YOU'RE LYING TO YOURSELF AGAIN // open, Weekly Prompt 5/10

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

light the night up,
you're my dark star

There wasn't a day that went by that Atbash didn't compare her past home to Snowbound. Even though she told herself that coming to Earth and living here in Snowbound is a new start, a new chapter of her life, some part of her wouldn't let the past go. She always reverted back to thinking how home was or compared Snowbound to her old home. Dimension FiveX had been where she had been born and raised, a place where she thought she would grow up and have a family. She thought she would be Shaman, advising Vigenere as he ruled and aiding Caesar in whatever he needed help in. She thought she would be with her brothers in the First Tier, apart of the King's -- Vigenere's -- Court. But Caesar stripped away those dreams and aspirations, almost in a week. Her youngest brother got them exiled for attempting to murder the Shaman in an attempt to make the King weaker, after she had a vision of Caesar destroying their home.

Atbash never believed the crazy old Shaman, even if she was wanting to be one herself. She knew the Shaman had served the King for eons, so she was bound to have seen some shit that caused her to go crazy. But that didn't mean Atbash and the rest of the Kingdom didn't respect her. The Shaman was respected because she had so much experience. Even so, Atbash would have never believed that Caesar would snap like he did and destroy their home. But he did. And they could never go back. There was no going back, ever. And that hurt. But Atbash had to move on, just like her brothers. She had been hoping that Vigenere stayed at her side to help protect her from Caesar, but her eldest sibling pushed her away. So Atbash had to go looking for a new home, because she couldn't protect herself.

Atbash had found herself traveling to Snowbound because of the name and the rumors she heard about the place; of a group living in a snowy tundra. Although Snowbound could never be like Dimension FiveX, it did have a cold chill to it that made her feel at least somewhat home. She was happy here. Atbash enjoyed Snowbound, but that still didn't stop her from feeling homesick. There were just too many happy memories back home than here, and yet she couldn't ever go back to revisit them. Only in her memories, but not in spirit. Caesar ruined that.

Although she supposed that home was much more strict in how its hierarchy worked. Atbash had never been close to the King before, and only really knew him by name. She never got with him on a personal level like she did with Jacob. And she honestly was surprised she did; she thought Earth would be just like home, where she would be forced into the lowest rank outside of being exiled, and would be stuck there forever. But no... Snowbound was much more than that. Snowbound was a group based around its members being close with one another. In Snowbound, everybody treated each other the same way, no matter what rank or position they were, or where they were from. Atbash was... free. She was no longer treated like a lowlife, she was no longer just another mouth to feed. She was actually somebody here. People actually acknowledged her. Jacob cared for her. Pierce cared for her. Cry... cared for her? Atbash wasn't too sure about Cry, but she did know that they shared a somewhat similar backstory. So she could relate to why Cry acts the way she does. She wasn't as angry at the world as Cry (that honestly sounded like Caesar), but she could understand why Cry felt that way.

Atbash wanted to learn more about Snowbound. She was eager to learn more, if she were honest. This place was just so different from home, in a good way. Sure, she missed how she was actually close to her siblings back home, before Caesar went crazy, but Snowbound was much more healthy for her mentally. Snowbound could never be like Dimension FiveX, especially if her siblings weren't here, but that didn't mean she was going to hate it here. Jacob, Cry, Ivylee, Pierce; they were all like family to her now. They weren't her brothers, but they did fill that empty gap in her soul.

Atbash was currently sitting outside of camp, staring down into a pool of water at herself. The look on her face did reveal she was upset, but she was trying to best to be positive here. This was her new home, she loved it here! But still, there was something missing, and she didn't know what entirely. Was it because she continued staying in the past, or was it because she was trying to push away the past? Or maybe it was because her brothers weren't around. Even if she did consider the other Snowbounders (was that a word?) as family, nothing could beat the bond she had with Vigenere and Caesar. That was just fact: blood was thicker than water. Littermates would always mean more than friends, no matter what happened.

//tl;dr:
- Atbash is remembering her past home, comparing it to Snowbound
- She's currently out in the territory, staring down at one of the pools at her reflection. She's upset, but not to the point of crying

bio | female | warrior of snowbound

© madi

[jacob w.c.]

WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT IS TO LOVE —//this was way longer than intended lol. only like the last paragraph is really relevant.

Jacob had complex and sometimes uncertain feelings about his family and his old homes. They'd all taken good care of him in the past and he'd never felt unloved by his Babbo, Pa, or Ma. He'd grown up without a biological mom but, as far as he was concerned, his Ma had taken that place more effectively than the woman who left him ever would've been able to. She'd taught him most of what he loved, including knitting, medicine, cooking, and baking. She'd also taught him how to speak French, although it wasn't quite as polished as his English or Italian. His Ma had been a kind, gentle woman. She'd had her faults but she'd always met everyone with kindness and dignity. Then there was his Pa and his Babbo. Both of them were heavily involved with organized crime, being heads of the organizations in their particular cities. Technically, it had been expected that Jacob would take over his Pa's business after he died but no one could really blame him for going into hiding after the fire. There were some people that weren't even sure if he was alive, let alone if he was running some kind of criminal underground operation. Not only that, but Jacob had no interest in such things. While his move to Snowbound had been necessary for his safety, he knew he would've left the city and settled somewhere else eventually. That life just wasn't for someone like him.

Both his fathers were problematic to say the least. Jacob wasn't sure about the full extent of their crimes and, honestl.y, he thought it was probably better that he didn't know every single detail. Harrison was dead now, for one thing, so whatever he'd done before was irrelevant now. In his last months, the stallion had gotten incredibly sick from lung cancer. Jacob's Ma had diagnosed him long before he'd died and it was what initally really sparked Jacob's interest in medicine. He thought that maybe he could save him. Looking back, he knew that even if the fire hadn't happened, there was no way he would've been able to accomplish something so complex and impossible with so little experience. It had been an impossible dream. Yet he still wished he'd reached it. Maybe if he'd taken Harrison out that night or tried to encourage the horse to walk around, they would't have been there. Jacob had tried to think of all the ways that he could have prevented what happened to them but he wasn't sure there was any real solution. There was no way he could've seen what was coming until it was there. He hadn't even known that anyone knew where he was in terms of the city itself, let alone down to a specific building and location.

Then there was his Babbo, Vito. His biological father. Like Harrison, he was involved in his own ring of crime and he was right in the center of it all. He was the primary reason that Jacob couldn't share all his names and the reason Jacob was thankful he looked nothing like him, especially now that he'd been burned and most of his body was covered in bandages and his sweater. If the resemblance between the two had been distant before, it was nearly impossible to spot now. They shared some mannerisms, especially when Jacob spoke with his Italian American accent, but Jacob did his best to hide his father's marks in his life. It wasn't because he wanted to distance himself from Vito (in fact, he would prefer to live closer to the man, despite all the wrong things he'd done) but because he put himself in more danger the more he associated himself with his Babbo. Maybe someday they'd be able to live peacefully and spend a family meal together without looking out the windows and glancing over their shoulders to make sure no one was coming but that wasn't the current reality.

Jacob had been wandering the territory when he came across Atbash. He walked the same route almost every single day as many times as he could in an attempt to stretch out his bad legs and hopefully add a few more months on their dwindling lifespan. Jacob was doing his best to get better both physically and mentally recently and, for the first time in a very long while, he felt like he was making significant process. Being captured had set him back quite a ways but Pincher had helped him through some of that but he still struggled with it. He never stopped, though. Even on his bad days he tried to keep in mind that there would be good days too, if he could just make it to the next day. Sometimes he had to remind himself it was alright to take things one step at a time. While he wanted to be better instantly, that wasn't possible and it wasn't realistic to expect that. He knew that better than anyone. Still, that didn't stop him from hoping he'd wake up tomorrow without any pain and that he'd finally be able to get a full night's rest. He was pulled from thoughts about his own well-being when he noticed Atbash standing near a pool of water. "Atbash! Are ya' alright? You're gonna' get awfully cold jus' standin' out 'ere. I got scarves n' things in my bag if ya' want one," the man called. As he drew closer, he realized she looked distressed and his concern only seemed to grow as he spoke in a softer tone, "Oh, sorry ta' bother ya'. Is everythin' alright? Is there anythin' I can help with?" he offered. He wasn't quite sure what the woman could be upset about. He didn't know her very well yet but she seemed kind and he didn't like seeing her distressed. —A GREAT HONOR TO HOLD YOU UP

tags

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

light the night up,
you're my dark star

//at first i thought you were referring to me and i was just sfhdsdfsaf sorry

Atbash always tried to look on the positive side of things, no matter what the issue was. She was kind of the middle ground between her brothers; both of them focused on the negatives, and she tried to provide the positive for them. Vigenere was always strict and on guard all the time, while Caesar was carefree and explosive. Atbash, on the other hand, was calm and questioning, always watching her surroundings to learn more. She had always been nice, always been thoughtful of others. She cared about everybody's well-being. Vigenere did too, although he had a harsh way of showing it, meanwhile Caesar didn't care whatsoever. It was just who they were, but that didn't mean Atbash didn't love them any less.

She hadn't expected anybody to appear, let alone Jacob himself. Atbash jumped at the sound of his voice, fur puffing out in alarm. "Oh! Jacob, hi!" She squeaked out, blinking at him. "I'm... I'm fine, I guess." Not really, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to reveal everything to him. She did talk to Cry, but that was because she felt a connection with the raven. Jacob was a good guy, it wasn't that she didn't trust him, she just wasn't sure if she was ready to share with him yet. "I'm just thinking about things, is all."

bio | female | warrior of snowbound

© madi

[| KILLUA ZOLDYCK |]

[align=center]

[shadow=darkblue,right]KILLUA[/shadow]

.

Killua felt as is 'home' was a relative term in most regards. At least when it came in regard to himself as he didn't know exactly what home had really entailed for him. His parents had once told him that his home was there with the rest of his family, and he had believed them for such a long time. That there wasn't anything to worry about other than the mansion that he had lived in with his family. He wasn't dragged away from that 'home' and instead he had left it knowing what was waiting for him out in the world with him. The assassin had no reason to want to stay with a place that wanted nothing more to manipulate him and strip away the freedom that he had so desperately wanted since he was a child. That wasn't his home, and he would probably never consider it to be his home no matter how far away he went from it. His family was extremely manipulative and brutal when it came to how they had raised him. As soon as he was old enough to start walking and talking, they gave him little chance to seek out a life for himself as his training had started from an extremely young age. Something that would be considered almost taboo when it came to the clans in that regard anyway. The assassin had simply put faith in his family that what they were doing would ultimately be for the better good and for his future. He was a naive child that didn't know any different when he was a kitten, and it was only as he grew older as he went on jobs that he realized exactly what he was missing. Did he know how to get it? Of course not. His family had made sure not to teach him extensive social skills if he was ever to somehow leave and try to escape from the mansion that they lived in. This meant that even if he was going to run off on his own, he was going to struggle immensely, and it pissed him off that he was making such slow progress after leaving his family. At least it was better than going through the constant torture and training that they had put someone like him through. The assassin always would remember vividly the horrible things that his family had done to him. The times that they carved into his flesh while he was chained down to make him impervious to most pain that he would come across in the countless battles he would see through. The young male would remember the times that they dumped chemicals and poisons down his throat until he gave no reaction at all as his body built an immunity to it.

Killua was exposed to every single kind of torture that was imaginable in and out of the clans. He had to be prepared, and his family was going to make sure of that. Especially his brother, as it was his brother that had taught him how to be an assassin from the very beginning. His own parents had very little responsibility in raising their own son and instead left that to their eldest offspring. Which even if they had wanted to get involved, Killua doubted that he would have turned out any different as the criteria for his and his sibling's training was fairly similar in that regard. Since he was supposed to inherit the family business of being an assassin, he got a little bit of special treatment among his family. Killua should have figured this much, but he never figured that his training would go to be so extensive. There was even training to where wires were placed on his skin and he was exposed to several different voltages. Probably one of the reasons why he was able to use elemental powers in the first place. He was trained to be a killer instead of being raised a child and a warrior for that of a clan. He had no idea for his own goal in life that he wanted to reach and simply did what his family told him to do. He had to be the picture perfect son after all and never wanted to disappoint his family for the longest time. That was of course until he grew his own backbone. The backbone that he used to make the decision to leave the Zoldyck family. In the process of having to attack his mother and his second oldest brother to get away from the building. Yet, he was free, and he was not. No matter how far away he ran, his past would always catch up with him. The assassin had no reason to want to continue the family business, but his family wasn't going to give him much of a choice as they continue to try and hunt him down even to this day. Killua figures that the night terror that he had gone through recently was because of his family. They usually weren't that bad, and that could also mean that they were losing their patience with him and would eventually find him soon. It wasn't unusual for someone like Killua to keep to himself no matter what place he decided to take shelter in as he ran from his family trying to keep hidden as much as possible. Did he consider Snowbound his home? Not really. He wasn't even sure what the definition of home was, and since he moved from groups to groups it meant he didn't stay in one place for very long. The albino serval needed to keep moving to keep on his toes and to prevent his family from finding him a lot easier. However, he was staying for quite a while in Snowbound now, several months to be exact, and he had finally managed to make his first friend. Which he had been ecstatic about, but that was before he had a night terror of taking her life. Now he wasn't quite so sure if he even belonged in a place like this. The injuries that he had gotten were healing, but they were healing pretty slow to at least his standards.

The wounds were self-inflicted thanks to him thrashing around during his night terror. He could have died from blood loss if he hadn't woken up, so he guessed that he had escaped death for the third time now. He hadn't been walking around the territory as much as he wanted to keep to himself to gather his thoughts about what his dream actually meant, trying to pick clues through all the horrid images. He blinked his sapphire blue eyes as his paws made no sound as they made their way through the snow. The wildcat constantly had his air elementals on, which made it so that it was impossible to catch his scent and muffled his pawsteps to make it almost impossible to hear him. His species also made him bigger than most domestic breeds despite his age, which he used for advantage in battle. The wildcat had bandages wrapped around his right leg and around his neck. The white supplies almost blending into his slightly long fur, except for the one on his right arm where blood seemed to be seeping through the bandage, yet no smell of blood could be scented. The assassin made it seem like his injuries weren't all that serious, as while he was walking around he should be limping, but was forcing himself not to so that he wouldn't seem to be weak. Hearing voices, one that he recognized and one that he didn't catch the Snowstriker's attention as he began to make his way over. Killua blinked his sapphire blue eyes when he noticed Jacob was near someone, someone that he didn't recognize. Over the past couple of days, he had kept to himself for his recovery and had avoided everyone, including London out of fear of the power that he did possess. He flicked his shortened tail as he debated whether or not to go over to see what was up. Sighing to himself, the albino serval made his way over, his paws making no sound as they crunched in the snow. The creature was certainly interesting looking and close to the same size he was. He could tell by the small physical features, a hybrid. He had seen plenty of Savannah's before in his life, although he believed that serval's were superior and more capable than the likes of a hybrid. But that was him just looking at it logically. "You look like a lemon among all the snow." Killua would state as he came over, a neutral look spread across his facial features as his large white ears were directed in Atbash's direction. He didn't know the female, but it was obvious that something was bothering her due to her body language. "Must be something important for you to space out like that." The assassin would state again, although everything he said was more of a tease than anything. He wondered if she would introduce herself first, as he was never really a fan of introducing his name first in the end. Opening his mouth, a lollipop seemed to appear out of nowhere, his jaws clamping down on the candy like it was any other day, as he sat himself a distance away from the rest, not bothering to sit next to Jacob. The only one that he really sat next to was London, but that was because she was his friend, the only friend he had in the group at the moment and knew exactly what he was capable of.

snowbound -- snowstriker -- male -- 8 moons

[sub]template © olivan 
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Tags | Updated 03/26/17:

GENERAL:
★ KILLUA | KILL (BY FAMILY ONLY) | MALE
★ Bisexual (leans toward male)
★ 8 moons | Birthday | Ages realistically
★ Snowstriker |  Former Deputy & Former Head Combatant (FF) | Professional Assassin

IMPORTANT FACTS:
★ Killua constantly remains stealthy. He uses his air elemental to cushion every step that he takes, making his pawsteps barely audible.
★ Killua also uses his Air Elementals to block out his scent from everyone around him. Which means its impossible to find him by scent, as he doesn't like to be associated with any clans despite his ranks he may have.
★ He has a very bad addiction to candy and doesn't share it with anyone no matter who they are.
★ Killua will not respect your character right off the bat. Unless they express how strong they are, or if they are interesting in his opinion, then there is a chance that he might show respect. Meaning that he will show no respect for ranks.
★ Killua has no morals. Meaning that seeing death doesn't affect him, and if someone dies, he just considers the one that did to be too weak and deserved death.
★ He is not afraid to kill your character, as he believes himself to be stronger than everyone else he comes across due to his training and how he knows the clans after living in them for several months.
★ HE WILL NOT TRUST YOUR CHARACTER. Not right off the bat anyway. Which means he won't give any personal information to them unless he deems them to be interesting.
★ Killua is immune to all deadly chemicals/poisons and is also immune to electrical attacks. However, just because he is immune, he still feels the pain from it all, he can just bare the pain. This means that he will get somewhat pissed if poisons are attempted to be used on him or if someone tries to electrocute him.

RECENT EVENTS (oldest-recent):
★

PHYSICAL:
★ ALBINO SERVAL W/ METAL CLAWS [birth/main] | health: 100% | Reference.
— 30 lbs and the size of a full grown domestic cat, Killua belongs to the wildcat species of the serval. Meaning that his body structure consists of his long legs and his large ears that are perched on the top of his head. The most noticeable feature of him though is that his fur, instead of the usual tan and black, is stark white. Unlike most albino servals though, Killua doesn't show the usual spots of an albino serval, his fur being completely white. He has a lean build, meaning that he is built more for speed, yet there will be strengths behind his attacks. He has numerous scars all over his body, but sadly they can't be seen thanks to being hidden underneath his slightly unusually long fur. Compared to a serval's anyway. His eyes express a vibrant electric blue/sapphire hue color to them. Looking at his claws though, the front claws in his front paws are made entirely metal, over inches long meaning that they have a lot of piercing capability. These claws are made out of a light, durable metal that is sharper than even that of swords. So that the claws are capable of slicing through tough hide if need be. The claws on his back legs though are completely normal claws. Due to his front claws being so long though, it means that they can't be fully sheathed, so the tips of the claws always stick out no matter what. This means that if he is to ever spar with someone, there is a likelihood that character will end up getting scratched. Killua can often be seen eating some form of candy when he is talking to someone, except in serious situations.
- major injuries: severe injury on right arm (causes him to limp slightly)
- minor injuries: bandages around his throat

PERSONALITY:
Everyone wants to keep Killua on his good side. No one wants him on his bad side because if they do it usually results in their death sometime later. Killua has no problem with killing those that mock him, on the consideration that he doesn't like to be considered weak, and having grown up only being taught how to kill, he has no other morals when it comes to dealing with social situations. Killua is extremely terrible when it comes to social gatherings, actually making quite difficult for him to interact with others without completely pissing them off. This serval doesn't show respect toward those that he doesn't know, and those that he doesn't consider to be capable of doing their job. He believes that most adults that he has come across are idiots compared to him, as despite his young age, he believes that he has a lot more experience than adults could ever have. Right now though, he is trying his best to figure out what he wants with his life after running away from his family and dealing with a clan previous to coming here, hearing a rumor that there were strong creatures here that could be a possible challenge. He has a huge ego as he thinks that he can take anyone on with relative ease. That he can take on anyone no matter what size they are. The assassin doesn't like to follow the rules either, practically a loose canon as he just does whatever the hell he wants to despite the consequences. He can often be seen mocking others, or even teasing if he is in a lighter mood. Killua so far is rarely seen being serious, as he mostly talks with a lot of sarcasm in his voice.

RELATIONSHIPS:
★ Single | 1/2 nothing
★ NPC x NPC | Generation 1 | No mentor

POWERS:
★ Electricity Elementals (Discovered/Almost mastered)
★ Air Elementals (Discovered/Mastered)
★ Conjuration (Discovered/Mastered)
★ Telepathy (Discovered/Mastered)
★ Invisibility (Discovered/Mastered)
★ Teleportation (Discovered/Mastered)
★ Shape shifting (Discovered/Mastered)

INTERACTION:
★ Message this account to plot
★ Extremely hard to befriend if the character isn't the same strength/age as him
★ Physically extreme | Mentally medium | Training constantly
★ Will start fights, and will finish them quickly
★ Attack in bold paleturquoise
★ Cannot powerplay peaceful or nonviolent actions. ALL OPINIONS ARE IC