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6th of January, 1884 - Novandria

Fallen through the cracks

by Maelie Arsenault

The freezing wind howled by her as she sat in the middle of Ten Tower Bridge, far above the carriage traffic and further from the cold dark waters of the Ardan. To her left, the bright lights of the Noble Island glimmered. To her right, the stratified wards it ruled stretched north to south, rich to poor. And here she sat in the middle, unsure of where she belonged. Lately, it felt like nowhere.
 
When she’d fallen off that carriage it was as if she’d fallen through the cracks in the cobblestones and straight out of the world. Without a proper place, she’d had to keep her feet moving to stay afloat. Not a problem when she lived with Kallie and Mika, always on the move, always looking for another heist and adventure.
 
Now her feet were planted. A wife, a mother. A friend, a business partner. An adventurer, a crime boss. She wanted to use everything she had to be the best at all these things. To do good for the sake of the people she cared about. For the responsibility she felt to fix what so many of her blood had broken in the only ways she knew how.
 
But… stopping meant letting her past catch up with the bundle of emotions that clashed with people close to her. She felt as if, by virtue of luck and privilege, she was unworthy of anything good. The imperative was both to do good in the world and get out of the way of those who had it harder. Those who were desperate.
 
“But I know none of you understand what you will do to live when the options are awful.”
 
‘I do know. I’d do nothing and die.’
 
When she’d fallen from the carriage and been bleeding out onto the stones… her immediate thought had been ‘good, it’s over.’ She’d never had the chance to be desperate, never had options as a child. Her life had been trapped on rails and she’d suffered through it. She’d skipped over desperation into the bleak, grey-scale world of despair.
 
And now… it felt like it was back. Her eyes looked at the city from her perch in black and white. Plenty to navigate by, but she felt herself having difficulty distinguishing a reason to bother. So, she sat in the middle of the bridge between all the worlds people found places in and suffered the cold wind.

Continue reading...

  1. The Last Rule
    November 27th, 1882, - Novandria
  2. The Den
  3. Am I losing?
  4. A Close Call
  5. Plans
  6. New Toys
  7. Mistakes were made
  8. Too close to home
  9. Not like you.
  10. This City is Mine.
    February 6th, 1883
  11. Aimless?
    March 5, 1883 - Novandria
  12. The Game Begins
    February 13th, 1883
  13. Too much like You
    March 13, 1883
  14. Safer in Shadows
    April 3, 1883
  15. New Beginnings
    April 7th, 1883
  16. Ready to Run
    April 17th, 1883
  17. Home
    April 25, 1883
  18. Can you steal a heart?
    May 8th, 1883
  19. Trouble
    11th of May, 1883
  20. Heartbreak
    14th of May, 1883
  21. Hunter or Prey?
    16th of May, 1883
  22. Guilt
    19th of May, 1883
  23. Untrustworthy
    21st of May, 1883
  24. Why am I like this?
    25th of May, 1883
  25. Worthy
    8th of June, 1883
  26. The One She Left Behind
    13th June, 1883
  27. Annnd it's back...
    July 1st, 1883
  28. Learning to Fly
    July 4th, 1883
  29. Thrill of the Hunt
    July 29th, 1883
  30. From the Embers
    21st of August, 1883 // 1867
  31. Mother Knows Best
    16th of September, 1883
  32. A Snake, a Star, and a Fox
    25th of September, 1883, Novandria
  33. It wasn't him.
    28th of September, 1883, Novandria
  34. The New Blade
    13th of September, 1883
  35. Something Good
    October 31, 1883 - Novandria
  36. The wound that won't close
    18th of December, 1883 - Novandria
  37. Promise
    25th of December, 1883 - Novandria
  38. Fallen through the cracks
    6th of January, 1884 - Novandria
  39. Day to Night
    7th of January, 1884
  40. What's Left to the Shadows
    22nd of January, 1884, Novandria
  41. The World without Colour
    18th of February, 1884, Bellancourt, Montaigne,
  42. Seventeen Roofs
    26th of February, Novandria, Eisen
  43. Crossing the Board
    4th of March, 1884, Novandria, Eisen
  44. New Freedom
    May 4th, 1884
  45. Saved
    5th of May, 1884/16th of July, 1858

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by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.042 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 01:17, Nov 15 2024