It was a long walk to his home. To travel all the way from Connloath into the capital city of Serendipity took weeks. Through rain and strong winds, and now, the chilling cold of the on coming winter, Jinai was now haggard and solemn as she entered the city of Arca in the quiet stillness of the morning. So as she walked along the cold, muddy road, her legs ached, her breath came out in gentle puffs beneath her hood. She had been well layered for this journey, and well armed. And also sick as a dog.
Jinai always had many flaws about her, and her dabble in drugs was a hard addiction for her to kick, and after her brother's death, the war became a more clearer reality, despite how fully integrated she had been from the start. It had sobered her up completely after she had found out about her brother's death, had all but gone crazy to search through the pile of bodies and pieces there of to find his. And for the longest time she had sat in that moment, staring down at his face which had become blue with death.
She had vowed many things in that moment, and when she had initially received word her brother had been coming back to help support the Free Folk, and the cause, another letter soon followed from his wife, begging Jinai to watch over him. She had failed. He had barely been in Connlaoth a month- she hadn't even seen him- and he was gone, just like that.
To lose such a friend, even though they had been parted for nearly a decade by now, still stung at her heart. She knew her brother loved her, perhaps more than he should, but she had loved him back. He was her best friend, and the only one she had ever confided in. Since he had departed for Serendipity those many years ago, she found herself on a wayward path, and took to the drugs to cope with him having left her life. She still carried these drugs on her now, but felt too hollow and sick to even want to use them.
She also wasn't about to get rid fo them. It was part of her style to use them as self defense, even if not using them on herself to get a high. No, now she was sick over many things; her failure to protect her brother, and so she took it upon herself to personally see to it that his body was brought back to his wife to be buried in their land.
He had a small farm in the outskirts of Arca, so Jinai had to travel through this city in order to get there. While on her way, she had sent a letter on ahead to alert his wife she was on her way. She'd have to pen up another letter to let her know she was in the city, but fatigue and now fever were ever present, and she was thankful for the sudden drop in temperature this week to cool her off.
She paused against a building, 'The Lonely Shoe'; a shoe makers shop, which wasn't open. It was still too early in the morning for that. Removing her hood, she leaned against hte building, closing her eyes and enjoyed the cold winter winds blowing against her face. She felt dizzy, and the sweat on her was heavy. She needed a bath, something to eat before this illness would take it's full toll on her. Or perhaps it already had.
She found her green eyes glancing back towards the pull cart she had hauled all this while without help of an animal; for the mule she had was lost coming out of the mountains. A damn mountain cat had gotten to it. but better the animal than her or the corpse of her brother.
So through all of Serendipity she had to trek carrying the thing on her own, and it seemed only in this moment the weight of this burden was catching up to her, and she felt old beyond her years, and never more tired and sad in all of her life. She never cried over her brother's death, and it was too cold to start that now, as her green eyes stared down at the heavy blanket that laid across the dead body's form.
Retkin... her brother....
he never deserved to die.
And now he was gone.
He was gone forever.
Torak had spent most of the rather grey day, skulking about in alleys and rooftops, his armour re-enchanted. With the use of bodily energy, he could maintain a colour of his choice to blend in. He could turn grey, red. He simply had to envisage it. So he skulked about rooftops and trees and alleys like a giant metal chameleon.
He hardly recognised the faces skulking around the alleys with him. He picked pockets, left notes, threats, he made good use of his new ability. It gave him an unnatural edge over enemies. He was better than some Wolves too.
If he had recognised anyone, they weren't friends anymore. He had the Wolves as friends. He began to think about his time as an assassin. He remembered getting the armour. Sleeping around, targets and clients of particular importance or interest. The most important client had been when he was recruited for the protection of the ceremony of Grand Duke Calent. Apparently the man he had met with was a double, as Torak killed him, before running off to the Wolves.
He remembered his small excursion with this Owl girl, the Canis Dirus, before Charon anyway, and Rufus trapping him on a roof. He remembered escaping the shadow wolves, seemingly killing them, just to find out that he only killed three tenths of what he thought he did. He remembered being caught and dragged to Zahi. Being beaten to hell by Rufus. All good memories.
But he remembered his hateful memories. The ones he didn't like so much. The ceremony day had hurt. That stupid assassin had dragged him halfway across Reajh, just to bugger off after being rescued by him from jail. He hoped he never saw her again. If he did, he would have to have "words" with her.
But apparently he had spoken too soon.
The girl he had thought a vagrant removed her hood. There she was. The assassin herself. On Wolf territory.
He thought about any implications in the Wolves. No. This was a personal grudge. Perhaps he could just beat her half death. She would pay for making him limp from that jail.
He jumped over the rooftops, and stood above her. He thought about landing on her. That would hurt her a lot. But she seemed to be in a state of emotional turmoil. Hurt.
He dropped the ledge and landed in front of her. he changed the armour to it's ceremony day colours, so she would know him.
"What sort of person gets broken out of jail, then just runs off, without even thanking her rescuer?"
When the man jumped down from the building, she just about had a heart attack. SHe clutched onto the cart nearby, not only because her legs suddenly felt weak, and she, nearly faint, but also because she had to protect it. It was the only thing of value to her in that moment, so when she heard the familiar voice, saw the familiar armor, she grit her teeth, glaring daggers back at him.
"You!"
Then at his comment, her expression soured.
"Thanks?" Despite being sick, she wasted no time socking him clean across the face. Armor be damned. And gods, now did her fist ever hurt. She shook it, crumpled over from the pain as she glared back his way.
"Why would I thank you?"
Really, what a fool! Did he have ANY idea of all of the trouble he's caused for her since the coronation? Gods, what an idiot! And boy was her blood ever broiling, which was enough to make her ignore the dizzyness from her illness that was still ever present.
OOC: lol hope it's ok I assumed a hit on Torak XD if only for lolz.
I can change it f you want >_> just let me know
BUT IT AMUSED ME
((OOC: It amused me too. Torak shall now proceed to fall on his arse.))
Torak felt the punch land, and it knocked him straight on his arse. He had the helmet ringing bloody murder in his ears.
"For breaking you out when I could have left you to the hangman's noose... Aggressive bitch..." He stood. He was ready to fight again. If she wanted to die today, she would.
"Be lucky I am changed." He re-coloured his armour into one that identified him as a Soot Wolf.
"What brings an annoying cow like you to this city?"
Was that supposed to be funny? Him changing? I mean, his colors change, but he still looked like an idiot in armor to her. She narrowed her gaze at him.
"That's none of your business," she spat.
"Oh, but it is you see. I am a Shadow Wolf. My superior needs to know everything going on in the city. Including your visit." He pulled out a blade, his large sword to be exact.
"So, tell me what is in your little cart, vagrant." This command he growled, his sword steady and sharpened.
"Shadow wolf?" Jinai's face twisted, obviously not enlightened enough to know what the hell a Shadow wolf was. Was he saying he was some sort of were creature? That would explain why he acted like an idiot, reckless and dumb. And maybe he was really ugly behind his mask. Another reason he might be hiding his face. Her eyes narrowed on him as he pressed the issue about the cart.
But instead of fighting him, she turned away, simply peeling part of the cart's heavy covering back, before grabbing onto the shovel she had on board and attempting to whack the armored man across the head in one swift move. SHe knew her drugged darts would be useless with him and his armor; but a shovel to the head might be enough to knock him out.
Of all the damn luck, why did she have to run into THIS idiot now of all times?
The shovel smacked him in the head. For a second he was impressed. He saw the tactic of illusion, the idea, the whole thing.
Before the hit knocked him unconscious anyway. His helmet came off, and landed a way away, and he laid there, eyes open, blood on his face.
He wasn't getting up just yet.
THe loud CLANK of the shovel to his face made a lot of noise, not only what had been ringing in Torak's poor ears. The sound alerted the guards, and upon hearing that, she cursed beneath her breath. Grabbing onto Torak, she attempted to heft him up into the cart. Might as well try to hide the body. Less to explain if she could pull off she was taking two corpses to the graveyard.
But Gods, was the armored idiot heavy. Several grunts and growls later, she had gotten the tall man into the cart and for a moment, paused to observe his bleeding face, and well, the detail there of.
He looked like any other man now without that stupid helmet on, and looked almost serene and handsome, you know, now unconscious and with blood trickling own from his face. It was then she noticed a scar by his eye, but that was all she had time to look at before throwing the heavy sheet back over his body and turning around.
The guards had appeared, and once they inquired what was going on, she explained herself, and was thankful she had rested Torak in the cart so that his bleeding side of his face was pointed down, rather than up. So when she pulled the cart back to show the two corpses, tehy nodded, and let her pass.
Thank Gods the guards bought her story. She was pretty good at playing things up. It always helped her getting what information she needed and in her stealth tactics and sneaking in to get close to her enemies for information. Now, with the guards gone, she picked up the cart, grumbling about how much heavier the cart was and made her way to the cemetery. Might as well go there, then drop Torak's damn body for someone else to find. He wouldn't be her problem any longer.
By the time she made it to the graveyard, it had began to snow. The first snow of the season. She shivered, despite her fever and pulled the cart into the center of a long slender path set amongst the stone graves that jutted out from the frost-bitten hill-side. She parked the cart, sighing as she leaned against it to catch her breath,a nd felt a dizzy spell wash over her. She'd have to find medicine soon, or some sort of inn, or relief. And for a moment, she closed her eyes, feeling so very, very tired and sore.
Torak woke up when the cart stopped, to find himself in with another body.
"Sweet holy Angsar!" He jumped out of the cart, his helmet magically returning via a teleport. He could do that now. He had made sure the enchantments were tailored to him. And him alone.
"So that's what you're doing... Psycho bitch..." He wiped his cut, scratching himself with the serrated armour. Now he was bleeding even more.
"What, were you going to bury me along with your boyfriend?!"
Jinai almost fell over when the man shouted, it ringing well into her ears as she winced. She grew dizzy a moment, but stilled herself against the cart before turning around and shoving Torak out of the cart.
"This is the end of the line for you. Get out, your heavy ass is walking."
And she was breathing heavily, abnormally so, as large white puffs of breath splayed across her face. then, with the stupid idiot out of her cart, she moved to cover her brother's body and took hold of the ends of the cart, fully aiming on just walking away and leaving the idiot to rot int he grave yard.
He took a closer look as she removed him from the cart.
"Gods you are ill... You need some medicine..." He felt sorry for her. Why was he feeling sorry for her?!
"I have money. You want some medicine?" He didn't even know why he was offering to help. He respected only one thing, her shovel swing.
Jinai ignored him, and now with a firm grasp upon the cart, she simply walked away, the cart wheels whining in protest as she dragged it along the bumpy road.
He saw her walking away. He had the utmost respect for this girl, but if she was going to die, he would kill her. Not some damned cold.
He teleported in front of her.
"You want to know why I saved you from that prison? Because I respect you. I want to be the one to kill you myself. When we are both on peak form. I will not let some damned cold take my kill. And thus, until you are well, I will do my utmost to make you will. No-one takes my kill. Not even a damned god." He held out a hand for her to shake. He would only do this once.
Jinai paused when Torak stepped infront of her. She stared at the hand, then sighed, and simply adjusted the cart and began to move it, pulling it around him and off into the lumpy grass, which was considerably more irritable to pull the cart upon than the road.
"You're an idiot." was all she said. What was his problem anyways? She didn't have time for his shit.
"An idiot for wanting to fight you in a fair fight? What happened to girl I chased half way across Reajh? When did she die? What miserable ass fucking demon possessed her corpse?!" He shouted at her as she walked away.
"If you don't want me to help you then fine. Go crawl away and waste your few remaining days. Or you can take back your damn life. You're stuck with me as long as you aren't dead. I will not let anything else kill you, but me. You are mine alone to kill. If I have to fight the whole damn Connlaothian army, just for you to kill me in a fair fight, so be it!" He was, in his own way, caring. In his own, sick, territorial, strange way, he cared.
The more he spoke, it only confirmed what she already knew.
Yep, definitely an idiot. So she kept on walking, that was, until he mentioned he was going to follow her. That's when she visibly flinched, and, upon seeing a rock her wheel was getting stuck on, she felt her blood broil even hotter than her fever. Picking up the rock in a nonchalant motion (that appeared as if she were simply fixing the wagon wheel which had been caught) she threw it at his head.
"I have no reason or care to fight you, you idiot. Now get away from my cart before I hit you again with the shovel!" And so be it, she'd knock his head clean off with it if she could!
He dodged the stone, not caring. If she went to fight him with the shovel, he would just wear her down.
"What is your problem with me?! In Reajh you were quite happy to lead me on. Now you're running away from me! I tried to kill you once. I don't think you're worth killing when you talk to me like this!" He walked towards her, inviting the hit from the shovel.
"I liked you better back in Reajh."
The more he spoke, the angrier she got.
And she was cursing when the rock had missed.
"And I hate you now just the same. Don't you know anything? Just get the hell out of my way. I've got somewhere to be." And despite it seeming it would be obvious she needed to be in that graveyard (considering the corpse) she continued to pull the cart again back onto the path.
"Why don't you just go find some other building to blow up, hrm? Seems like Arca is full of them." And as quickly as she wore a smile for him, it turned sour and dropped away, and she went right on back to pulling her cart.
"Hmph..." He grunted a little, and walked up behind her.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her towards him. Then he did the most surprising thing. Even he didn't expect to do what he did. No control, no thought, just a reflex.
He kissed her.
((OOC: Dun. Dun. Dun. DUUUUNNNN!!!!))
Hearing his heavy foot steps approaching grated on her nerves. Did she have to paint it out to him? She had a corpse to deliver, this was hardly a time for-
but then he whirled her around and she was seeing stars, and would have fallen completely over had he not suddenly drawn her into a kiss. Her fever pounding inside her head, heart fluttering at the sensation of anger and passion mixing into one.
But once her wits returned, she shoved him away with an angered growl;
which took about all of the rest of her energy as her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground, panting out heavy puffs of white smoke, all the while snow was collecting delicately upon her blonde hair, which now fell over her eyes. The world was spinning and her fever was catching up to her.
Gods, not NOW of all places! God damn it! She hadn't been sick in years and now she was going ot become defeated by a god damn fever! She leaned against hte wagon, finding the strenght to raise one hand to grab onto it, but remained silent, keeping her eyes closed.
"Just.. just leave me alone," she managed to growl. And what was that kiss for anyway? Maybe he really was a nut case, or had some fetish for angry blondes. That's all she needed, here, she was taking her brother's corpse back to his wife and this wacko in armor was trying to kill and seduce her. And he wans't even doing a good job of it! It was almost cringe worthy. At least when she did her job she did it with soem style.
This man was so reckless she had to wonder back to his statement about wolves.
Yes, an animal he was indeed.
"I'm getting you some medicine... If you don't like it, then die here, and leave your friend unburied." He said to her, crouching near her. He took his gauntlet off, and checked her temperature.
"We'll put the cart somewhere safe, and we will go and get you looked at. I know someone who can give you medicine. And I know somewhere the cart can go, it's dry, hidden and waiting." He offered his hand to her to help her up. He meant no harm.
He had no idea what feelings he had for her right now. He just knew he wasn't going to let her die.
Her forehead was scalding, and slicked with sweat, just enough to moisten the hair near her face.
She was breathing heavily, too dizzy to do much else, but had enough strength to push his hand away when he tried to feel her forehead.
"I don't want your help. You've done enough help for me back in Connlaoth," she said bitterly. And if he tried to touch her again, she raised her hand up, trying to push him back away. "Now move aside, I've got places to be."
"I gathered a lot of respect for you that day. You seem to be the only woman I've met that can push me to all my limits. I want to help you!" He threw his hands up in despair.
"I'm sorry, ok?! I'm sorry I tried to kill you, that I got you hurt, that I tried to care! Go on. Leave. You are the only person who actually forever makes me string two and two together. If you hate me fine. Just let me help you get better. At least." He seriously didn't know what to think. He didn't know what he was feeling, whether it was normal. He'd never had it before.
His words were ringing in her ears. She felt so frustrated and irritable. Why wouldn't he just go away? Then he was sputtering out words of apology, only half of which she caught as she groaned, grabbed onto him by the neck of his armor and looked about ready to give him a piece of her mind-
and that's when she doubled over and puked.
When she was sick, he knew exactly what needed to be done. The armour and her hatred for him could wait.
Not even thinking, he picked her up, walked to the cart, and put her down in it gently.
"I'm gonna get you some medicine, ok? Just don't run off. We can sort out the dead after we sort out the living. I know that burying this man means a lot to you, but I don't think he'd appreciate you joining him just for the sake of burying him."
The moment he picked her up, she almost wretched again, tasting the vomit rise within her throat, but swallowed it back in a groan at his ear. When she was laid in the cart, however, she got a second wind and went to reach out for his hand, snatching onto it angrily; only to double over, and nearly fall off the edge of the cart as she vomited again.
OOC: looooool
"Stay. In. The cart." He spoke firmly to her.
"I will not let you get any worse if I can help it." He went to pull the cart, and felt what she meant. The cart was heavy. but he was strong enough to pull it without much issue.
"Just hang on. You know, I don't even know your name. Mine is Torak. Just so you know who to hate." He remembered exactly where the healer was. She was a local magician.
It was a smooth road he took. The healer could heal most things. They were there quite quickly. He knew this town backwards and upside down now.
Jinai was too sick to fight back now. She didn't feel like wretching anymore, for it made her entire mouth taste god awful, not to mention was giving her rushing, cold chills. And just as she had just about got her sickness under control, she turned to see the dead face of her brother, and turned and threw her face over the side of the cart to vomit again.
Gods, this was going to be one long day, wasn't it? And it was barely even morning...
Collapsing back onto the cart, she kept her eyes averted of the corpse behind her, curling up as her hair hung messily over her face as she shivered from the cold. It was then he told her his name, and she merely lay there in silence, simply breathing for a long while before saying, "I thought you just assumed my name was Assassin."
He stopped the cart off outside the healers house, and went and picked Jinai up. He covered the cart, and spent a bit of energy trapping it for any stupid people.
"Your name would be nice, cause this will be twice you owe me now."
He looked at the door, and could tell it was locked, so, he teleported inside, having been here before.
"Hello, Hunara? I need urgent help! I have a sick woman here..." He shouted through to the back, and heard shuffling about.
"Oh, Torak. Set her down."
Jinai was too ill now to even groan when he plucked her up. Most of the color was drained from her skin, her face red and splotchy with fever, and the bangs and sides of her hair were soaked with sweat. Though the moment he teleported, and more importantly, teleported with her, she gasped and immediately latched onto him.
The sensation was something she could not place, and her heart was well into her throat, her stomach jumping when it was already unsettled, as her eyes went as large as saucers as she blinked and looked around, not quite sure where she was or what to make of it.
She was used to magic, but not this sort of magic used on her.
Torak set her down, and the healer came through.
"Looks like Feroxian Fever... Time to work some magic... This counts as a favour Torak, I will know if you don't keep to it. Chora will tell me." The woman muttered a long incantation, and green energy flowed from her hands, weaving around Jinai.
"It will be ok, just try not to resist. The magic will cure you." Torak watched as the magic began to seemingly meld with Jinai's skin, leaving glowing green marks around her, until it released all the healing energy, turning, first, the colour of Jinai's skin, then the dark purple colour of a violent bruise.
Jinai could do little to resist. Another wave of nausea passed through her after she was set down, and she was seeing spangles that nearly blinded her. She closed her eyes, tried to rub them away, but it was to no avail. Groaning, she barely caught the words of 'magic' and when Torak approached her side, she gripped onto his arm and looked him squarely in the eyes before saying, "If this kills me, I'll come back to haunt you." Before she wilted away and the healer went about hteir business.
As the green marks began to glow across her flesh, she winced at the light and of their warmth. Then as the energy began to release, her body jolted, a hand shot out, gripping onto Torak's involuntarily while the other gripped onto her stomach as she let out a gasp of pain. And then as the powers flowed through her, there was a calming, a sense of serenity that had her melting against a released breath as the healing light turned purple in color and now hummed over her body. THen her eye lids hung low as she passed out.
"Is she going to be ok?" He watched her fall into unconsciousness.
"Her body just needs to recover. Give her a few minutes. If she is out more than four or five minutes, call me back in." She went back through the shop, and Torak pulled up a chair next to Jinai.
"If you'd listened to me, you could be doing what you came to do. I didn't mean to make you hate me. I did what I was being paid to do at the time, and I grew to respect you. Very few people have outwitted me like you have. You're faster, smarter, more resourceful. And you make me feel... I don't know... You're probably going to wake up any second, saying you heard me, and slap me or punch me, but I don't care. I say I save you because I want to kill you, that I don't want some cold to kill you, but if I wanted to kill you, I could knock you out, kneecap you, cut your leg ligaments and leave you in the Essyrni desert to die. I thought that was why I saved you, but... I don't know. There's something about you. You could drive me to the extreme of any emotion. No-one has ever been able to do that to me before. You can frustrate me as much as you want, depress me, beat me. No matter what you do, I won't change my mind now. If this is what it feels like then let it be. If you hate me, then fine, I don't care. Just know that I love you." He stood up, wondering whether to leave before he embarrassed himself more.
"And no doubt, you haven't heard a word of what I just said."
He was right. She hadn't heard a thing. Her mind was reeling, slipping in and out of consciousness as her eyes moved rapidly beneath their lids. Her lips were pursed open, she was still breathing, whimpering almost through a breath. And the five minutes was almost up before she opened her green eyes.
Her vision was blurry at first, but after digesting a garble of outside noise (his monologue included), she thought she had just awoken from some sort of twisted dream. Gods, she needed to lay off on her drugs. The pana-lily must've done something wicked to her. So when her vision finally cleared, her face twisted in confusion at who she saw.
"Torak?"
"Yes?" He wondered if she had heard what he said. His face instantly red, embarrassed.
"Umm, you didn't hear any of that, did you?" He asked her nervously.
"What?" she scrunched her nose, feeling irritated as her head felt like lead as she attempted to sit up with a wince. She felt strange after the healing magics. It made her feel all tingly, and well... weird.
"What are you talking about? And stop talking so loud, your making my ears ring," she groaned, rubbing at her eyes. She looked like shit, and felt like it too; but at least she wasn't ill, and the blush from her fever was beginning to fade.
"Easy now, you're cured, but you have to recover. And your ears will be sensitive. Don't go worrying about your cart, it is safe. I rigged it with traps. I know how to disarm them and get the cart moving again." He patted her hand.
Jinai stood up suddenly.
"You did what!?" She yanked her hand away from him and looked about ready to sock him hard across the face. "Why would you touch my stuff!? I want out of here... Now! and-" and just as she wnet to take a step forward to storm clean out of the place, she misstepped and fell against Torak with an 'ooof!'
((OOC: Omg, lol, classic))
Torak fell over with her, and ended up on his back.
"Um, if you wanted to do that, you coulda just asked... I would be more than happy to have a hug for making sure no-one touched your stuff..." He went red again, embarrassed again. She was so pretty. And she such a fighters spirit.
"Shall we get up?" He beckoned for her to get up first.
Jinai glowered at him for his coy words. When did the face of the coin change? Normally she was the one dishing out coy remarks to toy with men. But Torak was different. Torak she loathed.
She pushed herself up and didn't even bother to reply to him, stumbling to her feet as she held onto the side of a nearby table to keep herself upright, which was when one of her blow dart blowers (ooc: lol such a technical word for it lol ) fell out from beneath her skirts. Before Torak had a chance to see it, she snatched it off the floor, almost fell over again but caught herself by her hand and then finally, when rising to her feet a second time, she was starting to feel a bit like herself again.
She was flushed too, but not for the same reasons as Torak as she brushed her blonde hair from out of her face and blew out hot hair from her lips, irritably.
"So... are you going to disarm my cart now so I can get going? I don't like the idea you touched it. Where did you put it anyway? What did you use?" she asked, suspiciously as she worked at stuffing the blow dart inside her shirt, it slipping down between and disappearing well between her breasts.
"It's just outside. But the door is locked. I can get us back out though." He walked up to her, and pulled her close.
"Thank you Jinhae!" The way it pronounced sounded like Jinai, but was directed at the healer woman.
Torak focused on the energy needed, and teleported. The weightless feeling never ceased to amaze him. But within seconds, they slammed back down again. Torak was stood. He looked to see that the cart hadn't been stolen. Nope. Not stolen.
"See, it's all there still."
Before she had the chance to protest, he pulled her in close, then was saying her name.
"What?" and before she knew what was going on, they vanished, and were outside in a rush. Her stomach was up in her lungs as she clung to Torak's side the moment they were outside. She'd never get used to that. And she felt weird all over, especially since she was clinging to him.
Once they were outside, she angrily let go of him and stepped away, then stepped forward to inspect her cart.
"I see that.." she snapped angrily, then back to him she asked, "And how did you know my name?" SHe narrowed her gaze at him. "Did that healer drug me? What do you know?" She asked, grabbing him by the collar of his amour and glaring right into his face.
"I'm not in the mood for any more of your games, Torak. So spit out what you did to be back there or I'll find ways to make you wish you left me in prison back in Reajh."
Her name? He didn't know her name.
"I know it now. I didn't as we teleported. The woman that healed you is called Jinhae. I take it you are called Jinai too then." He was glad he knew her name. And that she felt a bit better too. Enough so to verbally abuse him.
"And I stopped any passing Soot Wolves looting it. I would know. I am a Soot Wolf. I didn't touch your stuff. The magic is around the cart, not in it." He smiled when she grabbed him by the collar.
"Unfortunately, I did nothing. You were under for all of five minutes, I protected your stuff, and cured you of your ailment. Rather, the healer did anyway. I made sure to say thank you as we left." He didn't even try to move. He enjoyed being roughed up by her.
Jinai growled and shoved him away.
"Yes, it's Jinai,"she confirmed in a growl, then she looked back towards the cart with narrowed eyes. "And if my brother's corpse is missing from there, I'll skin you alive." And she went to yank back the heavy blanket to see if he was, infact there. She didn't believe him for a second she was only out for a few minutes. It felt like days! And Torak was a god damn liar! She just knew it! ESPECIALLY with that grin!
OOC: I'm not sure if he disarmed the traps so.. feel free to have him do so or um, you know, I guess she'll get caught or hurt by one? loool
Torak took out his dagger, and teleported in front of her before she got flamed by a trap.
"Wait patiently, and you will find everything EXACTLY as you left it." He stabbed the dagger into the ground and broke the trap.
"There you go Jinai." He stood back and let her inspect and investigate.
"And it was the 24th you saw me. Ask anyone later today, it is still the 24th." He stood with a smug grin on his face, having actually been honest for once.
Jinai froze, and stared down as she watched him stab his dagger into a trap. But that didn't stop her from glaring up at him, her gaze narrowing at his smirk. She brushed her shoulder off of him as she stepped by, removing hte heavy clothe from over the cart to reveal her brother's corpse from within. She stared at it for a moment, looking around, before snatching her bag and then placing the heavy clothe back over her brother's dead and partial wrapped form.
As she slung her bag over her shoulder, she turned back to Torak, still saying nothing before opening her bag an checking inside. She loosely counted the small vials within, a few parchments and other trinkets she had on her person. Nothing seemed out of place, not even her money. Even still, she glared again back over at Torak and said, "How would I know what day it was? I've been on the road for countless days." She spoke between her teeth, then turned away from him and reached for the front of the cart. It was time to get the hell out of here. Arca enraged her. Torak enraged her, and his damn smell made her pissed.
"What did I do? I caused you a lot of trouble back in Reajh, and now when I try and apologise, after saving you too, you hate me. The least you can do is tell me why you hate me." He stood there, the melancholy look on his face actually letting someone see what he really felt. He felt sad to see her go so soon. He had enjoyed the chase in Reajh. A lot.
Jinai set her jaw at his words. Was he so dense? Then again, she never liked spelling out her own feelings towards people, so when she noted his expression, she turned away and just took a stronger hold on the cart and walked on past him.
"An apology does not fix what's already happened," she told him flatly, the cart wheels whining behind her as they creaked over the cobblestone roads as she walked. She was already half way down the road when she halted, swearing between her teeth before she glared at him from over her shoulder.
"Words don't fix what actions have caused. My face is plastered all over wanted posters in Reajh, hell, all over Connlaoth because of you, and here I find you hiding out in Arca and then think a simple apology will fix what you've done? Hell, I'm not even that dense. Go back to your wolf pack. I need to bury my brother. I've had his wife waiting long enough."
She was tired and the more she hung around Torak, the more upset she became. And she was not ready to admit to any of the emotions bottled up inside her.
Her brother was dead, her brother was dead, her brother was dead.
Gods... her brother Retkin was dead.
And she didn't know why, but that crestfallen look upon Torak's face remidned her of Retkin, and she felt the prickling sting of a few hot tears well up within her eyes.
"FINE!" He finally lost his temper. With a thunderous crack, he teleported away, the noise just being from sheer energy put into it. He was still within the unfortunate earshot of Jinai.
"Rrrraaaggh!!" Smacked his bare forehead into the brick wall in front of him, and slumped in an alley way. First the wolves kicked him out, now this?! He had nothing anymore. The Wolves would kill him if he barked loud enough on their territory.
"You wanna fucking get me you damned blood wolves, HUH? Come and fucking get me! I'm right here! Come on! Kill me! KILL ME!" He was probably shouting loud enough for anyone in Arca to hear him, let alone just the local vicinity!
He took a quick observation of the house and without a second thought, put his fist through the wall. He felt bones and tissue split and crack.
"AARRRRGGHH!!"
As she pulled the cart down the road, she paused at the sounds of shouting. Then at the cracking of brick. She felt a mild pang of guilt, but thought nothing more of it. It wasn't part of her to consider others feelings. Too many were dying, and the dead body in the cart behind her reminded her of this. And she needed to get back to Connlaoth soon, before the weather got real bad. Unfortunately for her, it looked like winter was coming in early and the snow picked up, collected quickly on the ground to about an inch or so... and Once she had reached her brother's farm, she watched in silence as Retkin's wife grieved over him as she knelt in the snow, clutching his body.
Internally, her own eyes were stinging with tears. Retkin's wife had just had a child, and had two others, two little girls with bright green eyes and blonde hair. Like her brother. Like herself. The children were too young to understand the tears their mother shed, and only cried because she did. They didn't understand daddy wasn't coming back.
Later that day, Jinai helped dig the grave, but didn't ask for help, and was quiet most of the visit. So when asked what was happening in Connlaoth, she was just finished digging the grave, at the crest of an apple tree that over looked her brothers farm, she paused to observe the land that was his.
So long ago it was when her brother used to boast about wanting to become a farmer, a farmer of his own lands, and not working under lands of one of their older brothers. She recalled her brother's dreams, his ambitions. She recalled his smile, the way it warmed the world. He had so many friends, and even still, he often times kept to himself, despite that, and would pull JInai aside, doing small things to make her laugh. And late at night, hed' sneak into her room, and they'd talk all night, whispering well into the hours of the early morning about what has been bothering them lately.
Now that he was gone, and had been missing from her life for ten years even prior to his death, to leave Connlaoth when she had refused him... she felt, well, empty inside. Though she knew her brother didn't understand their love completely, she missed him and wished he hadn't dealt with that situation in the manner he had. So she felt bitter towards the new family he now had, something he sought out in order to find purpose in his life. What was wrong with her just being there for him? Being true to him, being real? And being his crutch? She had given up a life for herself, giving up everything to protect him...
And now, he was gone, gone forever.
He had been a mage and found out when he was so young. He was too scared to tell anyone...
andJinai kept his secret, and would have taken it to her grave, and still will, even with him laying in the wraps ready to be set within the earth. It was that sort of love that she tried to bury deep down inside. It's why she could easily wear one mask at a time; slipping into one then another, and it's why it didn't matter how many beds she had shared... or how many games she played. She had never lived for herself.
She had no room for love, never knowing how to accept it for what it was. She always saw it as arbitrary, just a secondary emotion strung off of lust. How many times had she heard it? And the only time it truly ever affected her so deeply was when Retkin spoke the words so true. And she knew he meant it, even if it was something she could never give back to him.
So after explaining to his wife, in blunt, what was going on in Connlaoth, the pair were awkward in silence for a time, before slowly lowering Retkin into his grave. Once the dirt was cast over body, and packed into place, his wife moved forward, setting flowers on the grave. They all stared at it for a while, and after some words were shared, she gathered up her children and turned to Jinai.
"Won't you stay with us for the night?"
Jinai nodded, but didn't go inside with the rest. Instead, she stared at the grave and when no one was around, found herself humming a soft song, one her and her brother used to sing when they were young; a song about the unknown warrior. It was when she was half way through the song that he began to sing, in a broken, shaking voice and only then finally let her tears fall down from her eyes.
Retkin was gone... he was gone forever.
Torak didn't roam the streets as himself. He stole as much as he could, but he didn't steal money. He stole odd pieces. Masks, knives, cloaks, gloves. He burned the ones that didn't serve his purpose. He couldn't think. He didn't think. Nowhere wanted him. Not the Wolves. Not Jinai. Why should he care anymore? No-one cared for him. He was not worth caring for. He was weak. He just wanted to die.
He didn't know how to handle rejection. he was unstable enough. Now he had nothing to care for. He didn't have to care. He finally caught sight of what he looked like in his new outfit. He gave himself a cold smile. Tonight he killed. Tonight, Arca suffered for him.
The first victim was a lowlife, a criminal not loyal to anything. Three stabs to the back, disembowelment, victim's neck broken. No possibility of survival. Body torched.
The second was a Shadow Wolf. Neck broken, slit throat, dismembered. Body torched. Unidentifiable.
The third was a young woman. Disemboweled, disfigured, burned, multiple break and abuse marks. Body left to rot.
The final kill was the most satisfying for Torak. Young child. Twelve years old. Dropped from bell tower. Nailed to holy symbol.
Torak hadn't even cared. He couldn't care. Remorse wasn't something he felt. Not any more. He was Torak, master assassin. He physically refused to feel remorse. He couldn't. Not even Jinai could make him regret killing those people.
He didn't believe in the fairness of death. If he had killed someone, they deserved it. They died because he willed it. Fair or unfair.
Jinai needed to get out of Arca. She was out of her element here, and felt as cold as the drop in temperature. The snow that had fallen the night before was now crusted over in ice, and so her boots had to crunch through the layers as she walked. She left the cart behind, her limbs still sore, though strangley feeling better, due to the healer Torak had taken her to. As she passed through the town, she ignored the chaos of the guards freaking out about all of the killings that had happened last night.
But it wasn't her problem. However, she found herself heading back down the road she had come through yesterday morning, and paused for a moment, studying the door of the healer's shop. For a good long while, she simply looked at it, then reached into her bag, scribbled in a note and slipped in a few silver coins.
'Thanks for the healing. Look me up next time you're in Reajh so I can turn you in for the bounty on your head.
-Jinai
She smirked, though it was a faint smile before setting the note and coin beside the door and walked away, making her way through the chaos to the other side of town, but something had her stopping, furrowing her brow when she came across an entire crowd of people in tears.
"He was just a child! A child!" one woman wallowed.
Jinai raised her head, peering over the crowd with interest, and the moment she saw the child dead int he streets, her stomach turned cold as ice.
And she had to walk away, had to break herself from the crowd, had to get away from here.
She was crawling beneath her skin, still emotionally wrecked from her brother's death; and from all of the strain she endured back in Connlaoth. But it was Connlaoth where she needed to be. In Connlaoth, she could at least be doing soem sort of purpose with her life, even if each job was a reckless as the last. but if she died, it didn't matter. She had sunk herself into the cause too deeply to back out now; and as much as she never truly spoke it out loud...
Her heart did feel for those who were suffering, even if she always wore a mask, always a casual , snarky smile.
Yes, the child reminded her why she needed to get back to Connlaoth.. to protect those who could not, even when she was as powerless as any other non-magic weilding Connlaothian.
All she had were her drugs, and she was itching to drink one down. One hand slipped inside her satchel, tracing over the glass vile and contemplating getting high on her way home.
She needed to forget a lot of things, and being reminded how cruel the world could be, even outside of Connlaoth, made her realize just how cruel life was in it's entirety. And nly one thing was for certain...
In the end we all die.
Torak watched the crowd from an alley, and a grim cold smile filled his face. They were pretty sufferers. He could see Jinai, and if she looked, she would have seen his smiling mask. The black bloodstained robe, the messy hair. The cold grey eyes peering out.
The mask was the worst bit. It had a smile that in all essence said "I will kill everyone you love and laugh as you weep, nothing upsets me anymore". And all she had to do was look. It was a death mask. Something old cults used to bury their dead wearing. It was a symbol of curses now. To see one was to see a curse embodied. If Jinai walked towards him, he would turn and walk away, lead her to the next scene. Then the next. Then the next.
"Follow..." His voice was different, thrown off by the psychopath inside.
He pointed at Jinai, then the alley that he walked to. He would be unidentifiable. A phantom. A wraith.
For a brief moment, she thought she saw a man with a mask, and it's expression was.. disturbing, as was it's voice. She shivered at his threats, then narrowed her eyes at the thing.
"It's a good thing there's nothing I love," she muttered under her breath, and wasn't a fool not to notice the man's bloodstains. She wasn't a fool to follow someone who looked so deranged.
SO she turned, walking briskly away, her hands still fondling the vile of drugs in her bag.
Had she already taken some? Was this some sort of hallucination?
She needed to get out of Arca, and she needed to do it now.
When she turned, Torak simply teleported into the crowd. They scattered, screaming. He pointed at what was left of the boy splattered over the cobble. Then he pointed at her.
"Follow me..." He didn't move this time, and waited for her to move.
"You will see..."
Jinai halted in her steps when the masked man teleported. What was with these freaks in Arca. Did every nut-case have the ability to teleport? She narrowed her gaze, and turned around, blatantly ignoring the man's words. She was not about to fall prey into whatever craziness was befalling Arca.
Connlaoth, Connlaoth.. she chanted the words internally. She had to get back to Connlaoth.
He teleported again, this time appearing in front of her.
"Follow me... Or there will be more..." He tilted his head and teleported to the original alley he had pointed at, staring at her.
"Innocence is futility. No-one is innocent. To breathe is to steal..."
Her eyes went wide when he suddenly appeared before her. Then they narrowed as he spoke and vanished again. There was only one man that could infuriate her this much; Torak. She felt her blood broil. She did NOT want to play his games, and in an angered rage she stormed after him and made a grab for his mask.
Torak teleported away again. He wasn't thinking, he wasn't being himself. He was the Masked Death right now. The white masked man. Death by curse.
"You must see everything else first. The bigger picture. Torak isn't in right now. He's bottled up. Inside. Dead." Torak opened his arms, revealing the intricate pattern of cuts he had made on his arms.
Jinai was furious. Not only was the man not making any sense, he was grating on her nerves and she had no patience to play his games. She came rushing at him again, wanting to slam a hard fist into his face, when he showed his arms. And she stopped.
She narrowed her gaze.
"Why would you be so stupid to hurt yourself? And what sort of game are you playing? First you try to heal me after you want me dead, so what.. is this your attempt to lure me away again to fight me? I'm not a fighter, Torak. I never was, and apparently by the cuts on your arm, neither are you. If you want to hide yourself, here.." and she tossed a bottle of drugs at his feet.
"Drink on that and you'll forget just about everything."
"Drugs? Meaningless, trivial joys, of which I never had any use for. Why poison your mind?" Torak picked up the bottle, and threw it against a wall, smashing it.
"Come, let me show you the people I have freed from life..." Torak walked in the direction of another alley, one with the horrible smell of rotting intestines.
"Please excuse the stench, I have been working all night to show you this..."
"What?" Jinai made a face, and had begun to follow but stopped.
"Why would I care if you went around killing people? Why would you show me this anyways? How does any of this pertain to me?" Then she glanced down at the broken bottle and looked back up at him, slowly shaking her head.
"You're a sick individual, and this is a waste of my time. Go torment someone else who might give a rats ass.I 'm going back to Reajh. That life sounds far more appealing than sticking around here playing with boy's who hides behidn masks."
It was Torak that heard the insults. Torak felt the pain of them. And that made the Masked Death even stronger.
Torak took a knife and cut the cloak from his chest.
"You unleashed the monster. You're the mommy. Now let your baby show you the pretty drawings." As the cloak fell, the scars were visible, hundreds of wounds, hundreds of fresh cuts to accompany them.
"You broke Torak, pushed him plummeting over the edge. From his remains, I came..."
Jinai just stared at him.
Was this guy for real?
"Last time I checked, I didn't associate with any monster. And for starters, I'd be a horrible mother," she made a face. "And what the hell are you talking about?" She really didn't get what he was going on about. She hardly knew the man and when she was associating with him, they were either arguing or he was doing something stupid; like blowing up buildings. In fact, the only thing he did nice for her was take her to the healers, you know, after threatening to want to kill her, again, for reasons she didn't even understand. Frankly, all the bad in him far out weighed the good. So he got her out of jail, big deal? He was the one who got here in there to begin with.
"If you're going to go blow up a building, just get done with it. I've seen your magic tricks before and I'm not exactly impressed. This fight isn't for me, Torak. I don't play well with others, so if you're goign to go on a rampage, go find some other person to harass. I've got a million other problems and you're not going to be one of them." And she simply turned and walked away from him.
Torak took the knife and threw it at her back. It was a straight shot, so it shouldn't miss. If she hadn't predicted it.
"I will follow you. You left Torak with nothing to care for. Which means I have nothing to care for, hahaha!" He took off the mask, and threw it to the floor, the clay shattering, pieces clanking off the cobbles, echoing in the alley.
"You see, you made me see the bigger picture. You changed me."
She hadn't expected the dagger, thinking he was just some deranged idiot and she was hoping, praying to get the hell out of Arca in one piece. She figured if she just ignored him, it'd go away, right?
And that's when the knife hit her, and with a noise, she went down.
Torak walked over to her body, pulled the knife out, and dragged her half-conscious body to the next scene. It was gory. The limbs of the victim were dismembered, the woman disembowelled, spilled everywhere.
On the wall, in blood, it spelled out "NOWHERE IS SAFE".
"Are you beginning to see Jinai? Torak wouldn't have wanted this... But you broke him, crushed him... How could a man with no love take rejection without breaking?"
WHen the knife came out, blood bubbled up hotly from the wound and she let otu a noise, but didn't scream as the man dragged her away. What was he trying to do anyway? What was he accomplishing here? Though she supposed it didn't matter, he was deranged, crazy; and those people were the most deadly.
She saw the blood, saw the gore and felt the taste of vomit return to her lips. Funny how not that long ago, this crazed man had taken pity on her, but what shocked her the most was what he was saying now. Maybe the shovel to the head made him lose it? She had no idea...
"What?" she forced herslf to sit up, smacking his hand away from where he had a hold on her. "What are you talking about? What rejection? What love? I didn't break anything. You obviously have the wrong girl."
Or something mentally wrong with him, although that much was obvious.
She looked down at the dead body, the guts smeared across the ground, glistening grotesquely in the daylight and slowly shook her head.
"So is this what you meant by a fair fight? Heal me then find me again to torment me and kill me slowly?"
It was then she found herself smiling, laughing even, a gesture that made her wince at the pain against her back.
"Fine, whatever, Torak. If you're planning to kill me, just get it over." she said, shaking her head and looking at hte mess on the ground, all the while her mind was racing over any possible way to get through this unscathed.
Well, except for the knife scar she was going to obviously receive if she lived.
Torak realised. Where was the fair fight. Even if he was on his death bed, he would have fought her fairly. It was Torak listening, Torak dragging Jinai.
He stumbled back, dropping the dagger. He did this. He dismembered and killed innocent, random people in backstabbing fights. He was a monster. This wasn't him.
"I-I-I-I-I... I didn't... I-I-I-I-I couldn't have... I did..." He sat on the ground looking at the horror he had caused. An innocent young boy. He had broken his only two rules last night. Never kill a person who couldn't fight back. If they had the capability to fight back, if they just didn't have good enough reflexes, they were game, but Torak had not done that. The child...
"The-the-the child... I did that... I-I-I-I couldn't have done that..."
Jinai was startled when Torak went on stuttering, but wasted no time snatching up the knife he dropped, keeping it in her hand and pointing it towards him as she slowly backed away.
"Stop playing around!" she spat. "You're a crazed murderer. You killed a handful of people today and tried to drag me around, gloating about it. Now just stay where the hell you are. STay just the hell away from me. I don't know what's going on here, but whatever this is, I don't want a part of it. I'm getting the hell out of Arca."
Torak teleported about five times, his body physically shaking as he did. He was a murderer. He had killed innocent, non-contracted people. He was no better than the Harbinger.
"Go-... Gods... What have I done?!" He threw his hands up, trying to think of what to do. He was never going to forget this.
"Go on. Kill me. I deserve to die. I'm a coward... The other half of me, the voices, they took control... I let them take control..."
At his words, she took a step back, her face twisting.
"What!?"
Great, now it was making sense. He was crazy and admitted it more so by saying he had voices inside his head. but even still, she took pity on him, he seemed to be torn with him. Either way, she wasn't a murderer. She's killed very little on the job, and those times...
She'd rather not think about it.
Most of the time she could get away with just drugging someone, and let the actual killers finish the job.
"As if I'd take your blood on my hands," she spat. "Someone that's killed a child ain't worth it...." but hten she thought it over and reached into her pocket. She had another vile. Just a few left on her.
She tossed it to him.
"Take that. It'll help you forget." Then she turned away, walking down the street.
She wanted out of here more than he could imagine. She didn't belogn here, and things had turned crazy. It was time like these she envied those mages she protected. If she could teleport right back to Connlaoth.. Gods.. she would.
Torak teleported away, his energy waning and waxing. He drank the fluid. The drugs. It made him forget, for now anyway. He walked back to his little rented room in some peace. He would remember it when he woke up, but he would deal with that then.
Jinai hated him, the city hated him, the Wolves hated him. And it was all his fault...
Thank the God he had left. She had never thought to praying to any deity until today.
She had never been so terrified in all of her life, and once she was gone, finally alone, she took homage into a street corner and sobbed.
But she had her wounds to tend to, and once she thought she was well enough, she made her way back to where she had dropped her bag, trying to ignore the carnage, the disemboweled pieces of flesh upon the ground. But something made her turn, made her look.
Gods, what could cause such a mess!? She didn't want to think about it, took her bags, bandages herself up half-assedly and headed straight out of the town.
And it figures when it rains, it pours; for the winds were wicked on the trail she took back to Connlaoth, and the snow was several feet deep...
but it made for an empty and quiet road, and would give her plenty of time to think about what had happened, to grieve more over her brother as she began to break inside.