Post by Celina Zabinski on Apr 20, 2023 21:49:46 GMT
Once Upon A Crime..
Co-Written with the wonderful Derthaad
Celina is escorted to a cell. The whole way she shouts and begs “I’M INNOCENT. YOU NEED TO LET ME GO”. But the guards holding her ignore her pleas and proceed to guide her to the cell. She was caught red handed trying to break into a massive warehouse. There’s no denying it was her. But Celina’s only option is to lie. She has to commit. She can’t rat out her new employer. Goddamit why did she have to be so cocky and go for the largest warehouse. She could have easily gone for a similar job and easier one. But she was too ambitious. What frustrates Celina more is that no one seems to be falling for lies as they usually do. This whole night is a mess. One stupid mistake… But they don’t need to know that. Maybe… just maybe if she shouts it enough someone may believe her.
The guards lead her down to the holding cells. They open and gestures her inside. “BUT I’M INNOCENT”, she cries once more. They don’t take any bullshit and escort her in. The cell door shuts loudly on her after they leave with a loud slam. She’s all alone in this tiny cell with metal bars. She grabs onto the bars. Anger starts to flow through her and she loses her composure. She shakes the bars with all her rage “YOU NEED TO LET ME GO. I SHOULDN’T BE HERE. I’M INNOCENT”. One of the guards chuckles “That’s what they all say”. Celina glares over unimpressed. The guard walks away and leaves Celina alone. Celina sighs angrily and releases the bars.
Celina looks around at her bland cell with nothing interesting. They had taken her weapons. They found all of them, even her hidden ones. She sighs loudly again. She paces back and forth for a while.
…
Stupid stupid stupid… Celina! What are we doing here?
…
Will they find out everything? My whole past?
…
They better not bring up my old name!
…
Gods am I going to be stuck in here for years?
…
After what seems like hours, Celina sees one of the guards come by and she targets them “I AM INNOCENT YOU KNOW”. The guard laughs “You’re only here 20 minutes. Save your statement for when the chief arrives” and disappears again out of sight. Celina is shocked, it’s ONLY been 20 minutes. She sighs deeply thinking this is how she will die… boredom.
Celina keeps pacing back and forth. She eventually gets tired and she slumps onto the mattress in the room. She fixates at one point on the ceiling and just stares at it for ages. She has no concept of time. To her she’s frozen in time. She had a feeling she’d end up in jail at some point. But she always thought she would be smart enough to talk her way out. She starts feeling sorry for herself. As she stares at the spot on the ceiling, her eyes get heavy and she eventually drifts off to sleep.
Celina is suddenly shocked awake by the thunderous metal clang of a gauntleted hand against the bars of the cell. “Wake up!” comes the commanding voice. A blink later, Celina had already raised herself to one knee, prepared to pounce, hand reaching to her hip. But her fingers grasp onto air. A second later as her memories catch up, she remembers that she’s in jail and frustration and anger start rising again. A moment later, the sight before her catches up with her. The guard is different. The one that put her in the cell was a rugged brute of a man, but this one seems to resemble the features of a woman with a blonde braid going down her left collar bone.
“You have a visitor,” she says, her voice as stern as before. Not a moment later, she moves out of sight.
Celina sighs and thinks “Who is here? Oh god, what if it’s the Patriot coming to get her out. That would be embarrassing. Will they be angry at her failing…”. Celina glances towards the door trying to guess who it come be.
“She’s all yours,” comes the voice of the guard from what seems to be a few feet from the cell entrance.
“It should only take a minute.”
That voice is familiar to Celina. She recognises it instantly. A new wave of shock and disbelief washes over her. Of all people to come visit her, Derthaad was the last on her list.
She always saw him in his adventuring attire. This Derthaad looked different, more stern and upright in his Watch garb, a small blue and yellow cloth piece on his left shoulder and a blue and gold badge indicating his sergeant rank.
Celina just stares at him as he approaches. “What are… what? Why are you here…?” She mumbles. “Ugh, you here to gloat or something?”
“Firstly, if the uniform hasn’t given it away, I work here.” Unlike with what she got used to, his voice is now direct and formal, no longer having the relaxed tone of one looking for a casual conversation. “Secondly, there is no reason for me to gloat, I’m not the one who caught you.” His posture is straight and unyielding, that of a soldier at attention. “I believe the guards that caught you have done their share of gloating and by now the novelty has mostly worn off.” He gives a glance to the side where Celina can guess her current guard is stationed and gives her a sharp nod. Celina can hear the clanking of grieves on the stone floor as the guard moves further down the hall and then stops. If her memory serves well, the guard should now be stationed by the entrance to the cells.
“Speaking of work and guards, I’m here to do my duty as a sergeant of the Watch. A verdict shall be decided as to what punishment shall receive. All factors shall be taken into account, from the severity of your actions to the damages you may have caused. One of these factors is also your statement. So,” he continues without delay, his voice stern, “what do you have to say for yourself?”
Not a moment later, she sees as Derthaad gives another short glance to the guard and then quickly looks to a cell in the opposite direction. She sees a quick blue glow in his golden eyes. She hears it again, the trick he likes to pull as she hears him in her head. “What did you do?” This voice was different. There was what Celina can describe as genuine concern, layered by an exasperated groan.
“Would you believe me if I told you I was at the wrong place at the wrong time?” Celina looks over to Derthaad pleadingly. “I’m innocent”.
"If you were innocent you wouldn't be here, now would you," he points out, his voice as cold as before. "You were caught trying to sneak into a highly secured warehouse in the middle of the night. There's already been a debriefing so your little escapade is now in the records." He looks down at her with a scrutinising gaze. "So, what was your business there?"
Celina stares at Derthaad and then smiles slightly “You know I was going for my usual night time runs. You know a girls gotta stay active in this times. Can’t be too careful with all these bad people around. Anyway, I look down my shoes laces have come undone. I bend down to tie my shoes and next thing you know… you guards are all over me. How was I to know where I was?”
Derthaad forces himself to not roll his eyes or take a frustrated breath. Her act is as good as always. He has to force himself to not smile at that for he quite enjoys playing cat and mouse with her. An eyebrow does raise itself, though.
Her act may be up, however…
He turns towards the guard. "Gives us a minute."
"Sir?" the woman asks, confused at the sudden request. She looks like she was about to object, but Derthaad replies before she got her chance.
"She's locked up, the keys are with you and I've checked the items you've confiscated and can positively say she's not going anywhere." He then adds in a more stern tone. "Give us a minute."
Celina cannot see the guard from within the cell, but she can hear the clanging of metal gauntlets and grieves accompanied by a salute before she hears her leaving the hallway followed by the shutting the doors and the closing of a lock.
"Right…" sighs Derthaad the moment the two are alone. He lets slip the tough sergeant face for a brief moment. "You have one minute."
Celina glares at Derthaad for a few seconds. Judging him. Weighing up how much she can share. Especially where she is. Eventually she sighs to herself. She quickly casts ‘message’ and says “Fiiiiine, I saw someone smug in that place and well that bothered me and I wanted to take something…”. Celina crossed her arms looking a bit defeated and stares at Derthaad. She continues with ‘message’. She walks towards the back of the cell pacing “I was trying to show off… and it backfired”. She looks up to him “Look I learnt my lesson. I won’t do it again. Can you get me out if here?”. She walks closer to Derthaad and softly mumbles “Please”.
Derthaad stares at her, weighing her words, her mannerisms, her pacing… her plea. He rubs his face before pinching the bridge of his nose in contemplation and slight frustration. It is now Celina’s turn to hear a ‘message’ from him. “Did you take anything from there? Or did your excursion stopped at entering the place?”
“I took nothing”, Celina replies to his ‘message’. I wanted to though… Celina thinks afterwards but doesn’t say out loud.
He sighs, as he ponders on the details given, measuring the sincerity in her words. He responds, this time without the ‘message’. “It seems there was only breaking and entering… and since nothing was stolen… with your statement, your sentence may be a lighter one, but there won’t be a verdict until tomorrow morning.” He turns to leave, but his gaze is still upon Celina. His eyes betray a single, unspoken word - ‘sorry’. He nods. “Thank you. That is it for today. We’ll see what the morrow brings.”
“Tomorrow…”, Celina sighs “I have to stay here another night?”
"Unfortunately for you, that's how it works," he replies without looking back as he's walking out. Celina hears the door to the hallway as the sergeant is about to leave.
"That is all! You may resume your post, may it be a quiet one."
"Thank you, sir," comes the voice of the guard woman as Derthaad’s soft click of his clawed feet are replaced by a clanging thud of metal grieves.
Celina feels defeated. Her one chance of getting out of jail is gone. As he walks away she knows there’s nothing she can do to convince him to help her out. She thought they were friends. She thought maybe… something was there. But since Sammy’s death she's not been thinking about that. She finds Derthaad very hard to read. She sighs out loud with all the frustration building inside her and she kicks at the metal bars. She hurts her toe and she curses out loud. After a few more moments, she slumps against the wall. Derthaad’s last few words ring through Celina’s head… That’s how it works. She growls to her thoughts Goddammit go away.
Celina sits there for a while. And the hours pass away. When suddenly she hears some footsteps approaching. Celina glances over and sees one of the guards pull out a key and unlocks her cell. The door swings open. “Alright' Ma’am, your bail has been paid. You’re now free to leave. However, there is one condition that you must complete 6 weeks of community service. If you don’t complete this you will be put back here, in this cell. But you're good to go now”. The guard then gestures for Celina to leave.
Celina is stunned once more. She wasn’t expecting this “What? I can go…? And all I have to do is 6 weeks community service? Wait… who paid my bail?”
“That’s right ma’am. And I have no clue who paid your bail. It appears the person didn’t leave a name”.
Celina cautiously leaves the cell, she thinks surely this is some kind of trick. But as she moves there’s no trap or trickery. She manages to walk straight out of the cell and back to the entrance. She collects her belongings they took from her. She grabs everything and leaves quickly. She wants to get out of there as fast as she can. She proceeds to leave… as she leaves she takes a deep breath. God the fresh out smelt good. Celina looks around, no one is chasing her or stopping her. She’s pleased. She quickly makes her way back to her accommodation.
She gets to her room and she locks the door behind her. She slumps on to her bed and rests for a few moments. God the bed felt so good under her skin. She lies there feeling so happy to be free.
After a while she sits up and decides to look through her bag to double check she got everything on the way out. Everything seems to be there. But suddenly, she notices an envelope tucked away with the rest of her stuff. It’s a plain envelope. That wasn’t there before…. She goes over to open it and finds a message inside.
“You owe me.
- D "
She laughs and a big smile forms on Celina’s face, “That damn Dragonborn…”.
Co-Written with the wonderful Derthaad
Celina is escorted to a cell. The whole way she shouts and begs “I’M INNOCENT. YOU NEED TO LET ME GO”. But the guards holding her ignore her pleas and proceed to guide her to the cell. She was caught red handed trying to break into a massive warehouse. There’s no denying it was her. But Celina’s only option is to lie. She has to commit. She can’t rat out her new employer. Goddamit why did she have to be so cocky and go for the largest warehouse. She could have easily gone for a similar job and easier one. But she was too ambitious. What frustrates Celina more is that no one seems to be falling for lies as they usually do. This whole night is a mess. One stupid mistake… But they don’t need to know that. Maybe… just maybe if she shouts it enough someone may believe her.
The guards lead her down to the holding cells. They open and gestures her inside. “BUT I’M INNOCENT”, she cries once more. They don’t take any bullshit and escort her in. The cell door shuts loudly on her after they leave with a loud slam. She’s all alone in this tiny cell with metal bars. She grabs onto the bars. Anger starts to flow through her and she loses her composure. She shakes the bars with all her rage “YOU NEED TO LET ME GO. I SHOULDN’T BE HERE. I’M INNOCENT”. One of the guards chuckles “That’s what they all say”. Celina glares over unimpressed. The guard walks away and leaves Celina alone. Celina sighs angrily and releases the bars.
Celina looks around at her bland cell with nothing interesting. They had taken her weapons. They found all of them, even her hidden ones. She sighs loudly again. She paces back and forth for a while.
…
Stupid stupid stupid… Celina! What are we doing here?
…
Will they find out everything? My whole past?
…
They better not bring up my old name!
…
Gods am I going to be stuck in here for years?
…
After what seems like hours, Celina sees one of the guards come by and she targets them “I AM INNOCENT YOU KNOW”. The guard laughs “You’re only here 20 minutes. Save your statement for when the chief arrives” and disappears again out of sight. Celina is shocked, it’s ONLY been 20 minutes. She sighs deeply thinking this is how she will die… boredom.
Celina keeps pacing back and forth. She eventually gets tired and she slumps onto the mattress in the room. She fixates at one point on the ceiling and just stares at it for ages. She has no concept of time. To her she’s frozen in time. She had a feeling she’d end up in jail at some point. But she always thought she would be smart enough to talk her way out. She starts feeling sorry for herself. As she stares at the spot on the ceiling, her eyes get heavy and she eventually drifts off to sleep.
Celina is suddenly shocked awake by the thunderous metal clang of a gauntleted hand against the bars of the cell. “Wake up!” comes the commanding voice. A blink later, Celina had already raised herself to one knee, prepared to pounce, hand reaching to her hip. But her fingers grasp onto air. A second later as her memories catch up, she remembers that she’s in jail and frustration and anger start rising again. A moment later, the sight before her catches up with her. The guard is different. The one that put her in the cell was a rugged brute of a man, but this one seems to resemble the features of a woman with a blonde braid going down her left collar bone.
“You have a visitor,” she says, her voice as stern as before. Not a moment later, she moves out of sight.
Celina sighs and thinks “Who is here? Oh god, what if it’s the Patriot coming to get her out. That would be embarrassing. Will they be angry at her failing…”. Celina glances towards the door trying to guess who it come be.
“She’s all yours,” comes the voice of the guard from what seems to be a few feet from the cell entrance.
“It should only take a minute.”
That voice is familiar to Celina. She recognises it instantly. A new wave of shock and disbelief washes over her. Of all people to come visit her, Derthaad was the last on her list.
She always saw him in his adventuring attire. This Derthaad looked different, more stern and upright in his Watch garb, a small blue and yellow cloth piece on his left shoulder and a blue and gold badge indicating his sergeant rank.
Celina just stares at him as he approaches. “What are… what? Why are you here…?” She mumbles. “Ugh, you here to gloat or something?”
“Firstly, if the uniform hasn’t given it away, I work here.” Unlike with what she got used to, his voice is now direct and formal, no longer having the relaxed tone of one looking for a casual conversation. “Secondly, there is no reason for me to gloat, I’m not the one who caught you.” His posture is straight and unyielding, that of a soldier at attention. “I believe the guards that caught you have done their share of gloating and by now the novelty has mostly worn off.” He gives a glance to the side where Celina can guess her current guard is stationed and gives her a sharp nod. Celina can hear the clanking of grieves on the stone floor as the guard moves further down the hall and then stops. If her memory serves well, the guard should now be stationed by the entrance to the cells.
“Speaking of work and guards, I’m here to do my duty as a sergeant of the Watch. A verdict shall be decided as to what punishment shall receive. All factors shall be taken into account, from the severity of your actions to the damages you may have caused. One of these factors is also your statement. So,” he continues without delay, his voice stern, “what do you have to say for yourself?”
Not a moment later, she sees as Derthaad gives another short glance to the guard and then quickly looks to a cell in the opposite direction. She sees a quick blue glow in his golden eyes. She hears it again, the trick he likes to pull as she hears him in her head. “What did you do?” This voice was different. There was what Celina can describe as genuine concern, layered by an exasperated groan.
“Would you believe me if I told you I was at the wrong place at the wrong time?” Celina looks over to Derthaad pleadingly. “I’m innocent”.
"If you were innocent you wouldn't be here, now would you," he points out, his voice as cold as before. "You were caught trying to sneak into a highly secured warehouse in the middle of the night. There's already been a debriefing so your little escapade is now in the records." He looks down at her with a scrutinising gaze. "So, what was your business there?"
Celina stares at Derthaad and then smiles slightly “You know I was going for my usual night time runs. You know a girls gotta stay active in this times. Can’t be too careful with all these bad people around. Anyway, I look down my shoes laces have come undone. I bend down to tie my shoes and next thing you know… you guards are all over me. How was I to know where I was?”
Derthaad forces himself to not roll his eyes or take a frustrated breath. Her act is as good as always. He has to force himself to not smile at that for he quite enjoys playing cat and mouse with her. An eyebrow does raise itself, though.
Her act may be up, however…
He turns towards the guard. "Gives us a minute."
"Sir?" the woman asks, confused at the sudden request. She looks like she was about to object, but Derthaad replies before she got her chance.
"She's locked up, the keys are with you and I've checked the items you've confiscated and can positively say she's not going anywhere." He then adds in a more stern tone. "Give us a minute."
Celina cannot see the guard from within the cell, but she can hear the clanging of metal gauntlets and grieves accompanied by a salute before she hears her leaving the hallway followed by the shutting the doors and the closing of a lock.
"Right…" sighs Derthaad the moment the two are alone. He lets slip the tough sergeant face for a brief moment. "You have one minute."
Celina glares at Derthaad for a few seconds. Judging him. Weighing up how much she can share. Especially where she is. Eventually she sighs to herself. She quickly casts ‘message’ and says “Fiiiiine, I saw someone smug in that place and well that bothered me and I wanted to take something…”. Celina crossed her arms looking a bit defeated and stares at Derthaad. She continues with ‘message’. She walks towards the back of the cell pacing “I was trying to show off… and it backfired”. She looks up to him “Look I learnt my lesson. I won’t do it again. Can you get me out if here?”. She walks closer to Derthaad and softly mumbles “Please”.
Derthaad stares at her, weighing her words, her mannerisms, her pacing… her plea. He rubs his face before pinching the bridge of his nose in contemplation and slight frustration. It is now Celina’s turn to hear a ‘message’ from him. “Did you take anything from there? Or did your excursion stopped at entering the place?”
“I took nothing”, Celina replies to his ‘message’. I wanted to though… Celina thinks afterwards but doesn’t say out loud.
He sighs, as he ponders on the details given, measuring the sincerity in her words. He responds, this time without the ‘message’. “It seems there was only breaking and entering… and since nothing was stolen… with your statement, your sentence may be a lighter one, but there won’t be a verdict until tomorrow morning.” He turns to leave, but his gaze is still upon Celina. His eyes betray a single, unspoken word - ‘sorry’. He nods. “Thank you. That is it for today. We’ll see what the morrow brings.”
“Tomorrow…”, Celina sighs “I have to stay here another night?”
"Unfortunately for you, that's how it works," he replies without looking back as he's walking out. Celina hears the door to the hallway as the sergeant is about to leave.
"That is all! You may resume your post, may it be a quiet one."
"Thank you, sir," comes the voice of the guard woman as Derthaad’s soft click of his clawed feet are replaced by a clanging thud of metal grieves.
Celina feels defeated. Her one chance of getting out of jail is gone. As he walks away she knows there’s nothing she can do to convince him to help her out. She thought they were friends. She thought maybe… something was there. But since Sammy’s death she's not been thinking about that. She finds Derthaad very hard to read. She sighs out loud with all the frustration building inside her and she kicks at the metal bars. She hurts her toe and she curses out loud. After a few more moments, she slumps against the wall. Derthaad’s last few words ring through Celina’s head… That’s how it works. She growls to her thoughts Goddammit go away.
Celina sits there for a while. And the hours pass away. When suddenly she hears some footsteps approaching. Celina glances over and sees one of the guards pull out a key and unlocks her cell. The door swings open. “Alright' Ma’am, your bail has been paid. You’re now free to leave. However, there is one condition that you must complete 6 weeks of community service. If you don’t complete this you will be put back here, in this cell. But you're good to go now”. The guard then gestures for Celina to leave.
Celina is stunned once more. She wasn’t expecting this “What? I can go…? And all I have to do is 6 weeks community service? Wait… who paid my bail?”
“That’s right ma’am. And I have no clue who paid your bail. It appears the person didn’t leave a name”.
Celina cautiously leaves the cell, she thinks surely this is some kind of trick. But as she moves there’s no trap or trickery. She manages to walk straight out of the cell and back to the entrance. She collects her belongings they took from her. She grabs everything and leaves quickly. She wants to get out of there as fast as she can. She proceeds to leave… as she leaves she takes a deep breath. God the fresh out smelt good. Celina looks around, no one is chasing her or stopping her. She’s pleased. She quickly makes her way back to her accommodation.
She gets to her room and she locks the door behind her. She slumps on to her bed and rests for a few moments. God the bed felt so good under her skin. She lies there feeling so happy to be free.
After a while she sits up and decides to look through her bag to double check she got everything on the way out. Everything seems to be there. But suddenly, she notices an envelope tucked away with the rest of her stuff. It’s a plain envelope. That wasn’t there before…. She goes over to open it and finds a message inside.
“You owe me.
- D "
She laughs and a big smile forms on Celina’s face, “That damn Dragonborn…”.