#even tho this is a darkling pairing one of the most significant relationship raisa has is with alina which causes a lot of angst

[moireia]

another fic i may never write  ↳ raisa karenin, heretics 🌑

Raisa Karenin could never really settle. She was never given the chance.

How could she when every year meant a new village to hide in? Every year meant a new name to learn. At all cost, she had to keep the secret close—one she was never to show and never to tell at the risk of her own life. The secret that her mother could read lies in heartbeats, that her father could mend wounds with a touch, that Raisa could make shadows dance. 

It was hard to make friends when anyone, even another child, could be a threat. When her family arrived at Ryveost, Raisa decided to make friends out of the flowers in the garden and the characters in her mother’s stories. Raisa created the Witch of Duva and Koja the Too-Clever Fox as shadow puppets to play with.

All these stories and all these lies were Raisa’s protection. They were the warnings that kept her safe. They were the lessons she faithfully followed even after her father was lost to the sea. Even after her mother died.

Then, after Ryevost, there was Keramzin.

Even in the loss of all that she knew, there was something to be gained. Keramzin gave her Alina and Mal—her first true friends, the three of them drawn together almost inexplicably. Perhaps it was pity for the new orphan, quiet and a little strange. Perhaps it was sympathy, knowing too well the cruelty of the others who saw you as different. Nevertheless, Alina and Mal were kind when Raisa needed it most.

At sixteen they were drafted into the First Army. It took them on different paths but they found ways to stay in touch. While Mal tracked in the woods and Alina held onto a pen, Raisa took up a rifle and became a sniper. An efficient soldier who took dangerous missions and rose quickly in rank—anything she could do to avoid the Fold. Her father had many theories about what would happen if Raisa entered the Unsea. Would it respond to her? Would the volcra hunt her, seeking shadow summoner blood even from a different line than their despised creator? Would she pass untouched? Madraya argued the risk was too great to ever try.

But then Mal is ordered to cross the Fold. Alina sets a fire and damns herself to stay with him. What choice does Raisa have but to follow? Her mother’s voice echoes in her mind as Raisa steals a cartography uniform and sneaks aboard the Skiff.

For the first time, Raisa ignores the warnings. She cannot leave her dearest friends to the darkness of the Unsea. She would follow them anywhere—even if it means risking discovery.

#fyeahgrishaverseocs #ocappreciation #ochub #raisa karenin #grishavese oc #shadow and bone oc #sab oc #the darkling x oc #aleksander morozova x oc #fic: heretics #sab is back so i'm finally introducing raisa #i love her so much she means a lot to me #yes she is a shadow summoner but she's from a different bloodline #yes that means a second shadow summoner bloodline and i've got so much lore for it #even tho this is a darkling pairing one of the most significant relationship raisa has is with alina which causes a lot of angst #i feel a lot of things about sabs2 so i'm channeling that into this fic