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28 Vienice Aramon

_Vienice Aramon_

Groggily, he lifted his head, groaning out as his blackened body stretched itself. The beam behind him snapped in that moment, charred all the way though and barely standing. He fell to his knees, the ashen chains around him jingling. He had not been able to pull his hands in front of him- had not been able to keep from landing on his face in a pile of ash and coals.

He huffed first, then sneezed from the ash that attacked his nose. Slowly, he pushed himself up, finding that a fresh layer of snow covered everything around him. How long had he been hanging there? He blinked once, testing out his eyes. They felt fine- nothing like charred skin. In fact, as he looked down to see his legs, they were fine- scar free too. He blushed, finding he was naked without his hands being able to cover himself. His hands were bound behind him, after all.

He stood slowly, using one leg and then the other without use of his arms. There was hardly anyone around anywhere. He supposed they all left after... after he died. But they had left him there? Perhaps a warning to all prisoners being led into the dungeons. Slowly, he took a step forward, and then another.

This was when a woman saw him. She screamed and ran off, he assumed it was to tell someone. He took in his surroundings, letting the memories come back to him as they had the last two times he had... died. He found that he did not like that word. Death; dying- not when used with himself.

He listened now, noticing the few busy bodies that had not yet noticed him despite the woman's scream. It was quiet now, nothing but the cold wind to sweep away his woes. He did not hurt anymore. Besides the assault of life against his senses once more, he felt relatively at peace. It was an odd feeling, the snow beneath his feet. When he breathed out, his eyes caught sight of the breath in the frozen air, the way it steamed and dissipated from him like smoke. He was not cold. He could not remember a time when he had ever been cold. He did not know what it was like to be cold.

Vienice curled his toes in the white frost, curiously. He was dirty- covered in ash and dirt, but he could not see the scars from the nails, nor did his ankles contain any sort of soreness. If he had not felt so empty on the inside, he would have thought this a great feeling. He had the inkling to touch his face now, but the chains that held his hands back would not allow such a movement. 

With his eyes still on his feet, he pulled against his restraints, unsure what it was that compelled him to do so. He did not stop when he heard the crunching of snow under boots approach him, nor did he stop when he felt the bones in his hands protest against his pulling. It hurt, but pain was no longer what it used to be. Pain was merely a buzz in the background. A warning he did not have to follow. He continued to pull at the constraints, not bothering to see who it was that came to stand in front of him- not caring that he was still naked.

A pop could be heard, and he felt the pain that accompanied it. Another pop followed with more pain that he would have cried out at once upon a time. He continued to pull and eventually, his hands slid out of their confines, the cuffs falling to the ground. He pulled his hands in front of himself now, inspecting the thumbs he had dislocated so easily. And it was just as easy to put them back, the sharp pains not even eliciting a blink from the boy.

He turned his hands from front to back, flexing them. The were no longer mangled and broken. They too, no longer hurt to use. Vienice used these hands of his to feel his face, expecting charred skin or something to hint of his fiery death. His fingers were only met with smooth skin- perhaps smoother skin than he had before these events. They slowly traced from his chin, up his lips and cheeks, fingers spreading to take in all of his features.

Slowly, Violet eyes looked up at who it was that stood before him.

"You never fail to surprise me," The robed man said, with arms hidden in his long cloak. "I would think you to lose your memory after these kinds of events, but every time I check, you are still sound of mind. I assume that is so now?" Vienice found himself nodding, unsure of what words to say. The robed man seemed pleased. "You don't seem to be cold, I am surprised I never noticed before." Vienice was silent. "However, I do believe it would be best to fetch you some clothes, for decencies sake."