#background building

“I wonder if he’s okay, now that I’m long gone…”@hiiamsatan

“I know for certain I had friends back then. Ones I missed dearly...I’m sorry, I can’t seem to remember their faces...”

 You never forget the first time you die.  Nea had been confused, cold, skulking through the strangely more dilapidated halls of Crotus Prenn. Had it been this dark when she went in? Where was her backpack, her skateboard? She opened her mouth to call out to her friends, but nothing came out but a harsh gasp. Her hands flew up to her throat, eyes wheeling around. There was something horribly, horribly wrong. There was a scream, shrill and high, and Nea’s heart rate skyrocketed, a cold sweat breaking out against her exposed temple. The clammy hand around her neck was only proceed by an eerie whooshing sound, the cold cutting steel of a surgical saw contrasting with the sudden heat of blood splattering across Nea’s chest as it was slashed open. The scream that bounced off the brick walls was her own, echoing and charged with pain and surprise. There was no time to react as Nea was tossed to the ground, back hitting the hard floor and stealing whatever breath she still had from her chest. Above her stood–no, floated–a ghastly sight: a feminine form in a vintage nurse dress, head covered by a grimy cloth bag, blood both new and old flecked her dress and strangely stained skin. With another unearthly shriek, the figure lunged down, hands clamping with inhuman strength around Nea’s neck.In her defense, she struggled as best she could, hands clawing desperately at her assailant’s arms, but there was a pressure at the base of her skull before a deadly snap–As her last breath left her lips, Nea felt her sightless eyes being almost tenderly shut by frigid fingers.--When they opened again, she was in the woods, beneath a starless sky. The glow of a fire peeked through the foliage from a distance, and a strange whispering pull told her she needed to go to it. The feverish heat of her dying wound was fresh in her mind, but as she stood on shaking legs, Nea found her skin hale and whole, if a bit dirty. Squaring her shoulders, she swallowed down her fear and began her cautious trek to the fire, and unbeknownst to her at the time, the beginning of the rest of her life.

From left to right: Astrid; The culture hound. She owns all the comics and games any 15 year old would dream of! Father works overseas in America with a tech tycoon company, so family is well off. Nea and her became close when Nea defended Astrid from some bullies who made fun of her braces. After that, they were inseparable. She promised to visit Nea in America, though whether she did or not is up to some more backstory I’ll be doing! Wilma: The Cool Girl ™. She originally started following the original trio around because she had a crush on Elias, but after some tense months, she grew close to the whole group, her demeanor softening. Can always be found in the height of fashion, and is the second loudest voice of reason in the group. Elias: The charismatic one. Transferred from a school in Gothenburg to live with his grandparents, he was hot talk around the school for a while, but after being Nea’s assigned partner in science fell into place in her clique and was plenty happy with it. Despite his reputation as only being pretty, he tries hard to be smart and values heart over looks. Is the more knowledgeable one when it comes to worldly natures. Lucas: The big brother archetype. Nea’s oldest childhood friend and neighbor, he is the reasonable if a little mother-hen-minded one of the group. He and Nea used to do everything together so much their respective parents made comments often over coffee that it wouldn’t surprise them if the two got married when they were older. The birthday before Nea moved, he received a skateboard, and promptly saved up all his allowance to buy Nea one too so they could learn together. The trademark beanie she wears was the last birthday gift he sent her before she was taken by the entity. They were a close bunch, very close. It broke her heart to leave Hjo, and although she made new friends, it was hard for her not to see the ghosts of the friends she left behind in them.]]

He recalled landing in a nest of barbed wire with a sickening thud followed by the ragged sound of air leaving his lungs. The rasp of his breath as he fought to stay awake. Despite his best efforts he'd faded into blissful darkness. Now he was awake and the pain came in waves. Sharp, sudden. He gritted his teeth and tried to push through it, but a sound left him. A pathetic whine akin to a wounded dog. He felt a hand at his shoulder and turned his head, though it felt like the effort might shatter his skull. A woman stood by his bed, her face a soft blur in his fogged vision. For just a moment his heart leapt that it may be Lara come to see him until his eyes caught sight of her crisp white uniform. A nurse. Not Lara. "Easy now. You’re one of the lucky ones." “Do you know if…” He had to stop, swallowing down the lump in his throat, trying to steady himself. “Do you know if any letters have come for me?” “None that I know of.” She answered. “It’s not uncommon. Letters can get lost. Some men have been waiting for months for a response, but it’s hard to get messages through.” He clenched his fists, his nails digging into the mattress, his breath ragged as frustration bubbled up inside him. The nurse noticed the shift in his expression, but mistook it for something else. “I know it’s hard, but you should be grateful. You could have been a lot worse off." Grateful. Lucky. The words echoed in his mind like an insult. Turning onto his side Avallac’h didn’t speak again. He simply lay there staring at the wall. After the nurse departed the silence of the room was deafening. And yet it was nothing compared to the silence from the person who meant everything to him. He’d written her so many letters. Each one full of the hope that she’d be there when he came back. That they’d be together. That he could be the man she dreamed of. He’d poured his heart into the ink, telling her of his longing, his fears. But there had been no reply. Not a single word. Not one letter. He had been hoping she would write back. That she would be waiting for him at the end of this madness. No letters. No word. No Lara. When he closed his eyes it wasn’t the hospital he saw. It was the trenches, the mud, the barbed wire. It was the emptiness. The silence. And more than anything it was Lara’s face... gone from his life. He'd been torn from the hell of the trenches and dropped into the hell of this lifeless hospital room instead. Alone with nothing but the empty promise of recovery, he wasn’t sure who he was anymore.

He dropped down in the muck of the trench, his back against the cold earth. For the first time since the war had begun Avallac’h let the tears fall. He didn’t know if they were for the men who had died or for the girl who might have forgotten him. Maybe it didn’t matter anymore. He could feel a part of him dying with every passing moment, buried beneath the weight of the mud, blood and countless bodies.

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March 5th Update Woo! I did it, all of the background city buildings for season 1 are done! This fits into more of an office/admin styled building, I'm also going to use one as the station for the city monorail, I wanted to give it a very simple prefabricated look, similar to the modular pre-fab offices I found online.