So I literally just wrote this.

I didn't proof read it or anything, just wrote it as the words and as the scenario played in my head. I'd love to know how I could make it better (grammar fixes, more description, etc.). I'm not too worried about context as of yet since I don't really have any to give you. Anyways, I hope you read it, I hope you enjoy it (whatever's enjoyable anyways) and don't be afraid to rip it apart with corrections either, that's why I'm throwing it out here. Be brutal. [quote]Ricard talking to Apryl about Mikayle: They had sent us to search the village for any survivors after they had bombarded it with a storm of flaming arrows. The village was but ash and rubble. Embers were still sparking and the wood was still cracking. Smoke and charred wood was everywhere, as well as the bodies of those who had stayed behind. They spread us out in groups of two, to cover more ground. I didn't pay much attention to the bodies laying on the floor still soaking in pools of fresh blood. War dessentesizes you to that sort of thing, you get used to the death, you learn to just... Deal with it. Many of us dealt with it by cracking inappropriate jokes. I'm sure if you heard them now you'd think we were god awful people, but it was how we kept sane in those days. I cracked a joke as well every now and again, but I tried to just separate the emotional side of myself. Emotions would have just gotten you killed. I didn't realize how awful the things we were doing were until Mikayle saw what he saw... We were walking through a torn down wall inside of a small house. It looked empty at first, I was trying to go through it as fast as I could, I didn't want to be there long, and I didn't notice that Mikayle had slipped away from me. I went room to room looking for him and it wasn't until I saw him in a dimly lit room of what looked like a nursery. I called his name but he didn't respond. I called him again and he continued to stand in the middle of the room. I looked around and found that his helmet was at his feet. He stood quiet. I had came behind him and it wasn't until then that I seen what was keeping him frozen. It was a child. He couldn't have been more than 5 years old and he had been left here, alone. On the child's face, there were dried tears on his cheeks and a tiny river of blood spilling out of his mouth. One of the arrows had hit him in the stomach. He didn't die right a way. He was in pain for whatever time he was alive for. In his final moments he had crawled into his bed before he passed away. I pray that he had found comfort in the toys around him before he died. I looked over at Mikayle, his head was tilted, his jaw was opened, tears were running down his cheeks and dripping off his chin. He extended his arms towards the child and gently out his hands under his head and legs. He picked him up, brought him close to his chest, and held him. Mikayle's arms began to shake as he began to weep harder. "This was some bodies baby..." He said as more tears ran down his face. His clenched his teeth, closed his eyes and began to cry as he held the boy. "I'm so sorry..." [/quote] I had posted earlier on here a first encounter between Apryl and Mikayle, it wasn't much, just an introduction to the two characters. This kind of just explores Mikayle as a character a little bit.