Rhun Karr

The amphitheater was loud and full of moving, sweating bodies. Crown of Thorns had just finished their opening performance for the tournament and Rhun Karr had let himself feel good about it for all of five minutes before his thoughts had twisted into darkness and guilt. He’d shoved his hands into his pockets and stalked off before anyone else had a chance to notice he was leaving, and now leaned against a tree far, far away from the stage, separate from the crowd. He watched the next band, Void & Velvet, play. They were a hard rock band with a good sound, and he found himself enjoying their music despite himself.

His vision grew unfocused, however, as his mind drifted. He wanted to feel something for tonight — pride, maybe? But his thoughts drifted to Kaia. Kaia would have been proud. They would have dragged me back to the warehouse, already, probably have stashed a bottle of champagne or something stupid and sentimental. He thought bitterly, his mind mirroring the mocking tone of his voice, the scar crawling up his back aching with a phantom pain. The shadows around him shifted with irritation, just slightly, the air around him growing a fraction colder. He sighed, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. He lit up, not really caring who was around him, and took a long drag, exhaling the smoke to the cool night air.

He glanced up at the sky, watching the smoke dissipate and the stars become clearer. Already, his mind was working the sight into words — poetic clips and phrases that could be worked into a song or just written down, but he was content to let the thoughts come and go with the smoke from his lungs. He slunk down to sit, leaning his weight back against the tree. This far back, people sat in the grass in groups, with picnic blankets and coolers and beers. He wasn’t entirely out of place, just another face in the crowd, but he was alone, and he was glad for that.

He took another drag, his eyes shifting down to observe the glowing end of his cigarette as he exhaled without direction. A breeze caught, pushing the thick scent of tobacco right into CraveU user’s path, not that Rhun had cared or noticed, his long legs outstretched lazily in front of him. His free hand rested against his bare stomach. His hair was still pulled up out of his face, a leather vest loose around his torso and showing off the collection of black markings on his skin, still shining with a light sheen of sweat from his recent performance.