Jump to content
Koumei & the Five Fates: Share Bug Reports and Feedback Here! ×

[Archive] Of Ash And Fire - Original Thread

SirNerdsAlot5

By SirNerdsAlot5,
in Role Playing

 Share

Recommended Posts

Jeahanne

Jeahanne

Posted
Posted (edited)

Alright, it's probably as postable as it's ever going to get. Again, I'm putting it in as a spoiler because of length.

 

I hope everyone enjoys, and feedback is always welcome.

 

The Tenno who was once clad in a red Ash warframe sat in an interrogation room on a cold metal chair that was bolted to the floor, wearing nothing but the thin under suit that normally never showed under his frame and a splint on his newly set broken arm. Although he wasn’t cold, he couldn’t suppress a shiver, feeling more vulnerable than he remembered feeling in his life since before having been awarded his warframe. His seething rage had worn off, and he was left feeling empty as he stared at the wall across from the metal table he sat behind. He knew the wall was one-way glass, and that he was being monitored. Although he couldn’t tell for certain that anyone was watching him at that moment, he still felt eyes on him. It was an unsettling feeling.

 

The moments when everything had gone wrong kept replaying in his mind as he stared unseeing across the room at the one-way wall. Over and over again he saw the Ash who had defeated him with such ease incapacitate the brothers and knock him to the floor, felt his blade at his throat, and most terrifyingly, heard the words he’d told to that Nova. "Any punishment you want any of them to undergo? Death penalty, permanent loss of frame, permanent exile from the Station, everything he owns becoming yours, or anything you can think of. Just say so and it'll happen."

 

The Ash felt his palms get wet and sticky as he sweated nervously, imagining the worst. What if I do lose my frame for good? What if I’m exiled from the Station? What if I’m exiled from the Tenno? What if they kill me… He swallowed, trying to force down his panic. It’s not fair, he thought to himself, She embarrassed me; shamed me. I had to teach her a lesson. If I didn’t I’d’ve lost everything! And now she’s the one deciding what they’ll do to me. That’s just not fair. She’ll kill me! That’s illegal is it…? She can’t kill me! Can she..?

 

He jumped when he heard the door hiss open and an officer clad in a Rhino warframe walked in. The irony of being stared down by someone wearing the very same frame as the accomplices he had used to try to intimidate Acantha was lost on him as he frantically worked to hide his terror with a façade of arrogant superiority.

 

“Are you the one they call Cain?” The officer’s voice rumbled through the room impressively.

 

Cain spoke, his arrogant mask firmly in place, hiding his trepidation, “And if I am?”

 

The Rhino just grunted, before ambling over to the chair on the opposite side of the metal table and sitting down heavily. He dropped a folder onto the table’s surface with an impressive slap. “Normally, this would be where I ask you your side of the story, and you lie to me and tell me some crap about what you did being self-defense or some other equally overused excuse, and we do the normal song and dance I’m sure you’re familiar with, given your file.” He placed his hand down on the file in question, staring pointedly at the Ash through his helmet. “However, things are a bit different this time. You see, not only did you pick on someone from a very well respected clan, who has no record of any violence except for one earlier scuffle with you, you managed to screw up big enough to draw the attention of an Assassin. And not just any assassin either, but the rank 7 member of the Lotus Assassination Corps. Now, any other day I’d be complaining about the amount of paperwork involved in just having a member of that group walk down the hallway of this place, let alone actually having him get in a fight here, but we just hired someone else to handle all of that, and trust me, he’s not any happier than I would be.”

 

“It wasn’t any of his business anyway. How is him intervening my fault?” Cain interrupted.

 

The officer made a noise that could only be categorized as the closest human equivalent to a growl, and leaned forwards over the table threateningly, “You attacked a fellow Tenno in a public area when unprovoked. If it had been just you and her in a private spot this could likely have been written off as a personal dispute and you’d both be walking away with a slap on the wrist. Instead, you recruited two others to attack her in the middle of the Atrium in a way that was obviously premeditated. We have you on camera following her hours before the attack as well as have the entirety of the felony you committed by attacking her on security footage. How is doing something like that and attracting the attention of another Tenno, who was doing the right thing by intervening, not your fault?”

 

“But I was provoked! She attacked me out of nowhere in the training hall!”

 

He laughed, “About that. We have that on tape too, and both you and I know you weren’t provoked there either, and it’s a good thing that situation isn’t what you’re sitting here for. Unlucky for you you’re sitting here for something much worse. But you know, despite your unenviable situation and personality, even scum like you get lucky occasionally. You see, normally any case involving an assassin from the Lotus Corps, the member in question assumes all command automatically. That means, at any other time, your miserable life would have been in his hands, and you’d already be dead.” There was no need to specify who “he” was, and the officer relished the sight of the smug smile dropping off of Cain’s face at his words. “However, he passed the responsibility of your punishment to the girl you attacked, and as his orders supersede the laws, so even if I wanted to change things, I couldn’t. So instead of the normal routine, you’ve already been judged as guilty, and all that’s being waited for is the verdict deciding what will become of your miserable hide.”

 

The officer gathered up his file and walked towards the door, but before he could go through it he was interrupted. “But you can’t! She’ll kill me!” Cain’s mask had broken and his face and voice expressed pure terror, “You can’t let her kill me! It’s against the law!”

 

“Not in this case.” The Rhino stepped forwards through the opening, leaving the former Ash alone to ponder his fate.

 

_________________________________

 

Acantha looked at Kris over the table. He looked tired, although comfortable in his new situation, like doing this kind of thing was what he did every day. He was sorting through a small mountain of paperwork in front of him, looking for something, although she wasn’t sure what. She, on the other hand, was sitting ram-rod straight in her chair, hands folded in her lap, unsure of what would happen now. She couldn’t quite shake the feeling of stress that pervaded her at mind being in a room with Kris with her back to a door, weaponless and without part of her warframe, even though she knew there were few safer places to be as a Tenno than where she was sitting now.

 

“Found it,” Kris finally said, holding a piece of paper with a triumphant air, “Fill this one out, and when you’re done I have more.” he sighed wearily, “The amount of paperwork I have to do because of this incident is insane… I assume someone already came in and asked you about what happened?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Good, good. Then that’s one less thing I have to do. I do have to ask you some basic questions though. It would be faster if we could talk while you filled out those forms.”

 

Before anyone else could say anything more the door behind Acantha opened and Qarin flew in. Completely contrary to Acantha’s mood, he was buzzing with excitement, “This has been very exciting! I never anticipated having this much stimulating activity happen at the Station. Nothing you told me, mistress, led me to expect such events happening here! More so than that, the officers of this place have been quite kind. After asking me questions and taking notes on what I said, they showed me around the place. They have a very impressive armory. It is too bad that most of the weapons are far too large for me to wield...”

 

Despite herself, Acantha smiled. His behavior reminded her of nothing less than a child on his first field trip. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself at least, Qarin. Ah, before I forget. Qarin, meet Kris, and old acquaintance of mine and former clan mate. Kris, meet Qarin. He’s my new partner, I suppose you could say.”

 

“Hello.” Kris looked up at the Djinn curiously.

 

“I am glad to meet you.” The Sentinel hovered near Acantha, staring curiously at the paper in her hand and what covered Kris’s desk like snow. “Why is your data stored in such an archaic format? It seems most inefficient.”

 

Kris sighed, “Ask my superiors. It is inefficient, but it’s how it’s done here. Once hard copies are made, then they get digitized and input into the system. Something about having them in a format that isn’t as vulnerable to data loss, or something like that.”

 

“I see.” His interest in the paperwork lost once he had his answer, he quickly turned back to Acantha.“ Mistress, I am also quite pleased to see you are well. I was distracted by this place, but I did worry you would be badly damaged after what had occurred. Is it correct to assume that you were provided with adequate services and you are repaired now? If not, the one who tended to me would likely do equally well servicing you.”

 

Kris laughed and Acantha did her best to keep a straight face, “’Servicing’..? Qarin, Tenno do not get repaired as your kind do. We can receive treatment, but our bodies heal themselves. Doctors can help that healing occur faster, but it is less simple for us to, as you put it, recover from being damaged, than it is for a Sentinel or other machine.”

 

The Djinn hovered for a moment, seeming to ponder her words. “I am not sure that I understand, but I will research until I do. So you are not recovered?”

 

“No, not yet. Not completely at least, but I can explain more later. I have to complete this paperwork now and talk with Kris.”

 

The time passed quickly as she filled out form after form and explained her side of events to Kris. The process was far more expedient than she had originally expected, and before long her debriefing was nearly over.

 

“That only leaves one last thing. What is to be done to your assaulters?” Kris asked her.

 

Acantha was silent for a long time, staring thoughtfully down at her folded hands. She’d been obsessing over this decision since the incident, and still had no clear idea what she wanted. Her anger nudged her to discipline the Ash, whose name she’d learned was Cain, physically. If not on her own than by sending him to someone who would make him beg for death for what he had done. However, she’d learned from the fiasco with Kris that retribution was not justice, and in the end would only bring more pain, anger, and grudges than it would solve. Taking everything he owned would likely cause all the same feelings as torture, and so wasn’t something she considered either, especially because the punishment held absolutely no appeal to her. Money and items had always meant nothing to her anyway. Killing him was also not an option to her, as it went against every fiber of her being to kill a fellow Tenno, regardless of much an individual might not deserve that title. Stripping him of his warframe was an appealing option, however she failed to see how it would do anything but lead to him feeling even more antagonistic towards her and others who had caused him his loss, and she doubted he’d learn any sort of lesson from it other than that he’d have to resort to even more illegal measures to obtain a new one. Exile was something she had also considered, but felt that it would likely only mean he’d set up the same arrangement he had at the Station, just in another place, which would in the end accomplish nothing.

 

“I don’t know. As to the Rhino’s, they were only following orders, and whatever the law dictates for their punishment would be acceptable to me. As to Cain, though, I cannot kill him, and I dislike the other options I can think of, as they seem unlikely to force any change in him.” Suddenly restless, she got up from her chair and began to pace behind it, worrying at her lip as she thought. “He will not change, not without constant intervention and supervision, and if he doesn’t change he will simply do what he did to me to others later on. If he must be punished, and he must be, it should be something that will be as unpleasant as possible but also be educational. It is a fruitless exercise else wise.”

 

“…if I may make a suggestion mistress…” Acantha looked up at Qarin in surprise, he’d been largely silent since his arrival, and she had forgotten he was there, “I may have an idea that would prove suitable.”

 

Acantha grinned wolfishly when she heard his idea. “That is a great suggestion, but I think I can make it better.”

 

_____________________________________

 

Acantha, Qarin, and Kris walked into the room that Cain was in and looked at him dispassionately. Just moments earlier Acantha had received confirmation that her idea would be supported, and that she had full permission to implement the offending Ash’s punishment, and they were there to deliver her verdict. Both Tenno were fully armed, Acantha’s Carrier having arrived with her weapons some time earlier, and looked imposing. The frameless Tenno swallowed nervously, and was obviously in discomfort. No one in the room spoke for awhile, letting the silence linger on uncomfortably, until Acantha’s voice rang through the small space.

 

She spoke clearly and distinctly, but not loudly. However, in the silence, even that was enough to startle Cain and make him jump in his seat. “I have decided your verdict, Tenno Cain. In accordance with the order of Galen, 7th assassin of the Lotus Assassin Corps, I have thought deeply on the matter of your fate and come to a decision. From this moment forward you will serve out your sentence as a ward of Clan Aequitas. While there, you are revoked of all privileges pertaining to warframes and weapons, including your own and even for the purposes of training, without strict permission from myself, your assigned Probationary Officer, or the Council. Any belongings you currently posses that are not strictly necessary to your survival will be confiscated and held in trust of the Clan, where they will be inaccessible until your sentence is served or permission is granted to you for their use. Furthermore, you will be ranked under any and all existing clan members, and will be subject to all orders and requests made of you by any person who resides within the Clan. If you fail to do anything asked or ordered of you, new punishments will be handed down from those responsible for your care. You will not be allowed to leave the Clan Dojo for any reason without strict permission, nor will you be allowed access to any areas deemed sensitive within the Dojo. During this time you will still be subject to any and all laws or regulations governing said Clan and its members, as well as the Tenno as a whole. Do you have any questions?”

 

Mutely, Cain shook his head.

 

“Good. Oh, and I nearly forgot,” Acantha said calmly, with a dangerous smile on her lips, “You will also be assigned a roommate for the duration of your confinement. Her name is Nova-Quinn. The name of your Probationary Officer is Heus. I wouldn’t suggest forgetting either of them.”

 

Cain’s restraints clicked open and he stood up nervously, rubbing his wrists where the cuffs had chaffed, “So you aren’t going to kill me…?”

 

“No, although you’ll likely wish I had.” She motioned to him to follow before looking at the Vauban next to her, “Take care, Kris. I’m glad to see you doing well. As I promised, if you ever need my support I’ll always be available.”

 

She put a hand on his shoulder, a gesture of support and camaraderie, before striding out of the room followed by her strange train of companions; a self-aware Djinn, a normal Carrier (at least by comparison), and a former Ash who was desperately trying to stay out of her way.

 

“Mistress,” Qarin whispered to her as they made their way out.

 

“Hm?”

 

“It seems it would be unwise to ever be the focus of your wrath. I did not realize that someone being so polite could ever be so terrifying.”

 

Acantha just laughed, the sound echoing off the Station’s walls. “You haven’t seen what Heus and Nova-Quinn are going to do him yet. I’m nothing compared to that.”

Edited by Jeahanne
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aigloblam

Aigloblam

Posted
Posted

Alright, it's probably as postable as it's ever going to get. Again, I'm putting it in as a spoiler because of length.

 

I hope everyone enjoys, and feedback is always welcome.

 

Acantha just laughed, the sound echoing off the Station’s walls. “You haven’t seen what Heus and Nova-Quinn are going to do him yet. I’m nothing compared to that.”

Once again, you amaze me. You somehow just wrote mostly about paperwork, due process, and a (admittedly terrifying) sentence, Yet it was one hell of a good read. How..just....HOW U DO SUCH 'TINGS!?

If this doesn't send Cain mad, its certainly going to give him a brand new cherry-flavored outlook on life.

Kinda want to get my hands on him now....Muahahahaha

Link to comment
Share on other sites
QuinnsWing

QuinnsWing

Posted
Posted

in due time Aigloblam, in due time.

 

ive been trying to convince my friend to join this forum instead of the one he is in which has some one who is insulting his writing and character, very rudely to say the least, but he is acting like its no big deal but the words which flowed from his mouth on a skype call later, well yea. I gave him some advice too, "just kill off your character, leave the forum, block that person, and never go back there again."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NyghttheClassy

NyghttheClassy

Posted
Posted

Fantastic piece Jeahanne.

And Quinn, get him out of that thread and into here - always room for another bonkers warframe writer amongst everyone here, right?

 

 

Also sounds like my Nyght will have more Tenno to run into, after I have him claim his kit from the foundry... ( must get onto that ).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jeahanne

Jeahanne

Posted
Posted (edited)

^-^ thanks guys. You really don't know how much it means to me that you like what I do, especially because I enjoy what you guys write so much and it was this thread that got me writing in the first place.

 

I'll let you all know what's next when I've gone back to sleep and wake up at a more reasonable hour and my logic makes more sense. I just kind of rolled over and read all this, smiled hugely, and thought, "Ok, I need more sleep." xD

 

Plus, typing without my contacts in is hard lol

Edited by Jeahanne
Link to comment
Share on other sites
FatViking

FatViking

Posted
Posted (edited)

Well, since Acantha was so nice to relieve me of some of the work I otherwise would have to do, I can finally write a little bit.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

''Finally, some action!'' Kris thought as he chased after Foundry Master. He was sick of paperwork, sick of filing cabinets and printers and scanners, sick of the smell of ink that was stuck inside his nose. He was the leader of Bravo Unit, not some book keeper. And chasing after the Foundry Master of Aequitas was just the rest he needed from those piles of paper lying on his desk. 

 

The Foundry Master was faster than he looked, as he kept a steady 5 meters ahead of Kris. He didn't mind at all though, as the chase went through the Atrium, through the training room and through the hallways to an area of the Station filled with alleys and dead ends. Kris knew that place well as he had lived in that area for 4 years prior to joining Aequitas. As Quinn ran into the main street of the block, Kris ran into an alley. It would allow him to reach an area Quinn was clearly going to, a minute before him. 

 

Quinn looked back as he reached a quiet area. The Vauban chasing him was no longer behind him and Quinn was sure he had somehow managed to outrun him. ''Damn.'' He thought as he walked a few steps forward while looking back, hoping that the Vauban would come running down the street. He ended up walking into someone, falling flat on his butt. ''Sorry, I wasn't looking...'' He started as he looked at the person he had walked into, only to be pleasantly surprised as he saw the Vauban standing over him.

 

''If you are thinking about running, I would urge you to look around. All the exits are covered with traps and will stop you right in your tracks if you even try to run through them. This is my only warning to you, Quinn. Running is not an option.'' Kris's voice was calm and radiated authority. Same could be said about his stance as he stood over the Foundry Master. Even after all the running Kris didn't seem tired as if this had just been Sunday jog through the park. ''Now, lets have a little chat.''

________________________________________

 

Quinn, you write naow!

Edited by FatViking
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jeahanne

Jeahanne

Posted
Posted

Would Heus be permitted to hit Cain?

You can do whatever you want to with him :3

 

Waiting for Jeahanne. Acantha needs to introduce me to the world :P

 

Plus exams start in 5 days, NO STORY TILL FEBRUARY

Sorry for the wait, I'll be working on that today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...