Deep in the Kishahn Jungle -this time-, not far from one of the five World Trees the druids here -this here- called the Great Oaks, in a -sometimes- rarely found clearing, away from prying eyes -mostly-, a battle was fought -maybe- that decided -or perhaps not- the fate of the universe. Such is the way with time. Things don't always happen the same everywhen. In that version of that now in that version of that place, things would happen that way -kinda- if they happened at all.
A lone figure stood waiting, impatiently, for someone or something that was apparently later than expected. Between his light absorbing silvery-gray cloak and his light bending black armor, it's hard to keep your eyes on him, if you were present to lay your eyes on him in the first place that is. He fidgets a bit, tapping his toe, and glances up to check the light of the sun. The ground suddenly begins to shake. The quake, rather intense, even toppled nearby trees, and a large boulder cracked letting forth a stream of water. The man seemed completely unfazed, as if he didn't feel the tremors. Ominously dark clouds rapidly filled the sky, lightning flashed, thunder clapped, and a heavy deluge began to fall. Again the man seemed unfazed. The heavy downpour seemed as if it was bending around him. But that couldn't be so, could it? Perhaps it was a trick of the light?
Between the rolling ground and the downpour, nobody for miles would be having a pleasant time, but the man stood, now motionless, through it all. It continued steadily for an hour, the new stream, and the rain, flooded the clearing. As the water level rose, an on looker would have trouble not noticing that the man rose with it. At first glance his feet appeared to be firmly planted on the ground. But as that was no longer ground but the surface of the rising water level, that couldn't be possible. Faster than it all began, the quake and the rain stopped. A large bolt of lightning split the air and struck nine meters in front of the lone figure. He was undaunted.
A vertical slash of light appeared at the spot where the bolt struck and extended six meters into the air. Something inside the light pried at it, attempting to widen it, and in a moment succeeded. Giant tentacles pushed their way out and widened the portal more. Soon it was as wide as it was tall, and a giant monster began to push its way through. Its bulbous face, with three eyes, and a maw filled with razor sharp teeth, swiveled around, viewing the scene as it struggled to get through. It quickly spotted the man and paused in its writhing.
"You're late!", the man called to it. "Other mes' have already finished this encounter. I may have all the time in the world, but I still value punctuality."
The creature, not pleased with the beratement, let out a roar at the man. "Bow to me mortal, for I have come to devour this world, and all the others in this puny universe. You are nothing in the path of Mr'latipla. I will honor you with being devoured first."
"Really?", the man said sarcastically and with a smirk. With feigned enthusiam he continued, "You promise? I always wanted to be the first to be devoured by an arrogant being that believes itself superior to all other lifeforms in the multiverse." The man lifted his legs into the air and floated in front of the creature in a prostrate position. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" The man then began to laugh and roll around in the air. "You galactic destroyers are all so cliché. Did you really think I would subjugate myself to you? And whats with the tentacles? Can't any of you evolve to have arms and legs, why are you always monstrous."
The monster, Mr'latipla, first looked confused, then stunned, and finally angry. It began to slap its tentacles against the water and the trees in the area. "You dare mock me!? I am Mr'latipla, destroyer of worlds, devourer of universes, I am God!"
That seemed to upset the man, as he stopped his laughing and rolling about and stood in the air before the beast. "I caught your name the first time, not that it matters, and the narrator is right. That did piss me off. You are not God, perhaps A god. Little g though, not big g. I know a thing or two about the big g God. He's way cooler than you. Too busy to deal with you, that's why I'm here." The man walked forward as if up invisible stairs. "It would be nice if I could just unplug your big window and cut you in half, end this quick and easy. But as this isn't that universe I'll have to do it the hard way. Lets make it interesting for the readers." And with that he dashed forward, a beautiful bastard sword appearing in his right hand, and a eerie white sickle in his left.
Mr'latipla swung at the man with all his tentacles, battering him with suckers and barbs. As fast as the man was, dodging and twisting, spinning through the air, hacking at the appendages, some were able to strike him. He let go of his sword and it began to dance and spin around him, slashing at the reaching tentacles. He drew another sword from under his cloak and began to hack his way to the eyes of the beast. As a clear shot presented itself he threw his sickle like a boomerang. It slashed across one of the giant eyes, and returned to the man, now half blood red. Between the dancing sword and his own slashes, he was getting covered in black ichor, ichor that was beginning to smoke.
Between the burning, poisonous ichor, and the barbs on the tentacles, the battle was taking its toll and the man was slowing. He threw his sickle at another of the eyes, but on its return the monster Mr'latipla knocked it out of its flight. Now separated from his dancing sword, by several severed tentacles, and his sickle lying who knew where, the man had only his simple steel short sword. He ran toward the maw of the beast, heedless of the damage he was sustaining from the many blows, and the looming danger of the maw itself.
"You promised to devour me first, here's your chance!" The man let out a war cry as he dove into the maw, past its razor sharp teeth. Mr'latipla began to laugh at the foolishness of the man, and at its own success, but soon grew very still. After a moment it began to writhe intensely and let out a hideous scream. It began to uproot trees and even smashed the nearby boulder to dust, plugging up the new stream. Then the creature was still again. The man cut his way out of the beast, and stumbled away, falling to hands and knees, as it, and its severed parts, began to smoke and burn with black flames. The portal winked out of existence now that Mr'latipla was no longer willing it open.
Covered in the black ichor, and the slimy purple guts of his newly slain foe, he crawled to the dying stream. The battle had knocked away most of the water in the area, and he hated waking up in a mess. No luck this time, he didn't have the strength to clean up. He turned to face the jungle nearby and gave a weak wave.
"I don't know who's out there this time, or how, or why you happened to find this place today. I know you've been watching since before the quake started. At least you didn't try to help this time. Others did, will, and most die." He laid down, rolling onto his back. "Well come out then", he called, "No reason not to come ask your questions. Have your curiosity satisfied. But hurry, this me won't be alive much longer." With that he let out a long sigh, and waited. Soon this horrible mortal pain would end -hopefully-.
Her bounty had lead her deep into the jungle, a place Axieva was not too keen on exploring. The climate was all wrong; too wet, too humid. There were far too many biting bugs, and her brown skin sported a number of red, angry bumps that she'd scratched already scratched raw. Growling, she squashed a biting fly that landed on her shoulder, and it left behind a red smear--proof that it had fed from her already.
Blast it.
The bounty was not really worth all the hassle, but boredom had made her accept.
And she quickly discovered that bored was one thing she would not be on this journey.
It was while she was bending to sniff and examine some tracks, ears flicking against the buzzing flies, that the ground began to shake and the sky split open. And then began the chaotic sounds.
Cursing, Axieva did the sensible thing--she took cover in the foliage and laid low, ears erect and listening. Something was going to die today, and the curiosity over just what made her creep along through the underbrush, following the sounds by staying low and covered. May as well look and see what she needed to fear, if anything, because there was no sense remaining by those tracks; already they were full of water and useless to her, and soon they would be washed away completely.
By the time she found the noise's source, the battle was over. A human lay by the steam, covered in black liquid and guts, the strong scent of offal making her nose twitch. Whatever the human had fought, it was gone.
And he was wounded and alone. Not her bounty, but that mattered little, for she was nothing if not opportunistic.
Just as she was about to slink from the cover of the trees, the man waved in her direction and spoke, and for an instant she froze, ears going back. What the...? Oh, whatever. He clearly realized his own mortality. Good. That would make this easier for them both.
Grinning, lips pulling away to bare sharp teeth and those strange tusks, Axieva stepped closer and flexed her fingers, joints cracking. She was aware that she must have looked a little worse for wear, smeared with mud and wet leaves, braid hanging limp and sopping, the deerskin wrap around her waist torn and dirty, and she just hoped it made her look fiercer. Her hooves sank into the mud with each step, but she tried to ignore it; it would not be very intimidating if she got stuck or tripped.
"No. I would not have helped," she said, voice thick and strangely accented, the tusks affecting her speech. "It was a fight, yes? Then no. I would have waited to see who lived, and pick over what is left. As I am now."
She squatted down near his head and drew a hunting knife from its sheath, strapped to her upper thigh. Watching him, she picked mud from beneath her claws with its tip. "My only concern is, whatever it is, it is dead now, yes?"
Ritousaey smirked at his new company. The air about her had him feeling that their relationship would be strange and complicated. She was a Peryton, and quite a striking specimen. It was apparent at a glance that she was a veteran at living dangerously, and her frank attitude about scavenging from him was both appalling and refreshing. It was better than slitting his throat without a word, though he knew it was not out of courtesy.
"Well you are about the loveliest doe I've seen all century, perhaps a bit worse for wear, but still lovely. And you are correct, the little-g god I fought is dead this time. And so I am mortal for now, and dying again, as you can see." Rit finished with as much of a flourish as he could manage in his present condition, and smiled as broadly as this face would let him. He then lifted his hands and silently willed Bright Rose and Blood Moon to return to him. He set them down gently to his sides and crossed his arms.
"I have little that I would let you keep that would be much use to you in this world, but you're welcome to scrounge through my things. And if you plan on eating me, you'd probably want to be quick about it." He gave her a small smile at that and continued, "The sooner I die, the sooner I won't be okay with being eaten anymore. And after I die, I'd like to ask you some questions. If that's okay with you anyway. This me is much more respectful of personal boundaries and doesn't go around reading everyone's minds." Rit paused and cocked his head to the side in thought.
"I'm a bit surprised at your patience. Other you's have already killed other me's. I am Ritousaey, all powerful guardian of the multiverse," another flourish for announcing his title. "Might I inquire about your name before you decide your next actions?"
Axieva listened to him; there was no need to rush, for he would not be running, so he could at least say his piece. She had no idea what half of what he said meant, for it made no sense. Little gods? Dying again? Ask her questions after he died? Other hers? No, he was speaking nonsense, clearly, and Axieva reasoned that it was simply the gibberish of the dying. People often said strange and nonsensical things when they were fading out of this world; delusions of grandeur fit right into that.
It might have been more alarming, listening to him, if she weren't so used to ferrying others through to the other side.
When he was finished, she gave a small, noncommittal grunt. At the very least, she could appreciate him calling her lovely, and chose to believe the compliment was sincere and not deliriousness. It was also a first--'lovely' was the last thing most anyone called her.
"Hmm. Very well. You may know me as Axieva, for what little it's worth," she said at last, eying him. A small grin stretched her lips. "And for the compliment, I'll see you suffer little."
Raising her dagger, she pressed the blade to his throat, right beneath his ear. "Sleep well, Ritousaey."
And then in one swift, smooth motion, she opened his throat.
Countless eons of being and he never could get used to dying. Released from his mortal shell, like the air bursting from a bubble, sudden and violent, thrust into an intangible state. His ripples in the waters of time would not clear, the truth of his existence would not fade and disappear. He was eternal. His view of the aggregate life cycles of this place flashed by in an instant, but never his life before his eyes. The endless possibilities that would all occur at some point on the recondite web of the multiverse were most clear in that fragment of a thought of a moment that hardly endured in that fabled juncture. The labyrinthine vision would consume the minds of lesser beings, of lesser gods, with the vast illumination. It was all so magnificent and repugnant in its balance. But there were holes where he could not see his future selves.
Viewing his own past timeline was done with ease, but seeing his own future was forbidden. Why, he was not sure, beyond that God had decided it in his creation. Having a non-linear timeline made the holes appear behind, as often as in front of his current point, and those around him were lost in the shadows of the unknown. This doe Axieva was an interesting child. Where he didn't interact with her long, he could see more journeys, more blood, more survival. So many paths, so much possible death, but zero malice. She was so close to the center, so balanced, so grey, and the balance didn't even matter to her. It was all about self. So very interesting. A better adjective was needed. Provocative, fascinating, alluring, riveting, curious, compelling, stimulating, magnetic, mag-net-ic. That was the word for it. He could spend centuries watching all the intriguing paths she could and would take. But her immediate future he could not see. He was too close. Ritousaey would have to enter the mortal world again and experience it himself. The question was how long to wait before entering his shell and mending it.
It would surely be a new experience for Axieva. Hopefully she didn't run, not that a chase wouldn't be interesting. It was just much more simple when they were fascinated by his resurrection rather than terrified. Sliding back to his perception of the mortal world he watched her, and waited for the best time to enter his body and come back to life.
Axieva was unaware of any of that.
All she knew in that moment was the metallic scent of blood as it pumped into the wet soil, and the red, coppery taste as she licked it from her knife and hand. This had been an interesting detour from her mission, but it was a necessary one. She would have needed to hunt soon, anyway, and this saved her the trouble.
Even better, this allowed her to indulge her particular craving.
She waited for him to die, patient as ever, and when the blood stopped flowing and his heart stopped beating, she cut his soiled shirt from his body and got to work. She had no idea what he had meant when he'd suggested she be quick in eating him--more nonsense, likely--but she needed to work fast anyway before the noise and blood attracted other predators.
Taking her knife, she worked with a surgeon's ease and familiarity, sawing down his middle and opening his abdomen. Then she plunged her hand into the wound, feeling around his chest cavity, until she found what she wanted.
She pulled out a chunk of bloodied liver and bit into it.
Watching himself be eaten was not new to Ritousaey, though it was not the most frequent of experiences. He waited for Axieva to finish her meal before starting the healing process. It only took a few moments to mend his broken form. First replacing the parts Axieva had consumed. Next pulling his exterior back together and then mending his many wounds from the recent battle. Finally he reentered his mortal shell and opened his eyes. The whole process only took Rit about 30 seconds, and could have happened faster if he had desired it.
"So Axieva, was I a satisfactory meal?" Rit prepared himself for a quick reaction to her response. She could respond violently or with quick flight. One never knew with humanoids.
Axieva finished off the liver and began to lick her hands clean and groom her face. It would be a pity to leave behind so much meat, but she needed to keep moving, and there was no possible way she could carry it all. The swords by his side inspired only mild interest; they looked pretty, but they were too big and clunky for someone like her, who relied more on stealth and speed. Her own natural weapons, and her own small dagger, were enough for her, so the jungle would be claiming those tools as well.
Oh well. Time to move on.
Rising to her hooves, she turned her back to the body and prepared to leave, though she got no further than two steps before a familiar voice spoke behind her.
A violent chill ripped through her, gripping her, stealing her breath and freezing her limbs right before that instinctive burst of fight or flight instinct kicked in.
With a vicious snarl, she spun around and flew into a crouch, knife out, teeth bared, and eye locked on the man she'd just killed and eaten. A man who now looked perfectly fine, like he had never been dead at all, like she hadn't opened his arteries and torn out his liver. Panic spiked within her at that thought--what had she eaten, then?
She growled, low and deep in her throat, body taut. "I killed you!" And she looked about ready to kill him again.
Rit couldn't help but feel amused. He cracked a small smile, and it was all he could do to hold back his mirth. Laughing at a time like this would surely seem a bit sinister, and that would not be the sort of message he wanted to send. He sat up slowly and carefully, making a placating gesture by patting the air with his hands. Axieva was clearly on the fight end of the fight or flight scale, but at least her reaction had not been immediately violent.
"I tend to get that more frequently than I would like," he said with mirth showing in his voice. "I did try to warn you a bit, though I'm sure at that point it probably seemed like randomly released neurotransmitters crossing my synaptic gaps as I died. Nobody listens to the ravings of a dying man." Rit was hoping that his calm demeanor would put Axieva at ease. He really didn't want to have to protect himself. In his now immortal state, she posed no threat, and he couldn't accidentally kill her, but fighting rarely made starting a new relationship easy.
"As you can see, I'm not a regular mortal. I'm sure your usual humanoid curiosity will have you wanting to ask questions, which I'd be more than happy to trade for questions I have for you." He paused, but continued before she could respond, "I am however filthy and my things a bit tattered. If you don't mind, I'd like to freshen up, but I figured quick movements would cause undo actions."
Her head was spinning and a sick, gruesome feeling twisted her insides. The meat in her belly suddenly felt very heavy and for a moment she felt like she might sick it up. But she swallowed hard past the lump in her throat and held it down, licking her lips like a nervous dog. Never in her life had she dealt with something like this, something so unnatural, and with no frame of reference for how to handle it, she defaulted to fear and aggression.
It didn't help that, like earlier, she didn't understand half of what he was saying. But unlike earlier, there was no rational excuse for it. These weren't the 'ravings of a dying man', these were the words of a fully conscious, healthy individual. And that made it worse.
She pinned her ears back and growled again. "No. You stay there," she said, lips curling in a snarl and knife pointed at him. "How is it you live? What are you?"
At least she didn't attack him without hesitation. Axieva was clearly not in the most calm state, but she seemed to be keeping her head cool. Explanations were not easy, but he'd try to keep this one as simple as possible.
"Well, I did already tell you. I am the all powerful guardian of the multiverse. I was created by God, the God, creator of all things. Nobody directly worships the creator. God centered faiths follow deities that were created by the creator or one someone down the ladder of godhood." This was already getting away from the simple explanation Rit intended to give, but he decided to power through it.
"I can pretty much do anything you could imagine and more. I kill gods, save worlds, galaxies, universes, and destroy them as well. I was given limitations and made to live as a mortal quite a few times, so I wouldn't get out of control. Perception is important when you're given the job to judge all of creation." He smiled at that, hopefully in a disarming matter, and continued, "With the blink of an eye I could smudge out this world from existence, though it would be simpler just not to save it. And remaining here in this state is more about your safety than mine, and as I hope to cultivate a relationship of some kind with you as well, I'd prefer not to have to kill you and then bring you back to life. That usually upsets people. And I enjoy your lovely face from this angle. That look in your eye is splendidly terrifying." Another smile, this time going for charming. Apparently this new form was perpetually randy. Side effects of the race he was given? Or maybe the creator just wanted to have fun with him. He did sometimes think he was really a cosmic joke, rather than an all powerful guardian.
"What? What?" That was all Axieva could manage in response to his explanation. She stared at him as though he'd sprouted a third eye and an extra mouth, her own mouth gaping.
Perhaps this one didn't have to be dying to be crazy. And he seemed so certain of what he was saying, the words pouring out like he'd explained this many times before and filled with the sort of steadfast conviction that said he believed every one of them.
She, however, did not. But she did believe he was very dangerous.
And had he just threatened to kill her?
Threatened to kill her, then complimented her.
She hissed at that and jerked backwards in alarm. It had been flattering when he was dying, but now she didn't know what to do with it.
"I am that, and you are crazy," she finally managed, shaking her head. "Thinking himself all-powerful, a world-destroyer. Ha!" Of course, things didn't exactly add up--like the part where he was able to come back from the dead. That part had her stumped, but rather than attempt to understand it, she rejected it altogether.
"Only one can destroy worlds, and that is not some...some human fawn. Stop talking, now, you speak stupid. Go." She made a waving gesture with her dagger, still crouched and poised to lunge or flee. "Water is that way."
Rit made a great deal of effort to not use his power for mundane tasks. He felt it kept him from the temptation of abusing them. Her reaction was not totally unexpected and gave him the feeling he should push things a bit rather than try to explain again. Some theatrics were in order if he was going to make her a believer. With a thought he was clean, his clothing and gear mended, his weapons tended and in their proper places, but he didn't stop there. He was feeling whimsical, and with his power, that brought a whole new meaning to the word.
It was a frequent practice of his to erect a monument to the battles he waged against beings of such power, like Mr'latipla. Perhaps this time he was being a bit extreme, but he could always change his mind later. Filling the entire clearing, he placed a tower that reached 500 meters into the sky and 100 below. With 16 basement levels and 80 floors above, it was a marvel rare to a world like this. It looked as if a slight breeze might topple it, but it was the sturdiest structure on the planet. Upon inspection it would appear to be constructed from a single seamless piece, floors, stairs, walls, sweeping balconies and all. Wrapping up through the walls were detailed, larger than life carvings depicting his fight with Mr'latipla. The conical 80th floor had a broad balcony with an intricate railing. Its roof had several large stained glass windows that caught the sun and filled the huge room with dancing colors.
This is where they were now, Axieva in the same position she had been in, Rit now in a cross legged sitting position, floating a meter off the floor. Axieva would not have perceived any of this happen. She was on the muddy earth of the clearing and now here, without moving herself. Rit erected an invisible shield around himself, in case her reaction was more violent than he expected it to be.
"Well beautiful, should I take you on a tour of the galaxy," he said, "or is this enough proof that I am what I say I am? I have enough grist for some spires if you like," he added with a grin and a wink.
Axieva's reaction?
Sheer terror.
One moment she was in the jungle, and the next she was in a building more beautiful than anything she'd seen before--but she didn't register the beauty of it at all. All she registered was heart-clenching horror as she was ripped straight out of her comfort zone and plunged into something she didn't understand and didn't want to understand.
And if there was anything that scared her more than things she didn't understand, she hadn't yet encountered it yet.
Her eye went very large, rectangular pupil dilated. Every hair on her body prickled and stood on end, every muscle tensed, and her claws came out. Her pulse roared in her ears and her tail bristled, ears flattened against her head. She had accused him of being crazy, but maybe she was the one losing her mind, seeing things that were not there--maybe she had eaten bad meat? The tile beneath her hooves felt very real, though, too real, and she felt very, very trapped by those walls.
Her breathing came in quick, short bursts as she found herself on the precipice of panic, and her eye darted around the room as she searched for a door. She backed away from the floating Rit, hooves clicking against the floor. She didn't like that. The floor was too slick.
"Let me out," she said, voice quiet and breathy at first, then swiftly rising in volume. "Let me out, let me out, let me out!"
She didn't wait for him to comply. She bolted away from him--or tried. She'd never walked on tile before, much less run across it, and her hooves found no purchase. With a cry, she slipped and went toppling over.
Moving from the top of the new tower to among the jungle trees nearby was not difficult, and it prevented Axieva's fall from concluding on the hard stone floor. This reaction was far from what he expected. Violence or dumfounded awe were much easier to deal with. Sheer terror knew nothing of logic, and was hard to control.
"Woah there little doe," Rit said soothingly, "you're out. You're out. I didn't know that would affect you in such a way. Perhaps you have an aversion to being indoors? Or maybe I just went to far." He wasn't sure she was hearing him, but he continued, in hopes that the soothing sound of his voice would help.
"Perhaps I could take you somewhere more to your liking?" he suggested, "perhaps a place with fond memories. I can take you anywhere or anywhen." Rit made a slow all encompassing movement with his arms. "There really is no limit. I'm sorry that I scared you. It was not my intent. Perhaps now you'll have more questions?"
It wasn't hard tile she hit, but wet earth, and the sudden change in textures was as jarring the second time as the first. She curled her fingers into the soil and pressed her forehead against the ground, and that was how she stayed for several moments as she tried to control her frantic breathing and pounding heart.
At his question, her head whipped up and she gave an angry hiss, though her eye was still large and fearful. Her lips pulled back in a teeth-baring grimace. "You stupid, stupid buck! Males, all of you! So stupid! What about any of this has you think I want that?!" she snapped, throwing her hands up and gesticulating wildly.
"You are crazy! Or I am crazy! Which? There is no certainty!"
She took a deep breath and rubbed at her face, smearing mud across her cheeks. Another deep breath, this one shuddering. "I think I may vomit."
"Well I must admit to having an unconventional sanity. I suppose it's a result of a timeless existence," Rit said with a shrug. "You, however, are entirely as sane as you were before you came upon me in that clearing," he assured her, "you can trust your mind."
Rit slowly drifted toward Axieva, and continued his apology, "I truly am sorry. Perhaps my perspective is skewed, my patience lacking. I could have taken smaller steps over more time to convince you of what I am."
Rit stopped about a meter from Axieva, and put his feet back on the ground. He reached back into his pack and pulled out a clear flask. He unstoppered it with his teeth, and poured some of its golden brown contents into a glass he conjured from the air. The liquid bubbled and fizzed gently as he did so, and Rit then returned the restoppered flask to his pack. With his now free right hand he made a waving gesture at Axieva, healing the insect bites she had sustained in the jungle. He then offered the glass to her.
"This is a sweet ginger and ginseng tonic. Those herbs may be foreign to you, but they are helpful. The bubbles feel delightful on the tongue and it will help settle your stomach, as well as help mental fatigue."
Axieva looked at the glass, then glanced up to study Rit, eye narrowed. While she understood that if he wished her harm, he wouldn't need to go through all the effort of tricking her into poisoning herself, what troubled her now was the why.
She remained where she was, still breathing hard though not quite as panicked.
"Why?" she said at last, rubbing at her arm and only vaguely aware that the skin was now smooth and bite-free. She had been too focused on Rit to notice that she no longer felt itchy all over. "Why would you help? I killed you. I ate you."
She paused and scowled, eye squinting. "What is it you want?"
"Ive been killed before, eaten before. These are not new experiences for me," Rit explained. "I have only just arrived here this time, and you are the first I have met in this here. I learned much of this place in the greater scheme from the vision I was given in death," he continued, "but I find it important to take part in the lives of those that live here to learn what I must know. There was no malice in what you did, only self preservation. A predator does not hate its prey, it simply must eat." Rit sat on the ground in front of Axieva, and sent the glass floating within her reach, should she decide to drink from it. He assumed a relaxed posture and looked up into her face.
"I am simply curious," he said to her, "I could read your mind and know all there is to know about you, but facts mean little without the context of the experience. Your experiences, your life, are understood from your point of view, only by you. At this time, I wish to learn what I can about your universe through interaction rather than intrusion. And so I propose an exchange of information and companionable interaction."
That was an odd explanation, but Axieva managed to break it down into one simple part, since her mind was still struggling to grasp the other, more unbelievable parts.
"Just talking?" she said, blinking slowly. "That...is all?"
It was a relief, and yet also awkward. Even though he was alive now, she'd killed him. She'd eaten him. In a way, he was still her prey--and even now, she was digesting part of him! It was very, very strange to find yourself talking to your food, and--erk. There came the nausea again.
Heeding what he'd said earlier, she snatched the glass from the air, spilling some of the contents, and then peered at the bubbly concoction. This would help, eh?
She sniffed it, wrinkled her nose at the smell and light tickle of the bubbles, and then gave it a quick lick and pulled a face, letting out a displeased hiss. It tingled, a weird prickling sensation all along her tongue. Liquid was not supposed to tingle. She didn't trust it, and the scowl she shot Rit showed as much.
"It feels sharp," she said, not quite sure how to explain the odd sensation in this language. "Not delightful."
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.
"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?"
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."
"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*]
[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?"
[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.
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.
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."
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.
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?"
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.
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!"
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.
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.
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?"
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."
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?"
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."
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."
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.
Rit should have seen that coming. Using animal behavior as an analogy for the evil of sentient minds was difficult.
"I suppose my description would make it seem so," he said with a sigh, "It's a hard thing to describe. Cats are not evil because they can't comprehend the difference between good and evil," he explained, "People that do not understand you, would probably find your actions evil, when really they're just self serving for self preservation." He paused for a moment of thought, "I don't think I can describe it. You'd have to learn of it through experience. I would have to show you through my perceptions, and I don't think your mind could withstand that. You'd probably be driven mad."
He picked up the head of the woman and unbundled it. Rit used a touch of magic to clean it up. Free of grime, sludge and the smears of blood, the disembodied head actually had nice hair and a pretty face. His current self couldn't help thinking that it was such a waste. He pulled a deep purple sack from his pack and placed the head inside. Then he put the sack where Axieva had set the head.
"The sack will protect and preserve whatever is placed within it. It'll stay clean and intact until removed."
He moved into the stream, and controlled its flow to create a gently swirling pool around them. A little heat, some lye to suds the water, rough stone underfoot so they wouldn't slip; he wondered about just making a permanent hot spring here, the environment was suitable for it. He loved the feeling of the energy that flowed through water. All this contemplating evil was not pleasant. When he stepped from the water a moment later he was dry of course.
"Perhaps we should move away from this topic. I see it only going around in circles. Perhaps you could tell me about your lost eye, or perhaps your wings? Since you survived both, I wonder what the other guy looks like. And I'd be happy to answer more questions."
Instead of answering her question, that answer only beget more questions; all she was getting from it was that evil was wasteful, or a lack of understanding, and also depended on who you were. It was a complicated subject and thinking on it was starting to hurt her head, though it seemed to make perfect sense to Rit--and also those humans she had encountered before.
The water bubbled and warmed, and she gave a surprised jolt, and then relaxed. It was Rit, clearly, and when he went in the water, she followed, convinced that it was okay. She sank down into it with a sigh. "Humans have too many words," she muttered. "Too many vague words. Why not just 'wasteful'? Or 'cruel'? If that is what is really meant..."
But she was content to let the subject drop after that complaint, and she watched curiously as Rit transferred the head from her furs to a new bag, ear flicking and eyebrow arching at his explanation. "So helpful," she said with a smile, still amused that he was taking this business so well. An odd creature he was, indeed.
She reached for the skirt and pulled it into the water with her to clean it up, and once that was done, she stepped from the water, dripping wet, and wrung the skirt out.
"The wings," she said, turning her back to him so he could see the paler scars etched into her dark skin. "They were...hm. Cut off." She grimaced at the memory and rolled her shoulders against the remembered pain. "The eye, it was lost fighting. Another of my kind took it, but I took worse." She shrugged. "She took my mate."
And therefore, as far as she was concerned, it was all entirely justified.
Axieva answered Rit's questions with greater ease than he expected, though he had hoped for a bit more detail about the wings. He would have to ask more about that later. He looked up through the break in the jungle at the looming black tower he had created. Perhaps it was too big. They were a good distance from it and it was clearly visible. It might draw more attention than he hoped it would. He would have to check on it in a few years.
As his new companion relaxed and got clean he went to work transforming the area into an actual hot spring. He created as little as possible instead just moving things around and remolding them so that they would serve his purpose. The large stones and some bedrock in the are he crafted into the pools. He rerouted the underground water source to take greater advantage of geothermal heat and create a better flow into the pools. He pushed back the vegetation, but encouraged its growth, so that while the ground and pools were clear, a strong boundary was created. The trees grew taller and wider to strengthen the boundary, and create a canopy to shade most of the clearing, while leaving a clear view of the sky above the central pool. The thought occurred to him that the hot spring would probably be frequented by the same people that would visit the tower. Rit decided to clear the path they had tracked the bounty along back to the towers entrance. Since it was Axieva that brought him here to this spot and it was she that benefited from it first he created a statue of her in the center of the largest pool. It was not of her now though. He opened his sight to view what she looked like with wings and both eyes, without any of her scars. On top of a rock she crouched naked, reaching a hand toward the water, with her wings fully extended behind her. The life size, solid white, marble statue, stood out against the basalt and granite that made up the pools, and the detail was exceedingly fine. He hoped it wouldn't offend her that he had just immortalized her.
Rit went and sat at the edge of the pool Axieva was now in, like nothing had changed. As if he had done nothing at all over the course of the past few minutes but ponder her answers he asked another question, "do you mean took as in she killed your mate, or stole your mate?"
Rit was just full of surprises. This one, at least, was less traumatic than the first two, but still surreal, given that one moment there was just a river, and now there was a river and some hot springs. But what surprised her even more was the statue he constructed at the center of one pool.
She froze in putting her skirt back on, staring.
Was that...her?
And she was whole.
The sight of her wings especially stirred something within her, a painful longing, and she was still staring when Rit asked another question, jarring her back to the present. She tore her eyes from the statue and blinked over at him, shaking the foolish emotions away.
"Stole," Axieva answered with a growl and an irritable flick of her ear. "And so as a thief was she punished." She looked away, back to the statue. "I never saw either again. Ah, this is stupid, these issues. They are old, passed. That, however--"
She pointed to the statue, looking back at Rit in wonder. "How did you...? It's me?"
"It's you. The you deep in your soul, whole in every way," Rit stood and walked through the air above the water, out to the statue. He circled the statue, examining his work.
"You have no scars, you have both eyes, and your wings. You don't actively think of yourself this way any longer, but you have never totally shed this identity. It's hard for mortals to let go of the past. This will very likely, always be who you are at your core. I think the only way for you to understand evil, would be for this part of your identity to die." He ran his fingers along the stone wings, "they are truly beautiful. I had wings once. They were a badge of pride at the same time that they were a reminder of shame. I loved flying with them. That was before I knew I was the immortal and all powerful Guardian of the Multiverse. It was also long long after I was created. But time doesn't work the same for me. I shouldn't get into that, it'll get confusing." He bent in his examination of the statue, and with his fingertip, burned an infinity symbol into the outside of the statues left ankle.
"You are a beautiful creature Axieva, you are a rarity among the stars. I have come across other deer like humanoids, but not many. And even less that were carnivorous," he smiled in her direction. She appeared to be finished getting dressed.
"So what's next?"
"Mmm." Axieva couldn't help but grin at his praise, ears perking up, and she took in the statue proudly. The statue represented her at the beginning of her life, before she'd joined the hunts, before the trouble and heartbreak. Not that she missed the her of the past, necessarily. Her wings and eye, yes, often, but she embraced the scars. They were not an ugly thing to her people, but a map of growth and survival and experience.
Either way, Rit was right. "I am a bloody good looking creature," she proudly said, puffing out her chest. "You have good taste to recognize that. Not many do, the fools. Or they are too frightened to handle me. That is fair. As far as 'what's next'..."
She nudged the bag, which held the woman's head, with a hoof before picking it up. "Zantaric is what is next. My contractor will need his proof, and I will need my payment. And you?"
Though he frightened her on some level, precisely because she didn't understand him (or understand this "multiverse" he spoke of), he also intrigued her. And as much as she would never admit it, the company was nice. Her kind were as social as humans, and being alone as she'd been, and for so long, was not natural.
Humans were difficult to socialize with, for several reasons.
Ritousaey smiled at Axieva.
"Well Zantaric it is then. I hadn't wanted to go there this early, but I know I'll be there a few more times, since my future vision of it is blurred. Shall we?"
He waited for her to be prepared for the journey and found a suitable location for them to arrive. He sensed that she probably would not like portal travel, but the only faster way was to teleport her, and she had not liked that. So he thought of a way to make it easy on her. He summoned a door. A full stone arch with a solid oak door, complete with brass knocker and knob.
"Through this door is an alleyway in Zantaric. It will spare us the long journey, you'll get paid sooner, and it won't have the jarring effect that my teleporting you earlier did. You simply open the door and walk through. I'll be waiting on the other side for your arrival," Rit said, just as he vanished from in front of Axieva.
This thread continues here (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=14888.0).