of laughter, tears, and enraged ranting are not uncommon sights, and a lucky (or unlucky?) observer might get the chance to witness them all within the span of a day. If there's any emotion she doesn't seem to be particularly prone to, it would probably be fear- she is quick to step up to a challenge in defence of herself or someone she cares about. This makes her a fairly obvious target for someone looking to pick a fight, verbal or otherwise.

Relationships with Katarina tend to fluctuate quite a bit depending on recent encounters and what mood she happens to be in at the time. It is easy for her to get upset over a hurtful comment or action (intentional or otherwise) and she can hold feelings of resentment for a long time if she feels that the offence was severe enough. That said, she does place a lot of value on whatever relationships she's managed to build and is usually willing to talk it out and patch things up. As much as she might hate to admit fault in an argument at times, she'd much rather do so than ruin a friendship that she cares deeply about. At the end of the day, the feeling she hates most of all is loneliness.

Magic/Abilities

Katarina is exceptionally talented (although not particularly disciplined) at performing healing magic. She has a natural gift for it, although it has proven rather difficult to improve upon it through conventional learning. Instead, the strength of her healing abilities tends to fluctuate along with her emotions. A more intense emotional state results in her magic being amplified, although it doesn't seem to matter which emotion it is as long as she's feeling something. Katarina's magic has enough raw strength to mend serious wounds, but the process is typically direct, forceful, and unfortunately quite painful.

Other stuff!

- She is severely allergic to iron, to the point where simply being in the vicinity of it can be uncomfortable for her. Direct contact with it causes burns and wounds caused by it can result in her falling seriously ill.

- She's absolutely vicious in a fight and can be surprisingly difficult to keep down in spite of her small stature.

- She has a strong appreciation for music and other sounds she finds pleasing to the ear, finding them to be a calming presence among her frequent storms of emotion.

Relationships

? ? ? ? ?

History

WIP

THREAD TRACKER

Current Threads
Complete Threads

Perhaps Taltiu should have felt a bit more disturbed by the whole situation- the circumstances were strange enough on their own, but the way Morgan spoke about them made it seem like this sort of this was supposed to be more or less expected. But for whatever reason, she just didn't feel all that strange about the whole thing. Whether that was because she was used to dealing with undead or because of something else entirely, she wasn't sure.

"No, I'm afraid not. And it's not just me, either- pretty much everyone I've spoken to about this area seemed sure that there wasn't much out here to see. Mostly just ruined buildings and barren wastelands. The common belief seems to be that this place is basically impossible to live in. I mean, I guess 'live' might not be the right word, but you know what I mean. The only reason I bothered coming out this far was because of rumours going around concerning... well, beings like you and me, I guess."

Maddison blinked, taken a bit aback by Cullen's decision. She could understand working together temporarily in order to get away from Tonell, but it was another thing entirely for him to refuse to use the stone for her sake. Then again, she wasn't particularly eager to try to completely fend for herself in a situation like this, so she gave him a quick nod and once again began to follow behind him.

"Hey, thanks for deciding not to leave me behind. To be honest, I didn't have much of a plan for... well, things going the way they did," she spoke up after a few moments. "I want you to let me know if you start feeling worse, though. It won't do either of us any good if you collapse on the way instead of just using the stone."

She stood her ground, but fumbled a bit trying to find the right words.

"Well... yes? I mean, not precisely. Look, it's not important right now. What matters is that the stone should work for you as long as I stand back like this. If you're going to use it, you should do it now- I doubt your 'friends' back there are going to wait too long for you to make your choice."

"A teleporting stone?"

Maddison went a bit wide-eyed as Cullen explained what he had in mind for an escape plan. She supposed it was possible that such an artifact existed, although she wasn't well-versed enough in magic to be sure. What she was sure of was that even if such a thing existed, it definitely wasn't going to work on her.

She considered bringing this up a couple times as she followed close behind him, but the snake's interference interrupted her each time. The first strike was little more than an inconvenience, but it took all of the discipline she had to stop herself from crying out when Cullen yanked her away from the snake's second attack. She moved quickly to catch up with him after he fought off the snake, gently taking his arm and looking over it to assess the damage.

Concern crept across her face as she examined the bite marks. All things considered, it wasn't the worst injury she'd ever witnessed, but it had the potential to get a lot worse if nothing was done about it. Letting out a small sigh of her own, Maddison shot a quick glance over her shoulder to check for their pursuers before turning back to Cullen and letting go of his arm, taking a few steps back to put some distance between them.

"Listen- you should get those bite wounds care of as soon as possible. I don't know how severe a bite from that kind of snake usually is, but it's a bad idea to leave something like that untreated for too long regardless. You should use the stone to get yourself somewhere safe. As for me, I'm... well, the stone isn't going to work on me, so I can't come with you. You'll have to go without me."

Maddison was willing enough to shuffle aside and allow Cullen to take the lead for a bit- he knew the way they needed to row more than she did, and it would do her good to take a small break after the frightening experience of thrashing around in the water just a few minutes earlier. She didn't allow herself to relax too much, though, and she made sure to point out any rocks she caught sight of along the way.

She seemed reluctant to step off the boat and into the water when they arrived at the shallow waters, but was quick to take Cullen's hand when he offered it and joined him in stepping off of the boat. It didn't take much convincing for her to keep up with him, considering she was quite eager to both get out of the water and put some distance between them and Tonell.

"What are we looking for, exactly? You said you had some sort of stash around here?"

Axia seemed mesmerized as she rotated the stone around in her hand, the soft glow from her eyes illuminating the orb in such a way that it would briefly appear strikingly similar in colour to her eyes.

"Hmm... well, maybe it shouldn't be too surprising that nothing happened. Not everything down here is gonna be some sort of trap- especially with that moss dragon guarding the entrance. I don't think too many people would make it down here in the first place, so it makes sense for stuff to be a bit less guarded. My guess is that there's a more specific way to activate this thing, or maybe it's just one part of a larger whole, or..."

Her voice began to trail off as she noticed something slowly crawling into view from the corner of her eye, before letting out a small gasp and stumbling away from the moss men once she got a better look at them. She clutched the stone close to her chest with one hand, using her other hand to point towards one of the mossy creatures and fire a scorching beam of light from her finger.

Maddison just sat there for a brief moment after he collided with her, apparently stunned by the impact of the rock against the boat, or Cullen falling on top of her, or both. It wasn't long, though, before she snapped out of it and attempted to move out from underneath him, clearly no longer in a joking mood as she glanced over her shoulder with a look of concern.

"Shoot, I'm sorry about that. We're not taking on too much water, are we? I... really would rather not swim the rest of the way if we can help it."