[center][img]http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o620/Vicier/Vicier%20-%20OUAT%20RP%20-%20Characters/Viciers%20Character%20Gifs/Colab-Post%20Gifs/Scar%20Lionhart%20-%20Gif_zpsj8lhk62g.gif[/img][img]http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o620/Vicier/Vicier%20-%20OUAT%20RP%20-%20Characters/Viciers%20Character%20Gifs/Colab-Post%20Gifs/Odette%20Swan%20-%20Gif_zpsgql3elgd.gif[/img]
[h1][color=DarkOrange]Scar Lionhart[/color] and [color=MistyRose]Odette Swan[/color][/h1]
[h2]Flashback - Swan Lake - Part Two[/h2][/center]

[b][i]Two months ago...[/i][/b]

[i]Closing her eyes she dipped her head down for a moment, her neck extending as she shook out her feathers, droplets of water scattering around her only to once more come to a rest on the lake. Turning her gaze back behind her, she watched as the moon once again lifted itself into the sky above, it's light shining down upon her figure forcing the transformation until she yet again found herself standing in the water, the sound of a large splash causing her to snap her head up, her attention turning to the last person she wished to see.

"I thought you would have learned by now, that no matter what you do... No matter what you say to me... I will never be yours." Bringing her arms up she crossed them over her chest, her head turning away from him showing him that she had no interest in speaking with him tonight.

Her body tensed up slightly as she heard him enter the water, her own body wading further out and away from his, her eyes still refusing to look upon him, "Oh come now Odette. You really think you can resist me forever?"

Snapping her head around her eyes narrowed in a glare that showed her despise for the man standing before her, "I will resist you until the day that I die. You're a monster. I am not stupid Rothbart, I know that you have done this to more people than just me."

She watched on as he nodded his head one arm wrapping over his chest as his free hand came up to rub his chin as though he was deep in thought, "Ah, yes... You wouldn't perhaps be speaking of your friend who came to give me a little visit the other night would you..?"

Her lower lip quivered slightly as she lowered her hands her eyebrows furrowing both out of anger and worry, "What have you done with him... Let him go, he is not the one you want. I am-..."

Her words were cut off as he shot his hand out gripping hold of her arm tightly, her body falling into his as he growled angrily down at her, "Do not forget your place [i]little Princess[/i]. The next time you defy me... The next time you send someone into my home to kill me... Be sure that you choose someone who can actually get the job done!"

Shutting her eyes for a moment as his grip tightened, she followed his gaze back to the shore as he lifted his hand causing the bloody, battered and bruised body of the King she had met not two nights ago to go crashing against the ground in an unconscious heap, "N-No..."

A loud yelp escaped though her lips as he threw her backwards, her body falling back into the water shaking from the violence that he had never before shown her in her time spent under his care, lifting her gaze she followed his figure as he stormed off. Waiting until he had completely disappeared before she scrambled back to her feet, she struggled to quickly force herself back to the shore and over to where he had just left him, whether on purpose or left to die she didn't know nor did she care.

Dropping to her knees at his side she leant over his body her hand pulling her hair over her shoulder as she fell silent, her ear pressed against his chest, listening carefully to his heartbeat to see how much damage had really been done.

 For a moment, it seemed that the King didn't have a heartbeat at all, but before she could fear the worst she was able to find it; feeble, weak, but fighting hard to keep going. The 'C' shaped scar around his eye had been cut back open in a few places, half of his face covered in various shades of dried and fresh blood. His lip had been busted open at the bottom and his opposite eye was swollen shut with a large purple bruise that had puffed up considerably over time.

Rope abrasions were cut deeply into both his wrists where the blood there had dried what looked like days ago. There were a multitude of various cuts and scrapes across his chest, back and stomach ranging from the size of a sliver to the largest one across his ribs almost half a foot long, though none of them were very deep. Even in the position Rothbart had allowed him to collapse into, his left knee was bent at an odd angle clearly seen even through his tattered hide pants. Half of the left leg on his pants had been completely burned off, revealing his entire shin and a good portion of his calf to have been burned by something more wicked than fire, though it was hard to place just what.

Relief washed over her face, her at first unsettling heart relaxing in her chest as she sat back up, her hand reaching out to gently brush the back of her palm over his forehead, her chest raising and falling silently as she felt for any sign of fever. Not feeling any she pushed herself back up to her feet, her hands working to pull the top layer of her dress up before she gripped hold of the second, ripping several long strips of the material away so that she could use them to wrap his wounds once she had managed to clean them. 

Ripping away a rather large piece of the material she wandered back down to the waters edge leaning over to soak it through before she once more returned to his side, dropping to her knees she placed one hand over his body, her own leaning forward as she reached out gently dabbing at the open wounds on his chest hoping that she would be able to clean them quickly enough before any infections had time to set in, if not she would have to force herself to be creative by stealing away the medicines that she would need in the morn once she once more had wings upon her back.

Once she was sure that she had been careful enough around the actual wounds she applied more pressure, quickly wiping away the blood that had stained his body over the last few days since she had last seen him, the young girl worried more about his condition giving herself no chance to even think about what would become of her if Rothbart ever found out that she was helping him. Laying the bloodstained cloth on her lap she grabbed one of the clean bits of material frowning a bit as she tried to think of a way she was going to get the make-shift bandage around his body, biting her lower lip she furrowed her brows leaning lower over him as she tried to get her arms and the material around him.

A sharp, strangled gasp came from Scar as his senses finally started to kick in and he felt someone hovering over him. Reflexively his hand shot up and found her wrist, gripping onto it tightly as his black eyes flew open and tried to sit up. Completely disoriented and welcomed by a thundering headache, Scar nearly blacked out from the pain that shot through his entire body and was forced to lay his head back down on the grass below him. His eyes shut tightly, teeth grinding together as slowly, one by one each of his injuries became known to him, forgetting about why he was startled awake in the first place.

Her eyes widened for a moment before she scrunched up her face, soft whimpers escaping through her lips as a pain shot through her wrist from where he was holding onto it tightly, "Y-Your highness... I-It's okay, it's just me..." Her body tilted slightly her other hand coming down to gently push on his hand hoping that he would let her go, it was understandable though, he had gone through something traumatic and painful, for that she understood, it just meant one more bruise to add to the others that she had gained so far that night, "You are no longer in the castle... I-I'm trying to tend to your wounds. Please, I beg of you, please just relax..."

Panting hard through the pain, her words still managed to reach his ears. Recognizing her voice almost instantly, his grip on her wrist lessened but he did not let go, afraid that if he did, all sense of his reality would be washed away and he would slip back into darkness. His heart slowly began to settle and as his nerve endings became used to the white-hot pain he eventually opened his eyes back up to find Odette leaning over him, her fair face illuminated by the pale moonlight and for a brief moment, he no longer recognized her, his mind discombobulated as he was starting to loose himself again.

"Malaika..." He said softly, a simple word of his native tongue, before letting his eyes slip closed again. His grip on her wrist became loose and his hand fell back to his side, slipping back into unconsciousness with a sharp exhale.

Her heart sunk in her chest as she lifted herself up onto her knees her hands gently pressing against his chest as he once more slipped out of consciousness, her breathing now panicked as she once more leant down listening to his heartbeat just to be sure that she hadn't lost him and that she knew he would be up and about the moment he was ready to do so. Slowly pulling herself back up so that she was sitting back on her legs, she picked up the make-shift bandage, her face scrunching up slightly as she returned to wrapping it around his chest covering up the cuts and other wounds that had been inflicted on him.

Her mind flicked back to the only word that he had spoken before slipping away again, [i]Malaika[/i]. Tying off the end of the material so that it wouldn't slip from his chest she picked up the bloodied rag, contemplating the different meanings of the word as she headed back down to the lake, rinsing it out and being sure that it was clean before she once more returned to her place at his side, her hand this time working to softly clean his face as she spoke softly a sad look in her eyes, "I am so sorry your majesty... This is my fault... If only I had stopped you before you had gone to confront him; you would not be in this pain if I had done so... Forgive me..."

Nearly three hours droned by before Scar showed any signs of life aside from his shallow breathing. Squinting his already closed eyes, he let out a tired groan of protest and attempted to roll over onto his side. Pain immediately shot through him, pulling Scar from his restful state and back awake. Eyes opening, he used his muscled arms to push him up and over so that he was on all fours as he felt something sliding up his throat. Expelling a fair amount of blood from his lungs in a coughing fit onto the grass, Scar dug his hands into the grass below him, ripping out a few good chunks as at the same time, the pain in his left leg became more clear.

Exhausted, he rested himself back down on the grass on his side, keeping his left leg on top and using his elbow to keep the upper half of his torso and shoulders off of the ground. His head rolled back, eyes closed as his nostrils flared from the smell of his own blood. Opening his eyes back up he ran his tongue over his cracked lip, using whatever moisture he had left in his mouth to gather up the dried blood and with a quick motion spat it and the remaining blood in his mouth from his lungs onto the grass in front of him.

After finally managing to clean and wrap each of his wounds she had picked herself up wandering further into the garden so that she could grab whatever fruits she could find for him to eat once he had woken back up, holding the front of her gown close against her body she wandered back into the clearing just in time so catch him spitting up whatever blood she had managed to miss, "You are awake... Oh thank the lord, I was so worried..."

Hurrying her step she crouched down in front of him her hand reaching out so that the back of it was pressed gently against his forehead, "I managed to find some pears and apples... I know it isn't much but... You need to eat..." Lowering her hand she piled the fruit down beside him, her gaze lowered in shame knowing that she should have done more to stop him from going in and getting as hurt as he had, "Please, let me know if you need something to drink. I will get you some water..."

Scar watched as the young girl approached him with an armful of fruit and as she knelt down by his side. He could only imagine what sort of mess he looked like to her then, it had been nearly a decade since he had felt this terrible. Although food was far from his mind at this point, he knew she was right and looking down at the fruit before him he couldn't help the slight scoff that came from him, being used to an incredibly high-protein diet fruit hardly seemed to even be worthwhile. Regardless, however, he snatched up a pear and nodded once, meeting her gaze.

"Water." He managed to croak out as a sort of demand before biting into the pear, grateful at least for the juices that filled his mouth to quench his parched throat and ridding himself of the taste of his own blood. Averting his eyes from her then, and keeping the pear between his teeth he ran his hand down his leg, pulling up at the end of the burnt part of his pants that now ended just below his knee so he could see what it was that was bothering his shin so much. The light tug of the fabric sent tears to his eyes for the gentle movement had moved his knee in turn. Biting through the pear completely the fruit dropped down onto his chest and onto the grass as Scar practically ripped away the fabric of his pants to over his knee, keeping from shouting out as the pain intensified ten fold. His entire kneecap was laying on the inside of his leg, rather on the top where it should be.

"God dammit, when the hell did I do that?" He cursed to himself, wondering just how long he had been with a dislocated kneecap.

Nodding as soon as the word left his lips she pulled herself away from him, hurrying her step as she moved to crouch by the lake, her hands cupping together to get as much water as she could before she slowly and carefully moved back to him her head turning away as she watched him rip his pant leg over his knee so that he himself could inspect the damage that had been done, "I-I did my best sire... Your knee was not something I could fix... I'm so sorry..."

Biting the inside of her lip she fell silent, her body slowly dropping back to her knees beside him as she lifted her hands up showing him that she had water, shutting her eyes tightly she dropped her head letting it turn away from him as she waited for him to drink. Her shoulders hunched over slightly as she cowered back, pulling herself back into her own isolation as she tried to explain, "You were gone for two days... I'm so sorry, this is all my fault... I-I never should have let you go in there..."

Letting go of his pant-leg with a harsh, agitated release his attention turned back to Odette and the water she had cupped in her hands. His hand moved to her wrist to pull it towards him, tilting her hands and dropping his head back a bit allowing the water to trickle down into his mouth at a slow, steady pace. It wasn't much, but he'd get more later after he fixed his knee.

"Hush up and help me with my knee." Scar snapped slightly, cutting her off. The information of him being in the castle for two days was relevant, her needless apologies were not and he hadn't the patience for it right now. Wiping the stray drops of water from his lips with the back of his forearm, Scar moved his body a bit so that he was sitting up rather than on his side, both elbows back and keeping him propped up as his dark eyes went back to her.

"Grab hold of my knee on the side there. All you need to do is make sure it stays still. I'm going to twist my leg back into it until it pops back into place. There will be a lot of movement on my end but you can't let it move, got it?"

As soon as he let go of her wrist again she pulled it back, her hands pressing into her chest as he cut over her words causing her to fall silent and to just listen to the instructions that he was giving her, her teeth biting down harder on the inside of her lip as she tried to hold back the tears she could feel bubbling away in her eyes, "Y-Yes sire..."

Hesitating for a moment though not wanting to make him any angrier at her than he already was she nodded, reaching forward she shut her eyes tightly the tears she had been trying to hold back silently overflowing before rolling down her cheeks, pressing her hands hard against his kneecap she tensed her body holding it in place, her hair falling over her shoulders hiding her face from his view.

Once he felt her hands on his kneecap he looked away from her, instead looking down at his leg and bracing himself for the shooting pain he knew was coming. Counting to three in his head, he jerked his entire leg inward causing his entire body to roll after it. He roared out in pain sounding eerily similar to that of a lion as the kneecap popped back into place and continuing to roll with his momentum ended up on his stomach with his arms underneath his chest keeping his torso for the most part upright. Two tears streamed down his face then, one from each eye as he clamped his mouth shut from crying out anymore and rode out the wave of pain, feeling as if his entire leg had been doused in oil and set on fire.

Stifling pained noises for the all of two whole minutes, the pain finally started to subside and Scar willed for his arms to push him back around so that he was sitting up again. It was only then that he realized that a good majority of his body had been covered by various shapes and colors of fabric, namely both his wrists, his lower leg and a large one around his chest. He didn't need to guess how it had all got there, he knew, but he didn't need to acknowledge it.

"I... thought I had done it." He started to explain out loud, his chest still heaving in trying to catch his breath. "I watched my blade sink into his chest; watched him fall... but when I turned my back..." He let out a sudden hiss, drowning out his words as a fresh wave of pain came over him, though it subsided as quickly as it came and turned the hiss into a loud shout of frustration, startling awake some nearby nesting birds who took flight into the air above them.

As soon as she felt his knee click under her touch she pulled her arms away, her body shaking as she put some space between the two of them not wanting him to see her with tears streaming down her face, turning her back to him she pulled her legs up into her chest, her back hunching over. Wrapping one arm around her legs to keep them close to her she slid her other hand up and down her arms over the bruises that were slowly coming to light over her skin, her body jumping slightly as she heard his angered yells filling the air around the lake.

Lifting her free hand up she wiped her face dry listening silently to what he had to say to her before his words morphed into a loud shout before finally falling silent again, feeling it safe to speak again she nodded her head explaining, her voice soft as she spoke, "I have overheard him speaking with his apprentice... Only a strike through the heart can kill him for good..."

As Odette began to speak, Scar began the painful task of pushing himself up and onto his feet to stand. It took a great deal of energy, but he was done feeling like the victim, done with her sympathy towards him and done with everything altogether. Wobbling a bit as he shifted his weight to his good leg, he looked at Odette, a humorless smile on his face as he shook his head no.

"Of course it is, of course. But mark my words Princess, I'm not finished with him yet." He turned then to face the looming castle in the distance, jabbing his arm forward and pointing at it accusingly. "YOU HEAR ME? WE'RE NOT THROUGH SO [I]DON'T[/I] GET COMFORTABLE! I'M NOT FINISHED!"

There was a familiar tickling feeling gathering in the tips of his fingers, bringing his head down immediately to give attention to his hands. Raising them both up he looked at them, furrowing his eyebrows and then closed his eyes, trying to regulate his breathing. Thirteen years he at least had learned [i]some[/i] sort of warning before he would change, and with that came the slow, tantalizing process of learning how to bring his anger back in before the change became inevitable. The last thing he wanted was another girl's mutilated corpse on his conscious. Returning his hands to his side after the feeling subsided, he turned back around and looked to Odette, taking in the disembodied state of her dress now in nearly literal rags.

"I'll get you a new dress when I come back." He said quietly as he began to walk off, doing his best to do so without a limp but it was inevitable. "For your hospitality." He added once he had gone past her.

Scrunching up her face she dropped her head down into her hands jumping to cover her ears as his shouts filled the clearing, and even though she refused to look over at him she knew that his anger was directed at the man who had attempted to cut him down in his prime. After a few moments of silence she slowly let her hands lower back down to her legs as she curled up tighter, feeling worse then what she had done when the blame of his injuries had been thrown down upon her by Rothbart himself.

Hearing his words, this time directed towards her, she shook her head refusing his offer at a new dress, she had done nothing thus far to earn his kindness and her heart sunk at the thought of gaining something when it was her fault in the first place, "I do not need your kindness, nor do I deserve it... All I ask is for your word that you will never return to this place... I do not wish to see you killed..." Lifting her hand up she once more wiped her face as more tears began to slowly fall, "Just-... Just go... Please... Anyone who shows me any kindness dies... I-I'm a curse better left alone..."

He stopped walking at her request for his word that he wouldn't ever return. Turning (slowly because of his leg) he faced her, his jaw set rigid as her words continued on.

"It's not so easy, is it?" He asked in an eerily calm tone. "Not so easy to have the consciousness of another person's life on your shoulders." He took two steps closer to her, his muscled body towering over her small frame, having to hunker his shoulders down and bend his neck to talk to her. With his arm, he angrily gestured back towards the castle. "That man in there... this isn't about you, contrary to your belief. Thirteen years ago he turned me into a beast, forced me to tear my own wife and child into pieces and for that alone I want him dead. You ask for my word to not return? I will not give it, not to you, not to anyone. I do this for me. So toughen up Princess, and just be glad you only have to worry about keeping your feathers clean."

Tensing her body she hunched her shoulders over trying to ignore his words though no matter how hard she tried they sunk in making her feel worse than she already had, putting her hands down beside her she pushed herself back up to her feet, turning to face him for the first time since helping him push his kneecap back into place. Lifting her hand up she brought it across, her palm connecting with his cheek leaving a small stinging sensation though she no longer cared about keeping herself polite and calm if he was only going to treat her as bad as he was.

Scar didn't even so much as flinch as her small hand made contact with his face. A minor irritant was made aware on his skin, but nothing he needed to bat an eye at.

"I'm sorry about your family, but you need to learn that you are not the only one who has suffered under this monsters tyranny! You are not the only one who has lost people they care about! You want me to toughen up? Then fine. I'll work on it, starting now." Stepping closer she balled her hands around what was left of the material that made up her dress, matching his piercing glare with one of her own. "I am sixteen years old, and every damn night since I was ten he has tried to force me to marry him, and for the sake of the people who don't even know I'm alive, I say no. Making him angrier and angrier. I know one day he will snap and take it out on me, but for them I will give up my life."

Moving over to the tree he had been leaning against two nights ago she roughly pulled the cloak he had given her out from where she had been hiding it from Rothbart, turning back to him just so that she could throw it back.

 Reaching out, Scar caught the cloak with ease and bunched it up in his fists, not bothering with putting it back on. Despite wanting to put as much distance between this place and himself as possible, with his leg in the shape it was, he wouldn't make it ten feet before collapsing.

"Why don't you just stop your arrogance for once in your life! Put your pride aside for a moment and think, if it was your child in my place, how do you think she would feel knowing that your blood was on her hands."

A muscle in Scar's jaw tightened, his jaw setting more and more rigid but despite the blood he could feel starting to boil just beneath his skin that had started upon the point where she had struck him across the face, he stayed his breath and merely looked down on her. No one had spoken of his child to him like that, they all knew better than to bring up his past. Something in him though changed at her words, something he hadn't expected. Staring down at the petite girl before him, his mind ventured back to the dreams he had on occasion of what his child would have been like had he not been subjected into killing her. The girl before him, Odette, she wasn't very far from the image his mind had given him time and time again as he had made the same comparison just the other night when he had given her his cloak, and for that, he would stay his hand. He couldn't explain it, this tight feeling he had in his chest, this overwhelming sense of wanting to protect her for reasons he knew not, but he couldn't ignore it and treat this girl like he would have any other person, regardless her being a woman; that had never stopped him from striking someone before.

"Then there would be two reasons I wish for The Great Animal to be dead." Scar said simply after a drawn-out pause. His voice kept quiet, just above a whisper but the pain he carried in his heart at the memory of his child was still evident. Keeping his black eyes on Odette, his glare softened on her, coming to realize that their curses may have been different... substantially so, but that didn't mean either one of them had endured harsher punishments than the other, for both of them had broken spirits because of it.

Stepping back she shook her head gently as if brushing away his words knowing that no matter what she said there was no way that she was ever going to get through to him, there was just something about him that told her that he would never take her seriously, what it was though she couldn't pick, "I already know that my curse will never be broken... True love does not exist. And even if it was real, there would be no chance for me to find it while I'm kept prisoner here..."

Closing her eyes she turned her head away from him her hands reaching up and behind her neck as she undid the clasp on her necklace pulling it from where it sat on her skin so that she could look down upon it, "I know that my destiny is to be trapped here, and to die by his hand... But I will not let this be a fate that we both share. I just can not, so please do not ask this of me."

Swallowing the lump in her throat she lifted her gaze back up to meet his own before she reached out taking a hold of his hand slipping her necklace into it as she did so, "Maybe it will help you find hope, because I know there is none left for myself..." Dropping her hands she turned away from him moving back to the lake her feet carrying her into the water to put more distance between them, when the dawn approached she would return to being a swan... Whether she chose to change back when the moon once more returned was something she would need to decide during the night.

Opening up his palm, the moonlight caught the edge of the swan that had been embroidered into the golden necklace she had placed into his hand. Bringing his eyes back up from the pendant, he simply watched her return to the lake, closing his hand around the necklace once more and holding within his grasp tightly. Hope. He could do with some hope, but he had long since forgotten what it felt like to have it.

Scrunching up his nose a bit as the wind picked up, pushing a familiar scent into his nose, Scar looked down into his opposite hand where he still held onto the cloak. Heaving out a hefty sigh, he began walking towards the bank towards Odette, though stopping at the shore, giving her space in the comfort of the water at her ankles. He dropped his cloak on the shore just before the water and gestured to it before turning to head in the opposite direction.

"Hold onto that, you're going to need it tonight. It's going to rain." As if on cue, thunder rumbled in the distance a fair few miles away but Scar was already halfway to a group of trees that would provide him just enough shelter for the night to keep from being drenched to the bone. Leaning against the trunk of the tree, he slid down into a sitting position, his legs bent as he opened up his hand once more and stared down the emblem of the swan.[/i]