An Unexpected Witness/Is this the End of the World?(Rhi)

[Aeytrious]

Rit smiled at Axieva's reaction to the CO2. Natural occurring carbonation during fermentation gave fewer bubbles by far than what was in the non-fermented beverage he gave her.

"They are sharp on the tongue, yes, and they can create a sharp feeling in the nose as well. That is what most find delightful about it," he explained. Perhaps her senses were too sensitive to appreciate it properly. "Anyway, the bubbles go into your stomach as you drink it, then escape in a burp, helping ease internal pressure from causing nausea," he continued, "Just don't drink too fast, or you'll get the opposite effect," he concluded with a smirk.

Rit plucked a glass of pale purple liquid from the air and began to drink. "Talking is important you know, but that's not all. I'd like to accompany you for a while as well. Get to know who you really are." He gulped down the last of his drink and vanished the glass. "I'm sure you had some reason to be out here before you found me." He then conjured a floating stone slab and started shuffling a deck of cards he pulled from his pack. "I could accompany you on that task or mission and assist as needed." Rit then started to deal the cards out in front off himself in piles, flipping a card over on occasion.

[Rhindeer]

"Hm." Axieva considered the drink a moment longer, took a small sip that she spat out with a cough, and then, sticking her tongue out in disgust, she emptied the glass onto the soil.

"I can never understand human taste," she said, and tossed the empty glass Rit's way. "Or lack of it. Bubbled water and burned food. You have no sense." And that she meant in both meanings of the word, for humans, she'd found, did have duller sense. Maybe they just couldn't tell that the things they consumed were disgusting?

She felt a little better as she rose to her feet, though not from the drink; her nerves had calmed a little, enough that she justified the stranger of her experiences as being in her head. She could deal with a little weird, like Rit floating and magicking things into existence, like...like whatever it was he was doing now. Some humans were mages that had all manner of tricks up their sleeves, after all.

"I have a bounty," she answered him with a shrug. "I'm hunting someone. I won't stop you from coming, but neither will I wait if you fall behind. If you stay, the kill is mine." Her eye narrowed and she raised up onto the tips of her hooves, trying to see the table without getting closer to him.

"What are you doing?"

[Aeytrious]

The glass evaporated as it drew near to Rit, seemingly without his attention, and he and the table drifted to give Axieva a better view of the cards on the table.

"It's a variation of a game called solitare," he explained. "This particular version is called Beehive. I enjoy games of chance that the only external force is myself," he continued,  "and that are against the cards themselves. Makes it challenging even for me." He looked up at his observer then, "sometimes there is no way to win, even if you can see the future, and this reminds me of that."

Rit continued moving his cards about, progressing his game forward. Moving the bees to the flowers quickly, and going through his working pile with hands as fast as lightning. The game was over quickly, and Rit sighed at his defeat.

"Your bounty, your kill, will be yours regardless. I avoid killing whenever it's possible. I do not wish to take your quarry. And though I find death deplorable, I understand its place in the cycle." Rit stood, vanishing the slab, and he slipped the deck of cards back into his bag. "I know that tracking is time sensitive, so perhaps you would like to begin? If you concentrate on the scent of your prey, I will copy it from your mind to mine so that I can help in the pursuit." He moved a step closer to Axieva.

"Afterward, perhaps you and I can converse on your life, and you can ask any questions of me you like. I'm especially interested in your scars."

[Rhindeer]

"That is a silly game. Doesn't even look like a hive," Axieva remarked with a sniff. "But it makes sense for soft human fawns. They would not like our games."

Yet despite her disdained words, her head tilted with interest and her eye followed the cards until the game finished--too quick, for she hadn't figured out the pattern, and there had to be a pattern there. Some cards went with some, but not others. Huh.

No matter. Not like she was interested in stupid human games.

The slab vanished, and she snapped her eye away from where the table had been and looked out toward the jungle. Hopefully her quarry hadn't gotten far, though with this delay, it would have made considerable progress. She focused on the scent, recalling it from memory--both because she had to anyway, and because Rit could apparently smell it too? Bizarre, but if he felt he could, then no harm in that, and she had long since acknowledged that he was something other than human. Then, scent firmly in mind, she started off into the jungle.

"The rain made it weaker," she remarked with a sigh, picking up faint remnants of her prey's smell. No matter, though. It was strong enough, though another downpour would finish the job. They had to be quick, so she picked her pace and fell into a jog.

And then, as Rit spoke, she glanced over her left shoulder at him so she could look at him with her one eye. She smirked. "What scars?" And then she faced forward again. "Keep up or be left."

Not that that would be an issue for him.

---------

[ooc: Pahahaha. That awkward moment when you realize you've been mentioning "eyes" and your character only has one. |: Whoops. *edits*]

[Aeytrious]

[ooc: I love you so much. My day was getting shitty, and your ooc made me smile and brightened my mood. Thanks Rhi. <3]

"Scars, both emotional and physical, add certain colors to an aura. Now that I've died here, I'm not unfamiliar with your species as well, so I can see the white of the scars on your back were once wings. From that patch on your face comes a vicious shade of red, and the rest of you has varrying splashes of color for each different wound you've carried."

Rit sniffed at the air, the scent was fading. He doubted he could follow it in his mortal form, but as he was he simply visualized it. Every surface the prey had touched it left a murky brownish-green smudge that would last for days, and he could easily follow that. Rit felt the presence of a predator behind tracking them. He walked close behind Axieva, making himself insubstantial, but remaining visible to her. Rit would leave no trace of his passing, and began to erase hers as he went along. The large cat following would lose the trail, and that wouldn't become a problem. Just in case it was persistent, he reached into his pack and pulled out three pewter figurines set in the likeness of wild boars and dropped them to the ground. Once they were about a meter away from them, they grew into real boar, and dashed off into different directions. Let the panther chase those.

"Where did you receive this bounty, by the way?"

[Rhindeer]

[ooc: Haha, anytime, yo! xDDD Happy I could cheer ya up! 8D]


"Zantaric," Axieva answered without looking at him as she kept up her swift pace. The scent was growing stronger, though it was a subtle shift. No doubt the storm had slowed her quarry as it had slowed her.

And as far as she knew, her prey didn't even know it was being pursued.

Nor did she realize there was a time when she was being pursued.

Focused entirely on her task, the scent had grown strong enough that she slowed from a jog to a trot and then finally to a walk. While she had questions to ask the man, it would have to wait. She was in hunter-mode now and few things could distract her once she had her goal in sight--or in this case, scent--and she could practically taste the blood and liver now.

Her ears perked up, straining to listen; there was a vague rustling up ahead. Creeping closer, using the cover of low hanging branches and thick foliage, she peered through the leaves and smiled.

Her vision wasn't very good, but she could still make out the blurry splash of yellow hair and pale skin and dirty clothes, not to mention the scent that confirmed her prey. The female's back was to them as she knelt by a stream.

Axieva glanced at Rit. "Do not interfere," she said before her hand slid to her dagger and she stepped out of the cover of the trees.

[Aeytrious]

Zantaric, a place Rit would have to visit someday. Perhaps it would be interesting if there were others like Axieva there. If that was a place bounties were commonly given and collected though, it might be a place to avoid. He wasn't fond of death.

The trail was becoming more pronounced, the smears of the scents color on many surfaces. The quarry was slowing, and they were drawing near. Where Rit saw this with his eyes, Axieva learned it from her nose, and slowed as well. She wouldn't want to make unnecessary noise as she approached her prey, a true hunter this one.

Rit plainly heard rustling, and the flow of water ahead. Then he could see the poor creature. Kneeling at the stream, with her back to them, the woman had little chance of escape. Axieva glanced at Rit. "Do not interfere," she said before her hand slid to her dagger and she stepped out of the cover of the trees.

Rit would not interfere, he would simply watch. But he couldn't help feeling sorrow for this unsuspecting prey. At least he knew she would not go to waste.

[Rhindeer]

Just as she had with Rit, Axieva made it quick. With a practiced sort of silence, Axieva crept up to the woman, who didn't even realize she was there until the peryton's hand had covered her mouth and jerked her head back.

For a brief moment, their eyes met. Then the knife flashed, and it was done.

Axieva held the woman as she bled out, and when her tremors ceased, she lowered her to the damp floor. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked in Rit's direction, though he was a blurry shape through the leaves. "It is finished," she announced before she went to work cutting off the woman's shirt. "The death is done, that is. You may not want to see the rest."

As she cut through the woman's abdomen, she added, "It is what I did to you."

[Aeytrious]

Rit drifted forward to watch over Axieva's shoulder as she made a meal of this woman. It was not nearly disconcerting as watching her eat him. At least it was better than totally senseless murder. This had some purpose. Axieva would probably get paid for the bounty, and she ate her prey. Oddly enough, he felt rude watching her eat, so he joined her in the act by bringing forth food of his own. Though he did not need to eat in his immortal state, he still enjoyed food. A bowl of steamed white rice topped with white rice vinegar and a bit of soy sauce, plus a few pieces of raw salmon sashimi and a bit of wasabi was a splendid idea. Axieva might appreciate the sashimi, she seemed to like fresh raw meat.

"So what else do you eat besides people," he asked as he shoved a piece of sashimi in his mouth.

[Rhindeer]

ooc: D'aaaw, lookit that, they're having a PICNIC! 8DDD


"All things," Axieva answered between bites of liver, and then sniffed in disdain. "All things meat. Fresh meat. Not the burnt meat of humans, and not..." She motioned toward the grass with a bloodied hand. "Not plants like cows."

Humans, as far as she was concerned, also fell into the "cow" category.

It was only once she'd finished her meal that she became interested in Rit's. She recognized the scent of fish and salt, but everything else was new--the vinegar, the soy, the wasabi, the rice. Licking her lips, she sat up on her knees to get a look at the bowl, not that sight would tell her as much as smell.

"What are you eating?" Also, where did it come from? But she'd given up on asking about that, after seeing him magic other objects into existence. "Is that fish?"

[Aeytrious]

He waved his hand and some dishes popped into being in front of her, lightly bobbing in the air. A plain bowl of steamed white rice, a flask of soy sauce, a flask of white rice vinegar, a tray of the sashimi, and a small dish of wasabi.

"Indeed it is fish. Raw salmon in fact. Very delicious. The white stuff is rice, it has little flavor. Other than the fact that it's a staple food, its main purpose is to support the flavor of the fish and the sauces." Rit shoved another piece in his mouth.

"I love Earth food." He pointed to each flask in turn explaining the contents, "the black liquid is soy sauce. It's a savory and salty sauce. The Clear one is vinegar made from the same rice in the bowl and under the fish. Its what I would call a twangy flavor, I love the stuff." Then he pointed to the glob of green in the little dish.

"That is wasabi. It is a very spicy garnish, but not in the usual way of hot foods. It doesn't burn your mouth much, but rather your nose. I use lots of it." Another stuffed mouthful before he continued, "with your extremely powerful sense of smell you should very carefully smell and taste the three sauces, as they all have greater effect based on the person eatings nose."

"As for the fish, I think you can figure that one out." He waved a dismissive hand.

"Whatever you don't eat will simply vanish so feel no obligation. Do you require utensils," he asked as he licked grains of rice from the fingers on his bare hand.

[Rhindeer]

Axieva listened to his explanation, peering at each item in turn and sniffing curiously at them. After eating so much liver, she wasn't very hungry, but that didn't mean she couldn't try things. And the fish especially was something she never got much of; she rarely had the patience to catch fish.

"Utensils?" she asked, not quite sure what he meant. But then again, if she didn't know what it was, chances were she didn't need them. "No."

The rice got a little bloody as she scooped some out with her fingers and tried it, but it garnered an unimpressed response. She spat it out onto the grass, grumbling under her breath about "cow food", and skipped the vinegar by smell alone and moved onto the soy. She dripped a little onto her fingers and licked it up, then blinked several times and licked her fingers again.

It was very salty--but she enjoyed salt.

She gave Rit an appraising look, as though begrudgingly accepting something. "The black water is decent," she said, licking the last drops off her claws before moving to the green stuff. She flicked a claw through it, getting a pea-sized glob of the stuff, and popped it in her mouth.

Within seconds, she was curled up and choking as fire roared through her sinuses, bringing tears to her eyes, making her nose run, and making her wonder if she was dying. "Mother of bastards!" she moaned, hooves curling and tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. "You liar! It does burn! I will throttle you if I survive this!"

[Aeytrious]

Rit stopped in pure shock and then burst out laughing. Once he choked back the tears of hilarity that were pouring forth, he conjured a glass of water for Axieva to drink from.

"Silly fawn, that is not what I said. I said it doesn't burn the mouth much. Your nose is what is burning yes? I did mention that it targeted the nose." He couldn't help smiling. So tough, and yet a spicy little plant had her curled up in a ball. "I did recommend you exercise caution with that extraordinary sense of smell you have. I guess I under estimated that nose of yours. Must be more powerful than I thought." He smeared a huge glob of wasabi on his last piece of sashimi and shoved the whole thing in his mouth. "Ihf whiwy ehsh fewy dehwishoush."

As the tingling burn he loved so much left his own sinuses, he vanished everything but the fish, soy sauce, and water. Hopefully she wouldn't actually throttle him. He hadn't intended any harm. Perhaps the fish would appease her. Perhaps not.

[Rhindeer]

Clearly, Axieva hadn't been paying that close attention to what Rit had been saying when he'd described each thing. When the coughing had passed and her nose didn't feel like it was going to melt off her face, she glared death at him through bleary red eyes, and her expression grew disgusted when he smeared a large amount of the green stuff onto his fish. It was like he was doing it to spite her.

Sitting back up at pinching the bridge of her nose, which still stung though not as much, she grabbed for the water and chugged it before setting the glass aside. She looked like a wreck, with tear stains on her cheeks and a snotty nose. She wiped her nose off on the back of her hand and took several deep, heaving breaths.

"That," she panted, "that is terrible." She sent him another glower. "And not funny." And she grabbed a piece of raw fish and popped it in her mouth, hoping the strong, fishy flavor would rid her senses of the green awfulness.

[Aeytrious]

Rit smirked at her. It was so funny. Though he did feel bad for her, it was definitely amusing.

"I hope the water and fish help some. If you need more relief I can give you some. But I figured you probably didn't want me working any more magic directly on you." He stood and stretched, though he didn't actually have to. Practicing normal mortal behaviors to more easily pass amongst them was something he had mastered over the millennia. He looked closer at the dead woman. Poor thing never had a chance.

"So what part of her is required for identification and claiming your bounty?"

[Rhindeer]

A few pieces of fish later and she no longer felt like she could breathe fire, and she took a little more of the black sauce just to be sure. At his question, she looked over at him.

"The head," Axieva said, and licked the last bits of fish and sauce from her fingers. She had to admit, she was rather surprised by how well this one was taking all this--he seemed perfectly at ease with the fact that she'd killed one of his own kind and eaten her before him. It probably shouldn't have been so strange considering his lackadaisical approached to being consumed himself.

Ah, speaking of which, she should get to severing it now.

Scooting over to the woman, she took her knife and began to saw at the corpse's neck. "What was that you spoke earlier?" she said at length, sitting up on her knees with one hand pressing down on the back of the knife, putting her body into the action; she'd gotten through the softer muscle and trachea and encountered the spine. "They were...'aura', you said, I think? Colors on the body?"

She glanced at him, a smirk on her lips. "I like hearing you speak crazy. It makes me feel less. You're very strange."

[Aeytrious]

Rit grimaced at the mess Axieva made as she sawed through the neck. At least the blood was no longer flowing, that would have been quite a bit more messy.

"You know, a well sharpened axe would take that off in one swipe, and wouldn't leave the jagged bits from sawing through with a knife." He conjured one up floating across the body from her, just in case she saw the logic in this.

"It's not as crazy as you think. There are mortals that can see and read auras, but not nearly as well as I can. I'll show you mine." And so he did. A swirling, pulsing, light appeared around him. Beautiful and filled with every color imaginable, dancing around each other, and swimming through each other. The light was bright, almost difficult to look at, but captivating. It was the same swirling dance of colors present in his irides. But where his eyes were unsettling, this was awe inspiring. He only showed his aura for a few moments, and then it was gone.

"Everything has an aura, from rocks, to gods," he explained, "The more complex the life energy, the brighter the aura. I toned the brightness of my aura down for you though. It's normally brighter than the sun. And while it doesn't generate heat, I still don't think it would be wise to unleash that here." He walked to the small stream and watched leaves flow past in the current.

"Your aura is fairly complex for a being of your age. Lots of colors splashed about, radiating from you, where something else left a mark on your body or soul. Shows you've lived a dangerous and violent life. But no black in your core," he smiled at her then, "which means no evil. I find that very interesting with your line of work. Bounty hunters usually have a darker tone to them than you do. So if its not malice and hatred or even greed that fuels your intentions toward the world around you, what is it?"

[Rhindeer]

Axieva was about to ask how he did that and what his meant (she had never seen so many colors in her life, and even though it hurt her eye, she wished she could have looked longer; it was beautiful), when he remarked on her aura. Blinking the sunspots away and snapping out of her daze, Axieva wiped her knife off on the grass, sheathed it, and lifted the axe, carefully aligning it with her target. That had distracted her, but she needed to get this done before the ants and flies grew interested.

"Hm...what is evil?" she asked at length, and with a quick swing of the axe, she severed the head. That done, she removed her belt and unwrapped the fur skirt from her waist so she could bundle the head up in it. It would be a long trip back, and she didn't want to damage the face; it would be how her contractor identified the woman and confirmed the job done.

"I have heard the word," she clarified, and smirked. "I have been called it. It is...'bad' things, yes? Unpleasant things. Death, killing..." She shrugged and tilted her head, eyebrow raised. "Things all creatures do. They call me bad for this," she said, motioning toward the bundled head, "while eating deer meat. Convenient, yes? And silly. They must eat, too. And I will eat them."

Setting the head down, she stepped into the stream to splash water on her skin and scrub at the dirt and blood.

"I do not hate them. Does a farmer hate his pigs?" She smiled at Rit, sharp teeth flashing. "Bounty hunting is my farm."

[Aeytrious]

What an interesting view of things. There were many creatures who believed themselves superior to all others and treated them like cattle. But this wasn't like that. It was more like the universal equality of nature, eat or be eaten. Not a single reason for a negative outlook. It was a completely free of ego. That was simply the way things were and that was that. No need for any kind of directed anger. He got the feeling that even her frustration, and fear, and anger, that had all been directed at him earlier, were not directed at him at all, but rather herself or the individual situations of each moment. Amazing. Truly amazing. If a being such as her adapted to a strong moral and altruistic view, she would likely find enlightenment. He wasn't going to nudge her in that direction any time soon, but it sure was an interesting idea. True equality, while caring selflessly for the less fortunate.

"I suppose he doesn't, but he does consider them animals, and without any purpose but to feed him. That feeling of superiority over other sentient beings is often what creates evil. Being evil is sometimes doing harm, simply for the sake of doing harm, or for pleasure at the pain of another," describing evil was not easy. It wasn't really something you knew, but rather something felt. "An evil act would be finding a bird nest, crushing all the eggs and killing the birds, and not eating any of it. Evil is often very wasteful." He thought for a moment on another analogy, "Evil would be then preventing a scavenger from getting to the birds and eggs that you killed and crushed, simply so you can watch it starve to death. It's not the easiest thing to describe."

[Rhindeer]

Axieva pondered his words, mulling it over in her head. Some of it made sense, and yet some of it was very fuzzy.

"Cats often play with their prey," she said, sitting down on the bank with her hooves still in the water. "They don't always eat it. They are evil?"

It was a genuine question, for she truly didn't understand the concept. The first time she had even encountered it was when she had begun to live around humans.