Nanarie...love gained...
Nanarie wasn't always the icy glared, hate consume Knight she is today. Many seasons and one unfortunate event brought her to where she is, to who she is.
As a girl Nanarie was taught the manners and social graces of a proper lady. Her mother was of great stature, determined to have her only daughter marry a great man. A Tier'Dal of money and great power. A man who could give Nanarie a life any young woman would envy. She refused to let Nanarie follow any profession, other than that of a wife and mother. Her constant bantering of what a woman should and shouldn't do, grew tiresome and irritating to say the very least.
"Now, ussta child, dos should naut do such things." " A woman never does anything, but what her husband wishes of her." "A woman who lifts a sword, is not a lady." During these days, Nanarie took what her mother said as truth.
She hadn't known her father. He was never spoke of in their house and she only asked of him once.
"Dos need naut worry about such things. He is naut here and that is just how it is." It was all Nanarie knew and she was unaware that it should be any other way.
Throughout her years as a child she had a constant friend, by the name of Vladdik. One friend held constant from the time she was but a small, fragile little girl. She remembered the first time she ever saw Vladdik. Her mother was among friends, they were the gossipping sort. The type to point fingers at others misfortunes or even to those they disliked and whisper among themselves. They were about the city exchanging heard stories of others when they fell deathly silent as two women dressed in very expensive and well detailed robes each holding the small hands of a boy, maybe a few years older than herself, as the passed through the Commons. The young boy cast a long glance upon the little girl as he passed her by. She had seen him again the next day, alone, so she approached him. They talked for hours, learning of the others life and parents. Vladdiks mother was a Necromancer and his father, an officer of the Indigo Brotherhood. Just a few days after they met, Nanarie learned that he had been taken into the House of Dead, that day they met, and cared for after his mother's demise. There he began to work on his craft, following his mother. Since the day they met they formed a friendship, a strong bond that made them inseparable. Much to her mother's dislike.
They caused mischief about the city, Nanarie's mother receiving endless complaints from others. Everyday Nanarie heard the bantering of a disapproving mother. But that held no restraint on the havoc they reeked.
Her mother's attempts to mold Nanarie to a proper lady ended one eve, when her mother decided to leave.The night she left Nanarie was standing at her window, Vladdik sitting below the window sill just outside, recalling the mischief they caused just a few hours earlier. She and Vladdik listened and watched as her mom quietly slipped from their home, bearing a hooded cloak and a bag. They remained in silence, unaware at that moment what was happening. Nanarie was in her teen years, when her mom left. A few days past she had overheard women about the city engaged in gossip and that was when she learned her mother had conceived a child with a man Nanarie had only met once. She understood shortly after, that her mother left her and their home together for a man and possibly another life, having become the very woman she would gossip about. At times, she would miss the bickering they shared and the nagging her mother loved to do when Nanarie failed in doing what a lady should. There were many times Nanarie felt abandoned and all alone. She adjusted to the sudden change in their household and reveled in her new found freedom.
Years passed and she grew to be a well bred young woman of fine social graces, fitting only that of a Tier'Dal woman. Her bond with Vladdik grew deeper as the days came and left. He succeeded in completing his craft becoming a skilled Necromancer. The relationship became more than a simple friendship. Their bond grew strong and unbreakable. They decided to get each other a ring for the day they would marry. They went about having their rings fashioned of midnight gold, elegantly and intricately designed. A true masterpiece and the very symbols of their love. The night the rings were to be finished, they were to elope.
One early morn, Vladdik snuck into her room and gazed upon her sleeping figure. She rolled over to her other side, moaning slightly in the comforts of her dream just as Vladdik slipped a small scroll, secured with a black ribbon, into her hand. He was gone before the light touch could awaken her. Feeling a presence, Nanarie awoke, looking about her room. She smiled to herself for she knew who she felt and turned to lay her head upon her pillow when she saw the faint light from outside cast upon a rolled up piece of parchment. She quickly ran to the window, scroll in hand, and stuck her head out the window, hoping to catch her visitor. Minutes passed and she tore her searching eyes away and returned to the calm of her room, shutting the window with one hand, as she held the scroll to her breast with the other. Her body slid to the cold floor while she carefully untied the ribbon and unrolled the parchment and it read:
My Beloved,
They have been finished. If dos shall still have me, meet me at the Ultricle this eve. I will be there waiting for dos, and we shall be wed.
Aluve my Love,
VladdikShe smiled as she folded the parchment and tucked it under her pillow, and lay back in bed. Her heart delighted that the night would soon be upon them.
That night finally, yet slowly arrived. She pulled her favorite gown, of the deepest blue trimmed in silver, from her trunk and slipped it on. She pulled her ebony hooded cloak from the wall it hung on and fastened it about shoulders. She left the house and pulled the hood over her head, it was a cold night so she wrapped the cloak tightly about her slender body. She made her way as fast as she could through the city and into the dark forest of Nektulus, to the Ultricle, determined and anxious. Her destination finally met, Vladdik was nowhere in sight. It was eerily quiet, more so than usual. The dead always seemed to roam around the ultricle but tonight, at least at this moment, it was bare. She glanced about and her eyes fell upon the ground a few paces in front of where she stood. Her eyes wide and her lips parted in horror. She collapsed to the ground, her face only revealed shock and dismay. She crawled to where scraps of a very intricately designed robe lay scattered about bones. His minion.... His robes... but where was he? She looked a bit further only to discover blood and the smell of death. She wept uncontrollably. She lost him, the very night they were to be wed, she lost him. Rage, scorn, anger and Hate enveloped Nanarie from that moment on.
Months passed and Nanarie's eyes had slowly turned from the crystal white they once had been to a deep dark shade of red.
There was a young man about her age, by the name of Vitorio. He had been the son of a family friend for as long as she could remember. At one period in their life he was more than just her friend. He later became her confidant when her and Vladdik fell in love and planned to elope, and her only friend when he passed. He had always been protective of her and cared deeply, far deeper than he should have. But he wasn't Vladdik. The bond wasn't the same. He had offered her his heart after the passing of Vladdik. But after many times of her refusing, he was more determined to protect her and befriend her. He never pushed her to love him, he only hoped. He tried to pick up her broken pieces many times but she only turned a cold shoulder on him. She had become cold hearted and uncaring to everyone around her. She hated to be touched, she hated to be cared for and more than anything... she refused to care for another. He watched her emotional downfall when she told him what had happened. He was a mage of Innoruuk himself, but it pained him to see her go from the lady she was to the fighter she soon would become. She began training in the arts of a Shadow Knight and Vitorio watched her as she became dark and sinister. She became a avid follower of Innoruuk, slowly slipping into the Dark Lord's favor. Hatred was all she knew, all she accepted, all she gave.
Seasons passed and she became a skilled Knight. She took a break from her usual chaotic hunting ritual and decided to visit her trainers. Most of them knew her story and it remained gossip since she refused to marry Vitorio. They seemed to know everything about her. She hadn't cared what people said about her and her choices she let them talk and make their own assumptions, they just reminded her of her mother. She made her way to Third Gate, stopping by various merchants, selling her newly looted good for as much coin as she could get out of those stingy bastards, then continued to the front gates of Shadow Knight guildhall. As she made her way down the ramp and approached the front steps, she almost bumped into a almost too familiar face in expensive robes. She still looked at him intently, knowing his face, but refusing to believe it. She removed her helmet hoping to get a better look at him without the burden of her armor to hinder her view. She thought that if he was who he resembled he would recognize her, no doubt. He stared at her for a second and went about his way. She kept her eyes on him as his figure disappeared beyond the front gate. She continued to walk backward almost tripping over the stairs. She turned and pushed the door open then walked to her trainer, Nezzka Tolax.
"Ahh, young Nanarie, how have dosst hunts been?" "What does dos wish to excell in this day?" Nanarie kept looking behind her at every possible entrance to the room she was in.
"Young Knight, what troubles dos?" Her eyes returned to Nezzka and they had but a slight spark of depth to them.
"Who was that young man that just left here?" "Ahh that young man is the Apokolipz, he was a successful rebirth, knightess." "Rebirth? Who was he before?" Nezzka stopped at the realization of why she was asking. Nanarie seeing the look in his eyes inquired again.
"Who was he?"Nezzka tried to avoid her inquiry once again,
"So, what is it dos wish to learn today? More training in Archery? Alteration? Conjuration? Or perhaps a new language? What haven't dos learned yet?" Nanarie's eyes gleamed a bright blood red, raging like an angry sea of blood. Her anger emanating through her eyes.
"Usstan play nau games! Tell me, Nezzka, who was that young man before his rebirth? That is what usstan wish to learn!" Nezzka sighed and grabbed Nanarie by the arm. She thrust her arm from his grasp and he simply beckoned her to follow. They slipped into a tiny vacant room up the stairs.
"Dos may wish to sit..." "Usstan am fine. Out with it!" His voice turned low and he took in a deep breath. She knew who he was gonna say that man used to be.
"That, M'Lady, is ... or rather..was Vladdik. He has no recollections of his past so do naut even waste dosst time. He knows naut who dos are, or that dos shared a past." Ignoring his last comment she took a few deep breaths, her chest heaving in anger.
Why was Usstan naut informed about his rebirth? Why did DOS naut tell usst? Dos knew of our past...of ussta pain. Yet, dos fail to tell usst? In her rage she hadn't realized the loudness in her voice. She had no control at this point and took her fist to the table, breaking it into pieces, then in another swift move of her arm she slammed it into the stone wall. Tiny pieces of rubble fell to the floor , her fist stung for a min but she enjoyed it.
"If he lives....and that truly is him... Usstan shall find him." She turned back to her trainer and her eyes glared at him with pure hatred then she turned and walked out.
She made it out of third gate and through the commons, to the foreign quarter and then the forest of Nektulos she leaned against the wall looking out to the forest and removed the glove from her swollen hand. She could feel the flesh tear off her knuckles as the glove came off. She smiled in a pleased sort of way, pain usually affected her that way. She brought her fist to her lips and licked the blood from her knuckles. She called on a minion and commanded him to hold her glove and helm. He took it obediently and she took out a bandage and wrapped her fist. Her smile turned to a grin, a grin so evil that her minion stepped back a bit.
"They wish usst to stay away, ussta pet, but Usstan do naut think usstan will." She held her fist as she stared into the dark forest.
"We have quite a search ahead of us. Let us naut delay."