Konan375A moment...annd then it's gone
Althalus' gaze focused back on Mar and Lyn, ignoring his headache, as Mar finally awoke. She wasn't the only one, Althalus noted, hearing Lyn's high pitched squeal and then giggle. A gentle smile crossed his face, and he relaxed a little bit more. Some small part of him had still worried that Mar wasn't going to wake up from whatever had happened to her. That part relaxed now and he found himself agreeing with Mar by nodding. Responding to Alaira's teasing he said, "Oh yes. Soft as a pillow, but not as soft as you when it comes to her." He nodded his head towards Lyn, a light smile playing on his face. When Alaira began to with his name, he raised an eyebrow. That was out of character. When she began complimenting him, he raised his other eyebrow. She must have been hit harder on the head than he thought. "I would hope that I'm a good friend. You sacrificed yourself to save Lyn and Mar. I can never repay you for that, but I can try." He said quietly. However, he soon realized that Alaira probably had no idea what they were talking about, and he turned to explain more to the half-elf, when Mar spoke again, about how she should have had puncture wounds. Althalus froze, barely noticing Alaira's final words before leaving.
Turning slowly and deliberately to Mar, "Puncture wounds? From a trident I take it?" Of course. Who else could have hurt her, or wanted to hurt her? His entire body tensed with repressed fury, and then slowly untensed. Rage would gain him little in this room. "I'll kill him. No prison is unbreachable.." Shaking his head, he returned to the matter at hand. "But you're okay? Nothing wrong aside from confusion at what exactly happened?"
"Althalus, I'm fine. Right now the most confusing thing is your behavior." Mar spoke, her confusion worsened at the man's reaction. She had lifted her head and watched the slight show between the pair. When it had ended, she merely sighed. Her hand was still rested upon her stomach now voided of holes, the fact seemed more like a distrubing one which refused to leave her alone. She knew had been hurt. The blood all over the floor and signs of struggle was a very clear reminder.
Her mind had drifted over what Althalus had mentioned about a trident. The image of Xyden brandishing his weapon and it sinking into her belly became vivid that she flinched. A sour taste reached onto her tongue and settled there, filled her mouth with its foulness. Her hand back came up to help her swallow it down. Mar didn't like that as she turned to Athalus and spoke. "What happened?"
Althalus opened his mouth to continue, then remembered who he was talking to and shut his mouth. Explaining why 'bipeds', humans in particular, used their emotions so much was a battle he would not win. So he kept his mouth shut, and simply watched her. It was much easier for him to just watch, rather than for him to talk. Thus, that's how he noticed her flinching. Concern flicked across his features, but he said nothing, waiting for her to speak. He could guess what she was flinching at, and gritted his teeth. He would kill the bastard. It wouldn't make up for his failure, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction. As she asked him what happened, he paused a few moments, gathering his thoughts. "Xyden beat Alaira, and knocked her unconscious, and started heading here. Sam tried to stop him and failed. He made a lengthy proclamation which pretty much summed up that he wanted to kill you and Lyn, he started to come inside and I stabbed him, there was a short fight where I tried to protect you and Lyn, he cornered me and nearly caved my head in with his trident, so I failed, and then I blacked out." There was a self-hate in his tone, quickly gone as he continued. "I awoke to finding you and Lyn covered in blood and filth on the ground. After a minor panic, I realized you were both alive. I cleaned you both up," He gestured to the bloody red cloth and the bowl of bloody water. "and then made you comfortable. I fell asleep in front of the door way, and then awoke to Alaira yelling at me. We talked, then you woke up."
He shrugged. "That's all I know."
Mar's eyebrow rose. Her expression seemed not to believe him at first, the spun tale a little hard to swallow for her. At least at first, then the memories seemed to edge back to her. First her own encounter with Xyden then Althalus's. Her skin paled into a brighter white, her heart seemed to race and her tail instinctively curled about her infant daughter. Lyn's small body shifted over the covers and pressed against her mother's side giving a little giggle before her hands reached to explore the surface of Mar's tail. The mother Naga however had stayed eerily silent.
She seemed to absorbed the thoughts which rattled in her head but in truth, Mar was trying to keep herself from throwing up. Her fingers gripped the sheets tighter and took hold of fistfuls while the picture of Althalus fighting replayed in her mind. An emotion. Strangely sickening and wrathful seemed embedded in her chest, a sort of heat filled her and seemed to be the core cause of it. Without a word, Her head snapped back to Althalus. Her hand strike out to seize what remained of his shirt collar. Then gently pulled him forward, her eyes searched over to seek the wounds and examine him completely.
Once she found no serious wounds, Mar's finger released her grip and allowed Althalus some room. She breathed a sigh of relief that he was mostly intact. That uneased feeling seemed to have faded with evidence he was alright. Of course her next words seemed to have indicated otherwise. "You don't ever do that to me again."
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Althalus sighed, seeing her look of disbelief. "Believe me, if I hadn't seen the bl..." He trailed off, concern growing as he watched Mar pale, tighten her tail around Lyn, and then grab the sheets. Pulling himself up to his feet, muttering a curse as he still had a headache, he walked over to her. "Mar? What's the-" He was cut off as her hand grasped his shirt collar and then drew him close as she examined him. After his initial surprise drained away, Althalus waited quietly, a small smirk going across his face as he watched Lyn giggle and try to crawl over the tail that was suddenly drawn around her. As he felt Mar's fingers releasing his collar, his eyes returned to the Naga. Even though he could have straightened up, he didn't. At her last words, he shook his head, a hand carefully reaching out to touch her shoulder. She seemed...odd, to react like this after arguing with him for six months.
Softly, he replied, "What was I supposed to do? Just let him kill you and Lyn?"
"That's the problem Althalus, you're only thinking about yourself!" She felt herself snap and continue, a slight depression within her tone. "If you have been killed what would Lyn and I had done? It's selfish to think you're the only one that would feel a loss because of a death. It was stupid of you to take him on and even more idiotic to think you had a chance to win."
At this moment she didn't jerk her shoulder away as his hand rested upon it. Her eyes just turned to him, slight wetness edged to her eyes before she had noticed. Her hand back came up and wiped it away, head turned to hide it. She didn't want him to see how badly it shook her, surprised by herself, to think about him dying had on her. Her voice held some anger towards him as if he planned on dying and she resented him for it.
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Althalus blinked in surprise. This was twice now that Mar had revealed that she held more than contempt for his emotions and dislike of his stubborness to be apart of Lyn's life. He opened his mouth to respond, when he noticed a wet glimmer in Mar's eyes before she wiped them and turned her head away. His gaze softened, and his hand moved from her shoulder to her chin, gently forcing her to look at him. "I wasn't only thinking of myself, even if it appeared that way. While yes, failing to protect you and Lyn gives me great pain, and your deaths would have brought unimaginable sorrow and a desire for revenge that has only happened once before, I didn't do it to spare myself pain." A gentle smirk crossed his face briefly, before he continued. "I did it to try and save your lives.
"You're my family, and the both of you are the most important things in this world to me. I would give anything, my life included, to ensure your safety. On a more practical point, Lyn will need you more than she'll need me. I will undoubtedly only be a small, small part of her life. A faded memory, at best. She'll live far longer than any human, and you're the only one of us who will be alive for most of her life. I didn't think I had a chance of surviving, and I knew very well how stupid it was for me to take him on in a relatively fair fight. But there was a chance I could delay him for help to arrive, or even kill or cripple him enough not to carry out with his plan, and I took it. I don't want to cause you pain, any more than I want to die, but I won't stand idly by while someone not only threatens your life, but the life of my child. It's not an option."
Mar felt her head tilted back to him, part of her wanted to fight but in the end, gave in. His fingers were coarse and firm, her heart pounded in reply to feel them softly clasp her chin. Not all the wetness had been wiped away in her haste, collected at the edges, while she knew he would've noticed. His face had became relaxed to prove her already known fact. Naturally at the sight, he turned into a long winded explaination. It was both far too long in her experience yet a bit of her felt a slight warmth at it. Her eyes fixed upon his rather handsome golden eyes that seemed to come to life with each word, reflected back both sincerity and sorrow. They had almost lost too much. Both for Mar's and Althalus's liking. At his words about a faded memory and the fact Lyn would her, Mar stopped herself from rolling her eyes at his excuse.
Lyn had legs, not a tail. Mar could never teach her to walk, run or even fight since she had no experience with such things. Her child, if he died, would likely never learn to walk and that was a fatal reality.
"Bipeds can be so...stupid." Mar said, unable to think of another word. She continued with a tone that her next words had explained everything, her head tilted to the side with a serious look. "I can't teach her to walk, Althalus. And why is it, you must say so much before you get to the point?"
It was at this moment, the once delighted giggles had turned into slight fussy sounds. A strange sound had come from Lyn's middle, low and rather demanding, which announced the infant was hungry. Unable to crawl, Lyn's turn to her side hadn't gone as planned and instead, she rolled back over. Her little legs started to move and arms started to reach for Mar, who promptly pulled from Althalus's grasp to pick her child up. Cradling the now screaming Lyn, Mar looked to Althalus. "Someone's hungry and I need to make a trip down to the kitchens for some food..."
Mar started to rise but suddenly stopped. Her head felt rather dizzy in her fast change in elevation, her body then sat back down before it had gotten very far. A hand rested upon her head until the earth had ceased its tilted. She muttered. "That was odd..."
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Althalus chuckled gently at her first words. After all, they were true, in a way. As she continued he raised an eyebrow, and opened his mouth to reply only to close it with an amused glance towards Lyn. He let go of Mar as soon as she turned from his grasp to pick up the squalling child, feeling the moment slip away like water between his fingers. A small smile crossed his face. Such is the power of children. He observed wryly, before his thoughts were interrupted by Mar rising and suddenly stopping, before going down, holding her head. He didn't know what had just happened, but assumed that she couldn't go anywhere at the moment. Not surprising, given that she had apparently been stabbed by Xyden while he was unconscious.
"I'll go and get some food from the kitchens. What will she need, and what will you need?"
In a easy and steady sway motion, Mar gently rocked the infant. Her arms firmly settled underneath to cradle Lyn close to her as her mind thought. "Well cooked meat. Small chunks, enough for her to bite into them and swallow. Some water or liquid and an animal skin, so she can teeth on it."
That was all she could think of at the moment, unsure if Lyn took after more the Naga in her or the human. To be honest with herself, if Lyn did take after her father much more then anything Mar tried would've bot been suited. In a last moment thought, she then added. "Bring anything you think a newborn would need as well. Incase. "
Althalus nodded, deciding to go get some help on the last bit. He knew exactly nothing of what a newborn would need. Still, he didn't leave yet. "And what do you want?" He repeated. He couldn't very well just get food and water for Lyn and just leave Mar as she is, clearly in need of something. He waited for her, clearly not moving until she gave him something to return with for her.
Mar sighed at his hestiation, even if it was meant to be heartfelt, her arms rocked Lyn a bit more. "Some raw meat and water would be fine."
Her answer was quick and straight to the point, her hand reached to sooth the cried that soon became needy wails. She was trying to remain calm yet a pang og guilt for not noting and preparing for the situation at hand had dug into her. Like a nasty bard which seemed to bleed worse with the more she ignored it, the guilt poked at her heart. Why didn't she remember that Lyn would've needed food soon after her birth? Her teeth, unfanged, bit her lips slight. "Please hurry Althalus..."
In a moment, the man was gone...like a shadow that was never there.
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Dipper said
Also, where is your evidence for Zainat getting beaten? I don't see it in the thread. xP
Guilddeath does not erase his shame!
xodus said
-Stabs Rtron-I have returned and I am on pirate pad!
*Looks at knife in chest*
Was that supposed to go into my nonexistent heart?
Dipper said
Don't forget that Zainat and two other d00dz got in a street brawl -
That'll do.
Dipper said Luckily those guards showed up or Zainat would have pwned they asses.
*Raises eyebrow* Oh really? I seem to remember Zainat getting beaten horribly by a fat, crippled, Redguard with a club. I shudder to think what would have happened to him against two, healthy, Redguards.
Indeed...
Alright..now where is everyone? Gorzath and his Argonian friend are in the center of the Market place, watching the thugs follow their friends...who to have them go bother...
It's quiet...
TOO QUIET.
TOO QUIET.
Zaad and Aramir
Aramir was wandering the school halls, having nothing better to do and wanting to stay away from Auriel. even if there was the risk that the silence might get to her, it was better than trying to keep her traitorous, corrupted, evil emotions in check. She shouldn't have feelings for another female. It was wrong. Wrong on so many more levels than just the practical. The fact that the Naga, Mar, and the Human, Althalus, were having a child only reinforced her belief that what she was doing and thinking was wrong. Which only made her feel more conflicted and confused shen her emotions disagreed and turned her thoughts against her. Confiding in Khan hadn't helped, and neither had attempting to rigidly control her emotions. Her only blessing was the fact that Auriel seemed oblivious to what was going on. Something Aramir was grateful for.
Still, she walked away from the crowds and the loud noises, sure that was where Auriel would be. She was currently alone, the crowds in the College a dull rumble in the background. As she walked, she hummed softly to herself, filling that void that the crowds didn't. It had been six months, and her fear of silence had gotten better, but it was no where near managble.
Years of hunting in the howling Plains made listening in this quiet environment almost unnaturally easy. Thus, she picked up a sound, like the slithering of sand upon sand. Aramir stopped humming, and looked around. Seeing nothing, she called out, "Who is there?" Mentally, she cursed herself for not even bringing her knives. This environment had made her placated. An easy target.
Zaad had heard a humming as he edged just a bit from the shadows, his body once more dried while he spotted the small form of a Snow Elf. The small humanoid with pointed ears was humming to herself, her body turned from the crowd and seemed obivious the world around her. He couldn't help but snicker at his luck. Immediately he slipped back into the darkness before she could see him, his form blened into the shadows as she passed by. He waited until she came into view and realized who she was on sight, mainly due to her association with Khan. Aram..Aramir something. He wasn't able to recall the last name at all, despite her countless time spent within the boss's company.
His teeth gritted a bit at the thought while he dwelled on it. The boss and her would often be seen either wandering the halls late night or spent time within his office, sipping Winter tea during their conversations. In the end, Khan was always the one who stood up late the longest when the Snow Elf left, believing he would soon retire. Those past regrets were hellish things.
His mind focused on that fact and couldn't help but wonder why the student stayed up late at night with the Headmaster. It couldn't be because she liked his company, at some point her body would've wounded down and her normal sleep cycle would've kicked in after at least a month at the College. So it wasn't the newness of the place which kept her. The more he thought about it, the stronger the desire to learn the true cause why Aramir couldn't sleep at night.
His head watched her head down the hallway, her pace steady and easy. That's when she heard his sand shift. Her humming stopped and her body edged to a halt, head darted about for its origins. Finding nothing she called out.
Zaad chuckled, softly. Then his hand reached into the shadow and knocked over a chair just outside a class room, it slammed heavily and echoed through out the hallways.
Aramir tensed when she heard the chuckling. Lovely. A prank. She thought, beginning to turn around. That plan was ruined as the chair came banging down, causing her to jump about a foot into the air. She whirled around, trying to see who had done that. But of course, she saw nothing but an fallen chair and shadows. Still, she didn't move from where she was, and instead slowly circled around, eyes scanning for any hint of her mystery antagonizer. She couldn't shake the sinking feeling that she was being hunted, or at least something similar to it. This wasn't a situation she was unfamiliar with, most creatures at anything they could in the Plains, including those that were supposed to be hunting them. Thus, she treated it like she was being hunted, her mind racing.
It could be a distraction, to get her to focus her attention on that sound. Alternatively, it could also be a scare tactic to get her to run where they wanted her to run. The best option was to stay still until she knew what was bothering her. It was a creature like her, to be certain. After all, animals didn't chuckle.
"Very funny. Now, why don't you quit the childish attempts at scaring me and actually come out?" Well, this little trip had suceeded in her goals. Auriel was the last thing on her mind right now. That was a blessing, right?
Zaad merely ignored her as his shape shifted and gathered towards the rafters. His four red eyes watched her move away from the noise made by the chair and her head shifted side to side, panic and cautious. He could've easily pounced from above and she wouldn't have known. However, scaring her was much, much more fun. His hand reached into the shadow again to the same place.
His hand reached for the chair and using his wrist, snapped it across the floor. It headed just to the left of Aramir. It slammed into the wall. The wood creaked and clattered, a single leg broken off in the rough toss. Again...Zaad chuckled. His form moved when Aramir moved at the sound's source. His body shifted behind her where he shrank a bit, enough not be seen when she looked upwards.
Aramir's head snapped over to the chair as it began skittering it's way over towards her, and she stepped to the side. Unneccessarily, perhaps, but she would rather be safe than sorry with whomever, or whatever, was tormenting her. The chair slid past, so close she could feel the air of it's passing. Yet again, she cursed the fact she didn't have her bow or at least her daggers. Anything to make whomever was doing this have second thoughts about continuing to do this. Assuming that they were able to be injured by things as simple as arrows and steel daggers.
Some creatures couldn't be damaged by arrows, even if she had runes inscribed into both her bow and her arrows to give them more power. The first time she had gone hunting with Mar, the arrows had simply bounced off of the tough armor of inhabitants of the Ravine. She had managed to find the joints where the armor didn't protect them, but to many close calls, to many times she had felt hot breath on her cheek and the swipe of claws barely missing her.
So she had gone back to Val, and gotten the Runes she needed. There were no more close calls now. Well, aside from the one she was currently experiencing.
Once again she heard that chuckle, right above her, and she looked up to see only nothing.
"Okay. So you're obviously not a student, going from the ground floor to the roof quite quickly..." She heard the sand sliding on sand sound again. Directly behind her. Turning around, Aramir jumped backwards at seeing a creature made of what appeared to be pure shadows directly behind her. She didn't like being suddenly surprised by whatever it was. She didn't like it at all."By all of the Gods," She said, practically spitting the words out. "Who are you, what are you, and why are you throwing chairs?" She eyed Zaad warily, not trusting him.
"Well, how else am I suppose to get my kicks? You're rather cute for a frightened mouse, aren't you?" Zaad chuckled, his body glided to the side as his dark sand floated by her.
His hand reached for the chair then slide it back to its rightful place, his mind still savored the scene of her fright. It wonderful how that feeling coming back when someone was frightened of him again whch made him realize how much he missed that. She might've been small and rather timid, but it still felt damn good. His body turned to face her, his four red eyes narrowed on her. "Why you keep visiting the Headmaster is beyond me."
Aramir took a wary step back from him, as he glided by her. Every instinct she possessed, honed from hunting and being hunted in the Frozen Plains, was screaming at her to not trust this demon. At least she thought he was a demon. Her knowledge on the subject was limited, admittedly. Still, she kept her distance. He looked like he was made out of pure shadows. Shadows that could surround her, and cut off any light. Shadows that could bring back the darkness and the terror.
She ignored his first questions, and instead chose to concentrate on his final comment. If he wasn't going to answer her questions, maybe he would let some information slip in idle conversation. "Who else is there to talk to when I'm up all night? The Golems?" She gave a quick little smile. While it was true some of the Golems had sentience and the ability to talk, most were Gargoyles and rather...surly.
Though, she would prefer surly to Zaad at this point.
Zaad grinned at her cheek, something he believed might easily ripped from her soon enough. He chuckled at the thought in his head as he absorbed her words easily. It wasn't hard to note she was fearful of him as she back stepped to avoid him, her small form not able to move fast enoguh by the look of it. He snickered at the memory just a tidbit. Cute how she sought to hideit by making idle conversation and he replied to her questions in his own fashion. "You could try, but it makes me wonder why you would bother? Khan's not exactly the best company for you after all. It might look odd for a student to spend all her free time with him and most people need only a hint of something foul going on to jump to conclusions."
He said in a passing and mild way, his form moved again. This time a bit of sand brushed by to stroke her cheek, his form seemed to pace about like a predator who found a easy meal and intended to savor it. His hand rised close to his face had scratch his chin in slight boredom. From the corner of his eyes, he noted her reactions and movements for future referance.
Aramir shrugged her shoulders. The fact that people might assume she was sleeping with the Headmaster meant little to her. Unless they were going to leap to the conclusion that she should be killed for it, she couldn't care less. "Let them jump to conclusions. Can't be worse than what has already happened. And besides, few are up long enough to know about my nightly wanderings, much less that I talk to the Headmaster every night." She took another step back as he began to move by her, and that's when he brushed her face with his sand.
Aramir had never felt sand before. Much less felt it on her face. That, combined with the fact that Zaad seemed to be made of pure shadows and darkness and her fear of darkness, resulted in an, interesting reaction. She recoiled violently from the touch, eyes wide with fear and slight panic. Instinctively her hands curled in a cupping motion, and a small blue flame appeared in her palm. Aramir was breathing heavily through her nose, wrestling with the fight or flight instinct in her that screamed now was the time for flight. She didn't know what she could exactly do with the flame, but it was a reassurance. Flames beat back the darkness.
"Don't...don't do that. Please." She said in a shaky voice. It was clear she was just barely repressing fear and panic.
Zaad's lips twisted in to a wicked grin. His head turned back to her, a vision of mock confusion and concern, as he leaned towards her. He didn't care for her flame and even doubted she would use. Pyromanacers were such a pain at times but he was rather confident he would be able to handle one small snow elf. Again, she reminded him of a little blue mouse as she had recoiled from his touch, his words dripped with warning.
"And what do you think you're going to do with that little flame, um?"
If she was trying to scare him off, that wasn't the way to do it. She was, after all, just a novice which meant she wouldn't be able to do much other then glass the surface of his face. His mind flickered to Dollface at the moment, his tongue pressed to his cheek in memory at how painful that was. His lower half extended until it touched the ground where it unnotably reached for the nearest shadow, one right under the Snow Elf's feet. Slowly a shadowy hand rose up then aimed to latch upon her ankle. The moment they did, his fingers tightened and jerked backwards. His body on the other hand shifted to side step as he fully meant to watch her crash into the floor face first. A minor lesson not to threaten a demon.
He felt he was being more merciful then others, if they were in his position, would've been. Had she done that to a larger demon within the Ravine, the beast would've ripped her to pieces. Eating her limbs, insides and much more while she watched. This little...lesson was for her own good after all even if she didn't see it that way.
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Aramir drew a shaky breath. She wouldn't lose it. Not here. Not to this..demon. In response to his question, she said, "Nothing. I don't intend to attack with it. Even if I did, it wouldn't be much use against you, now would it?" After all, fire couldn't burn shadows. He would just reform, and then come to attack her..surround her, extinguish all light and leave her in nothing but darkness...Aramir shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She was tense from fear, every sense straining. That's how she picked up on that familiar sound right beneath her.
Looking down, Aramir was alarmed, to put it mildly, to see a shadow hand grasping at her ankle from her own shadow. While she avoided screaming, she did attempt to leap backwards and away from it. That failed, of course, and the hand grasped her ankle and tugged, making her fall hard to the ground. Her entire body shivered with uncontrollable fear. It's going to happen. He's going to swarm me with shadows. The light will go out. Darkness will be all I see and feel and know..
"Stop. Please. Stop." She begged. If she hadn't known that it'd be a useless gesture, she would have already been running.
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Zaad looked over the female Snow Elf, his body towered over her curled up form and seemed to frown at her reaction. Why is she reacting this badly to a little joke? He wondered with a slight disappointment of how quickly his joke became sour. His thoughts were distracted when a familiar voice broke in. Zaad's head jerked upwards, his eyes narrowed as Rathel started to rip into him.
What are you doing, Zaad?
"Nothing, I haven't touched her...yet." He answered honestly, his words replied out loud and clearly seemed to be address to someone unseen.
It seems you were thinking, weren't you? Back off Zaad, now. Rathel's tone took on an authority that rubbed Zaad wrong, his teeth gritted at being told what to do.
"You can't tell me what to do..." To prove his point, Zaad's hand extended a finger to brush the Snow Elf's cheek again.
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Aramir's eyes, wide with fear, flashed in brief confusion as Zaad seemed to be talking to himself. However, her confusion was stored away for later use as she saw her opportunity. If the shadow demon was distracted, that meant he couldn't use his shadows. Which meant she might escape this without remembering the dark. Slowly, carefully, Aramir began to drag herself away from Zaad. If she could just get far enough away to start running...
Then, of course, he had to reach out and touch her. Aramir was scared. Absolutely terrified. And she had no where to run, as far as she was concerned, since Zaad could just keep pace through the shadows that were everywhere. So she reacted on basic, cornered animal, instinct.
"Leave me alone!" Blue flames erupted around her, swirling into a brief protective dome, stopping any attempt to touch her. Of course, this only lasted for a couple seconds, before Aramir's emotional boost ran out and she collapsed to the floor, only barely keeping herself up.
Crackle...
Pain and glass filled Zaad's arm as the sand heated when it touched the blue flames. He naturally bit back the scream which had edged to his throat and died there. This fucking shit hurt. His eyes brigthen with a red fury as his hand turned into a familiar shape, one he had used to put down many others before this bitch. He held up, pointed at the Snow Elf's head. Khan would never know if there wasn't a body found, now would he? The thought seemed like a very good idea within his head.
His finger squeezed the trigger and light bursted from the gun muzzle. The bullet darted from the barrel, it's path was right at the out cold figure and he knew it would hit. He wanted it to so badly.
Hhhhiiissssshhhhh.
The moment the bullet touch her head, it fell apart. It crumbled and once more became black sand what shifted direction back into him. His breathing was hard and very angry as he looked at the fallen student. He couldn't leave her there, now that his temper was eased, while he inhaled with a sigh. His hand scratched the back of his head in thought.
"Any other demon would've torn you to pieces by now..." He mumbled to himself, knowing fully well how that felt. "Fuck it."
He turned to the other demon, Rathel, who emerged from the shadows. It seemed he wasn't happy as his eyes narrowed upon the student then jerked to him, accusing as usual. His nails clicked to approach her allowing his sweet adn calming scent to premate through the air in a faint hope to sooth her fright. She would likely had remember him from an occasional meeting time to time.
"What have you done now?!?" He seemed to growl defensively, a tone rarely used unless in Zaad's presence.
"I let off some steam. What does it look like I did? She's not dead so get off my case." Zaad's figure jerked down the hallway and vanished, his attitude clear uncaring. His voice echoed back in his departure. "Take care of her..."
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Aramir was only barely aware of what was going on. She knew Zaad had done something to her, because she felt something on her head. But she didn't know what because her vision was rapidly darkening. She had used too much blood, to explosively. Darkness was closing and dragging her in, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. That's when a slightly familiar scent reached her nostrils. Her mind struggled, and failed, to make a bigger connection with the scent than 'Safe'. Still, she felt a calmness go into her, a fight go out of her. The darkness closed in faster.
"No..no.." She mumbled before passing out. It was a blessing, in a way. Maybe she'd forget her entire experience. At the very least, she wasn't afraid anymore.
As Zaad left, Rathel once more was the one to clean up the demon's mess. His hollowed out quills rattled a bit in frustration but quickly settled down when he glimpsed the student's condition. It seemed she had used too much blood and was paying for it. Mentally cursed Zaad's stupidity, Rathel's arms lowered to scoop the small Snow Elf into his grip. Holding her like an ape did an infant, he started to make his way towards the infirmary as the plant had notified him of her location recently.
After a bit of navigating around the hallways and time getting there, he finally had made it. His large frame waddled in before he gently set the Snow Elf upon the nearest empty bed. "Lucilia, we've got a student who used too much of her blood."
When he was sure the small Snow Elf was being tended to, his eyes shifted about."What happened here and everyone alright?"
Aramir was wandering the school halls, having nothing better to do and wanting to stay away from Auriel. even if there was the risk that the silence might get to her, it was better than trying to keep her traitorous, corrupted, evil emotions in check. She shouldn't have feelings for another female. It was wrong. Wrong on so many more levels than just the practical. The fact that the Naga, Mar, and the Human, Althalus, were having a child only reinforced her belief that what she was doing and thinking was wrong. Which only made her feel more conflicted and confused shen her emotions disagreed and turned her thoughts against her. Confiding in Khan hadn't helped, and neither had attempting to rigidly control her emotions. Her only blessing was the fact that Auriel seemed oblivious to what was going on. Something Aramir was grateful for.
Still, she walked away from the crowds and the loud noises, sure that was where Auriel would be. She was currently alone, the crowds in the College a dull rumble in the background. As she walked, she hummed softly to herself, filling that void that the crowds didn't. It had been six months, and her fear of silence had gotten better, but it was no where near managble.
Years of hunting in the howling Plains made listening in this quiet environment almost unnaturally easy. Thus, she picked up a sound, like the slithering of sand upon sand. Aramir stopped humming, and looked around. Seeing nothing, she called out, "Who is there?" Mentally, she cursed herself for not even bringing her knives. This environment had made her placated. An easy target.
Zaad had heard a humming as he edged just a bit from the shadows, his body once more dried while he spotted the small form of a Snow Elf. The small humanoid with pointed ears was humming to herself, her body turned from the crowd and seemed obivious the world around her. He couldn't help but snicker at his luck. Immediately he slipped back into the darkness before she could see him, his form blened into the shadows as she passed by. He waited until she came into view and realized who she was on sight, mainly due to her association with Khan. Aram..Aramir something. He wasn't able to recall the last name at all, despite her countless time spent within the boss's company.
His teeth gritted a bit at the thought while he dwelled on it. The boss and her would often be seen either wandering the halls late night or spent time within his office, sipping Winter tea during their conversations. In the end, Khan was always the one who stood up late the longest when the Snow Elf left, believing he would soon retire. Those past regrets were hellish things.
His mind focused on that fact and couldn't help but wonder why the student stayed up late at night with the Headmaster. It couldn't be because she liked his company, at some point her body would've wounded down and her normal sleep cycle would've kicked in after at least a month at the College. So it wasn't the newness of the place which kept her. The more he thought about it, the stronger the desire to learn the true cause why Aramir couldn't sleep at night.
His head watched her head down the hallway, her pace steady and easy. That's when she heard his sand shift. Her humming stopped and her body edged to a halt, head darted about for its origins. Finding nothing she called out.
Zaad chuckled, softly. Then his hand reached into the shadow and knocked over a chair just outside a class room, it slammed heavily and echoed through out the hallways.
Aramir tensed when she heard the chuckling. Lovely. A prank. She thought, beginning to turn around. That plan was ruined as the chair came banging down, causing her to jump about a foot into the air. She whirled around, trying to see who had done that. But of course, she saw nothing but an fallen chair and shadows. Still, she didn't move from where she was, and instead slowly circled around, eyes scanning for any hint of her mystery antagonizer. She couldn't shake the sinking feeling that she was being hunted, or at least something similar to it. This wasn't a situation she was unfamiliar with, most creatures at anything they could in the Plains, including those that were supposed to be hunting them. Thus, she treated it like she was being hunted, her mind racing.
It could be a distraction, to get her to focus her attention on that sound. Alternatively, it could also be a scare tactic to get her to run where they wanted her to run. The best option was to stay still until she knew what was bothering her. It was a creature like her, to be certain. After all, animals didn't chuckle.
"Very funny. Now, why don't you quit the childish attempts at scaring me and actually come out?" Well, this little trip had suceeded in her goals. Auriel was the last thing on her mind right now. That was a blessing, right?
Zaad merely ignored her as his shape shifted and gathered towards the rafters. His four red eyes watched her move away from the noise made by the chair and her head shifted side to side, panic and cautious. He could've easily pounced from above and she wouldn't have known. However, scaring her was much, much more fun. His hand reached into the shadow again to the same place.
His hand reached for the chair and using his wrist, snapped it across the floor. It headed just to the left of Aramir. It slammed into the wall. The wood creaked and clattered, a single leg broken off in the rough toss. Again...Zaad chuckled. His form moved when Aramir moved at the sound's source. His body shifted behind her where he shrank a bit, enough not be seen when she looked upwards.
Aramir's head snapped over to the chair as it began skittering it's way over towards her, and she stepped to the side. Unneccessarily, perhaps, but she would rather be safe than sorry with whomever, or whatever, was tormenting her. The chair slid past, so close she could feel the air of it's passing. Yet again, she cursed the fact she didn't have her bow or at least her daggers. Anything to make whomever was doing this have second thoughts about continuing to do this. Assuming that they were able to be injured by things as simple as arrows and steel daggers.
Some creatures couldn't be damaged by arrows, even if she had runes inscribed into both her bow and her arrows to give them more power. The first time she had gone hunting with Mar, the arrows had simply bounced off of the tough armor of inhabitants of the Ravine. She had managed to find the joints where the armor didn't protect them, but to many close calls, to many times she had felt hot breath on her cheek and the swipe of claws barely missing her.
So she had gone back to Val, and gotten the Runes she needed. There were no more close calls now. Well, aside from the one she was currently experiencing.
Once again she heard that chuckle, right above her, and she looked up to see only nothing.
"Okay. So you're obviously not a student, going from the ground floor to the roof quite quickly..." She heard the sand sliding on sand sound again. Directly behind her. Turning around, Aramir jumped backwards at seeing a creature made of what appeared to be pure shadows directly behind her. She didn't like being suddenly surprised by whatever it was. She didn't like it at all."By all of the Gods," She said, practically spitting the words out. "Who are you, what are you, and why are you throwing chairs?" She eyed Zaad warily, not trusting him.
"Well, how else am I suppose to get my kicks? You're rather cute for a frightened mouse, aren't you?" Zaad chuckled, his body glided to the side as his dark sand floated by her.
His hand reached for the chair then slide it back to its rightful place, his mind still savored the scene of her fright. It wonderful how that feeling coming back when someone was frightened of him again whch made him realize how much he missed that. She might've been small and rather timid, but it still felt damn good. His body turned to face her, his four red eyes narrowed on her. "Why you keep visiting the Headmaster is beyond me."
Aramir took a wary step back from him, as he glided by her. Every instinct she possessed, honed from hunting and being hunted in the Frozen Plains, was screaming at her to not trust this demon. At least she thought he was a demon. Her knowledge on the subject was limited, admittedly. Still, she kept her distance. He looked like he was made out of pure shadows. Shadows that could surround her, and cut off any light. Shadows that could bring back the darkness and the terror.
She ignored his first questions, and instead chose to concentrate on his final comment. If he wasn't going to answer her questions, maybe he would let some information slip in idle conversation. "Who else is there to talk to when I'm up all night? The Golems?" She gave a quick little smile. While it was true some of the Golems had sentience and the ability to talk, most were Gargoyles and rather...surly.
Though, she would prefer surly to Zaad at this point.
Zaad grinned at her cheek, something he believed might easily ripped from her soon enough. He chuckled at the thought in his head as he absorbed her words easily. It wasn't hard to note she was fearful of him as she back stepped to avoid him, her small form not able to move fast enoguh by the look of it. He snickered at the memory just a tidbit. Cute how she sought to hideit by making idle conversation and he replied to her questions in his own fashion. "You could try, but it makes me wonder why you would bother? Khan's not exactly the best company for you after all. It might look odd for a student to spend all her free time with him and most people need only a hint of something foul going on to jump to conclusions."
He said in a passing and mild way, his form moved again. This time a bit of sand brushed by to stroke her cheek, his form seemed to pace about like a predator who found a easy meal and intended to savor it. His hand rised close to his face had scratch his chin in slight boredom. From the corner of his eyes, he noted her reactions and movements for future referance.
Aramir shrugged her shoulders. The fact that people might assume she was sleeping with the Headmaster meant little to her. Unless they were going to leap to the conclusion that she should be killed for it, she couldn't care less. "Let them jump to conclusions. Can't be worse than what has already happened. And besides, few are up long enough to know about my nightly wanderings, much less that I talk to the Headmaster every night." She took another step back as he began to move by her, and that's when he brushed her face with his sand.
Aramir had never felt sand before. Much less felt it on her face. That, combined with the fact that Zaad seemed to be made of pure shadows and darkness and her fear of darkness, resulted in an, interesting reaction. She recoiled violently from the touch, eyes wide with fear and slight panic. Instinctively her hands curled in a cupping motion, and a small blue flame appeared in her palm. Aramir was breathing heavily through her nose, wrestling with the fight or flight instinct in her that screamed now was the time for flight. She didn't know what she could exactly do with the flame, but it was a reassurance. Flames beat back the darkness.
"Don't...don't do that. Please." She said in a shaky voice. It was clear she was just barely repressing fear and panic.
Zaad's lips twisted in to a wicked grin. His head turned back to her, a vision of mock confusion and concern, as he leaned towards her. He didn't care for her flame and even doubted she would use. Pyromanacers were such a pain at times but he was rather confident he would be able to handle one small snow elf. Again, she reminded him of a little blue mouse as she had recoiled from his touch, his words dripped with warning.
"And what do you think you're going to do with that little flame, um?"
If she was trying to scare him off, that wasn't the way to do it. She was, after all, just a novice which meant she wouldn't be able to do much other then glass the surface of his face. His mind flickered to Dollface at the moment, his tongue pressed to his cheek in memory at how painful that was. His lower half extended until it touched the ground where it unnotably reached for the nearest shadow, one right under the Snow Elf's feet. Slowly a shadowy hand rose up then aimed to latch upon her ankle. The moment they did, his fingers tightened and jerked backwards. His body on the other hand shifted to side step as he fully meant to watch her crash into the floor face first. A minor lesson not to threaten a demon.
He felt he was being more merciful then others, if they were in his position, would've been. Had she done that to a larger demon within the Ravine, the beast would've ripped her to pieces. Eating her limbs, insides and much more while she watched. This little...lesson was for her own good after all even if she didn't see it that way.
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Aramir drew a shaky breath. She wouldn't lose it. Not here. Not to this..demon. In response to his question, she said, "Nothing. I don't intend to attack with it. Even if I did, it wouldn't be much use against you, now would it?" After all, fire couldn't burn shadows. He would just reform, and then come to attack her..surround her, extinguish all light and leave her in nothing but darkness...Aramir shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She was tense from fear, every sense straining. That's how she picked up on that familiar sound right beneath her.
Looking down, Aramir was alarmed, to put it mildly, to see a shadow hand grasping at her ankle from her own shadow. While she avoided screaming, she did attempt to leap backwards and away from it. That failed, of course, and the hand grasped her ankle and tugged, making her fall hard to the ground. Her entire body shivered with uncontrollable fear. It's going to happen. He's going to swarm me with shadows. The light will go out. Darkness will be all I see and feel and know..
"Stop. Please. Stop." She begged. If she hadn't known that it'd be a useless gesture, she would have already been running.
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Zaad looked over the female Snow Elf, his body towered over her curled up form and seemed to frown at her reaction. Why is she reacting this badly to a little joke? He wondered with a slight disappointment of how quickly his joke became sour. His thoughts were distracted when a familiar voice broke in. Zaad's head jerked upwards, his eyes narrowed as Rathel started to rip into him.
What are you doing, Zaad?
"Nothing, I haven't touched her...yet." He answered honestly, his words replied out loud and clearly seemed to be address to someone unseen.
It seems you were thinking, weren't you? Back off Zaad, now. Rathel's tone took on an authority that rubbed Zaad wrong, his teeth gritted at being told what to do.
"You can't tell me what to do..." To prove his point, Zaad's hand extended a finger to brush the Snow Elf's cheek again.
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Aramir's eyes, wide with fear, flashed in brief confusion as Zaad seemed to be talking to himself. However, her confusion was stored away for later use as she saw her opportunity. If the shadow demon was distracted, that meant he couldn't use his shadows. Which meant she might escape this without remembering the dark. Slowly, carefully, Aramir began to drag herself away from Zaad. If she could just get far enough away to start running...
Then, of course, he had to reach out and touch her. Aramir was scared. Absolutely terrified. And she had no where to run, as far as she was concerned, since Zaad could just keep pace through the shadows that were everywhere. So she reacted on basic, cornered animal, instinct.
"Leave me alone!" Blue flames erupted around her, swirling into a brief protective dome, stopping any attempt to touch her. Of course, this only lasted for a couple seconds, before Aramir's emotional boost ran out and she collapsed to the floor, only barely keeping herself up.
Crackle...
Pain and glass filled Zaad's arm as the sand heated when it touched the blue flames. He naturally bit back the scream which had edged to his throat and died there. This fucking shit hurt. His eyes brigthen with a red fury as his hand turned into a familiar shape, one he had used to put down many others before this bitch. He held up, pointed at the Snow Elf's head. Khan would never know if there wasn't a body found, now would he? The thought seemed like a very good idea within his head.
His finger squeezed the trigger and light bursted from the gun muzzle. The bullet darted from the barrel, it's path was right at the out cold figure and he knew it would hit. He wanted it to so badly.
Hhhhiiissssshhhhh.
The moment the bullet touch her head, it fell apart. It crumbled and once more became black sand what shifted direction back into him. His breathing was hard and very angry as he looked at the fallen student. He couldn't leave her there, now that his temper was eased, while he inhaled with a sigh. His hand scratched the back of his head in thought.
"Any other demon would've torn you to pieces by now..." He mumbled to himself, knowing fully well how that felt. "Fuck it."
He turned to the other demon, Rathel, who emerged from the shadows. It seemed he wasn't happy as his eyes narrowed upon the student then jerked to him, accusing as usual. His nails clicked to approach her allowing his sweet adn calming scent to premate through the air in a faint hope to sooth her fright. She would likely had remember him from an occasional meeting time to time.
"What have you done now?!?" He seemed to growl defensively, a tone rarely used unless in Zaad's presence.
"I let off some steam. What does it look like I did? She's not dead so get off my case." Zaad's figure jerked down the hallway and vanished, his attitude clear uncaring. His voice echoed back in his departure. "Take care of her..."
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Aramir was only barely aware of what was going on. She knew Zaad had done something to her, because she felt something on her head. But she didn't know what because her vision was rapidly darkening. She had used too much blood, to explosively. Darkness was closing and dragging her in, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. That's when a slightly familiar scent reached her nostrils. Her mind struggled, and failed, to make a bigger connection with the scent than 'Safe'. Still, she felt a calmness go into her, a fight go out of her. The darkness closed in faster.
"No..no.." She mumbled before passing out. It was a blessing, in a way. Maybe she'd forget her entire experience. At the very least, she wasn't afraid anymore.
As Zaad left, Rathel once more was the one to clean up the demon's mess. His hollowed out quills rattled a bit in frustration but quickly settled down when he glimpsed the student's condition. It seemed she had used too much blood and was paying for it. Mentally cursed Zaad's stupidity, Rathel's arms lowered to scoop the small Snow Elf into his grip. Holding her like an ape did an infant, he started to make his way towards the infirmary as the plant had notified him of her location recently.
After a bit of navigating around the hallways and time getting there, he finally had made it. His large frame waddled in before he gently set the Snow Elf upon the nearest empty bed. "Lucilia, we've got a student who used too much of her blood."
When he was sure the small Snow Elf was being tended to, his eyes shifted about."What happened here and everyone alright?"
Nevis said
Praise the Sun. Dark Souls (1) is hands-down my favorite video game. Dark 2, not so much.
I haven't played it yet, so I can't make any judgments.
Nevis said Umbassa.
Demon souls. It's my favorite. You just can't beat Yurt the Silent Chief.
Nevis said Okay, back on topic.
Aww...do we have to? :p
Frettzo said
I am back, at last! Is there any female character who wishes to be approached by a fox who's looking for some affectionate affection? :p
EliteCommander said
I'm still kind of trapped in limbo with my collab. In case turns out to be too busy, what else is everyone doing?
Well, Aramir is going to be kind of freaked out after this collab with Zaad, so if anyone(Be they womanizing fox, or honestly caring dragon man), would like to chat with her and perhaps calm her down, she'll be open for that soon.
Uicle is unoccupied, but he's rather surly, to put it mildly. Approach at your own risk.
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