August Open Log

[solitarysoul]

Who: Levi and Open
What: TDM and other prompts
When: Throughout August

Content Warnings: Levi carries the probable warnings for child soldiers, child abuse and mental illness (PTSD/Depression). Will note anything specific!

Barricades
Through out the month, Levi stations himself at the barricades near the mine entrances. He'll visit the Milton side each day, standing guard and watching the mine entrance for a few hours before moving on. On this side he's more casual, but when he visits the Lakeside entrance he's more on guard. There he stands at attention and keeps an eye on any sign of Forest Talkers. Early in the month he visits that side every few days, but as the month goes on he visits it less. Maybe the Forest Talkers had more to worry about than planning revenge for the kidnapping.


Tea Time
Levi'd been out in the woods for a long time when he came across the old woman. She was strange, but the fire was very welcoming. As was the tea, though his instinct was to mistrust it. She clearly wasn't a Forest Talker, though, and Bill and Methuselah were safe enough. He still didn't trust the old man (he probably never would) but none of them had given the Interlopers anything to hurt them. Mostly, though, he was cold and hot drinks did wonders to warm hm up. He probably should have listened to his instinct, though.

Early afternoon one day a child comes wandering into Milton from the wilds. At 10 years old, Levi's oversized coat is now comically large. He's rolled his pants and sleeves up as much as he can and he's dragging along a rifle that's much too big
for him. Maybe he should have left the rifle behind but there were wolves out in the woods and he was too afraid to leave it. Thankfully he hasn't tried to fire it, since the skinny, somewhat malnourished kid's body wouldn't take the recoil well. He looks like he's been crying and if he spots you he'll start to hurry over and then stop.

Adults could be scary. He doesn't know if they are here or not, but he should be careful. He doesn't know how he got here but what if him doing so was bad? He could get in trouble! Getting in trouble was really bad.

Or maybe you're resting quietly in your cabin and hear someone try the door. People might be around, but a house was better than being out in the snow and maybe if he's really careful he can duck inside for just a few minutes. Hopefully no one is home, but if they were he could be quiet!


Laying next to Meow
Though the larger tremors were obviously an issue, even the smaller ones could be a problem. After this last minor one Levi could be found kneeling on the ground next to a random cabin's porch. He's looking at something under it and speaks in a soft, calm voice. "Its okay Mary. The shaking's over. You can come out now."

From under the porch a small, pitiful meow responds to him.


Wildcard
Or maybe you run into Levi somewhere else. He's still going about his normal daily patrols, hunts and log chopping exercises. He over nights in the community hall like usual, and even makes it out to the basin, hot spring or Lakeside (more than just the mine entrance) at points during the month.

((will match style. If your character has heard of Levi's assassination attempt and wants to confront/praise him over it feel free to do so here.))

Comments

[solitarysoul]

"Hm?" He looks up and to Sansa. "Oh, um, I'm fine. Its just, um, my cat. I'm trying to get her out."

[clothed]

A cat? Oh, she must have gotten under the cabin floors, then. "Ah, in the crawl space, ser?"

Sansa joins him in peering under the boards; she folds her skirts around her knees and crouches down. "Does she have a name? Something to call her forth?"

[solitarysoul]

"Yeah, she bolted under there when the ground shook."

Two little eyes blink back at Sansa from the darkness.

"H-her name is Mary. Oh, um, and I'm Levi. Y-you don't have to use Ser."

[clothed]

"Levi," Sansa repeats, canting her head slightly as she recognises the name, but not the face. "I have a friend here who has the same name. You must have met him, he's about shorter than me but no less fierce."

She bows her head to him, then, even as she pats the soft snow in hopes of drawing the cat's attention to them. "Call my Lyanna, s- Levi. You truly do not mind my being so informal?"

[solitarysoul]

"Oh, yeah, I know him. We've worked together before." He stretches an arm into the space below the porch. The cat moves a bit closer to sniff at his fingers but remains out of reach.

"...I-i don't mind. I don't like being called Ser." Well, Sir but the words sounded similarly enough. "Do, um, i-if you want me to use a title instead of calling you Lyanna?"

[clothed]

She's caught off-guard, and it shows on her face. A title. No one's called her a lady in so long, never mind called her by her true name. Sansa. Stark. Her pretend name is becoming harder to let go as the days go by.

Who else would she be? Should Sansa exist here?

Shaking her head, she answers Levi politely and holds herself still; she doesn't want to spook the kitten by accident. "Lyanna is more than all right, if you won't mind.

"Is there a reason you mislike being called ser?"

[solitarysoul]

"Uh..." Yes, there very much is so. He doesn't want to be reminded of the squad he lead. The squad he failed. But he doesn't know how to explain that without going into things he'd rather leave buried.

Thankfully, there is a cat he can shift his focus to. She's moved closer to his hand but hasn't gotten close enough to grab. He'd rather not just grab her anyway. He makes that universal 'attract cat' noise. "Come on, Mary. Its okay."

[clothed]

She senses his hesitation, and she wonders why. Perhaps he's lost someone? A friend? Perhaps he's lost people, more of them than she dares to think a person might lose. Or maybe he's been given a title that insults him, the same way Mother had used the word bastard against Jon.

She lets herself feel for him, for what she imagines must be some kind of loss, or some torment that plagues him.

"She's a lovely cat, Levi," she pivots the topic instead. "How long have you known her?"

[solitarysoul]

Mary inches closer, moving near enough that Levi can pet her. "There you go. Just a bit further, okay?"

"Oh, just a few months now. I found her over at Lakeside when we first got there. I fed her and she started following me."

[clothed]

"Creatures can be like that."

Simple, she doesn't quite say. They're hardly simple, but most of their wants tend to be. Warm food and hearth, clean water, safety. Simple needs and wants, as like what any man would want for himself too.

Well, these things and peace. "Perhaps when she's bigger she can meet my Lady."

The kitten is too small that, even though Lady is well behaved, she might confuse her direwolf to be prey. Sansa won't take any chances.

[solitarysoul]

He chuckles a bit as the cat inches closer, purring as she rubs along his arm.

"I just gave up and figured if she was going to follow me I might as well take care of her.

"Lady?"

[clothed]

"My direwolf companion," Sansa replies happily. "She's about this high, at the shoulder," which she marks by holding her hand at waist height. Lady has been growing apace, and Sansa's glad that game and fowl are both returning to pockets of land closer to Milton.

"Do you know how old Mary might be?"

[solitarysoul]

"A direwolf?" Was that different from a wolf? Maybe that was like a breed of dog or something. He finally extracts the cat from under the porch and stands up as she burries herself into his oversized coat.
Also, that was a big wolf. Damn.

"I don't know. I think she was pretty young when I found her but she ate the jerky I gave her. Cats and dogs have to drink milk for awhile like people, right? So at least old enough to not have to do that."

[clothed]

Sansa stands as well, coming to her full height — which, well. She's tall, for a girl her age, and she hopes he won't mind it.

"At least a few months, then," she surmises, thinking back on the dogs that the kennelmasters had raised for her father's hunting guard. "They wean at about two turns of the moon at the earliest, though I might not be a good judge for this.

Lady grows... fast." Speaking of whom — "She should be around, I think, but sometimes she hides from me too. Would you like to help me look for her?"

[solitarysoul]

He doesn't mind her being tall, he's on the short end of average anyway. So he's used to people being taller than him. "Yeah...It was about five months ago when we went through the mine for the first time, I think. So that would make her...seven months? I don't really know much about cats. Or I didn't before, I read some stuff here."

Search for a dog...he'd rather not leave Mary behind since she was still shaking a bit. "Uh, i-if you think she won't try to," eat? kill? "play with Mary I can."

[clothed]

"If you hold her, I think Lady will not seek her," Sansa reassures him. At least, she's not known Lady to attack people who carry meats or foodstuffs in their arms as is; the wolf seems aware enough to only take what is offered to her. "But if you're worried, I'll do my best to keep her distance from the both of you."

She holds out her hand to Levi, to offer her hand in what she's seen as a gesture of camaraderie. A handshake, they call it, and it didn't seem to choose between man or woman.

[solitarysoul]

He looks down at the kitten hiding in his coat. "I can hold her, I think. But maybe I'll stay back a bit just in case."

He's not entirely sure why she's offering a hand shake; maybe its because they've sort of made a deal? It didn't really matter, though, so he shakes her hand; his grip is pretty weak.

[clothed]

If Levi's grip is weak, Sansa's is firmer than should be for a girl like her. She smiles warmly to him though, when the gesture is done; feeling proud of herself just a little for finally practicing some of the local customs openly.

"Just tell me when you feel her become anxious," Sansa says as she gestures for them to walk along the path. "I promise to keep Lady close to me."

[solitarysoul]

Levi doesn't really notice that Sansa's grip is odd; Abella's grip back home was pretty strong and there were a number of strong women here. Though he doesn't really file that information away for later.

He brings an arm up to craddle the cat in his coat (and maybe stop her from holding on with her claws so much) and nods. "I can do that. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

[clothed]

"Possibly roaming," Sansa confesses, "or hunting for food. She means to feed me and herself and the Lady Randvi, now that we're living with her."

She leads the charge, as it were, wending and weaving their way through the thickening brushes in the area. It's good vegetation, though none she recognises to be eaten; perhaps she'll ask some of the other Interlopers if they know their herbs and other plants, and she could help forage.

"Have you been in Milton for a long time, Levi?"

[solitarysoul]

He follows her, keeping an eye and a ear out for any dogs or wolves, dire or not. "A long time. About a year I think."

[clothed]

A year — about as long as the Lady Randvi. Sansa hums her agreement.

"Was it always this difficult? Here in Milton, I mean," she clarifies her question. "I've only been here for a few moons. I hope to survive a few more, gods willing."

[solitarysoul]

"We've always been alone in the cold here. Its never been easy, but we've started a few things to try and help. It'll get colder, though. Part of the winter there's no sun at all, like there wasn't night in the summer." Well, that didn't go so well. "But we didn't have any issues like that before."

[clothed]

"The game and fowl disappearing, you mean?" It had been disconcerting to hear almost no natural noises in the air, in those terrifying days. Dead still air in every direction; it was unnatural as it was terrifying, like the land understood some great evil and held itself still to keep safe.

[solitarysoul]

"That and...how everything felt. And the weird sky."