Silent Night [Open]

It was a quiet night, even for this place. Stepping through the streets, the bespectacled young lady would look around herself, staring silently at the streets and vehicles, watching them with a curious eye. I wonder what they sound like... Yes, even though it was a strangely quiet night for South City, it was even quieter for the woman that walked through its streets. Blinking silently behind slim glasses, Sara held her hands up to her chest and attempted a sigh, a very quiet noise spreading from her lips. It is truly strange, isn't it? Her footsteps clattered on the concrete, everyone around her hearing her walk. However, in the midst of all of this silence in her ears, her thoughts would always be prominent. But... there was no voice for these thoughts. It was just silence, silence and more silence. That would be the fate of a girl who could not speak, and could not hear her own voice. Placing soft white hands into her pockets, the girl closed her eyes briefly and looked at the people walking together in the base darkness; couples holding hands, or people sitting together on benches. It amused her--nobody had ever bothered to attempt to communicate with her without going for a pen and paper first, so she was almost annoyed by it. Shaking her head, Sara Richter continued her long trek, approaching the nearest park with a gusto that one would assume to be almost 'race-like'.

Taking a seat on one of the cool benches, Sara slowly closed her eyes and began to sway side-to-side, thinking and musing over the nuances of this small world that she was in. Smiling softly, she considered it: If the world that she was in was silent, was she truly in reality? Or was she in some dream that she was never going to wake up from? She had been deaf and mute for her entire life; never had the chance to hear what her parents' voices sounded like, never had the chance to develop her own voice. A silent chuckle came from between pursed lips, and Sara slowly got to her feet once more, walking forwards and deeper into the park. What was her purpose in life, she had to wonder. Where am I in this world? Such deep and meaningful things to consider, but there was nothing else to do. Everything in this world was made for people who could speak and hear; so everything in the world was against her. Shaking her head once more, she walked completely through the darkened park and into the street, walking down the pavement once more. The street lamps illuminated her body quite well, showing a very slim and small figure--not emaciated, just tiny. Add to that the coat that wrapped around her, and she looked very scrawny. Just another night on the town, huh?

The night air was cool and refreshing upon Nika's face as she walked down Fürstenrieder street, a bag of groceries clenched in her gloves. It was pleasant to get out for some fresh air for once. The past week had been stressful; Reintegrating into a military role after her hearing impairment had wrought the woman with nothing but trepidation. The weather here was at least nice. Even during this time of year, a night outside would mean freezing your face off at Briggs. Since it wasn't all that cold, Nika had decided to leave her coat at base, and had gone to the store in civilian clothing. A black t-shirt, blue jeans, sneakers. The soldier was so used to being in Briggs where there were no civilians, she felt naked without her uniform, or even her trench coat. Because she had only planned to be out for a few minutes, she hadn't even gone through with binding her chest. She had gone out and bought a bra a few days ago on a short shopping trip with her CO. It was a hesitant purchase in being encouraged to acquire a few more civilian clothes, especially since she had given up cross-dressing as male.

With a heavy sigh, inaudible to herself, she trudged on back towards base, avoiding eye contact with everyone she passed. She had nothing to say to them, they had nothing to say to her. The last thing she wanted was for someone to say something to her. She'd rather shoot herself in the leg than explain her disability to every person who ever so much as looked at her. Better invisible than the center of attention. Everyone could take their pity and choke on it for all she cared.



"Hey girl, where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Oblivious to the words of the crass looking man that trailed to her side with a stupid grin on his face, Nika continued on without so much as glancing at him.

"Aw, don't be so cold babe. Me an' my friends jus' want ta talk to ya"
"Yeah, c'mon, a girl like ya should be hittin' up clubs for drinks with us, yanno?"

The stern faced and unfriendly girl continued to ignore them as if they weren't even there.

"I'm only gonna ask nicely one more time. Do you not speak Amestrian or somthin'"

Not a sound from the lone woman.

"Hey bitch, look at me when I'm talkin' to ya"



In the midst of wandering thoughts and shuffling feet, someone abruptly gripped Nika's shoulder tightly and aggressively, prompting her to reach for the hand that held her there. What happened next was a blur of reflex. Whether she reacted out of military training or out of being started, caught off guard in such a vulnerable state, being unable to hear her attacker approach her, the fact remained that the man behind her went sailing over Nika's shoulder, landing in front of her, flat on his back, lips moving in an cry of shock and pain that went unheard from her attacker.

"Oi bitch, what the fuck are you doin'?"

Nika spun around, catching sight of two more thuggish guys, probably the guy she just floored's friends. One of them was shouting something, she didn't know what, but he was approaching her way to quickly. He raised his hand, but she reacted quicker. Her clenched fist met with the side of his face, then she stepped into the next punch, smashing into his chin, causing him to stumble into the brick wall behind him and fall to his arse. Her knuckles stung from how hard he had hit him.

"Fuckin' psycho-bitch"

The other one said something, but he didn't get any closer. Smart man. Realizing she had no way of knowing if the first man was still on the ground, she quickly spun around, just in time to catch a brute fist to the face, made all the more painful from the set of rings he was wearing. Head spinning, Nika stepped back, rubbing her eyes in alarm, trying to wipe the blood dripping down from a gash on her brow. Fuck all, how'd she get into this. Why the hell were these punks just attacking her anyway? Were they trying to mug her?

WHAM

Blunt pain screamed at the back of Nika's head, and the world became even more hazy and discordant as Nika stumbled to stay on her feet. She was fairly sure one of the other two men had hit her, but she didn't have time to check, as generic thug number 1 was coming at her again. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head and the stinging blood in her right eye, Nika stepped backwards quickly enough for a swinging fist to narrowly miss her face. Quick to exploit the opening, Nika closed in, driving her elbow into his face, bloodying his nose and sending him hurtling back to the pavement. She spun around quickly again, this time able to duck under a clumsy attempt to hit her in the head again, which she followed up with a quick punch to the solar plexis. The man, the one who had backed away at first, was visibly disoriented from being hit. From there, Nika simple move to his side, positioned her leg behind both his, and with her right hand, she pushed on his chest, forcing his weight backwards, causing him to trip over her leg and fall to the ground and onto his back.

Placing a hand over the wound on her temple, Nika stepped back and looked over her handiwork. Three men beaten and bloodied in less than a minute, now strewn about the sidewalk. How the hell did this happen?

Normally, when a scuffle occurs nearby, one would hear something. Of course, when you're somebody like Sara... you tend not to hear anything. In fact, she would've walked right past the scuffle itself, had she not noticed some strange movements out of the corner of her left eye. People moving quickly and erratically, with a woman in the middle. She felt down at her hip--she always carried a small knife on her person. She was going to go now, and see how this woman was. She turned towards them and slowly stepped forwards, awkwardly feeling her way through the dark streets and watching the group with quietly calculating intent. The other woman was moving quickly and powerfully, and Sara almost felt awed by all of it. Strange, how this sort of thing played out... Closing her eyes and breathing out, she took another few tentative steps forwards as the last of the men fell around the feet of the now-powerful-looking woman. The girl looked to be bleeding from what appeared to be the temple--so she would return her knife to her belt and carefully walk forwards.

The scrawny girl in the rather large coat made her way over to Nika now, and stepped in front of her, smiling tentatively and waving to get her attention with a nod. Would this one speak sign language? Her hands raised up in front of her and she started to move them quickly, attempting to speak to the girl. Are you okay? Do I need to go and get some help? Relatively certain that this would have no effect, Sara stepped back and placed a hand onto her temple, moving it around a little and trying to show the act of putting a bandage on it. Hopefully, that would work. Or, this woman would be able to speak some form of sign language. Sara couldn't read lips, so these were her only options at the moment...