The Dead of Winter

[Runi Verin]

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The frozen earth dare not complain,
for fear the dead of winter come 'round again.​

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[SIZE=9pt][member="Máni"]

Now that the howling winds had finally abated, the only sound for miles around was the soft crunch of snow beneath the woman’s boots. The decidedly arctic chill that had accompanied them down from the mountains still lingered in the air, however, threatening to leach the very memory of warmth from the bones of the unwary. Like its people, Midvinter was proving to be true to its homophone.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]A grimace caressed her windswept features, ruddy in the face of the icy sting, the customary curse that would have ordinarily accompanied such an action stifled for once. It was simply too cold for that. The early snow that had settled in the last storm had made traversing the valley an all but impossible endeavour for even the hardiest of travellers. And while impossible was a word that had been left out of the lexicon of Runi Verin, the plummeting temperatures and increasingly steep snow drifts was making her seriously lend thought towards making the addition.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Blood and ashes, it was colder than a tauntaun’s left testicle. The climate controlled atmosphere of shipbound living must have made her soft. A sore fact each laborious step taken across the frigid landscape only seemed to further underline. Next time she would throw caution to the wind and chance parking her vessel a little closer. The landing site may have been a little dubious, but it was preferable to freezing her shebs off in the middle of nowhere. On what could very well turn out to be a wild mynock chase, no less.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Her perseverance, battered and frozen as it may have been, was rewarded when she finally surmounted the peak of the snow drift, the glistening spires of the Valkyri stronghold looming before her. Framed by a plume of winding black smoke that could only belong to her intended destination. A fact the active sensor link her HUD provided confirmed; the sirenic call of the distress beacon superimposed as a blood red blip. Far from the Warden of the Sky she might have once aspired to be, she still couldn’t simply ignore such a call, regardless of the elements. It just was not done.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]With luck she would find survivors huddled around the beacon like moths to a flame, but as she neared the broken remains of the gatehouse, she knew in the pit of her stomach that it was a wild hope to entertain with any fervour. The faint echoes of death whispered through the force here, painting a pretty grim picture of what lay beyond those crumbling walls.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Yet she had come too far to be simply turned away at the first sign of trouble. Even if the crew of the downed supply vessel had been killed on impact, there might very well be something worth salvaging out of this mess. Gripping the hilt of her beskad, a recent yet valued addition to her modest arsenal, the Mandalorian ducked into the shadows to greet what lay beyond. [/SIZE]

 

[Vakarian]

[member="Runi Verin"]

The trek from Reykjaa to the mountains had been fairly eventful for the Valkyri warrior. He had originally set off into the icy wildneress to find his ancestral home, a home that had been lost ages ago to the Vinterbound. There had long been rumors of an ancient Stronghold in the mountains that had once served as the home of the Shield-Arm clan. A Stronghold that had to be abandoned under the rising numbers of the Vinterbound on Midvinter. His parents had plans to go and look for the Stronghold before the Vinterbound had attacked the villages across Midvinter, and subsequently their deaths.

There had been many eventful occurrences since their deaths, and many adventures that he had undertaken since. He had witnessed the devastation of the Vinterbound, met Warscream and listened to his fanatical rantings on what the Valkyri people should be, met the daughter of Eodred Stormguard, and the granddaughter of the king. In so short a time, he had come to meet a great many important people; people that would be responsible for Midvinter's future. He had truly been blessed by the Gods since his birth. A testament to which his parents always believed.

That was why he was in these mountains, why he risked the wrath of the elements and the cruelty of the Vinterbound; for his parents. They deserved to see their legacy ensured, that their bloodline would never fade. If he had any say in the outcome of his journey, they would see their legacy alive and remembered. His family Stronghold was historic in the defense of the Northwestern villages, and if rumors were to hold any basis of fact, the Stronghold would be overrun with the Vinterbound. They were the cause of his families demise, it was only fitting that they be the reason that they are remembered.

His icy gaze had fallen on the ancestral home of his family and had seen the smoke rising from the courtyard. He opened his mind to the Gods and called upon their senses to aid him in exploring his surroundings. As he walked, he could feel the growing darkness in his mind, there very presence of the Vinterbound and he could feel the terror of living beings within the Stronghold itself. His pace quickened and his heart began to race at the spike of adrenaline that was surging through his veins. He was a born native to the cold climate, and thus it didn't hinder him much. His actions were faster, his gait more fluid, than an outsider.

It was as he got closer to the Stronghold that he picked up another lifeform, one that did not exude terror or fear of any sort. He sensed determination and a set confidence. He gaze flicked in the direction of the emotions, and he cast his mind forward into the area around him; searching to see if what he felt was an intelligent life form. It had to be to have such strong emotions, right? Was there another Valkyr on the mountain?

 

[Runi Verin]

[member="Máni"]

A heavy blanket of silence awaited the Mandalorian, a seemingly dead stillness that did little to dissuade the foreboding feeling forming between her shoulder blades. Like an itch she couldn’t scratch. With many of the stronghold’s vaulted windows collapsed, damaged in some bygone battle generations past, very little light made it past the broken remains of the entrance. The low-light filter of her helmet phased in subtly as she progressed, casting the surroundings in a faint greenish hue, revealing more signs of combat and the decay of time. But no survivors, nor sign of their passing.

Before she could continue her sweep, Runi’s step faltered as another presence reached out in the force, momentarily catching her off guard by the eerie sensation generated by a foreign mind skirting the edges of her own. Her presence waivered a little, flickering dangerously as she fought the automatic urge to lash out against the unexpected intrusion, forcing herself to still into a neutral opaqueness when she detected no malice or ill intent. Just an earnest, straight forward curiosity and an eager desire to help. Whoever they were, they made a stark contrast to the dark miasma that stained the stronghold, appearing as distant beacon of light.

After a moment or two of warring with herself, she allowed a faint pulse to echo through the force. A silent acknowledgement of their presence coupled with a fleeting impression of her current location and destination. If they were friendly, then she would welcome their help in tracking down the survivors. She had a feeling she would certainly need it. And if they weren’t…

Her gloved hand reflexively shifted around the hilt of her beskad, letting the darkened blade taste an inch of the frosty, frigid air. An act of reassurance; one that steadied her resolve as she pressed further into the crumbling ruins, trying to ignore the fragmented memories of her last few ventures into a seemingly abandoned, isolated installation such as this. To make matters worse, the aforementioned beacon of light wasn’t the only unexpected presence she was detecting. Like the phantom pains she felt in her severed arm, elusive specters lurked on the edge of her awareness, flickering and fading like the morning mist, evading her attempts to discern where or what they were. The only tangible evidence of their passing was the sense of dead, icy cold bleakness that was left in their wake.

 

[Vakarian]

[member="Runi Verin"]

The young Valkyr had half expected to not receive a response from the being that echoed of the gifts of the Gods (his cultural representative of the Force). It was when the shock of the response hit his own mind that he withdrew and shielded his mind. It was a natural reaction to the unexpected, though he certainly should have expected an intelligent response from the being that was out there, after all he had probed the being for a response in the first place. In the fraction of a second that it took for him to shield his mind, he again opened himself to the outward expanse of his senses.

It was during that time that he felt the inner battle in the woman that was some distance ahead of him, having passed into the outer gate of the stronghold itself. His pace quickened and he traversed the snow-packed landscape with the ease of one who had been born into it. It didn't take him long to reach the figure that had sent a response through the Force, and he paused some distance away from her in the event that she had not detected just how quickly and close he had come upon her. As he paused he was well aware of the growing darkness building on the edges of his mind, as though it were a hungry fog searching for a way through a glass window - to no avail. The presence of the Vinterbound was potent in the stronghold, and they were a large host to bear such a prominence in his mind.

"I would not venture into this fortress alone, my Lady." his voice, while softer and more elegant than that of his more masculine kin, still retained the natural boom that all Valkyr held in their tones. His icy gaze fell upon her, but remained hidden from the thick furs that he wore. His dark furs were thick with snow and ice, a testament to his journey from Reykjaa to where he was now.

Even at such a close distance, Máni could not place her species. She was clearly not Valkyri, nor was she a familiar outsider that had been with the SSC when they came to help fend off the Vinterbound and offer aid to the people. She was a unique being, one that was quite far from civilization, out in the middle of the mountains alone and wandering. There was something in his senses that told him she was more than able to take care of herself, but even so, he would not leave an outsider at the mercy of the Vinterbound.

 

[Runi Verin]

[member="Máni"]

The full length of her blade flashed dimly in the waning light, pulled free from the warmth of its sheath at the sound of feet fast approaching. The beacon of light she had sensed earlier might have been free from the taint that permeated the walls in which she now stood, but that didn’t necessarily make them a friend of hers. The brightest light cast the darkest shadow, after all. She flipped the weapon easily over in her hand, shifting to hold the blade parallel with her forearm in a reverse grip. With the beskad almost concealed by the line of her body, she waited as the presence drew closer, affecting an air of nonchalance in her stance that belied the anticipation that was slipping into her muscles.

It seemed she did not need to wait long. Less than a dozen heartbeats later, a giant of a figure loomed through the doors, causing her to reflexively take a step back as they drew close. Kark, the Mandalorian knew the Valkyri were a tall and hardy breed, but this one had to have nearly a full meter on her. Probably a hundred or so pounds, too, if she had to wager. Hardly a new development on either front, and while she had long since come to terms with her relatively short and diminutive stature as a simple fact of life, she still wouldn’t want to tangle with the man given the choice. Even his voice radiated with a soft, yet unrealised strength.

My Lady? A brow quirked beneath the visor. Runi Verin had been called many things over the years, a few even skirting the edges of complimentary, but ‘Lady’ definitely was a new one. She didn’t know if to be flattered or irritated. Given that the latter was an almost default emotion for the woman, pulling off both wasn’t completely out of the question either. The leather overlay of her glove crunched in the frost-filled air, fingers tightening around the hilt of her beskad before she relented. There was no darkness or malice in the man before her; something she couldn’t say the same about their surroundings.

“Then it is fortunate that I’m no longer alone, ‘lek?” The woman tilted her head upwards as she spoke, the combination of the chill and her helmet’s vox lending a hard, metallic quality to her voice. A hint of challenge in the tone itself. Even surrounded by this much writhing darkness, she couldn’t help but take some degree of offence behind his words. As if she couldn’t handle herself. “I take it you received the distress signal as well? I don’t know how long it was running for, but judging from that smoke it’s gotta be at least a few hours since she went down.”

She turned her back on him as she spoke, yet with her helmet’s HUD tracking his every movement, he was never far from her field of view. It was still a little disorientating getting used to the three hundred and sixty degree vision the device yielded, yet in this instance she was willing to accept a little case of nausea every time she turned her head. At least she always had someone watching her back she could trust; herself. “I tried raising them on the comms, but… I figure they might have made for shelter in these ruins. Old stone like this tends to play havoc with signals.”

 

[Vakarian]

[member="Runi Verin"]

The taller of the two beings titled his head slightly as her voice rolled across his hearing, a slight femininity heavily overshadowed by the metallic nature of her helmet comms. It was certainly a first to see any but the Valkyr brave enough to withstand the cold of the mountains and the threat of the Vinterbound; though it occurred to him that the other figure had no knowledge of the Vinterbound. Her questions reached his ears, and a heavy internal laugh echoed through his chest and shined in his eyes. She was strong in her own right, she had a warriors stance and though she tried to exude a sense of nonchalance, she echoed of latent and dormant power. The Valkyri boy had a feeling that she could certainly hold her own in a fight - and that was good; they would need both of their strength to overcome the force that was certainly awaiting them within the fortress. If she had not yet detected them, it would only be a matter of time, they would have certainly detected the two of them. They were drawn to the living as Sith were drawn to the promise of power.

He drew back his hood to reveal his features to the woman, both to show that he meant no harm and to be able to better judge her reactions to him. He offered a soft smile as the individual hairs of his black furs swayed in the cold mountain breeze. "[color=1eb4aa]It is very fortunate that you are not alone, as much as it is my fortune that I am not alone.[/COLOR]" he paused and carefully examined his surroundings, noticing an ever so slight shift in his Gods sense. After a few moments of silence and watching, he was satisfied that the Vinterbound had not yet discovered their existence so close to the fortress.

His eyebrows rose when she mentioned the distress signal and he immediately shook his head, "[color=1eb4aa]No, I am not here because of the signal. It is true that I saw the smoke from a distance, but I was searching for this place.[/COLOR]" he motioned in the general entirety of the fortress itself, "[color=1eb4aa]This fortress once belonged to my family many ages ago. They were driven out by an unnatural force that shares the planet with my people.[/COLOR]"

A softness came to rest on his features when she spoke of survivors and immediately he knew, without a doubt, that there were no survivors from the crash. If the crash hadn't killed them, then the Vinterbound within the fortress certainly had. They were a merciless species, they did not know pain nor did they fear death. They were unfeeling, driven by only the primal desire to kill and eradicate the living. They have been the enemy of the Valkyri for as long as their written history and likely even before then.

"[color=1eb4aa]I do not believe it is the stone that has stopped them from answering your calls. There is a darkness here, heavy and thick with malice, and it most assuredly is the very creatures that I hunt.[/COLOR]" he spoke to her plainly, she was a warrior, she would not run from this. There was no trace of fear in his voice, only a set determination to find and destroy his prey. He was a Valkyri, it was his duty and his privilege to eradicate the beasts that had been responsible for so much pain; both personal and cultural.