#the signet ring becomes her holy symbol btw.

[shieldborn]

OATH: (blood cw, death cw) for a long time nora thinks it is rage and anger that fuels her. she is made strong by it, that she lived instead of others is an injustice that flows through her veins and settles into her grip on her sword. the oath she made to herself is more than revenge.

she pulls herself up and stands among the fallen bodies of her friends, her friends marred with blood, soaked in so much death that she could not recognize a friend's easy smile in the cold faces that remained. she stands alone amongst her closest companions and she sees only bodies crumpled like dolls by a force stronger than they had ever seen. in death they were nothing more than the crest that decorated their armor. she does not recognize her friend in the cold body below her, her friend who was so full of life. nora, gently, with softness that will not be felt, lifts a chain from around her friend's neck, pulling free a silver signet ring from its safe harbor under their torn armor. nora can do no more for the bodies, but as she pushes herself to her feet, she takes her friends with her, setting the chain to rest against her chest, feeling the chill of metal fight against the warmth of her beating heart.

her oath is not about revenge. her friends are dead, there is nothing that will bring them back. nora discards the armor that had kept her safe for so long. she had found community once by bearing the symbol of her battalion, how stupid of the farmer's daughter to not recognize the brand that marks beasts for slaughter. she would no longer allow herself to be marked. when she died, she would not die faceless.