Hope this is okay for my first post back on Souls! <3

Lucia had no plans on moving today, quite intent with sitting at the base of a tall pine tree and drinking her sorrows away. Little rays of sunshine beat down through the leafy canopy, a soft breeze whispering between the trees. At her feet were a small bunch of thistles, common here all through the summer. For the past couple of days Lucia had hung pretty close to this tree, sleeping and drinking until she could find something else to occupy her time. It hadn't been long since she had crossed into the borders of Nova Scotia again, and already she was finding herself quite content… or maybe that was the alcohol. With malachite eyes unsettled and unfocused, Lucia caught a glimpse of, what she believed could be, a rabbit. Her stomach grumbled but the ebony female paid it little mind, deciding that if she were to eat anything, the alcohol wouldn’t keep clogging her system. That would not do at all.



Glancing down at her stomach as it gave another loud growl, Lucia shook her head. “Quiet down, I’m trying to drink my troubles away! You growling at me is simply adding to my list of problems…” Yes, it seemed that she had started talking to herself. In her time away from these familiar landscapes, Lucia had made little contact with anyone. Since the crumbling of her relationship with Snake, she found it difficult to trust anyone anymore, especially men. The majority of her time had been spent drinking, travelling from place to place, and trying to forget about her time spent in Inferni. However, this had not gone according to plan. Before long she was back at the borders of Nova Scotia, and before she could stop herself, she had crossed them. Back here, drunk again, it was just like before. Well… almost.



As her mind raced over the past couple of months, Lucia’s nostrils began to quiver. On the breeze was the scent of another. Her eyes narrowed coldly, hand tightening around the cold metal handle of one of her daggers. Sticking her nose higher into the air, she peered through the trees ahead of her, though with the amount of alcohol running through her bloodstream, it was hard to see anything. Everything was simply a haze of dirt and trees… and a lot of shades of green.



Muttering inaudibly, Lucia’s attention fell away from the horizon. Looking at the bottles beside her, she grabbed the open one. Taking a swig, a small dribble running down her chin, Lucia gave a small hiccup. If she carried on drinking, she hoped that her body would eventually give up and send her into a deep slumber. She could not recall the last time sleep had been peaceful, or even when she had slept for longer than an hour. Luckily her eyes were deceiving; they showed little of this fact. She looked as alert and awake as anyone who had swallowed three bottles in an hour, with many more left to go.



Having another swig, a ray of sunshine bore down through the trees right into her eyes. Cringing, she felt the bottle almost slip from her grasp. Giving a small gasp as she tightened her fingers around the neck, she looked around to see if anyone saw anything. Realizing she had done that, Lucia chuckled to herself. “Why did you do that, stupid-head! There’s nobody here... There never is!” Her words trailed off to the slow, steady ‘hick, hick, hick’ of her hiccups, and the soft whistle of the wind. There wasn’t a soul around, and that was the way she liked it.

Thanks! It's just taking a while to get back into the swing of things...

The hiccups continued. Hick, hick, hick – it was like the beat of a steady drum. It would have almost been musical, but the stench of booze and the swaying female made it all the more disgusting. Taking more and more swigs out of the bottle, beads of saliva and drink down her chin, the ebony female could feel herself slipping into a desired cloud of unconsciousness. Her mind had begun to go blank, her senses failing her. If she had paid close attention, she would have noticed the scent on the wind, she would have seen the approaching stranger… but no, she did not see, she did not smell. She was in alcoholic bliss, and as such, was ignorant of the rest of the world.



Unaware that there was company, bottle still entwined in her fingers, Lucia’s mouth parted. She was about to burst into song, but before the words rolled out, another voice cut her off. Peeling open her eyelids, a glassy green orb fell over the stranger in front of her. There was a look of distaste across her face as she eyed up her fellow optime, the words that she had spoken grated against Lucia’s ears. They almost flicked back in pain.



“Perhaps the question is not what my name is, but maybe why am I here? Why are we all here? What is our purpose?” Her words were slurred, spittle flying from her mouth. She tried to keep a steady gaze on the intruder of her personal space, but the swaying of her body, and the amount of alcohol in her system did not allow for such accuracy. “Maybe it is a question of why does pain exist. Why were hearts created, if only to get broken? What is the purpose of men? They eat, sleep, and destroy us… that’s all they do… They are pointless.” Her words fell away. Silence once again strolled happily into the surrounding area.



Lucia’s eyes closed, and for a moment or two, she could have been perceived as sleeping. Yet, the twitch of her fingers, and the lifting of the bottle to her lips once more, said otherwise. Still with shut eyes, she drank another sip. She was too drunk to be mean right now, too drunk to care about the stranger who disrupted valuable drowning time. She would just continue to drown, and hope that this inquisitive morsel in front of her did not feel the need to play heroine and save her. She did not want saving, whether she required it or not. She was a lost soul, and for an unforeseen amount of time, planned to stay that way.



“The name’s Lucia…” She spoke with little emotion. Blank, empty, expressionless - she was an unpainted canvass. She did not even look at the female; she just stared longingly at the back of her eyelids. It was a better view in her opinion. It was almost like talking to herself if she pretended. She could pretend… and she would.

How would you like this to roll?

Lucia could feel Axelle’s eyes upon her. It almost made her skin crawl. She hated being watched or studied, it made her uncomfortable. She remembered when Inferni members used to do that, how they would watch her with a cold, judging stare. She never was accepted in their ranks, she was never accepted anywhere. That momentary bliss she had felt with Snake, and the possibility of belonging to something… well, it was just that – momentary. It was gone like a tumbleweed in the wind, and now, now Lucia was just the damaged empty shell that had been left behind.



Axelle spoke, wise words that meant nothing to the ebony female. She could not fathom a purpose for herself – maybe others, yes, but not for her own soul. She felt like there was no purpose, no nothing. She just wanted to drink herself into an early grave, maybe cause some chaos along the way. She would use as she had been used – she would see Snake’s face on every male, and she would treat them as she felt she had been treated… Badly.



“Figure it out….” Lucia imitated Axelle’s tone, a sliver of disgust in her voice. “What’s the point in figuring anything out? It bites us all in the ass eventually.” That was Lucia’s final word on the topic; she was not in the mood to go into a debate about purpose and making a better life, or any other patronising crap that could be spun from her discontent with life. Lucia was quite content in her discontent, and that was how she would keep it. She had become comfortable in her instability, and that was dangerous all on its own.



Despite the disagreement about Axelle’s opinion on purposes and life, it appeared she had agreed with Lucia’s growing hatred for men. Lifting her eyes to look at Axelle rather than through her, the ebony femme gave a small smirk. It was the closest she could do to a smile, though in her drunken state, it probably just looked like she had a hot poker shoved up her backside or something.



Watching as her companion came closer, Lucia felt her hand tighten around the dagger by her side for a split moment. Realizing this, she soon let go. It was no day for frightening anyone. She wouldn’t be bothered to clean up the mess anyway. Finishing the bottle, she threw it weakly into the trees. She cared little for the environment nowadays. Well, she cared little for anything really.



Sliding her obsidian digits around the neck of another bottle, she watched Axelle pull out her own bottle of poison. Lifting her nose to the air, Lucia couldn’t pick up much of a smell. That meant it could be only one thing. “Vodka?” She grunted plainly, that was all that needed to be said. It wasn’t approving or disapproving, just simply Lucia’s lame attempt to be friendly. She was really out of practise.



Nodding a head to her own bottle, which she quickly sipped from, Lucia’s lips parted again. “Whiskey… the best poison of them all. Great for making yourself unconscious too.” That was the best advice Axelle would get today. The rest of her words were simply hatred, and more hatred. There was too much anger in her heart to think of much else. It was going to be a long day, and Lucia was not looking forward to it one bit.



“So why do you hate men then, huh?” Her eyes travelled one last time over the stranger, and a dark smile crawled over her lips. Something evil moved in her eyes for a second, before quickly fading back into a drunken stupor. “I’m going to say… daddy issues…”

Apologies for the length. Maybe a bit too rambly??

Lucia caught glimpse of the twitch. It amused her, but only for a second. She stored the knowledge that what she had done had annoyed the stranger greatly. It could be of use in the future. Watching the twitch fade was like watching ice melt, it was boring. Luckily, it didn’t take as long as it could have, and Lucia was grateful. There wasn’t much else to look at around here, and being as drunk as she was, she often stared numbly at things anyway. It just so happened to be Axelle that her eyes were glued to.
Perking her ears, Lucia winced as Axelle spoke. She hadn’t expected it. She was lost in the alcohol, probably watching some dancing ferret in her mind. Returning back to the conversation, the dark female nodded slowly. She didn’t much care if the stranger made her own alcohol or not, she just liked to drink it. Lucia had little idea how to make it, and perhaps that was the problem. She was jealous. “Oh right,” she said plainly, trying to hide her envious tone. “That could be an interesting trade to use around here, could it not?” Of course it could. All the drunks, like her, they would love to have alcohol at their beck and call. Axelle would profit too. Items, respect, whatever she wanted. Addicts would do almost anything for their fix.


Topic changed, and so did Lucia’s body language. She felt her muscles tense and quiver in excitement. She always did enjoy listening to the stories of how others got hurt. It tickled her, made her chuckle on the inside. Not so much because of the fact she was a nasty piece of work, but because she too was damaged. This was her way of dealing with it. She would revel in the suffering of those around her. She would pretend she was all taped and glued back together.


Axelle disagreed with Lucia’s observation. It was a shame really, Lucia always like those gory details about broken families. Hers, in fact, was very broken. Her mother was dead, having been beaten, raped and burned alive. Her father, well… he was the one who had done the deed. But he too now was dead. Lucia had made sure of that. She had tracked him down, befriended him, tortured him and burned him alive for extra measure. It haunted her every day. Not because of the guilt, but because of the dancing of the flames, the stench of flesh and fur burning into the night, the beautiful melody of dying screams. It was all quite wonderful.


Either way, Lucia waited for the rest of the story before butting in with her own gruesome background. Axelle seemed uncomfortable, that was a good sign in her eyes. It meant something horrible was about to be told. Lucia’s ears perked forward, and the dark female took a long swig out of her bottle in anticipation. Listening carefully, Lucia lapped up each word with a macabre sense of joy. It was like adrenaline straight to her heart. It made her feel better. It made her feel normal.


Nodding attentively, Lucia had to consider her reply carefully. This could go two ways, she could either give a harsh answer that could result in a drunken fight which she would probably lose, or she could give a polite, semi-nice response, keeping things calmer, and continuing the poisoning of their livers. Lucia decided that the latter was best for now. She was quite enjoying the company. Mostly for the healing value of her soul, but that was better than nothing.


“That’s pretty messed up.” A simple, yet effective reply. It was the truth, and nothing more. Eyeing up Axelle’s scar, Lucia brought a slender digit to her own face. Fingering the scar over her left eye, she smiled to herself. The memories were glorious. Taking another sip, Lucia gave a small, unusually feminine burp. There was no politeness to follow however. She saw little point in apologising for her natural bodily functions. “Well…” Lucia finally spoke again, the pause between her words long, dragged out by the slurring tone in her voice. “Mother was beaten, raped and burned alive by my father. She didn’t make it, obviously.” Another pause, another swig, Lucia was dying for a cigarette.


Fiddling with the leather pouch on her belt, Lucia continued to speak, though eyes now diverted to what she was doing. “My father…” She pulled a cigarette from the pouch, followed shortly by a lighter. Placing the butt in her mouth, she lit it slowly. Her hand shook slightly, but it wasn’t too much of a chore. Inhaling the smoke, she spoke again. Each word puffed out smoke from her mouth and nostrils as though she were a dragon, her voice muffled by the cancerous stick jammed between her lips. “He’s dead. I murdered him… tortured him… burned him alive. Just a little bit of revenge, you know?” She addressed Axelle as though she would know what she was on about; as though it was normal to kill family, like a hobby.


She took another drag on the cigarette, casually blowing the smoke into little circles in the air. Lucia had a strange way of coping with things. This was just another one of those times. She looked back at her female companion, pondered what could be going on in her mind, what she thought of Lucia right now. Truth be told, she didn’t really care, but it gave her mind something to exercise itself on. It was something to fill the void. “As for the more recent pain in my ass,” she added loosely, not particularly wanting to mention his name. It made her heart ache and her stomach knot. “Snake…” It was hissed, like poison on her tongue. There was anger in her voice. “The stupid coyote bastard made me fall in love with him, used me for sex, made me join his pack even though they hate wolves, and then leaves me behind without a word! Who does that?” She sighed, taking an extremely long drag on her cigarette and trying to calm herself down. Being angry was one thing, but drunk and angry… that would not end well. “Well, either way, I learned from that, I can tell you! Never again… Stupid, stupid men… They use you, abuse you, and then disappear into the sunset like its all happy endings and cheery goodbyes! Bastards, the lot of them! Wouldn’t you agree?”