howling ghosts [thoth]

Horus

Horus

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Thoth"

Walking through the market was always such an interesting experience.

On one hand, Pasha needed to eat and keep his house clean and do laundry like your everyday average joe. He may have been Winter, but he liked to keep hygienic and organized just as much as everyone else. He also didn't want to become that rail-thin, willowy image of Winter that everyone seemed to have; he had to keep that muscle mass up somehow.

On the other hand... He was six foot nine inches, towering over everybody else and looking as happy as a bear in a circus as he went about his chores.

Pasha was making his way towards the center of town where most of the essentials of the island were sold or bartered. He needed to go by the grocery store, perhaps the tailor's because he needed yet another shirt fitted... Ah, plenty to do, and he'd put the 'closed' sign up front today.

But just because he was among civilians now, didn't mean he stopped paying attention. Cold blue eyes swept back and forth, picking up small details from everyone and everything around him.
 
Romi

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Anastasia had never lived on her own. She'd come to realize she would have to one day, but it had seemed like something in the far off distance. First there had been highschool. Then she'd go off to the military, and be in there for years before she really lived on her own. Things like handling groceries seemed so far off and unimportant, and then suddenly they'd been there. She'd had to do them all. The school provided for much of it, but suddenly she was still expected to be an adult.

She had been quite convinced she was ready to be an adult, but in practice she was far from ready. She still fumbled through things, and the culture of the island was alien to her in many ways.

They had a little kitchenette, and she was desperate for some actual Russian food. She doubted that the grocery store would have much, but she could at least make something from the base ingredients. Maybe a soup. Maybe she would be lucky and she'd find Pelmeni. With an empty bag slung over her shoulder, she weaved through the market, heading towards the grocery store to find if she was lucky or not.

​
Tag to @"Horus" ​
 
Horus

Horus

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Thoth"

Old habits died hard, and when one was as old as Pasha was, being crotchety at basically everything just came with the territory. A certain degree of homesickness also put him in a terrible mood and the scowl had been etched permanently on his face by this point. It didn't change once he was out of Russia, though. In fact, it seemed to only get worse.

His eyes landed very briefly on a girl with blond hair, wandered for a moment before sliding back when his brain caught up a second later. She looked very familiar. Borderline hauntingly so. Where had he seen her before?

He picked up his pace only briefly, managing to clear the street towards her to take a slightly closer look. The briefest glance told him he recognized her, and her name started with an 'A'. He may have been old, but not old enough that events just turned into a semi-vivid blur.

There was a slight pause. "Are you Yekaterina's daughter?" He spoke in Russian.
 
Romi

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Anastasia was alone on the island. Her parents were dead, and any friends she'd had were left behind in Russia. She'd come with nothing and no one, been assigned to a (temporary) dorm parent, and in less than a month she'd turn 18 and be free to do as she pleased. Lost of teenagers would have been happy with the freedom, but instead it was simply lonely. She had no one in the most literal of senses.

So it was quite a surprise when someone spoke to her, and she turned in one fluid motion to face the speaker. Of course, she didn't end up facing the speaker at all - she ended up looking at his chest, because the person who had spoken to her was so dang tall. He loomed over her, and while she had no actual memory of the man, there was something familiar.

It was the way he loomed more than anything. The fact that he was so big (and surely there couldn't be so many people that were so tall), towering over her like a giant from some long ago tale.

"I - ah, yes." She blurted out, first in english and then in Russian. She'd gotten used to speaking in English, and it took her only a moment to drop back into it. "Yes, Yekaterina was my mother. You are...?" He was someone familiar, but not familiar enough for him to place him, beyond the fact that he was clearly Russian. He spoke without an accent after all.

​
Tag to @"Horus" ​
 
Horus

Horus

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Thoth"

The girl bore quite a resemblance to his old friend, so he would have been quite surprised if she had no relation. Of course, said old friend was rather dead now. He could say that he missed her, but then again he missed quite a few people and dwelling on the past would do him little good.

But then she confirmed that Yekaterina had been, indeed, her mother. He didn't know if that was better or worse, but he supposed it was just the answer he was looking for.

"Pasha Mikhaylichenko-Molotov. You met me when you were quite a lot younger." She may have been just a toddler last he'd seen her, perhaps a little older. Definitely not after her parents died, and he couldn't even attend the funeral. She probably didn't even remember him, but that was fine.
 
Romi

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
She couldn't say that she remembered him. He was... well, if anything he was nothing more than the vague recollection of someone who was so much taller than her. But even then she couldn't say for sure if it was the same person. It could have been a different figure which towered over everyone in the room.

But how many people of that height did her parents know, exactly?

More importantly, what was he doing there? If he was a friend of her parents, that meant they'd met in Russia. Her parents had never been to the island, and it seemed so odd to her that one of their friends would be here. She glanced up at his face, trying for any more recognition, but found nothing.

"I must admit I don't remember you, unfortunately." Russian was so much easier to speak in, and she felt no need to introduce herself considering he quite obviously knew who she was. Or at least it was obvious to her.

"My parents have both passed, unfortunately." Did he know? Did he already know, or was this hard news she had to deliver?

​
Tag to @"Horus" ​
 
Horus

Horus

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Thoth"

Hm, it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that she had no recollection of him. Last he'd seen her, she'd probably been barely more than a toddler. He sort of remembered it, though years and years gradually felt shorter with each passing one. Eventually it may have all dissolved into one great blur, people cropping up in and out of his life with the snap of his fingers.

"I know." He'd received word as soon as they passed. What a terrible way to go. It couldn't be helped, though. Even if it was quite sad to hear, Pasha knew death was inevitable for the vast majority of humans. He'd been one once upon a time until the old winter decided he'd be the next. Even then, he'd seen enough death on the field to understand that it could just happen.

"I knew both your parents very well, however. We were good friends, and I am sure the last I saw you, you were just a child."
 
Romi

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Anastasia was suddenly very uncomfortable. He'd known them very well? They'd barely mentioned him, if at all. She had no way of knowing it had been there way of keeping the supernatural and all the things that came with it away from her, and it wasn't until she was scrambling to come up with something to say that it occurred to her to ask.

"Ah - do you live here?" What was he doing on the island? There was the smallest, faintest glimmer of hope for a moment, but she shoved it down. He would not be an immortal like her. He would not die and return from the dead. She was alone, unique and desperately wishing she wasn't, as selfish as it was. Perhaps her parents had never mentioned him because he lived here - on a secret island, well away from Russia. But why? Obviously there must have been something strange about him, or he wouldn't have been here at all.

​
Tag to @"Horus" ​
 
Horus

Horus

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jun 18, 2015
655
@"Thoth"

Pasha gave her a slight nod. "For the time being, I do." He had a habit of moving on whenever things no longer suited him. He'd tolerated Russia's antics for as long as he could and he honestly hoped to go back one day. Until then, he hopped from place to place, leaving a trail of mysteriously cold bars in his wake.

"And I am assuming you now live here as well?" It would make some sense. Anastasia needed somewhere to go after her parents had been killed, and Russia wasn't exactly world renowned for their excellent treatment of orphans. As far as he was concerned, the island was a good place for children to go, considering their care policies.

But that did make him wonder... How in the world did she find out about this place?

Unless, of course, she had received a letter.

Pasha knew enough that one of the few ways to get to the island was through invitation, and invitations were only sent to those who were gifted in some way.
 
Romi

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
She nodded once, quick and to the point as she'd always been, and as her parents had been before her. Yes, she lived there. For the foreseeable future, if not forever. Until she could say that she understood her power - it's source and how it worked - there was no way she could return to Russia. She had been undetected more or less by chance. People had been more willing to chalk it up to a simple mistake, rather than looking deeper. But it was possible that someone had - and if she 'died' again, she couldn't count on someone being willing to overlook it again.

Once was coincidence, twice was a pattern.

"I... was killed." She hadn't been sure how much she wanted to say, and then she'd simply accepted that it wasn't as if her situation could get worse. "When my parents died. But I came back, so now I'm here." She was sort of hoping he'd just know - that he'd suddenly understand and be able to explain the truth to her.

​
Tag to @"Horus" ​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Forgot your password?