Blood, Scars, and Fear PV Closed

@Aurelia Notrésvace | @Thora Larkston

Nico never thought that Quidditch would be a part of her life. Just about two years ago, she had no idea what Quidditch was. Sure, she heard of witches flying on broomsticks in the stories that her father read to her every night. They sounded scary and mean. And they ate children? A shudder ran down her spine, as she walked up the field. No need to think of those fairytales. These days she knew better. Technically, she became a witch herself the moment she set foot on this school. Strange how times change...

The weather was calm today. Cloudy mostly. The perfect weather for a dhampir. She didn't need to wear her mouthmask. It was useful against lost flies in the wind however... Ah, no matter. Nico wasn't intending to stay that long. Just a bit of fresh air, the winter breeze across her face and hair... That's all she came for...

Holding the broomshaft of her Tinderblast tightly in her hand, the dhampir noticed that she wasn't alone. She couldn't help but feel abit dissapointed... and worried. Her bag of snacks was laying on her bed down in the Slytherin Quarters. And... honestly, she was abit hungry. But what was the worst that could happen? Just a few laps around the Pitch and then straight home. At that point, she should've known better. She should've stepped back and leave.

Squinting her eyes, Nico tried to get a good luck at the fellow player. One of her Slytherin team? Perhaps. To be fair, the young girl wasn't necesarrily close with her team. Ironic for a Prefect. The Slytherin player wasn't a Chaser or a Beater... She took position infront of the rings, ready to stand her ground. A Keeper? It definitely wasn't Koko. So... it had to be their Second String Keeper. What was her name again? Thora..? Yes! Thora Larkston. They met briefly before at the Great Lake. Good to see she's ready to take in Koko's place, even though she'll mostl likely stay benched for ... a long time. The dhampir couldn't help but smile a little. Benched or not, Thora would practice.

The girl would dive down to try and fetch the Quaffle just before it would hit the ground... but that went horribly wrong. 'T-Thora! Are you o-' What? What was this? A strong smell of iron suddenly pierced Nico's nose. Coming from Thora's direction, who just hit the ground pretty hard. Frick. Quickly, she put on her mouth mask, hoping it would keep out most of the scent. Not again. Not this time. Trying her hair up in a ponytail, she wouldn't go up in the sky. She'd stay on the ground and try to lure the Second String Keeper. 'Thora! You're wounded! Come down!' Keep it cool, Nico. Keep it together. You can snack later.

~

Come on, Thora. The words bounced around in the young girl's head as she swooped and soared through the air, looping the hoops again and again. It might seem to just be a display of skill, but it was really just a distraction. Something that would prove to herself that she could fly. That she her tryout, so long ago, hadn't been a fluke. She needed something to remind her that she wasn't useless.

As she flew on, blood would continue to rise to Thora's skin in tiny beads under her clothes. One wouldn't yet be able to tell that she'd gotten hurt and was bleeding--unless, of course, they saw her reckless fall. The snek herself had all but forgotten the scratches herself, as the cool wind muffled the stinging pain of dirt rubbed into wounds. Her bliss would be interrupted, though, by a voice. A slightly familiar voice.

Come down. The words, though perhaps spoken loudly from the ground, floated ever so slowly upwards, losing much of its sound along the way. It might've been for this same reason that she was unable to hear anything that came before those two words. As they reached Thora in a faint whisper, the girl would bring her broom to an abrupt stop, glancing down. A lone figure stood below, seeming almost faceless, given how high Thora was in the air. But an emerald outline could be made out on the dark robes. Slytherin.

She sent her Nimbus into a dive, straining to study the person--the girl, it seemed like--as she drew closer. Red hair, prefect badge. Prefect badge. A panic switch immediately flipped on in Thora's brain as she recognized a one Nico Shymane. It wasn't that she didn't want to see the chaser, or was scared of her--in fact, Nico had proved to be quite pleasant company--but simply being called down from the skies by someone who had considerably more authority than her probably didn't mean anything good. Unless, of course, her tumble had been much more noticeable than she'd hoped.

Was it too late? Was she breaking rules? The thoughts of doubt that simply flying had tidied away to a dark corner came flooding back, almost tipping Thora off the front of her broom once more. Really, where was her concentration? There were always off days, and her Quidditch performance seemed depend somewhat on the amount of sleep she was able to get, but this was unusually bad.

So, for once, a small sigh of relief escaped her lips as the brunette landed smoothly on the ground, slid off the handle, still clutching the old quaffle. Perfect. "Hi, Nico," she offered a smile to the girl--as genuine of a smile as one living in fear of a detention could give, at least--shifting back and forth on her feet a bit. Thora couldn't see most of the prefect's face, thanks to the mouth mask, and so couldn't really read her expression. That was fine, of course, but only increased her nervousness.

Another deep breath. A trickle of blood ran down Thora's arm and off her fingers. Finally, she felt the warm liquid both on her skin and its metallic tang in her nose. "Want to practice?" she tried again as she reached for the wand in her pocket. Ferula had proved to be useful in the past, so if she had her aspen wand and managed to cast it with her spotty concentration, it should help now, too. 

@Thora Larkston | @Aurelia Notrésvace

At last. Thora noticed her cries. This entire time, as she was trying to keep on flying circles, Nico could tell that the wound was becoming worse. Surely it wasn't an open wound, but the iron smell had gotten stronger. Even more so once Thora finally landed safely on the ground. Safely. Was she really safe though? Nico tried her best not to drool in a weird way. Her mask was an usefull cover for this. For now, everything was cool. The dhampir swallowed often and tried to focus on the task at hand. Helping out Thora.

'Hi, Thora.' Honestly, Nico felt relieved that the Second String Keeper had finally come down. The prefect could tell however that something seemed to bother her. The way she flew so determined after such a painful fall. Was she not overdoing it?

'Are you o-...okey? You took quite a tumble there for a moment...' Her eyes glanced down to the source of the strong scent of crimson red. The wound must've gotten worse... It basicly trinkled down her hand and fingers. 'I-I could take a look... Maybe take off your robes. We need ... to make swallows sure it's not infected. It has to be ... treated immediately...' A tiny red dot in the center of her eyes throbbed in and out of existense. Like a pulse. Nico tried her absolute best to not let it get to her but it was getting harder by the minute. She didn't want to hurt her fellow Quidditch player. If she did... maybe would get kicked of the team... But what's so bad about that? No. Nico. Don't give in. You'll lose her. People won't trust you. You'll... stay alone. That last thought was the last bit that held her back. She had to be smart about this. 'We'll.. just take a look and then we'll go to the Hospital Wing...o-okey? Y-You can train later again..'

~

"Hey," Thora answered, shooting the prefect a quick smile. "I'm fine." It wasn't a lie. Though there were probably still tiny beads of blood on her skin, the rest had seeped into her clothing (and a few drops into the ground), it was no big deal. The wind had taken away most of the sting, and besides, the fall had been from a fairly low height. She'd seen--and experienced--worse before.

"Uh, sure," she shrugged off her robe, underneath which was a thick sweater. Once airborne, it didn't take long to warm up, but it was better to be prepared for the cold temperatures. As she draped the robe over her left arm, she looked up and saw something… abnormal, to say the least. There seemed to be a reddish tint reflecting from Nico's eyes--but they were blue, weren't they? As Thora glanced over at the redhead again, she was relieved to see nothing out of the ordinary. So she had been imagining, then.

"Really, I'm fine," she pushed, shifting her weight to one side. "But I guess we could go to the Hospital Wing?" Honestly, she could probably just cast a quick Ferula and it'd be fixed, but if Nico had medical expertise of any kind, what would it hurt for her to take a look at the scratches? Tucking her broom under her left arm, Thora folded her right sleeve up a couple times, revealing a thin streak of crimson (the rest had soaked into her sweater) before setting off at a brisk walk towards the castle. "Hospital Wing?" she asked again, extending her arm a bit as she found her way across the grass.

*Apologies for the delay!