#cuz...

“Fly South for Winter” ~Sansan artwork (and drabble) by me

He leaned in closer, and she thought he was going to kiss her in a fleeting hope laced with dread. If he did now, truly admitted and sealed their connection, how could she bear letting him go then? 

His lips instead landed on her forehead with a forceful press and she could no longer hold in her tears. Her eyes closed and twin lines slid down her cheeks. She let out a small, choked sob and grabbed a hold of his jerkin. 

His hands remained at his sides. It seemed he would not touch her even if she longed for his arms around her. Their only connection was his soft lips and rough beard upon her head. There was a long inhale and exhale before he pulled away from her as if he had to wrench himself with all his might. 

There was a whoosh of air as he swung himself away. He was the little bird now, a dark owl in the twilight; a necessary predator in a world full of unwanted ones. She could not look at him go, the pain too great. But she spoke out to him anyway.

"Fly south for the winter, my little bird, but remember the North is home."

"Aye, my lady wolf,” came his reply. With that, he fluttered away as his large form got upon his horse and the hoof beats and twinkle of reigns his farewell song to her. 

After the Blackwater she used to imagine he kissed her. This time, she would imagine he loved her. She would convince herself of that. And that they shared an evening of passions with no regret. That they made love until dawn and whispered and laughed in her warm bed. 

Anastasia Soldan (Deus Ex OC)

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆-strength (average. Her own augs are not meant for high strength, but can lift more as BIRCH.) ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆-offense (see below.) ★★★★★★★★☆☆-defense (What training Tasia has is as a defensive fighter.  Her main goal in any situation is to prevent injury to herself [or comrades], create openings, and disengage as quickly as possible.) ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆-speed (good speed if the attack is something she has prepared for in practice.  Tends to run on instinct in prolonged fights, and may reaction instinctually resulting in twitchy/unpredictable movement.) ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ -durability (w/o armor.  Tasia is quite squishy on her own, can fight through pain, but not for very long.  BIRCH offers more protection [about an 8/10] but isn’t her constant state, so... squishy it is.) ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆-accuracy (not the best. She knows how to hit and the general areas to hit, but [as mentioned before] fights on instinct sometimes and still misses her fair share.) ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆-agility (always trying to prepare for every move can be a disadvantage.  She can get so stuck in her own head that her body can’t keep up and is slow to react.) ★★★★★★★★☆☆-stamina (aka: may do too much cardio, not enough strength training.  Can go for quite a while, even if it’s bad and sloppy work.) ★★★★★★★★☆☆-teamwork (works better with a coordinated plan or someone she knows well.  Tends to put comrades before herself and works to make sure everyone is in the loop so to speak should anything not go according to plan) ★★★★★★★★★☆ -stealth (avoids combat if at all possible and the best way to do that is stealth.  Don’t have to worry about conflict if any opposing parties don’t see you in the first place.) ★★★★★★ ☆☆☆☆ -close combat (prefers close combat if forced to engage.  The quicker they go down, the better.) ★ ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆-bladed weapons (only trained on bladed weapons a small amount, and avoids using them. Lower accuracy results in ineffective blows and her main prerogative is never to maim or kill in the first place.) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆-blunt weapons (prefers blunt weapons because they are less likely to outright kill someone and are less messy/bulky to carry around.) ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆-ranged weapons (would actually prefer to use ranged weapons as they have the greatest degree of separation; however, again, she has fairly bad accuracy and it only gets worse from longer ranges.) ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆-superpowers/abilities (I suppose the electromagnets in her arms count as an ability.  These draw on battery reserves to produce a magnetic charge [allowing her to cling to metal] or a sudden shock of electricity [built in tazer].) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆-traps/setups (not necessarily traps and almost never in a nefarious sense.  More like it goes with teamwork to work out logistics of a surface run [who is going, how are they getting there, what are their objectives, etc.].  Good at planning, rarely comes into practice in combat scenarios.) ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆-medic (knows basic first aid and how to stabilize injured parties for short periods, until they can be taken to more capable facilities.)

Any lasting injuries from combat? Nothing physical, but some encounters for her carry a certain mental toll.  She takes deaths seriously, but even more so the ones she is directly accountable for; she isn’t used to killing either, so taking any life is a source of guilt which manifests as self-destructive behaviors (drinking and intentionally overworking are the two main ones).

Fighting Style? (Bold any that apply.)

commander / duelist /  honorable / dishonorable / would have others do their fighting / stealthy / long-ranged / melee / technological / sorcery / superhuman abilities / has fought in an illegal tourney / a lover of fighting / a hater of fighting / cowardly / reckless / strategic / uses underhanded tricks / renowned for their skill / trained / untrained / keeps skills secret / won a battle / lost a battle / ruthless / merciful

Tagged by: @epistaxisxjensen