#[ litriu mahariel: relationships and dynamics ] if you were easy to kill i would've done it already

[scvcnofswords]

One thing about Litriu that I've always found really interesting while writing her is that she's deeply, deeply kind, beneath the bared teeth and claws. She will always insert herself between someone who needs protecting and what hunts them, will always try to help those in need. Coins to a beggar, hunting for a village where she can- especially after the 5th Blight, when she doesn't feel like she's got an axe hanging over her neck (the axe is Urthemiel)

However she will deny most of her kindnesses if asked about them, even by those who directly witness them.

She was asked once if it was because she didn't want to appear weak- but she has never considered kindness to be weakness. And it's not that the anger and the aloofness are put-upon, either, because they very much are her immediate instincts. Like an animal that's been hurt by people too many times to count.

It's fear. That the moment someone sees what's beneath the bared teeth and claws that they'll break it or turn away from it. She has never fit anywhere, she has never felt at ease anywhere (until, ironically, the 5th Blight and Amaranthine. Who'd'a thunk it.) She has lost 98% of the people who have seen the real her. Her clanmates- Tamlen especially, Merrill. Her parents. Hell even Duncan.

She does not trust anyone with the softer parts of herself unless they prove they CAN be trusted. And this also plays into why she never really faces anyone. Litriu is always looking at people from an angle- sidelong, through her hair, from under the brim of her hat, ect, ect, ect.

It's shielding a vulnerability. She shields, and shields, and deflects, and masks, and lashes out when cornered. Patience is the only real way to get to know her. That or try an approach she's not expecting. But once you do know her, she's loyal to the very marrow, and she won't give that up for anything. To her own death and detriment.

[scvcnofswords]

tag dump 1. [ litriu mahariel ]