It was night, and the metal from her knives and jewels glistened off the moon. Her movement was slow, and well guarded by the darkness as her sandals stepped across the sands. It was late, who knew what hour, when the caravan strolled into view. She would have missed it had she not heard it's approach. The trinkets chimed in a clattering discourse, and the horses and animals they bought breathed heavy against the onward calling of the men.
Smirking, Zarrah held back, keeping pressed against the darker shadows beside a sand dune as she watched them pass close to her home. Not many dared to trail down this path, except those in a hurry, and those trying their luck. It was this known passage the myths had come about and her legend had been born, yet despite the growing tails, there were still men who fancied money over their lives and disregarded the warnings.
As she studied the group, it appeared to be all men. Good. She wasn't fond of killing women or children, and animals would replenish in the spring. It was men- dirty, stingy, greedy men whose lust of life, money and women would be their own downfall. Though she wasn't sure what game she ought to play this evening, but upon verifying the banner they carried had been from her former husband- her fingers itched for blood.
Despite what some legends may say, she was hardly after men to give them a good time, but even a woman as restless as she had an appetite and if it helped lure them into a trap where she could make more of a dent into her husband's pocket, then so be it. She'd sell more than her body for that. But how she wished, everytime her knife cut a throat, that the warm blood that bubbled was his.
She would never forgive him. She would tear him apart.
And despite now that she could find a way to be free, she wanted nothing more than to destroy the man who took the single person who was the symbol of all of her dreams and affection.
Rassar. It had been sometime since they had shared a kiss, the warmth of a bed and each others bodies, but it was his laughter, his smile she missed the most- and she'd damn the man who took it from her. Adultery? What was adultery when you were sold as a wife, having no choice in the affairs of your own heart? Her heart was still heavily salted, poisoned by her own desires for vengeance.
Yes... tonight, there would be blood.
Slipping across the shadows, the thin fabric of her robes moved like a ghost, swathing her from view as she stealthy approached. They were several miles from the city. Many miles from any other people who would hear them scream....
It didn't take long for her to approach the man at the back. He was a tall, dark skinned man, drinking from a goard and belching as he finished. It was obvious he was drunk, the moon's glow cast upon his glazed eyes. He wouldn't suffer long. The blade was quick in her eyes, and a quick movement, flickering like silver, slashed across his throat. He made a soft noise, then fell into the sands.
The caravan continued onward, not noticing the sands behind them trailing in blood as Zarrah crept forward towards a pair of men. These two held swords across their waste, and were conversing over their own affairs, not realizing the tall woman, shrowded in scant clothing and a sheer, black veil that danced around her body as she crept, was heading straight for them, a thin, bloodied knife in hand.
"Canarvus might get angry with us. We're already two days late. I can't see how this trail will get us there much faster." The man shook his head.
"Yes, but it beats remaining in the gully. And traveling by day. Desert trails are much easier with the animals at night." the other said.
"Tch, no need for excuses. Hopefully he'll be happy we weren't stingy this time. This wagon's heaped with goods." Shaking his head, he turned to the other man in the group who had been hired to help take watch of the place. He was about to ask him, he thinks his name was Castor, or something, when something sharp cut across his throat.
His mouth fell open, blood gurgling inside his throat as the woman pushed him aside, moving like a shadow, and as the man beside him gasped and reared back in fear, too stunned to draw his own sword, she was upon him, fluttering out a metal fan that sliced over his fingers, batting his hand away and nearly lobbing it off, and in just as quick and deadly of a motion, she slashed the bladed fan across his chest, a quick X-ed motion, before pressing it to his throat, letting the dying man look into her dazzling violet eyes that shimmered as beautiful as the night skies themselves before drawing the fan blade swiftly across his throat.
Red blood stained the sands around her, and once she caught sight of another man, she was quick to dance out of the way, her veil fluttering before she disappeared into the shadows to where she stared out like a hungry lion, stalking her pray and keeping herself silent, steady and at a distant.
She wasn't sure if he was the last of the men, but by now, some of the animals had already panicked at the sound of blood and began to bray. Others, that were more fortunate and not chained so well, had already ripped themselves free of their feeble bindings and bounded off into the desert...
But then all went quiet- deathly quiet as Zarrah moved forward, her eyes on the last man standing. He was all that was left between her and the damage she could do upon the caravan. Though she could leave him there to rot, after all, what good could one man do with an over burdened cart and not enough animals to pull it?
But she felt unsatisfied and angered every time she killed, for even she knew it was wrong to take those lives, but she kept telling herself, again and again they are just like Carnavus. And if I could, I'd kill that man a hundred times over.
Pretending her prey was the man she hated the most in all the world made killing all the easier, and a little bit more satisfying as she crept forward, fingers upon her long, slender blade, the other, held tightly around the handle of her bladed fan.
That's when she caught sight of Castor and smirked, noticing his back was towards her.
It was time to go in for the kill.
A few quick foot steps would be all he'd hear as Zarrah moved deftly, like a serpent, ready to strike, aiming to cut the man hard across the back and down him before he got a chance to wield any weapon in hopes to save his own life....
OOC: Uh, obvious tags to Castor, lol.
Hope this intro works~
Feel free to write as you may, and I don't mind whatever surprises you wish to throw at her. Figure we can keep this introduction of the two characters interesting :)
It was a hopelessly small group, but he suspected the less men they had, the more pay they would split between them. They were escorting a rather large amount of goods, too much for merely four men to handle. But it was worth every gold coin to make the effort, or so his companions argued. They spoke an awful lot, and had plenty of booze to go around. However, he always refused. Alcohol made a man lose sense of himself, and it wasn't like there was much out here to get lost in anyway. Just...emptiness. And sand.
He'd never been afforded the luxury to waste time with nothingness and drink. And he certainly couldn't afford it now. Castor chose to remain focused on the task at hand, much to the distaste of his companions who he could hear calling him a worthless bootlicker, a nobody who they'd have no qualms about leaving behind should he fall victim to heatstroke. All the more for them they figured.
Castor had every desire to crush their puny, weak skulls between his hands, but he knew just as well the disadvantages that would be borne if he brought unnecessary attention to himself. Especially the kind of attention that it seemed the woman he was looking was fond of bringing on herself.
And that was the most imperative incentive if anything to keep his hands to himself. He knew nothing concrete about her, save what stories were spun and woven around nightly fires, most of which he found difficult to believe. There was barely any real evidence that the woman actually existed, save for the bodies of men said to have been mutilated and left to rot. But though he'd never been to the desert before this, he knew creatures always roamed the wild, open spaces. Perhaps there was just an angry beast on the loose, with obviously nothing better to do.
Yet thoughts like these made his circumstances all that more bleak. If he allowed himself to be filled with doubt in the first place, then he already lost. And he wasn't about to let that happen. There was too much at stake for him to let go of the only thing that could lead him to only thing he valued more than his own life. Whoever this so called "Lady of the Desert" was, one thing was for sure, she must have made some serious enemies. Serious enough to pay for her capture. After all that was the reason he was out here in this godsforsaken landscape in the first place. Granted the man who wanted her captured, wanted her alive. A task Castor was having his doubts would happen if the rumors proved to be true. A woman who left the bodies of men ripped open and humiliated in the desert expanse, was unlikely to come quietly.
The caravan lurched with the weight of the goods, the animals that they were transporting, in addition to the barrels of water, an invaluable resource out here in the scorching heat. They fancied to make a great deal of gold from if this venture if all went well, perhaps double all the cargo's weight if they were lucky. But money, truly, was the last thing on his mind. All Castor could think about was how he was going to find this woman, who could literally be anywhere in this wasted place. He needed to find her, needed to know that once fulfilled, his employer would indeed deliver on the promised clue that would lead him to his next Relic. To his freedom.
With so much space to look through, he had to quickly deduce what the most efficient way to travel was. The most obvious that came to mind: Trading. Out here: By way of caravan. It wasn't long before he was signed up as an escort/work hand for some big name merchant named Carnavus.
He had hid his gauntleted hands, which ached from the stiffness of steel, but in the ten years since their acquisition, they'd long since become one. Leather gloves covered them, as he wore long-sleeved shirts, a long, wide scarf to cover his face and head from the sand. For weeks they traveled, slowing for the day, drinking and eating rations sparingly and resting only for moments in the night, speeding up their pace due to the severe lack of sun. But this time was different. They rested during the day, Castor hearing talk of them diverting from the main trade route. They said they would take a shortcut through a narrow valley, one they said would cut right across the sea of dunes and out to the other side of the route, saving them three days easy. As they prepared to pass through, Castor had watched from the rear the sun, incendiary in red, burning its final traces across the sky before gradually slipping to sleep, leaving night in its wake. The heat was gone, and in blew the cold winds, almost icy when compared to the merciless touch of the sun.
Castor fell asleep inside, next to the barrels, along with another hand, as the others took their shift of keeping watch. The caravan lurched and the smell wasn't as unbearable as he suspected, sleeping soundly. They stopped for a moment, to let the beasts of burden take their rest. There was murmuring outside, he could faintly hear, even through his slumber, the mumbled yammerings of his drunken partner. There was a low gurgling sound, a little unusual for someone as good a drinker as this one, and then silence. Castor stirred, looking up, taking his scarf covering and throwing it over his shoulders, as he sat up all the way. He couldn't see the man anymore, who'd been standing at the rear. He said nothing, hearing voices without of the other men, but soon they were silenced as well.
Castor waited, listening to nothing but his heartbeat. But the animals began to stir, feeling unsettled and turning loose from their bindings. Castor made no move to stop them, moving carefully out of the back, finding the body of the first victim. He was alert now more than ever, standing to full length, and listening for the motions of something. Suddenly he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck, and tingles of electricity. A slight crunch of sand compressed underneath weight, made him whirl around at lightning speed.
Castor turned around and backed up to face his would be killer squarely and head-on, but she was already rushing at him, ready to strike. Castor caught her blade hand and used her own momentum to launch her away from him, using only enough strength to put manageable distance, but still throwing her quite a few feet, for a not so soft landing on the sand. He remained on the defensive, ripping the leather gloves that coated his gauntlets and tearing that cumbersome long-sleeved shirt that covered his leather tunic.
"C'mon!" he taunted, anger clear in his voice. "You wanna kill me! Gimme your best shot!" That was all the warning he gave her before charging at her full throttle.
Stunned, Zarrah was tossed aside into the desert, where she made quick work to land as agilely as she could, and remained crouched in the sands as she stared up at the man who taunted her. Her eyes narrowed, and when he approached, she'd be ready for him, sand in hand. When he neared, she threw it towards his face, hoping to temporarily blind him as she kicked off the ground with a yell, aiming to plant her sandaled foot up her chest, where she'd kick her way up his body in a fury until reaching his face, where she delivered a final, more powerful blow to his head before tumbling up and away: landing, into a gentle somersault on her hands.
The sands were used to temporarily blind him so she could retrieve her knife, which had fallen when he tossed her aside. With her knife now in hand, she smirked over at the warrior. He had no idea she had nothing to lose. Poor pathetic soul would lose his life over mere coin. And what did he have to protect? With the animals gone, there might be some worth in the remains, but again, how could one man think he ought to gain from that?
The night was still young, perhaps there was time to play?
Before Castor would have a chance to come after her, she made quick work and vanished behind the wagon, and climbed up over and around with graceful motions until she landed on top of the wagon and crouched down, her dark, veiling robe and hair fluttering to a rest beside her as she melted into the shadows.
And before Castor would know what hit him, Zarrah ascended, swiftly through the air, two blades ready, two knives seeking to cut towards the critical and vulnerable areas on his face and neck.
Castor charged her full speed, but every instinct knew no fight went according to however many plans or rules one set up. He half expected her to kick him away, knowing his own speed might be his downfall, the other half expected that sand to fly up in his face. A hand went up to block part of it, but as soon as he was close enough to her, he felt the sand enter into his mouth and nose more than it did his eyes.
She was fast he'd give her that, but if she thought even her well placed blows to his chest would do anything to slow him down, she had another thing coming. Castor recovered quickly from her assault, keeping his ground and his distance, knowing he'd have to come up with another, more calculated plan of attack. She was too fast for him to give chase, not yet anyway. He kept his eyes where she had vanished, silent and stepping back.
Adrenaline was already coursing through him and it felt hot in as if his blood was on fire; an incendiary to his senses. If she thought she had nothing to lose, Castor had already lost everything. But there was a flaw in her play, she seemed as if she wished to draw this out, to toy with him like he was some kind plaything. Castor was ready for her. As soon as she was within his grip, he put her down. Literally. He'd reached for her neck and arm, and slammed her hard into the ground. he pressed all his weight on her, pinning her to the ground.
"Stay down!" he commanded. "Or I'll smash your skull to dust!"
The motion winded her as Zarrah remained, stunned on the ground beneath his hands. Her ego had gotten the better of her, and she wasn't expecting this sudden turn of events as her lips curled dangerously.
"Go ahead and try it," she baited, her violet eyes burning fiercely. "But my ghost will return to haunt you." Her chest heaved angrily, her eyes and body daring him to just try and crush her skull. Who did he think he was? He was lucky he was quick... even a little strong, or else his own head would be the one being compromised.
When the tables would turn, and they would- she began to plot the ways her knife could twist into him, though he might be able to easily imagine what she was dreaming as she looked at him, wishing to tear him apart with her eyes.
"You and Carnavus, you're all the same," she spat. "Dirty, greedy bastards who need to get what's coming to them!" She struggled lightly, but he had a firm grip on her, that, and she wasn't entirely sure his threat was false as she tensed beneath him, eyes like poison.
She was so angry, she didn't even care she gave away her true reasoning for her rage-
Even people couldn't understand by now or make the connections...
Well, let's just say this fool wouldn't live to tell anyone anyways...
and if he did...
well, perhaps it's time Carnavus knew someone was after him....
and there would be hell to pay.
She's pushing her luck, truly, he thought with a grimace. He had every intention of proving it to her until he saw that look in her eye. Whoever this woman was he was having a feeling this was exactly the woman he'd been looking for? He could see how she'd come to make his employer very very angry. He snarled, not budging an inch, putting just a little more pressure on her throat to know he was serious, before stating plainly. "I don't believe much in ghosts. But I know you must be quite as elusive as one."
Castor's ice-blue eyes were as hard as a glacier and just as cold. When she mentioned Carnavus, he made a face at her, clearly confused, but not about to take the bait. "You don't know anything about me," he said with grit teeth. "And whoever you're really angry at, take it out on them. But for me, you'll drop those knives if you're smart."
But he didn't let off her just yet. "You're very popular out here in these godsforsaken sands. Popular enough for someone to pay well for your capture. I've taken it upon me to collect. You must have been a very bad girl because this particular person is quite angry with you. Will you come quietly or will I have to drag you by force? Look at it this way, the easier to you make it on me...the easier you make it on yourself."
Zarrah's eyes narrowed, but she wasn't a fool. She knew this man wasn't about to let her go so easily, but fire still burned in her eyes, and it would not be easily snuffed out.
"I know enough about a man who would side with Carnavus," she replied coldly. Her hands tensed upon her blades, but even she knew it might be foolish to try to cut at him. She could already tell he was far stronger than she, and a nice bruise was forming on her neck. But she sneered through it.
"I will take my anger out on anyone who dares get in my way," she threatened, her eyes never left his as she added, more tensely. "And that includes you."
Even if she were to die here at the hands of this man, she knew she'd be back again...
but in truth, she did not want to waste her chances on a hired hand who just so happened to get lucky in trapping her.
She moved again, testing his strength, but found herself becoming choked under his grip when she tried. Gritting her teeth, she let her knives slip from her fingers, but not before suddenly cracking her head into his face.
Using the moment of shock, she twisted in his arms, crying out as she jolted inside his arms, wriggled, then kicked her sandal against his chest as she pushed herself away, but found herself falling, face into the sands with an aggravated cry. But she wasted not a second, and began desperately climbing away as she scrambled to her feet, spun on her heels, black hair fluttering as she attempted to meet another sandal at his face.
"I will not be taken so easily!" she cried, attempting another kick towards his face as she growled. "You, and every other man out there like you, buying your luck off the weak and helpless, will fall pray to the hell you deserve!" She threw another round of kicks before she drew another blade, hidden within her boot. "You will all rot in hell, as an example to those you torment as slaves!" and in a upward slash, she thrust the knife skyward, hoping to tear it across his gut, or at least slash the man with a mean, bite of a cut.
He would pay! And he would pay with his life!
Gods be damned if he was a fool for thinking he could even attempt to negotiate with her. But you couldn't blame a man for trying, especially when he was quickly running out of options. If she thought he was fighting for three dead companions, a bunch of runaway animals, and wagon full of empty rum bottles, and barrels of water, goodness was she wrong. Dead wrong if she didn't watch her tongue...and her movement.
Just when he thought he had her, however, she managed to surprise him yet again. She shifted out of his iron grip, at the price of her own pain, and slammed her foot against him. She struck him with surprising strength and he fell back, even with the unnecessary assault on his face. Stars flashed before his eyes before he managed to regain his sight again.
Castor leapt to his feet, scrambling after her. But it was just in time to see the flash of steel against the moonlight, and what brief light the wagon lanterns offered. Damn her and her blades! Castor switched his stance, blocking her strikes with the gauntlets, sparks flying off of them showing the force and clear intent behind each blow. Castor tried to snatch the blade with his other hand, or knock it from her grasp.
"I'm may burn in hell, but it won't be because of you! I don't even know what the hell you're talking about!" Castor tackled her to the ground once more, moving to straddle her to keep her from moving anywhere if he could. "Whatever your anger is, your battle's not with me. Think about what you're doing! I'll thrash you and you won't even know which way is up or down or left or right!"
Zarrah let out a frustrated cry as she was tackled again to the ground,t his time in a more compromising position as she violently struggled beneath him.
"Last time I checked, I was in a battle with you,"she seethed. "And I'll be angry with whoever I want to! You chose your fate,"s he grunted, desperately moving beneath him as the light fabrics of her veiled robe began to tear, "the moment you chose to join that caravan." panting, she paused in her struggle as one thin straps from her revealing attire slipped over her shoulder as she stared up at him indignantly. "I will *not* become your ignorant slave!" She thrashed about again before adding, vehemently, "Nor anyone's slave ever again!"
It was about this time she was nearly shaking with rage.
"You can harm me, torture me in anyway you can, but you will not stop me in getting my revenge!" she replied, her head raised with pride.
Struggling again, she let out a frustrated noise when she couldn't move.
"Unhand me!" she screamed, attempting to kick into the desert, but it was all to no avail. "Or I swear upon the moonlight I will cut you down this very evening and make you suffer the wraths of my years of pain and suffering!" She was so angry, her eyes pierced with angered tears, though she was not about to cry before this man- if anything, she was about to explode.
She would *not* become a slave again! She would not go down with out a fight!
"You think I want you as my slave?" The very word made Castor sick to his stomach and she was lucky he didn't lose his lunch all over her face. He grimaced, but kept her pinned. "I'm not trying to hurt you! I only need you to calm down! Besides, it's not like there's anyone out here who can hear you scream. You squeal like a piglet ripped from its mother's teat."
And she did just that. Continued to belt out whatever words that seemed to come to mind, but Castor stopped listening after "ever again." It was clear to him now there was no talking sense into those hell cat of a woman and if he was going to capture her alive, he had no choice than to do so by force. He did let one hand go, for a brief enough moment to slam a fist into the side of her head that would, if effective, knock her unconscious for a long enough time.
"Silence!" he said. He sighed with the effort it took to keep her down. He looked her over with speculation. How could so much rage be contained in such a beautiful vessel? He said nothing as he leaned over her and did her one courtesy of placing her loosened strap back over her shoulder. Then he stood and stalked toward the wagon, looking toward the area where the animals had broken free. There was a loosened length of rope, thick enough and suitable for his needs.
With the rope wrapped around his shoulders, he returned to her, knelt and proceeded to tie her up, wrapping both her hands and feet, first separately then together, like a prized piece of cattle. Another glance at the wagon, which was useless since the beasts escaped their bindings as well, Castor stalked to the blades she left in the sand, picking them up and place them by his side in his belt and proceeded to start on his work on the caravan. Twenty minutes and several pieces of broken wood later, Castor had two barrels of water, large and cumbersome fastened on a makeshift sleigh, pulled by extra rope he found. That would be more than enough to make it to the nearest city, he figured, but perhaps he was calculating distance poorly. No matter, he had his target and he'd take her back no matter how...uncooperative she was.
He grabbed a pole from the side of the wagon, thick and long and just for what he needed. Walking back to the spitfire, he proceeded to loop her limbs around the pole, legging her just hang there, upside down as he proceeded to pull his sleigh, out into the night. He didn't know how this Carnavus fellow as going to react to finding three of his employees and merchandise killed and otherwise missing.
But Castor knew one thing. When the woman came too, she probably wasn't going to be very happy. Too bad he didn't have a rag small enough to stuff her mouth with.
When she awoke, her head was throbbing. It must've been one of the worst feeling headaches in the world as her bleary eyes began to focus on the moving shadows around her. Her wits hadn't returned quite yet, as she noticed the make shift sleigh, then the noises of the wooden planks slipping across the sands.
It was then she heard the familiar sounds of labored pulling-
that's when her eyes widened as she turned with a jolt, but cringed when she realized she was bound. Wriggling again, she realized, much to her detest, she was bond tightly and couldn't move and gave a few more movements before going limp.
A moment later, her violet eyes slipped over towards the man who was pulling the sleigh.
So perhaps the man hadn't crushed her skull. She stared at him in silent hate as he continued to pull her along, thinking of all of the ways she could make him suffer as much humiliation as she was suffering now-
No... death would be too easy for him. For now, all she'd be able to do is bide her time and think of a clever way to escape...
Too bad no ideas came to mind as she allowed her eyes to drift back towards the stars.
She had to wonder if the man aimed to really carry her back all by herself, after all, they had a little over a days travel from where the caravan had been struck, and would roast in the sun lest they got caught carelessly mid-way through the pass.
Zarrah knew of areas to keep safe and cool during the heat in this expanse of the desert...
her eyes then slipped back to Castor.
As if she'd share that piece of information with him.
Maybe they could both rot together in the desert alone?
Staring back at the stars, she could only hope.
For the most part, he knew where he was going and the pass was linear enough to not meander too much into confusion and if his now deceased companions had been right, the path would cut three days of travel from the route. However, another thought was nagging at him. The woman had been lingering in these parts, it seemed, just waiting for them. No doubt other dangers lied ahead and thankfully he had nothing of real value to part with save the water he lugged and the woman hanging by the pole.
Speaking of which, his ears perked up at the sounds of struggle against the tension of the ropes. Castor turned his eyes back to the woman, though kept on walking ahead. He actually grinned at her, in some small satisfaction that despite all her protests...she was taken rather easily. But the victory was short-lived and he turned his head back. "Sorry about that," he said. "But you didn't really give me much of a choice. I would have preferred if you could walk beside me instead of hanging there like some wayfarer's bundle on a stick.
"If I could have had it differently, I would. But all the same...you chose your fate, as you put it," Castor said, sighing with the distance and at her. He said nothing further, taking his time to look up at the stars as well, reading their path as he'd learned to do so sometime in the past ten years of wandering. It wasn't easy, but much like how a sailor used them to navigate by sea, Castor could gradually map out their path more or less in his head. They still had a long way to go, but at least they were headed in the right direction.
He recalled his doubt. This so-called shortcut.
"You were waiting for us to arrive, weren't you?" he asked, casting his eyes back at her once more.
Zarrah glared when he grinned at her. Though she might do the same if the predicament were turned around, she still wasn't happy about it as she felt the painful tingling in her legs and arms from being bound. She struggled lightly again, just to try to ropes a second time and wilted against a breath when she realized it was useless.
At his comment, she glared again, but remained quiet. Chose her fate nothing, had the man not aimed to capture her for whatever greedy price was on her head, she wouldn't be in the situation. Perhaps she had pissed the wrong people off and they finally hired someone competent.
She gave a snort at the idea.
At his next question she looked towards the sands.
"I live here," was all she said. "There's nothing else better to do than to kill innocent travelers."
It was a partial joke, but also one said in bitterness, since she knew this man was hardly innocent, and neither were the other men he had been with.
Maybe he was doing the wider desert a favor by removing this pest from the goal she had set herself upon. She didn't sound like she had any real remorse for what she had done, and though he didn't care about the men he'd been traveling with, he knew it was terrible to die without even having had a fighting chance.
"Of course, there is," he replied. "What do you gain by killing them anyway? You didn't seem to be after the cargo, which had a great deal of value to it. You slice their throats like some kind of coward, and try to stab me in the back. You accuse me of crimes of brutality..." He scoffed and shook his head. "But what makes you any better?"
He began to mutter to himself, musing and thinking of her worthless accusations. She had a lot of nerve, that was for certain. She knew nothing about him, nothing! And she had no right to call him a slaver, when he himself had spent two thirds of his life in dirt and toil, fighting with everything just to see the light of day.
Zarrah had grown quiet. It wasn't that she was ignorant of his words, or what he said, but that she had forced herself to be so. She knew it wasn't right for her to kill men so cowardly, but had, over the course of the years, grown bitter and knew she would never get her revenge lest she stooped to their level.
If a man was seen as a monster (and sadly, most she killed, probably were), then there was no guilt in the blood she spilled. She cursed him inwardly for bringing up such things and reminded her, herself, about how ignorant she had become. Yes, cowardly, but she had no other choice. Being forced into exhile, being given a second chance...
She closed her eyes and tried to swallow back the guilt he had placed inside her. Pride aside, she knew, over all, she was in the wrong. But time for her was growing short. Despite temporary immortality, she still had only one goal in mind-
getting back at Carnavus.
If men sided with him, they would fall prey to the same fate he would soon....
"One turns into a devil when they're put through Hell," she lamented, and whether he heard her words or not she didn't care.
"So how much am I worth to the slaver?"s he added later, goading on the subject of his own intents and she looked out into the expanse of desert around them.
As if he was much better than she, tieing her up and intending to bring her to the highest bidder.
As if he knew her real story....
But then again, he seemed so easy to accuse her of murdering...
perhaps, she thought, he was actually someone to do justice on her for what she had done to others.
The idea made her a bit queasy, though she remained silent, not liking be told she was the enemy when everyone in the world seemed to be on Carnavus's side.....
and then she began to think on it...
What would Rassar say?
Tears pricked in her eyes at recalling his face, and she kept her face averted from Castor's, lest he see the she-devil with flecks of tears...
It was not easy for Castor to condemn her as if she were a monster to be plucked from the world and tossed into the deepest darkest pit he could find. If anything, perhaps he was the monster that deserved damnation most of all. His eyes drifted over to Cynwulfen, hands of steel, made to crush, maim and kill, and anger boiled over. Anger mixed with vile disgust; at everything but he knew most of that sensation was aimed at himself. He had no right, and neither did she. He didn't know the precise reasons why she killed and perhaps it didn't matter.
He listened to what she said. A devil in hell. That sounded just about right. Maybe he didn't really believe in ghosts, but he knew there was more to this world than what was presently around them. He was proof of it. Maybe they weren't so different; and yet... Did she not have a choice each day, to make her fate different better? She was not bound to hell itself with the very power she wielded in her hands. She had spoken of making men pay, that they were all monsters and deserved to burn for what they did. Perhaps they did, but if he was guilty of any crimes, it was not the ones she accused him of.
"If you think you're worth your weight in gold...you'd be wrong," he replied. "I'm just supposed to bring you back. My employer has something that belongs to me, and your capture will settle the cost. That little stint with the caravan was just to make it across this wasteland with ease. What was that name you mentioned, Carnavus, was it? Well, I would have signed on with anyone. I'm not particularly sure who that is. You, however, seem to know him very well.
"Whoever you really are. It's more than clear you have plenty of unresolved issues."
Zarrah made a noise when he mentioned she was meant for a barter. But then thought it over. She began to wonder... perhaps her life was in exchange for another? It would be ironic if she had to give her life over for an innocent (or rather, one of her lives anyways). But the idea of it only added to the guilt as she kept her eyes cast towards the sands.
"I have nothing to live for," she said bitterly. "I don't care that I'm condemned to hell." She closed her eyes as she recalled her life to this point. She could have escaped, and had aimed to, with the aid of Rassar- and would have been well on her way far away from the desert when fate threw an unexpected wrench into their plan...
And she would never see Rassar again.
Perhaps she would never get her revenge, something she did not think about when she was cursed with her extra chances at life.
Perhaps she had taken it the wrong way..
maybe she should have went down another path...
She growled inwardly at herself as she tried her bonds, growing restless over her forced predicament to lament over her own wretched guilt. Yes, perhaps she deserved to be captured and taken in...
Sighing, she resolved, once again to her fate and thought over his comment about her name.
"People only see me as a ghost, or some sort of devil." She looked towards the twilight moving over head. "No one would care if you knew my name was Zarrah, or even if I had a story." She paused to think it over. "No one cares who put the devil in you, except that you had become one."
"I've heard the stories," Castor commented. "Frankly I didn't think they were true. No woman I've ever known has gone out of their way to lure men for the sake of killing them. But I suppose, I've never truly known a woman as hellish in her heart as you. I only know any woman willing to kill a man for no particular reason at all is not someone to be tangled with."
Castor kept walking, though he did feel the weight of his legs begin to ache. She mentioned her name and it seemed to suit her, the very sound of it. "Somebody must care, or I wouldn't be here. And you talk as if you're on the last leg of life. I told you I have no intention of killing you. I have no intention of hurting you. But I know that if I let you go, you'll more than likely just try to run away."
He supposed he ought to tell her his name, but resolved that the less she knew about him the better. But something unusual caught his attention. There was more catching his ear than the sliding of the sleigh and the sound of his own footsteps. He slowed down, and stopped. As soon as he did, the sounds stopped too, obviously aware of his own movements. "Listen," he whispered. "Look behind me. What can you see?"
Zarrah didn't much care for being berated, but she hardly had the choice. Then, after he was finished, he paused and became quiet. She heard the noise as well. When he asked what she could see, her eyes slipped to the open desert behind them, and something in the shadow moved, and soon, four paws were rushing them.
"A leopard!" was all she said, as the beast lunged at him.
She could only pray their death might be swift, lest this fellow had a good handle on killing animals-
leopards were ruthless, and as far as she was concerned, she was a sitting duck, and would rather not have to become the dinner for some hungry animal.
Castor practically rolled his eyes. As if this little excursion just couldn't get any worse. He only heard the growl for a brief moment until he turned long enough to see the creature ready to pounce at him. After that...well it seemed like everything just went in slow motion. The creature was mid-air, claws unleashed ready to sink into unsuspecting, vulnerable flesh.
Then...well, if he thought it couldn't get any worse then, boy, he thought too soon! The ground suddenly shook, and almost knocked him off balance as he watched in horror as another creature, a hundred the size of the leopard just suddenly thrust forward and just swallow it whole. The darkness of night wasn't enough to conceal a creature this size. Castore may not have come from the desert but he knew a sand worm when he saw one.
At that point, the gigantic worm was coming toward them and without needing to be told, he turned and started to run with all the strength that came to him, practically dragging Zarrah in the sand. "FUUUUUUUCK!"
OOC: Is it really horrible of me to be laughing giddily as I think of the horrible twist of fate? They're so screwed X3
IC:
Zarrah could barely see to witness the events of pure horror, but the terrifying shadow that swallowed the nightsky as the sand worm tore across it was enough to make her (nearly) piss her pants (er.. panties?) Then when the creature dropped back into the earth, she heard the familiar and shared sense of terror come out of her kidnappers throat.
She would have sworn right along with him had her face not connected with the sands, and suddenly she was jerked about, body tumbling and dragging, being burned as she was "escorted" unceremoniously across the sands.
All she could do was grit her teeth, and then stop gritting her teeth when she'd tumble, then found herself face first in the sands-a nd kept her lips closed, breath held, not wanting to eat more sand than she had to as she tumbled along pathetically behind her captor- partially wondering why the hell he wouldn't turn tail and run, leaving her to be a delicious prize for the hungered sandworm, who probably was only partially satisfied after devouring the leopard, whole.
And whens he thought her luck was bad enough, the ground beneath her began to move, rippling and pushing up the sands as the sled came to a tumble and parked itself into the sands, preventing Castor from dragging her any further. The sand worm was right beneath them!
It was then Zarrah opened her eyes, blearily looking at the rock she had gotten anchored upon.
Rock? She wondered if they had come to more solid grounds as she peered around, seeing if the sand worm had turned away, but could see nothing as her black hair had fallen into a tangled, black mess about her face.
[I think that's better than laughing at this (http://youtu.be/fZGjQ_t6BZQ). Which I have done many times... I know, I'm a horrible person.]
If there was ever a moment when Castor thought he was going to die of a heart attack it was this one in particular. Maybe if he'd spent most of his life in this wasteland, maybe he would have been more prepared for this attack. The worm was fast, moving with the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of muscles along its body that worked simultaneously to make the massive creature slide through the sand with ease. Even with the power afforded by Cynwulfen, he wasn't sure he would have the strength to outrun it.
The pass was narrow and seemed to go on forever. But even that wouldn't save them when the sand worm began to burrow, making the ground soften under foot. Castor stopped and leaped up beside Zarrah on a rock, breathing like the exhausted man he was. There was no way they'd be able to reach the end of the pass, now when it seemed as if the creature was about to about-face and turn on them yet again. Castor looked up, peering at the massive shadow of a cliff above them. There were plenty of jutting rocks that might aid in a climb.
The rock they found temporary sanctuary on suddenly began to shift with the swift removal of dirt around it and Castor clung to the stone, as it jerked yet again. He yelled in futile protest before looking to Zarrah. He knew the bindings weren't going to do any good if all they did was get her killed. Then all would have been lost. Still, there was just as much chance she might just push him toward the ever gaping maw of that sand worm. It was a chance he was going to have to take as the worm had finally turned and was already coming at them again. Without a word he reached for the bindings that connected her hands and feet and tore those apart with unnatural ease, but kept the ones that separately bound her limbs.
He slipped his head in the loop of her arms so that they were around his neck and turned back slightly. "Hold on tight!" he commanded. "But I swear if you choke me, I'll let go of you into jaws of that thing!" That was all he said before he gave a strong leap and latched onto the rocks of the cliff above, metal on stone and proceeded to climb, carefully. Pausing for a moment, he looked down and saw the rock they had laid on was swallowed whole by sand and worm.
Zarrah braced herself as Castor threw her arms around his neck. She was still dizzy from being dragged, but could do little else but hope not to fall off his back as he began to climb. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until mentioned for her not to choke him.
It was about that time the rock below them was swallowed whole.
"It wouldn't be lady like of me to kill the man who did just save my life," she answered, her voice against his ear. She looked around, it was still night, and still very dangerous. Though her vision was hampered because of her position, yet that didn't matter, she could hear the sand worm moving down below.
"Got any bright ideas?" she asked. "The sand worm sounds hungry. They can wait for months for a meal," she then informed, staring over the horizon when she noticed a second motion in the sand and her eyes narrowed. "And it looks like this one isn't alone."
Relying on the moonlight to light his path as he slowly and surely climbed the cliff’s face, Castor grunted with each effort. It would have been much easier to climb with just himself…and he momentarily entertained the idea of dropping the load he had strapped to his back. Goodness, what had gotten into him in those past ten years. Castor, carefully pressed his body to the stone, sliding off to the side as he momentarily glanced below, the height getting to his head, vertigo threatening to set in.
He reached up for another jutting stone, as the clamor of the sand worm sent shivers through his spine. If he was afraid of anything, it might have been being eaten alive. For once he was thankful for the gauntlets, or else his hands would have certainly been raw by now from securing his grip. Another grunt and he lifted them to another ledge.
But as he reached up and she spoke so close to his ear, he couldn’t hide that shiver. His grip faltered and he was stuck one handed upon another ledge. He growled at her, a little irritated at his reaction. “Not really,” he replied to her question. “You know you’re not really helping the morale here. I don’t plan on hanging here for months. Let’s just reach the top and move on from there.”
The cliff gradually inclined upwards and outwards, making everything all the more difficult. He tried to move around it, but the rock was far too smooth and the ledges seemed too few and far between on the side of the incline. He reached for it anyway. It was a hell of a lot better than trying to fight gravity, a woman on his neck, as well as worrying of slipping and falling into the mouths of sand worms.
"You know when we reach the top, I still plan on trading you. No amount of flattery will change my mind."
Zarrah smirked at his comments, but was thankful for his efforts. Whatever it was he was trading her for must've been worth a lot. Perhaps it was his wife? If Rassar was in this man's position, he would have done the same. Perhaps, if she thought of things a little differently...
She internally shook the thoughts away and stared up at the moon, but the noises from the sand worms below grew more intense. She chanced a glance over the edge, and found herself biting into her lower lip. It was a long ways down... hopefully this man didn't slip. Perhaps if he was lucky...
No, she had to stop thinking about using herself in that manner- and sleeping with the enemy wasn't an option. After all, this man was on business.
"I hope whoever you're fighting for is worth it," she told him, again, her words going into his ear, but was distracted by more noises down below. It was then she looked down to witness a bizarre act, two of the sand worms had unearthed themselves and were battling. She held her breath, watching the two vicious animals attack one another, when suddenly one of them retreated, while hte other pursued, and soon they were twisting together and writhing upon upon the sands. it looked as if the sand worms were killing one another, until a blush warmed her cheek as she realized what they were doing.
"I don't think I can ever claim to have witnessed sand worms mating until know," she commented, and turned back to rest her head against Castor, as the strain on her neck was becoming too much.
"It was always rumored they would battle one another before the actual act of mating, then the female would submit herself before the two beasts are said to join bodies by rolling in the sand..." She thought of it and it was beautiful, really- to think of such creatures finding a reason to judge their mates through a vicious mating battle.
Though, the noises continued until a loud moan was heard down below, and eventually the two worms slithered away beneath the sands.
Zarrah held her breath.
"Perhaps they'll forget about us more quickly than a few months," she commented wistfully, a smirk tugging at her lips.
OOC: You know that awkward moment when you're carrying a sexy, half naked woman on your back and she talks about mating animals... lol.
[Lol! It seriously could NOT have come at a worse time!]
Castor grimaced at her insinuations, but he couldn't say his mind didn't drift to the thought. He didn't look down to watch the two sand worms celebrate the miracle of life. He wasn't into that kind of thing. Well, it certainly explained the viciousness of the attack on the male's part he assumed. Didn't want them getting in the way of his conquest. Castor scaled the smoothed surface of the cliff, reaching back a little then striking the surface with the fingertips of the gauntlets, making his own grips instead of reaching for doomed and brittle rock.
"What, not who," he clarified. "It's something valuable to me, and you're the perfect asset to trade." He continued to scale. But the sounds that they were making below, Castor began to feel his face become very flush. He stopped climbing, letting his face press against the cold stone, trying very very hard not to listen to the disturbing sounds. Until at last there was one final eruption of sound.
When they were done, Castor pulled his face away and looked back at her. "I thought only humans made noises like that. I wonder whose moan that was...the male or the female." He smirked and continued to climb.
At the realization her slight fantasy he might be doing this for someone else was broken, she felt a knot twist into her gut.
So she was right to assume he was no better than the rest. After all, he was going to easily hand her life over for some object.. typical of the men she loathed.
Then at his comment, she couldn't help but smirk in return.
"I guess we'll never know," Zarrah played, her breath warm against his skin. "Though it's probably the male." SHe paused a moment before she added, "I hardly know any man who could make a woman moan quite like that. The worm must be lucky." Because of the way she was resting against him, he might have been able to feel her smile as her hairs tickled against the back of his body when a cool wind swept through it. Though she wasn't the one doing any of the work, she was sweating as much as he was, because his body heat was rather intense from his work, so their sweat was easily mingling together upon his back.
She'd feel terrible baiting the man this way, but she found it rather exhilarating and fun-
Perhaps it was the idea they both were about to die and were in primal form, and also she was bound against her will...
There wasn't much more she could do except torment him, and this method was what currently amused her.
So Castor would just have to suffer this fate!
She must have had a death wish if she kept trying to flirt with him the way she was. Castor looked up to see how far they had to go, and thankfully the distance was quickly shortening. He kept digging his hands into the softness of stone with as much force and tenacity as possible to get his mind...well, off certain things that she kept mentioning.
"And how exactly would you know that?" Castor successfully suppressed a shiver that time, keeping his focus on climbing, every muscle working in tandem now, from this arms to his legs and even his back. He was more than well aware of her presence and he knew what she was trying to do; very well, he could play games as well, and might very well be as aware of the power of his body. But still, he kept his mind focused on reaching the top. "But you're right. I don't know any woman that moaned like that. All the ones I knew were much louder."
The ledge was almost within his grasp.
Oh, so he wanted to play, did he?
Knowing full well he was at the edge of his rope with strength, and they were just about to reach the top, she made sure to press herself against him in such a way, and let her hair blow closer to his body when another cool wind tried to relieve them- except it would carry the soft perfumes from her hair, as her black hair tickled and danced against his shoulder and cheek.
"And what animal were you witnessing during their mating season that time?" she jested, and wore a much fuller smirk. "Perhaps a dragon in heat?" Her lips brushed against his ear. "I heard it gets very hot around them during the spring..." and that wasn't the only thing that got very hot as she used a deeper, heated breath against his ear.
OOC: She is HORRIBLE, but I thinks he has a death wish, ha ha.
Castor swallowed hard on a dry throat as the ledge finally came within his reach. He was tired, but his strength knew no bounds and when his fingers were dug into the dirt there, he let his feet dangle for a moment, hoping the flushness of his face came with exertion of climbing and not because she was trying to manipulate them. But it was obvious they both knew better than that.
He actually laughed at her attempt. "I've been known to breath fire in times of great duress. It grows naturally in my belly," he said smiling back. With that, he pulled himself up solely with the power of his arms, vaulting up with little effort and landing on his feet. He looked out to the horizon, seeing an expanse of dusty badlands sprawling out before them. At least they wouldn't have any fear of sand worms up here...for long that was.
He set her down, since their height was close and pulled his head out from underneath her arms. The cool breeze that blew across him was a welcome relief to the sweat that accumulated from climbing. "You were trying to make me fall weren't you?" he said with a raised brow.
When she was set aside, she too, took a moment to close her eyes and enjoy the coolness of the air against the sweat on her skin. His body had soaked her through, to the point her clothing was nearly translucent, but thankfully she was facing away from the moonlight as shadows hugged her form and the silver from the moon glistened in her hair.
"There are many ways a man can fall," she baited. "But I suppose I should be thanking you for being generous enough to carry me to the top. But I suppose I'm worthless as a corpse, or, swallowed by one of those mating worms." Her eyes sparkled with challenge and mirth, before they cast towards the desert towards the every expansive horizon of desert and stars.
"So what's so important to you that you'd hunt a deadly woman?" she asked absently, still staring at the starry skies.
Castor wasn't the kind of man to hold a debt. Well, not one that came with securing a life. Especially not one as valuable as hers. He didn't answer for a good long moment before dropping down to her feet and undoing the bindings thus, tearing the rope from her swollen looking ankles. He looked up at her from below, her silhouette against the stars, but he still said nothing. Only stood with the rope in hand and dropped it back over the cliff.
He looked down for a moment, knowing he left their supply of water as it were and he didn't know how they were going to make it without water. He could only hope to find a spring or stream out here, but he doubted that was likely if at all.
"Deadly?" he raised a brow at her and scoffed a little, if only to mock her. "If you were deadly...wouldn't I be dead? What I'm looking for is far more valuable than you...or than you could know. It's imperative that I get it. Information, no matter how small, has it's value." He pointed out ahead of them. "Walk."
She only smiled at his jest of her self-given title and would have shrugged if she had the strength, but if you were bond for the length of time she had been, you too, might find your limbs useless.
Closing her eyes, and did not rise.
"You'll have to forgive me and give me a moment," Zarrah said. "I don't think you've ever had the pleasure of being bond that way, but when you do, you'll come to realize that once one is set free of such bonds, their limbs are useless."
She stared over at him, curious if he cared of her predicament or if he still wanted her to walk.
If so, he was out of luck for the time being. He'd have to wait for the feeling to return into her legs, and it was starting to already, a sharp, prickling sensation forming in her finger tips and toes.
OOC: She makes nothing easy! Even when she's been free of her bindings! but in all honesty, it's kinda not her fault :P and sorry for the short post D:
Castor frowned at her, not in the mood for anymore play time, though she didn't seem to know when to quit. He had to give her props for persistence, however. But he never considered himself a man that spent all this time surrounded in the pleasures of the flesh. He knew work, and hardship, and the will to fight if one was going to accomplish their goals in the slightest. He couldn't let her waste precious time. The sun would be up, and soon they would be at its mercy. No water, not even a place to rest.
"In fact, I do know what it's like. But you wouldn't care much about that. As far as you're concerned, I'm just another greedy, selfish man," he said matter of factly.
He reached down and plucked her up from the ground, throwing her over his shoulder and started to walk himself. "You're stalling," he said simply. "You can regain from bloodloss while I carry you. A hundred feet. Then you walk."
He stalked away from the ledge, almost jogging now, attempting to utilize what moonlight they had left. It could have very well have been a few hours, to half the night. If he could beat the sun, then he might still have a chance to make it. He counted as he walked before plopping her down, grabbing her gruffly by the arm. "Can you walk now?"
[I don't mind. He just wants to get there in one piece! If only she'd let him.]
Their flirtation was short lived as his impatience got in the way. Pity, she was having rather fun teasing him, but in reality, they were enemies. She shouldn't be enjoying this, and before she knew it, he was carrying her. She could do little to resist, and wriggled her fingers as he walked,a nd after the promised amount of paces, he set her down.
Looking down at her arm,s he looked back up at him and snatched back her arm, though lost her balance when she did and braced herself against a wall.
"I'll manage," she said bitterly, glaring at him as she tested her legs, and began a wobbly walk. It felt weird to use them, but they would be fine within a few moments as she tried to return to a more prideful stance.
"So I take it you know where you're going?" she asked, staring at him expectantly.
Castor could not help the dumbfounded look on his face when she asked him. He didn't know where he was going. In fact, he didn't think he'd end up on some desert hillside overlooking vast plains of nothingness. "No," he said plainly. "For now, perhaps the best plan is to get off this cliff and find some place to rest. I'm sure your legs could use it."
He stayed behind her, relooking at his belt to make sure that her knives were still there. He didn't need her trying to pull any fast ones. He took them out and placed them into the straps on his thighs. He paused for a moment. He frowned at the thought of needing to actually ask his baggage for help.
He looked back at her, eyes narrowed and speculative. "You obviously know this place better than I? Take us to some place we can rest. Remember, cooperate and it'll be easier for both of us. And relatively painless for you."
"Cooperate and you'll take me quicker to my cell," she replied simply, and walked right past him, then paused as she glanced over her shoulder. "It looks like there's a narrow path ahead," she pointed towards it, where a small trail cut into the rock and disappeared inside a gaping mouth of a cave. "They say these caverns are interconnected, Maybe we can use it to get safely back to the deserts or make camp." Then she turned to him and raised a brow. "Got any sort of light?" If not, it would prove difficult to navigate a cave in the dark. "I think that might be our best and smartest option." She stared over at the horizon, where a narrow strip of purple began to burn. Frowning, she turned to Castor.
"The sun will rise within the hour," she stated. "If there is one thing to know about the desert, it's not to catch yourself out there in the mid-day sun. We could travel for a time, but not for only a few hours." She then folded her arms and stared at him expectantly.
[MacGyver anyone?]
If circumstances had been different, Castor would have felt a pang of remorse for what he'd been doing, or was about to do. He knew the kind of fate he was delivering this woman toward, or at least the idea of it. If it was anything like what happened to his—no! He couldn't think of her now, of all times. He couldn't think of regret or the possibilities of a fate in a cage. He steeled himself, hardened his brow and pushed all feelings away.
He listened to her knowledge of the caves. And knew they had no real source of light to navigate by. Immediately he regretted throwing that rope piece off the cliff. He looked at the remaining binds she had on her wrists and reached for them, carefully undoing them and pulling out one of her knives. He wrapped the rope around the blade end of it and knelt in the ground. He knotted it securely, despite its thickness.
"Hold it down, angling the rope end to the ground," he said. Reaching over to a rock he saw, he plucked it and pressed his left gauntlet to the edge of the makeshift torch. Without a second thought he struck the rock down onto the metal, sparks flying from the impact. It took a few strikes, and with minimized pressure so as not to crush it, but sparks eventually began to smolder on the rope. He blew on it a little, as the flame began to take the rope. He lifted it by the handle. "Will this do? Lead on."
She watched him cleverly create a 'torch' and afforded him a rare grin for his efforts. Tossing her hair off her shoulder, she turned away and replied, "That'll do," and continued to wear her smile as she stepped into the open mouth of the cave. Though she hesitated, her eyes tracing the ceiling and walls around them as she listened.
Quiet.
Quiet meant safe... at least for now. She then gestured with her head for him to follow.
"It's best we move with caution," She whispered, andhoped he'd follow suit, One did not want to speak too loudly in the caves, for fear of a cave in, awakening bats, or even awakening some foul beast that might be sleeping within.
The deserts were a very dangerous place, and the maze like caves were no different. She gestured again as she cautiously moved forward.
"We ought to stay close and share the light,"s he suggested, though peered over her shoulder to see if he would argue her on her logic.
She couldn't deny she was formulating a plan to escape, but she also couldn't leave him high and dry either- after all, he technically did save her life.
"So do you mind me asking what's so important to you that I'll be giving up my freedom for?" she asked, turning away from him as she lead him onward, stepping under a shallow drop int he wall, to step out to the other side where she found herself coming to a fork in the road which caused her to pause as she slowly examined both options.
Follow her he did, carefully and as quietly as she, though it was more difficult for him who was much larger in size. The cave entrance was much wider than he expected it to be, and he looked up as the light from the makeshift torch was a swallowed up the height of the cavern. This place truly was big. But if she knew what she was doing and was not going to get them killed, by all means, he would let her lead on as she pleased.
He didn't stray from her side, tailing her as if he was a part of the tresses of her disheveled clothing. He glanced at her. Or lack thereof. How could a woman walk around like that and not worry about getting sand in places that were difficult to get rid of? He might have asked her but knew it was probably better to be silent. He didn't know what resided within these walls.
As they came to the fork, Castor glared at her persistence in finding out just what it was he was after. "Persistent aren't you?" he said. "What I'm after is a location, a map to be more specific, of a place very far from here. A tomb that holds great treasure. You wouldn't understand."
He looked down the left path, tempted to take a chance on it, but he paused right before the entrance. He held his breath, listening for sounds. Then he heard voices, very faint as it were, distantly perhaps. They talked amongst themselves, though he couldn't make out what they said. "Perhaps the right would be better," he whispered.
"You could say I'm persistent," she replied, her smirk illuminated by the fire as she stole a glance towards him from over her shoulder. Then upon hearing his claim, she raised her brows with a more incredulous smile.
"Yes, a great treasure," she supported, sarcastically and continued on her way. "So you're a treasure hunter?" she questioned, but then when he heard some noise, she soon fell quiet and listened. At his suggestion to move elsewhere, she nodded and they moved down the right path.
The right path seemed less inviting, the ceiling cutting low and at one point, Zarrah had to press herself against the wall, an even wondered how Castor might be able to fit through it, but knew, there was (unfortunately) enough room for him to squeeze by.
It was cold, and like his assessment earlier, she began regretting her choice of attire- but she did have a name to maintain. After all, the stories did become quite true with consistency....
"I hope this path doesn't keep narrowing, or we might want to reconsider our options," she whispered, but just as she said so, a hand slipped around her mouth in the darkness and suddenly she was pulled away, completely gone from Castor's vision before he might have had the chance to squeeze through the narrow crevice that Zarrah had been waiting for him on the other side.
And she didn't make a noise, except the light scraping of her feet and a few muffled screams as she was dragged deeper and deeper into the darkness, though the callous chuckle from the man who had grabbed her echoed hauntingly throughout the cave.
Castor was about to answer her assessment as they crawled through the right fork of the cavern. It was getting suppressingly narrow, Castor might have begun to feel himself become claustrophobic with the way the stone scraped against the flesh of his shoulders. He waited for Zarrah to cross to the other side of the passage and he would quickly follow, even at the risk of him getting stuck. As he was about to pass through as well, she suddenly vanished from sight.
He held his breath, listening to the maniacally triumphant laughter of a man. Castor could see only, vaguely their shadows being cast against the nearest wall as he dragged her away, made by the fallen torch. Quickly, he shuffled through the narrow passage, scraping against the leather of his tunic and he reached for the torch, plucking it from the ground and followed where they went.
He kept his distance, trailing and watching where shadows moved left and right. The path widened significantly as he tailed them, and the cave went sharply around a bend toward the left passage. He stayed behind, taking the opposite path that that one opened up to. It led to a ridge, that over looked a large, cavernous room. He dropped the torch, pushed the handle of it out of the way to keep his own shadow from being cast out to reveal his position.
He didn't need it anyway. Below the cavern was lighted, well enough with plenty of candles and lanterns as men, at least ten of them, were drinking and talking down around a large banquet table. The glitter of gold twinkled in the light, a few of them counted it, bickering about how they would divide the loot. One sat at the end of the table on a pedestaled chair; he was larger than the rest, most likely the leader, or perhaps a lieutenant of some sort. Out from the corner, he saw another man, most likely the one that snagged Zarrah, drag her into the cavern. "Oi, look what I found boys. Just wanderin' around in the tunnels." The man laughed again and shoved Zarrah into the arms of another man, who wrapped his arms around her.
"Looks like our luck has just turned up."
OOC: Warning, some er- adult situations to occur!
IC:
Zarrah had little choice but to be tossed from one man to another.
She fell into his arms, braced against him and grimaced when his foul breath rolled over her.
"Let go of me!" she said, trying to wriggle her way and when another man tried to near her, she kicked him full in the face, causing an uproar in the men as they both yelled and laughed at the situation.
"Aye, she's a fiery one!" the man laughed, struggling along with her as he licked at her neck. "Mmm, and she tastes good, too! Wonder what else we might sample." he said, wiping out his knife and pressing it to her throat so as to subdue her struggle.
Zarrah felt the blade and tensed.
"Now, there's a good lass," he said, and slipped off her robe. "You won't be needing this anymore, or the rest of your clothing." he told her as he snickered into her hair.
That's when she butted her head against his (the same trick she used on Castor) and the man cried out in alarm, but the moment Zarrah fell away from his clutches, she gave another cry of anguish as she was captured into an even larger man's arm.
"Hey now, little vixen, where do you think you're going? The party's only just got started." he laughed and held her about, even as she writhed, but he usedt he same trick as his friend, producing a gold hook shaped blade that he rested against her throat.
"Now dont' try any more fighting. We just want to play," he said, and slipped the knife across the straps of her clothing, and the meager scrap of fabric fell to the floor, but luckily (or not so luckily), Zarrah's long hair kept her assets covered.
But not for long as the man brushed her dark hair aside an began to hungrily nurse at her neck. Zarrah's lips curled and it was then she felt her panties being ripped off as she le tout a gasp and looked at the end of his sharp, hooked blade to see the pathetic pieces of fabric hanging off of it.
She didn't like where this was headed, and despite efforts to struggle, there were too many of them and she was soon forced onto the ground as the men all let out snickering, hungered laughter as they moved upon her. But it was their leader that made him stop, as he moved up from where he sat nad motioned.
"Stop toying with her and give her to me," he said with a grin, and the men obeyed and pushed her onto his lap.
Her hands had been bound behind her back, her legs shackled in gold clasps so she wouldnt' escape, and here she found herself, naked, and sitting upon the leader's lap.
He pushed her chin up with his finger and admired the fiery look in her eyes.
"She certainly is a prize now isn't she?"
Zarrah angrily bit towards his finger and he smiled.
The other men laughed as their leader eyed up her body, drinking it in.
"Let's see how potent that flame really is," he chuckled, pressing her against his body, his lips hungrily meeting to hers to silent any screams....
Castor knelt upon the ridge, watching in silent horror as they played their game with Zarrah. Inside, he felt a boil over of emotion, the first and foremost was rage at seeing his hard-earned target suddenly and so easily snagged from his grasp. As if it wasn't hard enough capturing her in the first place! It was clear these men had no intention of letting her go any time soon, and not after their had their way.
He felt frozen, however, despite his rage. He clung to that ledge, gauntlets gripping the stone until his fingers actually dug into the rock, making it crumble underneath his grasp. He watched quietly, as they cut her clothing to bits, no matter how little it was to begin with. Flashes of his mother came roaring back to mind. His eyes were widened, and still no sound came out of his mouth, his heart beat faster. He saw Stravan again. Heard her scream, heard that glassbreaking slap that came roaring across her face.
With the men distracted with Zarrah, Castor quietly dropped down from the ledge, a thirty foot drop at least that made without injuring himself and without making a great deal of noise. He looked at the men, their backs to him, eyes possessed with something even he could not describe. He snuck up on the closest man, who wore a rag on his head and raised a mug in cheer as the leader began to kiss Zarrah with hunger. Without any further reservation, Castor screamed bloodcurdlingly as he hammered both fists on either side of the man's head, crushing his skull as if it were a newborn babe's. Blood came splattering as the man's head caved in and collapsed.
And suddenly he had the attention of the rest of them, each brandishing weapons, swords and maces accordingly. Three men came at him at once, one slashing down at him. Castor leapt back and steeled himself for the attack. He blocked the blow, and launched his other fist toward his gut, power enough to bring his fist through the man's torso. He dropped him as the two remaining men slashed at him. A sword cut him across the arm, another slammed his mace toward his head. Castor's left fist was raised, meeting the impact of the mace, despite the slash on his arm, shattering the mace as if it were made of glass, the brittle iron falling to pieces on the cavern ground.
The man remained stunned at the sudden destruction of his weapon, fear taking the color from his face. Castor reached for the sword-wielder and snatched the weapon from his grasp, but before the man could run, he rapped the sword around his neck as if it were a rope, strangling him with the steel edge before dropping him to the ground. The other men were stunned at the carnage, but before they could run, it was much too late.
Castor let his rage eat him alive, he tore men apart limb from limb as they cried and screamed in fear and agony. Bones cracked from breaking and the men who no longer wished to fight, moaned on the floor, nursing their shattered bones. His own arms were cut and dug into from blades and a dagger stuck out from his back, by his shoulder blade, but he merely plucked it from his shoulder as if it were nothing more than a bug bite. Another stuck out from his thigh. And he took the last of the men, carrying his severed head by his hair as he stood before the leader, who still had Zarrah in his lap.
"Let. Her. Go," he said, holding the head up, as if to show what would happen to him if he didn't. Blood dripped from Cynwulfen, painting red droplets on the ground.
The leader wasn't the only one stunned as Zarrah stared at the carnage. She didn't know what this man was capable of, and she grew uneasy as she stared at the bleeding head of the decapitated man. But a blade was held to her throat, and she heard the man behind her growl.
"You- you, what are you some kind of monster!?" the leader stammered, growling as he pressed the blade into Zarrah's throat, holding onto her hair as he backed away.
"Don't you come any closer or her head will look like the one you just severed!" the man stated, hoping that, perhaps this demon of a man wouldn't harm him if he used the girl as bait.
Zarrah bared her teeth. She didn't much like the predicament she was in, but she had little choice in the matter, but truthfully, she wasn't sure which side she would prefer to be in. As much as it seemed somewhat heroic what he had done, she had never seen a man be more savage in her life (and she, technically, was a murderer, but she preferred her deaths to be swift, and almost graceful, this was rabid..)
And before she knew it, the stupid man tried to drag her off. She figured he'd be killed either way, but now he was securing his own death by scrambling to take his hostage with him. But Zarrah wasn't about to be made a fool of. This incident was far too embarrassing and she wasn't about to be taken without a fight- bond or not.
When the man had her almost dragged clean across the room- she made her move, body connecting witht he man's gut.
He made a noise, his blade moved- and Zarrah dropped to the ground, blood dribbling down from her neck as the leader was left wide open
Nothing could be easy could it. Castor stayed put as the man tried to drag Zarrah away. But fate would have it, as it were, that she made her own move, though the knife got her. But the moment was all he needed as Castor plucked the dagger stuck in his thigh and launched it clear across the room the leader. The blade spun until it struck the man in the throat. He made a gurgling sound and leaned back from the momentum of the blow before falling onto his back.
Castor dropped the head and looked over to Zarrah, the adrenaline leaving him. He took a deep steady breath to keep from being sick to his stomach at the carnage he had done. He forced his eyes to stay on her, looking over to tattered cloth on the table, picking it up to wipe Cynwulfen clean from the blood that stained the meal.
He approached Zarrah carefully, he knelt down beside her and carefully examined her throat. The cut didn't appear deep, but he grabbed another rag just in case and slowly wrapped it around her neck almost too carefully for a man of his strength. He reached for the chains that bound her, twisting the chain until it came loose. He looked her over. Getting up, he walked over to where her robe laid discarded on the ground. He pulled it over her to give her some sense of dignity after what happened, and pulled her up by her hand. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Zarrah clutched the rag as it was pressed to her throat. The cut was painful, but she'd live. Wincing, she peered up at Castor through her dark hair. He had draped her robe across her form so she had at least some modesty, and she hugged it closed with a free hand and merely stared at him.
When she went to reply, she found herself choking on her words as she turned away, but weak legs had her falling, her body against his as she tensed.
It was then she realized how solid his body was. There must've been some strength about him to have done those horrific acts against those men. Casting the thought aside, lest she become ill, she focused on what really had happened-
After all, the men got what they deserved and she had Castor to thank.
"I can say I'm better off than those men," she tried her hand at a joke, after gently pushing away from him when she regained her strength. She took a moment to tie the robe tighter around her body so it remained secured, though it was cut low and hugged just about every detail of her nudity.
"So I'm wondering if I should be thanking you or asking what you just did to those men." she commented, her eyes never leaving his. "I saw you rip them apart, your fist going through another man's body." She took a step back, but kept her shoulders squared off, but her head remained tipped low and wary. "And again, I find you saving my life." She stared at him curiously, as if reading him then simply walked away, searching the dead men's body as she began to strip one of them of his clothes. She might as well find something more decent to wear....
"But it does beg the question," she continued, her back to him as she dropped her robe, remaining naked as she moved to get dressed int he bandit's loose clothing. "It must be some treasure for you to risk your neck to bring someone like me in." She peered over her shoulder, then slipped the shirt over her head, smoothe dit down and turned around, now more modestly dressed. "I suppose I have little choice now but to let you take me in quietly." and here she turned away, smirking slightly before moving away, he rback still to him as she looked for a man's pair of boots sshe could wear. These sandals were becoming burdensome and she yearned to feel something more solid beneath her feet.
Once finding a close match, she took a seat back in a chair and slipped one on, working at lacing it up. That's when her eyes trailed over to him as he studied him again with interest.
It was only now that Castor finally felt the pain of his wounds take to throbbing. Small trickles of blood seeped from the slashes on his arms and the pricking pain of his stab wounds were getting to be annoying. Castor wasn't one to cry out, not since he was a young boy and broken in on his first day in the mines. It was a precautionary measure, to make sure that he knew his place and that he was to work until the debt was to be paid, not a joint, not a word, not a protest out of place.
He was woken from his musings when her strength left him and she leaned in to him. He was bleeding just about everywhere but he supposed it didn't really matter. He just stood there, like a wall, until she found the strength in herself to stand on her own. Truly, he could not know what to say to her. And perhaps it shouldn't have, but almost seemed like a joke to her with the way she spoke. But he knew better than that. Perhaps that was just her way of coping with the slaughter he'd just committed.
He had nothing to say for himself; not quite in his defense. At least, however, he was glad to find no condemnation in her words. His head was lowered, looking at his feet, trying to comprehend what he'd yet just done. It was too easy, to tear a man to pieces. And perhaps that was what he was most afraid of, that it would become too easy that he might become complacent, that it was something that he would never hesitate to use if he wanted to. But he knew, deep in a corner of his mind, that this was a moment that called for it. There was no reason for her to be taken as she was, and he began to see the true folly of his own crime against her. He had not touched her wrongly in the way that these bandits had intended, true, but his intent, which he made clear several times, was perhaps worse all the more, ensuring to deliver her to a fate of complete uncertainty. But what choice did he have? More than two thirds of his life in the bondage of powers greater than he, one had been physical, one had no form at all, yet both had tormented him into the animal he had become. If this would take him one step closer to being free of these terrible hands that had now become his own, he would take it. Nothing else mattered. He couldn't let it matter.
He finally looked up at her, flexing the steel of his hands. "I don't regret what I just did," he said finally, his eyes saying he didn't. "You have value to me, yes. That, and no woman deserves to be violated in such a way. Not by worthless brigands. Even you, who tried to cut my throat, is worth more than they are." His eyes watched her bare back, trailing down the length of her body as she reached for the clothing of one of the dead men that seemed just about her size. "The treasure I seek, is not made of gold or embedded with jewels. I'm not a treasure hunter, I'm not much of anything really. I'm looking for a Relic, an ancient artifact that holds a great deal of importance to me." He bit his lip, not wanting to say anymore, but knowing she deserved answers, at least, after the horror she witnessed.
Castor walked, with a slight limp, his wounded leg causing him some irritation, around looking at the gold they had staked on the table and the wine they had been enjoying. He walked over to where the discarded remains of her clothes were, as few as they were, and plucked them from the ground. Carefully, he folded them and brought them to her. "My name is Castor," he said finally, realizing he never probably introduced himself.
She stared down at the clothing, then back up at him. They were useless to him now, but she stared at him curiously and received them all the same.
So he did have a name. She afforded him a small smile but then studied his eyes when something else caught her attention and she noticed the blood, and a lot of it. That's when she began to tear apart her robe, ripping it into long strips. Again, her clothing was useless to her now- the bandits clothing were now more ideal, as she abandoned all consideration to even return to the clothing she had once more. She didn't need to invite more trouble than she was already in.
Then, taking the pieces, she moved towards him and began to inspect his wounds, and deeper ones, she began to press the cloth pieces against, then tie them around his arms and legs.
"It seems they cut you pretty good," she commented, but continued her work. "And if you would have just let me cut your throat earlier this evening, you wouldn't have to worry about suffering these consequences now." She smirked, staring up at him with a mirthful sparkle to her eyes to let him know it was a joke. "But I suppose not many men would have done what you just did." She said, her fingers gently tracing over the air above a wound that was still heavily bleeding through the clothe she bond around. She fussed over it some more, secured another piece of clothe over top of it, and tied it tighter around his arm, then stood up, examining his body and noticed a cut across his chest.
Her eyes went to his.
"You might need to take your shirt off so these wounds can be better cleaned, but if we're lucky, we can find a stream somewhere in these caves. " she studied his body again, this time with more obvious appreciation. "But I guess you'll live for now."
Then she turned away, her hair spinning behind her with enough distance between them her scent would linger after she had already walked away, but had only gotten a few paces when she paused before the table of gold and picked up a piece.
"It's sad to think the majority of men who come out here are either cut-throats or savages," she lamented. Her eyes studied the room.
"If we can't find any water here, we ought to search for some but if not," she turned around to look at him. "This is a good a place as any to make camp." she said, a little quirk to her smile.
She might have been dressed in bandits clothing, but it only aided in her charm as she smiled, almost happily at their predicament.
The truth of it was, she found herself, out of necessity and situations, growing rather comfortable around Castor- a feeling she hadn't been able to share with a person for a long time, and figured to just indulge the moment while she could.
He didn't know why he picked up obviously useless articles of clothing, but perhaps it was a final courtesy to keep from having any part of her left with these foul men that deserved nothing but destruction. He let it go gladly, and only watched wordlessly as she began to bind his wounds, save the for the massive slash across his chest. The bleeding was gradually slowing, but it would need to be cleaned before it could be closed properly.
"If we can, let's find water first," he said, his head looking down to inspect her bindings, which smelled like her. He had to hold his breath as the scent drifted away, forcing the air out that remained, trying to keep his senses about him. She still seemed to be trying to make an effort to charm him, but he was beginning to see that perhaps this was just in her nature.
He let himself smile at her, but shook his head when she suggested they made this place their camp. "With these bodies? No, I'd rather not," he said slowly. He approached the table and grabbed a sack of coins that had been yet to be spilt. He knew that he could use it later when his fists could not solve the problem gold could. He also grabbed one of the lanterns from the table, clutching it. "You know these caves best, I'll follow you. I'd rather clean these wounds as soon as I can. It would be a shame to die of infection. Please, let us leave here."
She nodded, and moved towards one of the path ways they hadn't explored. She knew the back two tunnels is where Castor and her had already been, but the path on the left seemed rather inviting, and had a basket perched beside it. She opened the lid and stared down at it.
Water.
Closing the lid, she gestured to Castor.
"There's water in here. Perhaps, if we follow this path, it'll lead us to the source. If not, we could use this on that wound." she eyed it again. "That probably hurt."
As did the slash on her neck, but for now, she ignored it, and it was hidden from Castor's view anyways, considering the clothe of her bandit attire hugged loosely around her neck.
She moved forward now, walking cautiously through the cave when she began to hear a noise and paused.
It was the trickling sounds of water. Smiling, she motioned to Castor and moved on ahead.
The sound got louder as they walked deeper and deeper inside the cave until an opening revealed a rather wide stream moving through the rocks. Zarrah examined the area, leaning over the side. It was a ways down. She had to wonder how the bandits got down there. She figured the walls would be slick from the water, so climbing down would be a slippery slope, and climbing back up, nearly impossible.
It was also impossible to tell just how deep the waters went.
"Well, we found the source," Zarrah began, placing a hand to her hip. "Now to find a way down there..."
The caves were considerably cooler than the sun had been earlier the day before. According to his companion, the sun would be rising soon and they would need to stay in these caves until it was cool enough to travel again. The city shouldn't be far from here. And once that was done, the map would be his. Yet Castor was not one to jump to conclusions and he knew it was best to cross that bridge when he got to it. Until then, he'd bide his time, and remain patient.
At her comment on pain, Castor eyed her, expression almost knowing. "Pain don't hurt," was all he said and continued following her. They could have used the water from the basin, but without a doubt it was probably no good to drink. Stagnant water could make you sick, and if used to wash wounds, no doubt would only infect them.
As they followed the sounds of water, he clung to the nearest wall, peering down to where the stream slipped down, pouring out from the rocks and into a gradually widening pool. The smell was almost overwhelming, and Castor couldn't wait to get a drink of that. He only looked at Zarrah, offering her a sly grin. With no warning, he nudged her forward, him with her, to slide down the side of the stream which truly was moist.
In a rush, they slid down the stream and dropped into the pool with a gigantic splash.
Zarrah let out a noise, which seemed most out of character for her, as the two slipped down into the waters and soon were splashing into the cool stream below.
A moment later, she was gasping, throwing her head out of the water as her dark hair tossed about, shaking it like a wet dog before she turned around, noticed Castor and gave a growl.
If the man didn't hold his breath quick enough, she'd attempt to drown him, pushing his head clean under the waters.
"You could have had me killed!" she called after him, then pushed away, floating in the waters as she looked at him. The waters weren't too terrible deep, enough to swim in as she stared at him, her nose just barely out of the waters.
"And you might have killed us both. Who knows if there's a way to get back up there," she motioned, turning her back to him in an angry gesture as she swam away, which was difficult to do, considering how baggy the bandits clothing had been as it bogged her down.
She contemplated taking it off, but wasn't sure if she wanted to give Castor the satisfaction to see her naked...
again.
"Hurry up and clean out your wounds," she said, fussing over her hair and keeping her back to him as she splashed waters on her face, giving it a good rub. It had been a while since she had found such a refreshing stream to bath in, and wasn't about to let him know she was enjoying it.
Castor through his head out of the water running his gloved hands through his hair and pushing it out of his face. For the first time in a long time, he let out a long, heavy laugh, full of thrill and thorough enjoyment. Never had he thought he'd be so happy to see something as ordinary as water. He dunked his head for a moment and took a long refreshing drink, satisfying his intensified thirst.
"Consider us even then," Castor said, laughing again and wading to where there was a widened, but slippery edge. He climbed and propped himself on it, clothes heavy with water and creating quite a bit of drag. He sat with is feet dangling in the water. His smile shrunk as he remembered his wounds and slowly began to take off the bandages she had made for him. She was right, they would have to be clean.
"I'm sure the pool leads somewhere else. That slope is far too slippery to climb, even with my strength, we'll just come right back down." Castor carefully laid the bandages next to him, first the ones on his arms and then the one on his leg. His clothes were far too heavy and needed to be dry. Castor reached down to the bottom of his tunic, and very carefully as to not tear it, pulled the thin, worn leather over his head, laying it to the side, then the cotton shirt underneath it. The water seemed to reflect light of its own, setting a play of light and shadow across his body as he moved. He reached down to unstrap the bindings around his thighs before he moved to take his trousers off, slipping them off slightly just near the bottom of his thigh as he inspected the stab wound there.
The water here as clean and cold and fresh and would clean them perfectly. In fact, if they found no other place to camp, he was just fine with staying here, he thought, as he dipped a metal hand into the water and poured water over the cut on his leg.
His laughter was pleasant, warm even as it echoed around them. She couldn't help, despite her soured disposition, to smile when he did as she shook her head. He was acting like a boy.
"Careful or you'll tear open your wounds," she commented. Then he mentioned following the waters.
That was a good thought - follow the water. Either to the end or the source. Then as Castor began to undress, she took a moment to simply watch, smirking as she admired his body. It was a rather impressive sight, and she didn't hide the fact she was enjoying it. Then, her expression grew more coy as she moved away, swimming across the cool waters.
Observing the area, she noticed a small area, a bit of seclusion offered behind thick, toothy stalactites and she swam over to them and began to undress, tossing her clothing away, one.. by one... onto the rocks beside her. Standing naked in the waters, she looked down at her own reflection, which became distorted as tiny ripples cascaded outwards from the droplets of water that fell from her hair.
Then she reached up and touched her neck, frowning at the stinging pain. It was deep, but would heal. She then closed her eyes, sighing and rested her head against the nearest stalactite as she closed her eyes and grew silent for a time.
"How are your wounds?" she asked after a moment, her head leaning in his direction so that he knew she'd be listening but she still remained, resting between her some reclusive wading pool, almost completely hidden from his sight with her clothing draped over limply on the rocks above.
Despite his powerful build, athletic though it was, Castor couldn't hide the fact that his wounds were taking a toll on him. He cleaned each one gingerly, until the blood was satisfied and seeped no more. He would wait until they dried to wrap them again. He began to wash the clothes themselves, red ripples spewing into the clarity of the pool.
His eyes wandered over to where she was as he did so, simply watching her with no indication of what he was thinking in his expression. She may have been hidden, but he knew she was undressing, and he knew that she knew that he was watching her. Turning his eyes to the water then, he focused more on his wounds, reaching down to douse some water across his chest, washing the slash therein. He reached for his belt, knowing he had a needle and a thread to sew it though he'd have to be exceedingly gentle.
He plucked the items from a small compartment in his belt and ever gingerly so eyed the thread through the needle and stuck himself, biting his lip as he began to sew the wound. "I'm trying to close them," he answered her. "Mostly the large one on my chest. But I think I'll be fine. How's yours? Would you like me to take a look at it?"
Zarrah said nothing, just listened to the gentle noises he was making as she lamented. She didn't know why she was thinking about Rassar, and about the changes in her life up to this....
She had been so close to freedom and now what? What did she have to show for it? Just a shallow, cowardice woman eager to kill for revenge. Her lips sagged at the thought and she felt her blood heat and didn't bother to draw in a breath as she closed her eyes and slipped under the water.
The sounds of water echoed around her, her dark hair floating over her form in black, ghosted streams as she lay there against the bottom. His death had happened so suddenly, he was fighting for her, for her future and then-
Zarrah's eyes opened suddenly as she sucked in some water.
Jolting out of the water, she began to gasp, coughing out the waters as she sputtered them back into the stream. SHe took a moment, catching herself against a rock as she rested her forehead against her hand and would have cried.
Castor had been right...
though she supposed if she had to be taken in by someone, it might as well be someone like Castor. Wiping at her face, she sunk back into the waters and tried to calm herself-
It would, after all, not make much sense to suddenly have a mental break down...
but after seeing what Castor was capable of..
it reminded her of that day...
perhaps it's why she was so cowardly in the way she killed. She looked down at her hands and stared at them for a long while, contemplating just how many people she had killed. That's when she noticed the blood staining the waters all around Castor and she finally turned away, looking over at him, no longer hidden behind the rocks.
"So what exactly are you?" she asked, knowing full well a man could not do what he was capable of.
[Whoops, for the shortness.]
Castor was just about done sewing shut the wound on his chest and began to knot the end of it before leaning his head in and cutting it with his teeth. That was good enough. He had just enough thread left for something else, but instead grabbed his shirt to sew the slashes that ruined the only clothes he had.
When she asked her question though, he completely stopped what he was doing, eying her with narrow, but perplexed eyes. What was he? What could he be more than a man? He then looked at his hands again, Cynwulfen gleaming and reflecting perfectly in the light of the pool. “I’m a human. A man as you can see,” he answered, plain and simple. “I was born in Serendipity in Wester Highlands. Have you heard of it? I don’t think my parents were natives, but that is where I am from.” He grinned a little at her.
“What about you? What, exactly, are you?” he smiled, his attempt at a jest, his eyes working back on the cotton shirt.
She pushed her dark hair aside at his question.
"A woman," she replied, smirking, then noted the strange gauntlets clinging to his arm. She studied them for a moment, then watched as he worked at mending his clothes. "I was born in the city. Lived there most of my life, even after my parents sold me to Carnavus when I was old enough to be married." She smiled sadly at the thought and turned away from him, stepping out deeper into the waters. "I think he got a good deal though- said only a few silver pieces was all it took." She glanced down at the waters, then let her eyes follow the direction of the water's flow.
"This water might connect to the oasis outside of town." she commented. "We could chance following to it's source." It was best to drop the subject, after all, they didn't really need to know about one another... considering at the city, she'd be given up to whatever man asked for her and he?
Well, he'd be off looking for whatever treasure he could. Perhaps his next clue will be surrounding another woman as interesting as herself..
She smirked at the thought of the potential of Castor's plight and wrapped her arms gently before herself in thought as her waters caught into the water and fanned out around her body, gently bobbing over the current of the stream.
What he thought was going to be a friendly jest of what they were, turned into something that made Castor frown. He listened intently as she mentioned that name again, and it struck him then why she must have hated that man. Sold to a man for merely a few silver pieces. Pathetic as if she were a goat or some lumber. Something less than human. He frowned at her words, this hands having finished up the job on both shirts finally.
She moved the conversation along, and he knew why. He wouldn't have felt comfortable about it either. But at least he understood her better now. Castor looked to where she indicated. He didn't think of that. It was hard to imagine anything like an oasis out here in the middle of the desert, and these caves no doubt. He had a feeling she was probably right, however, since she knew this place better than he did. Water always had to find a way out.
"I hope your right," he replied. He put the needle away and stood up, pulling his trousers back up on his waist, and reequipping his belt. He pulled the bandage back over his thigh and his arms, as they had been cleaned and were starting to close by themselves. He pulled his feet out of the water, sitting on the ledge. "Shall we head out there now, or make this our camp?" he asked, but he didn't take his eyes off her as she floated in the water.
"You know, I'm sorry about all this. I wish I didn't have to trade you away. You don't deserve it...but if only you'd understand, I don't have much of any other choice. If I could have it any other way, I'd let you go. I have no ill will against you," he tried to explain.
Zarrah gave a fake smile at his comment, but said nothing. She was tired, exhausted and thought camping there would have been a good idea, except she turned away and simply replied. "Let's keep moving. We won't need to waste time with all this water and protection from the son. Let me grab my clothes and we can head out."
She moved across the way, not caring if he could see her nudity or not as she fetched up her clothes, then moved her back to him again when she was standing in the shallow waters and began pulling on her clothes, well, the bandits clothes anyways. Rolling up the pants so they rested just below her knees, she did the same to the sleeves, though worked at tearing them off so they wouldn't bog her down int he water, and used some of them to wrap around the injury around her throat, so as to prevent it from rubbing open again from the cheap, rough material of her make shift clothes.
Once secure, she said nothing to signal they should press on now, but that's what she was doing, moving silently through the waters as she made her way into the dark pit of the caverns. That's when she called back to him. "You should probably get the lamp."
But said no more as she waded through the darkness.
[haha. Son.]
She didn't have to say anything to get the answer he expected. There was nothing too say! What do you say to the man who apologized but clearly was not going to let you go no matter what happened? She had no reason to answer him and he could understand. But that still didn't mean it didn't piss him off. But it was a futile anger, quite short lived as he reached for the fallen lantern that surprisingly hadn't become smashed upon their fall.
He snatched it up and stayed close to her as they followed the current. Castor, already being quite wet, waded through the stream, keeping up with her as they followed the path outward. They would both have to hunch as the tunnel abruptly was getting lower, the rocks around them alive with moss and algae. The stream suddenly flowed into a pile of rocks. The tunnel stopped there.
Castor crouched and dropped the lantern by the side of it. There the light drifted up, losing itself into the darkness of the cavern ceiling. However, something caught him from the corner of his eye. He looked up, seeing the tiniest circle of red light pour in from a small hole. Castor grabbed the lamp again and stepped closer, revealing a pile of boulders leading up to their first, and perhaps only way out. "C'mon!" he said, motioning for her to follow, as Castor began to scale them.
His heart was racing with excitement and it was certainly a lot better than staying in this filthy forgotten cave.
Zarrah craned her neck. Did he really think that could lead them out? Zarrah would have assumed they went the wrong way when she too, spotted the thin line of daylight.
"Even if we scale that wall, you expect us to fit through that small hole?" she questioned, but who knew, he had the strength to punch holes through men and explode their heads, so why couldn't wonder boy just 'make' them a way out.
After watching him, she finally joined behind him, but climbed more slowly and carefully than he. Once they reached the upper edge, it was quite and awkward location, thinly running along the wall as she peered down at the waters below.
Turning around, she crouched behind Castor to examine the small hole, then looked around to see if there was anything else like it, but as she moved to examine another tiny crack, her footing gave out beneath her and she began to fall...
He had no time to answer her, when the smile on his face deafened him to anything but the sight of freedom. There was nothing greater to him, not of the flesh or of the glint of gold, that could persuade him that there was anything more glorious than the sun, the air, and the earth beneath it, away from the squalor of being trapped in the darkness below.
He was about to reach for the light, reddened with the rising sun, despite the warning of its heat. Castor's expression changed when he detected the tumbling of something slipping on rock, however. It was like time slowed as he turned around and saw Zarrah vaguely in the light. He let go of his place on another boulder and dropped himself onto his belly in an attempt to catch her hand, but his hand only closed around air.
And he could only watch as gravity took her, and could only hope that she could break her own fall...without breaking her neck. "Are you all right?" he yelled out, only managing to see her form vaguely in the darkness down below.
She managed to break most of her fall, curling into herself as she tumbled and landed by kicking off the rocks to slow herself until she broke and fell back into the waters, catching herself by her arms as her black hair fell over her shoulder.
Closing her eyes, she tried to steel her frustrations, but it was proving difficult. She was tired, no- exhausted, and now she'd have to climb all the way back to the top of that damn pile of rocks.
"I'll live," She spat back, it being evident she was in a foul mood. She trudged back through the water and began her slippery ascent, when, fingers kept tripping up on rocks, and the second climb up seemed more impossible than the first. When she made it to the top, she looked anything but happy as she let out a sigh and stood behind Castor.
"Let's just get out of this damn cage, shall we,"S he said, turning away, a frown deepening on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. She really just wanted to get out of here and find somewhere to rest. The day had been far too long and trying,- she couldn't imagine how Castor was feeling, after all, he did have to drag her around when they were running from sandworms.
She was visibly upset, that was understandable. He could only be bewildered as to how she slipped in the first place, but maybe she just didn't have the gripping power he did. She almost seemed irritated at him. Castor grumbled to himself about stupid warriors tripping over themselves and having the nerve to be angry. "Well, it's not like it's my fault you tripped," he commented, climbing back to his former position. He peered through the hole again, it was big enough to put his hands through it.
Within seconds a fist came through, knocking rock left and right. Then another as Castor did indeed make it large enough to fit through. When it was big enough to stand in, the hole leading out to a gently sloping hill that rolled down to the dunes below, Castor stood to the side, leaning against the exit, looking out to the sun as it slowly began to rise. It was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen, the wind calming and blowing against his skin and hair. He was filthy, covered in the dirt and dust of the cave, even after the stream.
Castor stepped out of the exit, and proceeded to scamper down the slope, sliding on rocks here and there. In the distance, plainly in sight, he could see something that resembled trees. That must have been the oasis she spoke of. If it was this close, than that truly was were the water led. Castor couldn't get there fast enough.
Where he saw freedom, and a hopeful future towards his freedom, she only saw them being one step closer to being back in chains. She had been to this oasis before and knew it was one the city folk frequented. She took her time, staring off at the vastness of the world, at the eternal ocean of sands and rock before she began to descend.
She was tired, irritable, and wanted nothing more to do with Castor. Although it had been fun, and she was stinging with remorse, the acidic taste for revenge was returning, heating her veins. She would never get her chance if she turned soft now and turned herself in...
Her eyes looked lethally towards the oasis.
Perhaps her change of heart might not ever happen. She had nothing to live for, and only left a trail of sin in her wake, and it seemed her current companion would so easily be done with her- he made sure to point that out on more than one occasion. She supposed it was fun while it lasted. It was then she felt something in the pocket of her clothing and realized she had a knife.
Smirking, she left it alone and proceeded to follow Castor.
The game wasn't up yet, and it seemed the Oasis was looking all the more pleasing as the two approached.
Sand dusted behind them as they neared the fresh smelling Oasis. It was a wonder how different the Oasis could smell compared to the desert. One second you're in air that's dry and hot and merciless and the next, you're stepping inside a cool, refreshing shaded area dotted with trees that rustled softly over head, their shadows dancing across Zarrah as she moved through it. The small stream only ran for about half a mile before disappearing into the desert again, and she was surprised this Oasis was empty.
There wasn't a person in sight.
Granted, the sun had only just begun to rise, it's colors turning the once black night into a rich, blood red hue. It was as beautiful as any Oasis hoped to be, and like most, it had a few areas open where the women of the nearby villages could stop by to do their laundry and washing, and this one in particular was a favorite spot for laundry, this being evident in the ropes hanging between the trees, and even a few had a couple garments still clung to them-
One being a rather lovely violet clothe, which Zarrah approached and admired the way it carried lightly in the wind. It would make a lovely wrapped dress, as such was the fashion to those who could afford such silk and color.
The oasis was a much welcomed sight compared to the barricade of the cave. Castor had spent his life underground long enough to last well more than the three decades of his years, and the misery there-in...that was enough to last a hundred lifetimes and more. He never wanted to be trapped in the darkness again, and while he was in there he had a fleeting thought to the man he called father, drunk in the mines, singing a song as he ofttimes did, and falling...falling so far so hard to become a mangled mess at the bottom of an abandoned shaft. He didn't see his body, but his mother did. He remembered how shaken she was. Maybe he wasn't the best husband in the world, they fought constantly, but she loved him despite his flaws, wished he could change. But then...
Castor shoved the thought from his mind. The sun, though young, had already made him break out into a sweat and Castor jog-walked to the welcome shade the oasis offered. It was evident the oasis was often in use the travelers or people that lived in the city nearby. It was wide and large, flourished in vegetation and growth. As they approached, Castor was possessed by the smell of not only fresh, cool water, but of the fruit that grew in abundance. There were empty stems were they had been plucked and left over peelings where they'd been savored.
Luckily, it seemed vacant and Castor finally slowed his pace as he made his final approach, washed over by coolness of the water. He was beaming, again. He'd never take water for granted again. But instead of rushing to the pool, he stayed to the side, straying toward a tree with hanging fruit, reddened and rip for the picking. He pulled it gently, careful not to crush it in his grasp. Without further adieu, he sunk his teeth into it, the taste sweet and life giving.
Here, even with the sun out, was where he wanted to rest most of all.
Leaving the violet clothe alone, she turned back towards Castor, observing him reveling in the Oasis. Many men and women alike, had similar expressions when coming upon these small, desert paradises, but the look Castor wore... she had to wonder, but cast the thought aside as she slowly approached him.
"You know those are poisoned." she replied with a smirk as she approached, stealing a fruit for herself and sinking her own teeth into it. "But since I'm a murderous witch, poison doesn't affect me." Her remark was smart and meant to cut at him again, but in a darker humored sort of way. The fruits always tasted the best in the oasis, and she wiped the dribbling juices off on her sleeve.
Moving away from him, she examined their surroundings. She felt anxious, knowing people might be arriving soon to do their daily washing. But that's when it occurred to her, she looked nothing like the Lady of the Desert, the lethal lady of legend.
Walking away, she had no desire to linger any longer around Castor. Their idle chit-chat was making her irritable, and also restless. In a place that was a small slice of paradise, it had become a place of limbo for Zarrah. Also, at any moment, she could find multiple ways of escaping. As she finished her fruit, she wasn't sure why she hadn't turned tail and run, but she knew her body was exhausted and she needed rest-
but most of all, she needed to get away from Castor.
And so it was decided, a few quick glances around the Oasis and she already knew his fate.
Yes, the women would be coming soon.
Letting the seed of the fruit fall from her fingers, she continued to merely walk away from Castor, hoping to catch his attention that she wasn't about to stick around him- and if she didn't capture his attention when she disappeared, all the better....
Either way, she was going to put her plan into action. As much as they had been through together, she was not about to give herself up so easily.
In the wake of their companionship, Castor almost forgot she was his victim. He had a job to do and there was only one way to go do it, and that was to get it done. Where she was dreaming dreams of escape, Castor knew they were enemies, and he could not let himself forget that. He watched her like a wolf eying his prey, as he bit into the fruit yet again, her words ringing in is ear. "I'll take my chances," he replied and leaned against a tree, continuing to eat as if it were just another day in the desert.
Castor was watching her with hawk-like eyes as he discarded the peeling on the floor, having no real place to discard it. He was satisfied, tired and sweaty, but not an idiot. He could see her stepping away, and as he wached her, saying nothing at all, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the ground almost negligently.
"You try to run," he said, "but you and I both know you won't get far. I intend to deliver you alive, though maybe not so well. You saw what I did to those men. Just because I saved your life doesn't mean I won't be afraid to use my power on you." He said. The ice in his eyes hardened and darkened and he no longer felt any remorse about her destined fate. The Relic was all he cared about. He needed that Relic, lest the demon drag him to hell.
"Take another step away, I'll rip your arm from your body," he said dangerously, uncrossing his arms and poised for the attack.
Ah, there it was. She smiled at the cruelty of the situation but kept walking.
"I'll take my chances,"s he told him with a playful wink, meant to be a blow at his callousness, and kept walking away. She wasn't even going anywhere in particular, nor did she make a dart to get away from him. If he wanted to play that game with her, so be it. If he killed her-
she'd just come back.... and she doubted she'd be worth as much missing an arm.
and the cycle would go on, never ending until the last life was spent.
Then she paused at the very edge of the Oasis, staring out towards the city, seeing it just off on the horizon, and even saw the faint specs of a few travelers heading their way. She wandered how long it'd take Castor to race after her, shake her like a rag doll and demand she listen to him.
Yes, it was about time to have some fun. She wasn't known as a fox, a vixen, a desert ghost and mystery for nothing....
"You're running out of warnings, woman," Castor addressed her. He took a step closer for every step she took back. She was dancing with his mind, toying with him, and for that it only served to make him even more angry at her, but unless she actually bolted off or was about to attack him, he didn't know if he could control his rage enough to not kill her. Then again, he thought, the contract was for her to be alive. Not quite in one piece. He'd have to take his chances with that.
Saying nothing, Castor stalked forward, ready to close the distance between them. "I tire of games and if you think you can slink away, you've got another thing coming. I walk in chains every day, and I'm not about to let the only thing that can get me closer to my freedom," he bellowed his face turning red, eyes feral. "You're coming with me to the city! And if I so happen to kill you, they'll just have to be satisfied with that."
"Oh, so the truth comes out?" she replied coyly, though did not stop her casual advances through the trees and ferns. "So you're wanting your own freedom by costing me my own? But I suppose it's only appropriate that one murderer exchanges their life for another. After all, we, who bend the rules, often fall prey to them. It's an area, a shade of grey." Zarrah continued, still weaving through the trees.
Just a little bit longer, she thought. If I can survive enough to make it just over past the next set of trees...
Thankfully she was moving swiftly, never turning her back on the approaching man. She could sense his anger and it burned at the back of her neck in warning. SHe knew very well she was playing with fire.
And if he as fire, she'd be the water to snuff him out.
Treading lightly, and making sure not to draw any attention, she crossed over a roped foot trap, and hoped her hungry lion would take the bait.
It was here, against an out cropping of trees she leaned against them, staring over at the horizon. The moment of truth would arrive soon enough-
either he'd become the fool and fall right into her cunning trap-
Or she'd been torn to pieces like those men who sought to harm her.
Either way, Castor would get what was coming to him. And she'd feel bad, if he suddenly didn't turn into some feral animal of prey.
"It's beautiful," she commented lightly, looking at the sands. "How vast and open the world is when you're allowed to explore it. The way the sun paints the sky unto day, even the deadly heat, the chill of the night and stars... " She closed her eyes, listened to his approach... and waited.
"You don't understand," Castor explained, gritting his teeth. "The master that holds me is unlike any you've encountered. If I don't find that Relic..."
How she was infuriating him! Castor didn't know whether he would be capable of stopping himself if he charged after her, ready to tear her to pieces. But the more she toyed with him, the madder he got. Castor stopped his advance however, just before the animal trap and paused. "You're going to allow an insolent bitch like her get the better of you?" chided a voice in his head. The Demon spoke in words and whispers that tangled in his mind and Castor was having difficulty concentrating.
He began to feel woozy, and he held onto a tree trunk to hold himself lest he fall over. His head was spinning and suddenly, he doubled over on the ground, clutching his head between his powerful hands, moaning in agony. A high pitched sound that only he could hear was screeching in his ears. Castor cried out, his mind in pain, his eyes burning as if they were being drenched in hot tar.
"You weak pitiful thing," the voice growled. "You're more wretched than an insect, deserving of no mercy!"
"Stop! Please!" he wailed. "Stop!" But there was nothing he could do as the Demon grabbed hold of him. Castor writhed and twisted on the ground until he could stand no more. His eyes, in one final moment of focus, honed in on Zarrah, looking desolate, desperate, empty. At long last he passed out on the ground, exhausted but alive.
As he went on, trying to angrily explain to her his situation, she continued to ignore him, staring off towards the distance. She'd rather not look at him if he was about to tear her to pieces, but then she thought she heard something- Did he fall, collapse? Then another noise, much like a struggle lured her to turn around.
Zarrah couldn't believe what she was seeing, the man now on his knees, clutching his head. Was he in pain? It sure looked like it, but why?
"Castor?" As his eyes looked at, and his consciousness began to fade, all she could do was stare at him until he passed out into a heap on the ground.
Her eyes narrowed on him.
"This better not be a pathetic trick,"s he muttered, knowing full well he collapsed mere inches from her trap. If she wanted to escape, now was the time to do it, as she cautiously approached, ensuring to step through the trap, not on top of it as she reached Castor's side.
She studied him a moment, looking down at his body. His face was still wrinkled in pain. Whatever had happened to him must've hurt. She kicked him lightly with her boot.
"Castor?" she said, but when he didn't stir, she got to her knees, her hair falling over her face, which she cast aside in one sweeping motion and studied him.
"Castor?" she said again, her voice low and gentle, but also cautious. She looked down to his chest, but it was hard to tell if he was breathing.
Leaning over, she rested her ear against his chest, and felt his breath, his warmth- she even felt the beating of his heart, which was seemed to be angrily pounding away inside his chest.
Lifting her head up, her black hair still remained folded across his chest as she looked at his face., studying him curiously.
She could only deduce what could have happened to him was internal.
"You know if you're trying to trick me into becoming your prisoner again, I'm right here," she told him playfully, even wearing a smile, but when he did not stir, her expression fell. "And here I thought he was going to tear my arm off," she said with a sigh and glanced around to see if anyone could have been responsible for this, but again, the only noise was the gentle rustle of a morning breeze caressing the vegetation that grew heavily in the oasis, and the occasional flapping of the vacated purple cloth.
He was far too heavy to drag anywhere, so it looked like Castor would have to sleep off whatever it was that over came him, though, perhaps, she thought, it might serve him right to have hurt himself with his own anger. He was, after all, a bit more than just frightening when he got upset.
She remained at his side however, taking a moment to study his features, from the strength of his muscles, to the handsome features of his face and trim cut of his hair. She even took a moment to gently stroke his cheek with a sad smile.
"Too bad we didn't find one another under different circumstance,"she said out loud, though knew it probably wouldn't have matter. This man had only one objective- that artifact and it seemed to be the only thing that got him going in the morning.
Smirking, she noticed the rope nearby. Dropping her face close to his, smile smiled, breathing lightly over her lips and spoke to him, hoovering over his lips as if she was about to kiss him.
"You'll forgive me when you wake up for taking advantage of such an opportunity at my own freedom now, won't you?" She even considered that kiss, but only smirked and pulled herself away, her scent lingering across his form as she made quick work to fetch up the rope. It was only then she paused to consider their scenario.
"Well, I can't leave him here without so much as a goodbye," she thought to herself, then smirked when she got an idea. She knew she couldn't leave him a letter, but figured to leave him with one thing better.
In a few quick motions, his clothing was discarded, folded neatly into a pile. She left his boots on, and his the "chains" around his wrists (though, truthfully when she tried to move them, they would not budge, but figured just to ignore them) as she went back to her work, biding his legs together with the rope from the trap.
Smirking at her handy work, and the way he looked naked, (which she took a moment to appreciate), she then turned away and looked for something nearby.
That's when she noticed a wooden ladel and she got a wicked idea.
Perhaps she would get a chance to say goodbye. Filling the ladle with water, she returned and stood over Castor, once again, appreciating her efforts before tossing the cold water on his head.
"Castor," her voice almost purred as she tried to goad his attentions. "You should really wake up..." She couldn't help herself but want to stick around to see his pride, thwarted, as he would become swept up and away into her trap.
Backing away, she placed one hand to her hip and smiled at him, waiting patiently like a coy cat for him to wake.
OOC: She's horrible, lol.
Castor did not feel himself being moved, lifted, or undressed. His mind was blank, he was lost somewhere in the oblivion of nothingness that came with the torment he'd endured. There was no war, no peace, no pain, no love, no hate, no anger. Just cold emptiness. Then something shocked him on his head and he took a sudden deep breath. He jerked awake, gasping for air, his arms flailing towards the ground.
His head felt heavy, his face felt as if it was being pulled toward the ground. He looked up to what was now down, seeing the sand and soil before him. Wait? What!? Castor pulled his head up, seeing his booted feet had been bound by a thick rope, likely that set by a hunter. As he realized just what happened, Castor saw Zarrah and lunged a hand at her in futility. "Godsdammit!" he howled. "Let me down!"
Of course, he didn't expect her to listen to him. And that only served to make him even more angry. Castor growled and wriggled his feet against the rope, trying to loosen it. He grunted, having to double take once more as he realized he was in fact naked. Well, mostly. Why had she even bothered to leave his boots on? "What the hell is wrong with you? Did you really have to undress me?" Castor bellowed. "You have at least left my underclothes on!"
"There's a group of ladies that comes to this spot every day to do their laundry." she simply replied, smirking devilishly as she watched him struggle, her eyes taking in his body appreciatively. "Their a lively bunch, pretty nice companions to know when you're low on supplies." her eyes flickered playfully as she watched Castor.
"I just thought I'd leave you as you are now, to make things a bit more... interesting." she informed him, her smile becoming wider. "Besides, what's the shame of having a good body if nobody can look at it." she told him with a shrug.
"Do you really want me to cut you down so that you can hand me over to those wretched scumbags you work for?" she smirked at the thought. "Now, don't be angry with me. It's a dog eat dog world out there, and if you're not quick or clever enough, why, you'll end up like the sad, pathetic murderess prowling about the deserts." With a smirk, she evaded his hands if he thought to grab her but produced her knife to his throat.
"Now, don't try anything too funny and I'll let you have a chance to escape before those women get a hold of you." she grinned as she moved nearer to him, a hand lightly caressing the side of his face.
"It's a shame I'll never see you again." she said, and decided to leave him with a most genuine of parting gifts, as she leaned forward, lips sealing to his in a most needed, heated and intoxicating of kisses. She hadn't kissed a man like that in ages, and when she pulled away, she dropped the knife, just so it was inches out of his reach beneath his head.
"Be gentle to the ladies that find you now," she said with a grin, then tossed the violet clothe hse had procured over her shoulder. She had takne the time, when he had been unconscious, to change into a more appropriate attire, a wrapped dress, made of that fine silk she had procured hanging on an abandonned rope.
"ANd the women won't bite," she informed him, taking another fruit as she stepped towards the ends of the Oasis. "Well, at least not hard."
Smirkig, she gave him one last look before she might very well have disappeared from his life...
forever.
Barely half an hour later, the women that regulared the Oasis had quite the shock in deed, dropping their baskets as they gaped at the very handsome, well muscled and naked man just hanging off of a tree.
The largest women picked up her basket first, hugging it to her hip as she grinned.
"Well, well, well ladies, looks like our dreams have come true," she giggled, moving towards the hanging men. "So who wants to play with him before we cut him down?" she said, snatching up the knife Zarrah had abandonned a she neared where Castor hung.
"Say deary, let me know if your a virgin alright?" she said with a bellied laugh. These women were hardly innocent, especially in they way they flirted and eyed up the hung man.
Zarrah's plan had been wicked..
wicked indeed!
but at least the women were harmless, after toying with him (playfully) they would eventually let him go, but she knew they'd all give him a hard time.
"SO, mind explainin' yourself before we cut you down? Is it another sad tale comin' across that Lady of the Desert?" the hefty women said with a grin, tapping her thigh iwth the knife.
Castor grit his teeth, well and thoroughly enraged. If there was some other world where such an anger would cause certain death, indeed Castor might have died from a heart attack. His pressure was dangerously high and it didn't help that he was upside down. He swore under his breath and knew exactly what he would do to he if ever he had the opportunity to capture her again. She would regret the day she hung him in such a way. He tried to reach for her again just when she danced away from him and he growled in impotent rage.
"You stupid bitch," he grumbled, seething. He spat at her only to receive a blade to his throat. He wasn't afraid of her steel. In fact he well and thoroughly invited the knife to end his misery if only it meant the end of her enjoyment. "I will find you. And when I do...you'll regret the day you met me. You won't have skin left on your back!" But that was all he could say before her mouth met his in a heated kiss. He only grimaced at her affections, and wiped his lips from the slobber she left behind. That however, couldn't remove the tingling sensations, that remained in heir wake, a warmth entirely separate from his anger.
He was left hollering as she departed, leaving him to rot in the oasis. Castor hung there, trying to find a way to reach that wretched knife when, a half hour later, true to Zarrah's promise, arrived three women with their laundry baskets, wandering into the Oasis. Castor let his fury steel him from any embarrassment he might have felt from being seen in his barest of attire.
Despite their laughter, Castor only frowned. "I don't have to explain anything to you, cow," Castor snapped at the hefty woman. She only laughed at him and glanced back at her companions and waved the knife as if he were a child that just had his candy taken away from him. "I don't suppose you're looking for this?" she mocked. "It's right here. Just reach for it. You've got a lot of nerve for a man hanging from a tree as bare as a newborn babe."
"Don't mock me. You either help me or you don't." More laughter. "Fine! I'll get myself out. I'm going to kill that stupid tramp!" Castor leaned back and gave a hearty enough shove to loop forward. He found strength enough to pull himself up, and as he did so, another woman ran underneath him and slapped him hard on the behind. "HEY!" Castor eventually reached his feet and snapped the rope with his grip, falling hard on the ground. He unbound himself and got up.
"Get away from me!" he bellowed, as he scrambled for his clothes, finally blushing from all the unwanted attention. He stuffed himself into them, kicking sand at the women when he finally had them on. They just laughed at him all the more as he ran toward the direction of the city full throttle.
Oh, he'd kill her! Lady of the Desert his ass!
OOC: Bwahahahaha
IC:
Zarrah made good use of her time, putting as much distance between her and her would be capturer. It wasn't time for her to be subdued just yet, especially not when a fresh band of slaves was being paraded through town. A group of pitiful looking scraps they were: dirty men, women and children a like, looking sadly around the city that was to be their next destination in life.
Not all slaves were treated badly, perhaps the pretty ones would have been as lucky as Zarrah had been, and live the life as more of a sexual slave, rather than one that was beaten and worked all day, but both sides had their consquences and neither option was ever pretty.
Zarrah had taken a lot of effort to blend in with the bustle of the village, keeping close tags on the cart of people to where she followed it, watching where it was parked beneath a manor-
and the particular manor of the man whom she despised.
Was Carnavus up to his old tricks? And did he really have the money to purchase all of these slaves?
not that she cared, all she needed was a minute, the guards to be distracted and that's exactly what she got.
It didn't take much effort to seduce the man into the alley way, and she had kissed him, much like she had kissed Castor before pulling a knife blade across his throat, the warm blood spilling between her fingers.
She hissed and worked at wiping off the evidence before peering back into the street. No one was watching..
She pulled her scarf around her mouth and made off with the guards set of keys.
Approaching the cart, she hastily worked at unlocking it.
"Quick, make a run for it," she told them, but the worn people only stared at her.
"Quick, before somebody sees!"
And it wasn't long before chaos ensued, working breaking out the Lady of the Desert (or, something of the sort) had done it again-
Slaves were on the lose, being hunted through the streets as they attempted to make their get away-
though a few were left dead in their pursuits, Zarrah kept a close watch, helping where she could..
All the while knowing full well Castor could be arriving in town at any moment, and so she was to be sure to keep herself out of clear- or, at least out of direct lime light as she skirted pass a group of men, going by unnoticed.
She smiled as she heard them talk about her.
At least she had some good in her- despite all of her killing, the fact some of those slaves could not go off onto freedom....
She stared up at the sun, the day was getting hotter. She'd have to find somewhere to rest soon. Peering over towards the direction of the Oasis, she wondered how Castor was fairing now...
By the time he made he made it to the city entrance, Castor was covered in sweat, clothes drenched well through. The leather of his tunic was slick with it and he walked into the city breathing hard, as if he’d just run a marathon. He ignored the speculative looks they gave him as he wandered through the streets, looking for the Sword and Saber Inn as it was called. That was where his contact told him to meet him. Castor could not have looked more worse for wear even if he’d successfully brought his target to the inn.
The desert heat had taken its toll on the gauntleted man, he looked haggard. Like an animal that had long been trapped in a cage and had finally given its chance at freedom only to have the bars smashed into its face once more. Castor’s shoulders were slumped, heavy, as if a great burden had been heaved onto them. He walked into the Sword and Saber with a few glances his way, but he already knew where the man was waiting for him.
He was a bearded man, robed in glorious cloths of silk, immaculate white despite the dust surrounding the city. He was slender in build and his black curly hair was covered in a white cap. He sipped a small cup of tea and was reading something a book when Castor burst into the curtained back room. He didn’t need to turn around to know it was him and simply motioned him forward. “Please, sit. Have some tea,” the contact said.
Castor approached him slowly, unsure how to break the news to him. But the man looked at him from the book first. “I see you are alone. This doesn’t look good for you,” he murmured gently in this thick accent. “It’s all right. I should have known you would have more success chasing after the wind.”
Castor slammed a fist on the table, cracking it upon impact. “I had her in my grasp. But I’ll find her I promise. And when I do you better have that map. I need that map. Please, just give me one more chance, Sarfeir. I’ll find her. She won’t escape again.”
Sarfeir shook his head and uncrossed his legs. He closed his books and took his final sip of tea. “You know that was not a part of our deal, Mr. Bain. You were supposed to bring her here, more or less alive. This is my final day in town. I will not be returning for several months. Mr. Carnavus will not be happy with your failure. And as a result, you will not be rewarded with the map. I do not have it with me, so do think you can rob me.”
Castor stopped him right there. “If you didn’t have it with you, how would I have known that you would have given it to me in the first place?”
“You will never now, Mr. Bain. I’m afraid, I must go now. You will do best to remember this in the future.” Sarfeir stood, pocketed his book in his robe and bowed genteely to Castor. “Good bye. It was…interesting doing business with you.”
Castor grit his teeth in desperation. He reached for the cup of tea that the man had been drinking, and crumpled it to dust in his grasp, before throwing it to a wall. “Sarfeir!” he called, but the man didn’t turn back, and departed through the curtain. As he left, Castor got up from the table, leaning over it. But Sarfeir had said something that caught his attention. There was that name again.
Carnavus. Was that who really had the map? Castor looked in the direction of the curtain. He knew who he had to find then.
Zarrah had been wondering the streets near Carnavus's when she spotted Sarfeir. She pressed herself into an alley way and watched. She wondered what he was doing around here, but it was at that moment she saw Castor approach.
Seeing him again so soon made a smirk tug at her lips as she made sure to duck back into the alley way to remain out of sight as she pulled the violet clothe more tightly over her head, only relaxing once the man disappeared inside. So he was going to feed her to the wolves. Her eyes narrowed. That jackass.
But then a moment later, Sarfeir was leaving, and Castor had not come out. Curiosity got the better of her and she went around to check it out, but did not enter. She could tell what was going on by the sounds of it.
She watched Sarfeir for a time before pursing his caravan into the streets. There was still some chaos from the event earlier, as a guard rushed pass, distracting some of the men as Zarrah slipped into the curtained carriage where Safeir now sat within, alone and drinking another cup of tea.
It didn't take much effort for a blade to be pointed at his throat.
"I think you and I need to have a talk," she said, smirking at him. "Now I heard something about a map. If you don't tell me it's exact location, I will cut you from mouth to groin, do I make myself clear?"
"Watch where you are going! Idiot!" Sarfeir muttered, shaking his head and looking back at his cup from having looked behind him to the driver of the carriage. There was a great deal of shouting outside, but he could hardly have cared what it was all about as long as it didn't interfere with him. The bump made him spill a little onto his silk robes. He cursed trying to wipe it off when there was suddenly something sharp pressed against his throat.
His cheek was planted to the wall of the carriage and he gulped, feeling the blood abruptly drain from his face. The whites of his eyes were white with fear as he mustered them over to see if he could see the owner of the blade. He was stock still, too scared to move. But he recognized that voice. It was too good to be true and the man knew then that there was a very good chance that he probably would not make it out of that carriage alive.
"Z-Zarrah?" he squeaked in a forced whisper. "Y-you're alive? But how!?" He knew that the strength behind the blade was intense and if he didn't answer correctly, she would hold true to her promise. "The map... What map? I-I don't have it! Don't kill me...please..." He was sweating now, tears threatening his eyes.
"C-C-C-C-Carnavus has it. He's always had it... He...he doesn't know you're alive! I swear he doesn't! He wanted me to f-f-f-f-f-find someone who could...c-c-catch the Lady of the Desert... Said he was tired of them messing with his-his-his... Oh gods... s-s-shipments. He has...the map. But...you'll never get to it. He has it hidden...far a-away!" Sarfeir was visibly trembling, trying very hard to hold his bladder.
Zarrah gave a shrewd smile.
"So you remember me?" She smirked. "Good. Tell Carnavus to watch his back." Then she eyed him up and his pathetic display of trembling. "Your not worth staining my blade."s he said, withdrawing her weapon. "You can thank the man who sent you after me for sparring your life. Now, it's time for you to take a little nap." she said, and proceeded to use the handle of her knife to knock the man unconscious, his tea spilling to the floor.
Zarrah only gave an appreciative smirk before slipping out from behind the curtains. It wouldn't take long for them to figure out what had happened, but Carnavus now had a warning-
and the time for vengeance would be at hand.
Strolling down the street without a care in the world, Zarrah took her time to admire the city scape and all the commotion with the vendors. She had purposely mosey-ed her way towards Carvnavus's manor, but not enough to go near it. She wanted to wait to see if Sarfeir would return to him with the good news.
It was then a vendor spotted her among the throngs of people.
"Say, pretty girl want to buy a necklace? A pretty necklace for a pretty lady!"
Zarrah shook her head.
"We even have wedding pearls, something, you might someday fancy receiving from your admirer?" Though the way the man's eyes were looking, it was almost as if he had scene someone pursuing her among the crowd.
Peering over her shoulder, Zarrah thought she had spotted Castor and nearly had a heart attack.
OOC: Uhh... I'll leave it at that! YOu can decide where/how/if she sees him or what not~
The city was considerably smaller than Essryn, built just outside of the oasis instead of around it, but it was still quite easy to get lost in. Castor hadn't wandered much since he left the Sword and Saber inn. He only had the money tied to his belt, but it wasn't much. What was there to do? Find Carnavus, that's what. But where? He didn't know much about who he was or what he did besides trade. He didn't even know Sarfeir was his emissary until just moments ago and he'd left it at that. And perhaps the only other lead he had had hung him upside down to a tree, stark naked and left at the mercy of three extremely annoying women.
His luck wasn't looking particularly up, but he knew he had to find a way to get him. He would find a way. And if Carnavus would not surrender it willingly, he'd wrench it from his severed hands. He was done with apparent mercy when all it would do was backfire on him. He would get what he'd set his mind to, and nobody would be strong enough to stop him.
Castor looked hungry, dogged as he wandered into the merchant area. There were still a great deal of people running around doing nothing of particular importance with few exceptions of men and women trying to make a living. It didn't look easy, having to compete with big name merchants with bigger pockets able to afford bigger inventory and more unique items. Castor kept to himself, an obvious foreigner in these lands, and nobody pestered him thankfully.
Something caught his eye in the crowd. Glistening back hair... That face, that smile. He was facing her, rather than behind her, blending into a crowd despite his lack of origin, and suddenly heard guards screaming from the other end. One of them screamed, "That's the one that took my keys! That's her!". They bolted in her direction, which seemed far too obvious as people were looking around as to who they were after. He watched Zarrah turn her head, looking over, distracted. Castor took that moment to move in, clearly pissed.
In an instant he was at her side and put a hand around her arm in a vice grip. "Going somewhere?" he asked, grimacing.
Zarrah froze, her body tensing the moment she realized she had been caught, and by the feeling of his grip and the weight of his stare, she knew he wasn't too happy. Smiling darkly, Zarrah didn't even bother turning around.
"I have too many admirers you might not be able to sell enough pearls," she informed the merchant, then finally turned around to face Castor. "It's good to see you survived the laundry lady's." she teased, knowing full well a good joke at him right now wouldn't exactly cut down on his anger. "You might want to ease up on that grip there if you know what's good for you."s he said, her hand having retrieved a blade that was pointed straight between his legs.
"Let's duck into the alley way and... talk," she said, her eyes trying to read him before turning away. "I know what you're after and who has it." She stared out into the crowd, her eyes lingering upon Carnavus's estate, that rose up against the much smaller, mud brick houses of the town.
[Sorry, was busy with stuff.]
The merchant was already backing away upon the sight of Castor. Not that he was precisely a giant, but he knew that someone with that expression on his face...nothing good ever came of it. Castor kept his grip on her arm despite her warning. In fact he stepping closer and bore his face down on hers.
"Go ahead," he urged. "Not like I'm doing anything with it. But the guards are getting very very close. You'll rot in prison before they let you go. Assault, murder? Yes, you have been a very bad girl. Now come with me or I'll rip both your arms off before you can blink. You want to talk...we'll talk. But on my terms. Put the knife away."
Castor nodded upward towards the guards were getting closer and increasing in number. They shoved bystanders too and fro, people falling and they trampled on them to close the distance all the faster. "Tick tock," Castor warned, not budging an inch unless she complied him. "Tick Tock, my lady."
Zarrah smiled sadly at her predicament and let the blade drop.
"It's such a pity how many blades you make me waste," she told him. "And I've already rotted and died at their expense before, so I guess I'm left at your disposal." She said, shrugging lightly but remaining stiff, as she was still under his guard (and very much still held beneath his impressive grip). She knew quite well what he was capable of, and would rather not have that unleashed upon herself.
"I guess I'm all yours." she said finally, still keeping her back to him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction to let him see her face as she sighed. "I guess it's up to you to lead the way."
OOC: Ugh, sorry it's short- but she kinda got captured, and is kinda in a pinch~ so perhaps if she keeps her mouth shut she might not get her arms ripped off that quickly :P
[No worries. My last one was pretty short]
Castor disappeared into the crowd, in the growing confusion as the guards were making their way by the vendor. He pulled them into the closest alleyway and let her go when she was in front of him. He was certain the one of the guards must have seen them turn that corner and would be on their tail in no time. Castor preferred no more bloodshed, especially not with the city if he could truly help it.
The alley meandered like a maze with doors and lower-leveled staircases. He made many turns, interchanging lefts and rights until it seemed they were well hidden from the rabble and call of the city guards. Soon the ruckus had died down and Castor seemed confident in their location. He ducked into a staircase, the back door to a shop locked and hidden from view until they went down there, an alcove of sorts.
Castor looked around, making sure no one was in sight and nudged Zarrah against the wall. "All right. You wanted to talk. Now talk. I know it has something to do with Carnavus. Now spill it."
"Carnavus isn't a stupid man. If he used that map to lure you into trying to dispose of me, he'll know it has to be of some importance. I doubt he'd keep it in his manor." Zarrah informed him, her back pressed to the wall, her eyes now forced to look at him. "But it also can't be worth enough to him if he'd simply give it away, but considering you made some interest in it, he might know it's real value by now and if I had to guess it, you probably would have been poisoned soon after you recieved your reward." She kept her eyes to him. "Carnavus was always good at poisons, especially in tea." She smirked a little at it. "Though I know personally where he's kept his records, I might be able to help you locate where he's kept it, or, if he was foolish enough, to steal it from his manor. However, there's a bit of a complication if you want my help.." she looked down at the metal chained around his hands.
"We've barely known one another," she said, her eyes returning to his. "How do I know you won't just poison me if I risk my life to get that map? Or better yet, what if you turn into that monster I saw you become back there in the caves and rip my limbs off, which you've promised to do to me on more than one occasion. After all," She smiled slightly. "like it or not, I'm proposing an alliance. Especially one that will get you to stop threatening to rip my skin off. I left yours on, didn't I?" her eyes danced playfully as she remembered the oasis, but said nothing and only gave him the satisfaction that he'd know she was thinking about it.
"Besides, I'm not really that bad of a lady. I think you'll find I can be quite agreeable to those who aren't trying to kill me. But if you'd rather go after Carnavus by yourself.... " she glanced over her shoulder, thinking she heard the guards approach as she grew silent.
"Look, I'm willing to help you, but also realize I have my own goals in mind. Carnavus... well, I'll get you your map, or whatever lead you'll need, but leave Carnavus to me. If anything in my life was worth a damn at one point, that man had taken it from me. And I aim to pay him back."
Here, she turned away from him, knowing full well what this all might entail.
"Then, once the task is complete, your free to forget about me and the desert and proceed further with your treasure hunt." she smiled a bit about it. "Though I think if I get what I want, there'll be no further need for a Lady of the Desert...."
and then she'll be finally free of the ghosts that had haunted her- the revenge that had stripped her of all her humility and made her into the terribly lethal lady she is today...
but that begged another question-
if she got through it without a scratch, she'd still have 2 more lives-
but it also begged yet another question-
Once those lives were spent... she gritted her teeth, but swallowed back any thoughts of it so Castor wouldn't see. She did not want to think of the consequences she had made.
Yes, it was only time to think to the future, so she looked towards it and forced a wide grin for Castor.
"So, are you going to tear off my limbs ad beat me with them, or are we going to find a way to trust one another to get what we really want?"
and yet she asked a question so simply, when it meant far more than that.
Castor listened to her with growing impatience, wanting her to just get to the point already, folding his arms over his chest. But he knew if he wanted that godforsaken map, he would need to hold his tongue, and more importantly his rage back. He still felt as if she deserved punishment for what she had done. He would find a way to knock her off her high horse. But for now, he would give a moment to hear her out. But the clock was ticking and so was his patience.
He bit his lip, but kept his grim expression. It seemed to be his permanent face now considering all that happened; it was hard to find happy moments in a life ridden with misery. Castor, raised a brow at her, curious about her proposed alliance. He was skeptical, obviously, since he knew once before he'd given a degree of trust and it left him dangling upside down in a tree. His frown deepened at the thought, despite her own grin.
"I could care less about Carnavus," Castor said. "I just want the map. If you'll help me obtain it, with no tricks, no games, no backstabbing, I'll give you mine that I won't pound you into the ground." He sighed, unfolding his arms and placing them by her head, caging her in with his arms, leaning in within inches from her face. "But don't think that I've forgotten about what you did to me out in the desert. That was a low thing to do, even for someone like you." His face was close, grazing his lips against hers, breath warm, expression dangerous. But he pulled his face far enough away to look her in the eye.
"I'll help you. You help me. First, perhaps we should find a better place to talk. Somebody's going to come walking through here soon enough."
Zarrah held her breath when he grew close to her, smirking when he pulled away with a light flush grazing her cheeks. So he could play rather well at her games...
Another smirk twitched across her lips.
"But you're leaving out an important detail," she told him, a finger trapsing up his chest. "I didn't kill you." Her eyes sparkle as her smirk grew wider. "But yes," she took her eyes away from him, staring down the alley way. "We should find a place more suitable to devise a plan." Her eyes narrowed at some shadows down at the end of the street as she lowered her voice. "Carnavus has worms everywhere."
Glancing around, she noted a small tavern nearby, one that held a few rooms on the upper levels. She eyed the tops of the shops around them, seemed the only people moving about appeared to be locals, but one could never be certain.
"We could take a room at the inn,"s he suggested, gesturing towards it with a nod. "Or sometimes the view from the roof tops can be lovely." She leaned in a bit closer to him, though didn't get dangerous enough for a kiss. "It can also be peaceful and a cheaper place to talk. You can also analyze the city up there, but the view from the inn can be nice as well." Her lips twitched again as she continue to look into his eyes.
"It's your choice. I'm game for anything."
ANd her eyes gave off a playful shimmering, informing him that she meant anything.
Castor couldn't stop a smirk of his own from playing on his lips, but it quickly faded, he nudged his head in the direction that she indicated, looking around to see if anyone was in sight. When there was no one he moved from his place and stepped aside, waving out an arm in a sweeping motion to let her go first. "Maybe you didn't kill me..." he remarked, remaining close behind her, "But would you have killed a man that saved your life...twice?"
It was rhetorical and he ushered them to the direction of the inn. From the looks of it, it was a small place, almost shabby, but who was he to mind. It was two stories, made of dusty stone, missing patches of paint, showing old bricks underneath, rustic, old.
"Are you sure Carnavus doesn't have any worms in here?" Castor asked, looking at the building skeptically.
"Saved my life twice?" she gave it some thought and grinned. "So are you calling yourself my hero then?" Zarrah's grin grew wider at the idea, then moved along before him as they headed towards the Inn. At his question, she paused to turn to him.
"Worms? Yes, there might be a worm or two, but who said we're staying for a while?" she told him, spinning around suddenly so that she would almost be caught up within his arms, to press against his chest. "Besides, we're just looking for a quiet place to chat." Her grin became more smug when her eyes met him, then she turned away, her dark hair brushing against his face.
"Your wounds should also be looked at," she told him simply. "The inn should offer some sort of basin. We can dress your wounds, make up a plan and who knows,"s he shrugged as she paused at the door. "We could stay the night," she proposed. "After all, you might need your rest after having such an exhausting day in the desert." she eyed him up, her eyes smiling.
Castor was grim at the reference of the desert, leaving him high and dry. He had a feeling she wouldn't cease to bring it up, she was too prideful, arrogant. He could tell she was wearing a mask, and for a reason she'd not yet divulged. Castor had a feeling it had something to do with Carnavus, but he wouldn't press on it, especially not when they'd just found some common ground to work from.
"My wounds are fine," he said, trying to change the subject. "I've had plenty of gawking at them at the Oasis, no thanks to you. Let's just get to the damn inn." He wasn't sure he wanted her to look at them anyway. All they needed was a plan, and they would go from there. But she did have one thing right. He was exhausted and would need a night if he could.
"I'll take that night," he said simply and ushered them into the door. Just as he suspected it was a small, shabby place. But respectable for its shape. Men and women alike were drinking, though there were plenty more men than women, most thick in girth and beard, and definitely thick with liquor. Castor walked into the counter, a thin lanky bespectacled man approached them. "One room, please, top floor," Castor said.
The man pulled out a guest ledger and a quill and ink. Castor pushed it toward Zarrah, before he pulled out a few coins from his bag. "How long will your stay be, sir?" the clerk asked him, pushing up his glasses on a sweaty nose.
Castor looked at him unflinchingly. "One night will do. Will this be enough?"
The clerk looked white-faced at the gold. "More than enough." And took them without hesitation. "Please! Please let me show you to your room. Come this way." He had a key in hand, made of iron and large, and was more than happy to walk upstars.
Zarrah remained quiet as she followed Castor, swathing her clothe around her head to hide her face, but not her eyes. She scribbled down two names for the two on the ledger, two names that wouldn't sound peculiar as she then moved to follow the man, giving Castor only a single glance in question about the gold. Had she known he had some money, well...
Perhaps hanging him outside without his clothes was enough embarassment anyway-
and the parting gift was meant to be their last... she didn't think she would have been found so easily, which made her worry about their future engagement.
Once the man unlocked the door, he opened it and Zarrah moved inside, quick to inspect as she turned around int he center of the room, facing the two gentlemen in a humbled position.
"Just drop the key off downstairs when you are done here," the inn keep said, grinning as he handed over the key to castor. "And if you or your wife needs anything," he began, and Zarrah didn't flinch at the statement,a fter all, they seemed more or less like a wedded pair, or perhaps even a brother or sister, but then again, if they were siblings, and they had gold, they would have procurred a room with two beds. "Don't hesitate to come right on down stairs and ask. We've got plenty of ale and some breads and dry meats if you're hungry."
Zarrah said nothing, as she waited patiently for what her 'husband' would do.
Castor nodded to the man, with a thankful grin and followed right behind Zarrah. As the clerk explained the key return, Castor took it fron him and bowed his head. "Could you bring up some wine?" Castor asked, though the man looked at him, puzzled, knowing they didn't serve food upstairs. But immediately the clerk only nodded in his own understanding.
"We normally don't do that, but I think we can make an exception for you and you wife. Celebrating an anniversary? Newlyweds?"
"Oh she's not my wife," Castor said, looking at Zarrah. "She's my whore." The man's expression, blanked and dumbfounded was priceless just as Castor slammed the door in his face. Castor snickered and turned, placing the key on the table. He shook his head, looking about room. "He thought you were my wife," he laughed.
The room was simple, just to be expected with a small but comfortable bed in a corner and a set of chairs in the other. A corner fireplace took another with kindling beside it. Castor walked over to one of the chairs and fell into it, thankful for finally having something to sit on that wasn't hard ground, or desert sand. Speaking of which, he ran a hand through his hair, tossing sand into the stone floor, littering the cheap rug there. There was plenty of sand in other places, but he'd clear those out when he was more alone.
"All right," he said. "How do we find this bastard that has my map?"
Zarrah cocked her eye at him mentioning she was a whore and followed him to where he took a seat upon the only chair inside the room. She watched him shake the sands from his hair and had to wonder how much sand he had in other place that might be irritating him, but held her tongue.
"Whore?" she questioned after a moment as she approached. "I hope I'm getting paid good money for this." Her smiled widened as she stood before him, unraveling the veiling from overtop of her head and let it fall across her shoulders as her black hair was once again, freed.
"And as far as finding Carnavus, it shouldn't be hard to get a lead. He has many... wives, and they love to gossip. It only takes a simple conversation for one to chatter about his more... private affairs. But, don't get me wrong, his wives aren't stupid. They only like clucking like hens over the meager entertainment they can share. normally, sharing the location of their husband is among them, unless he's sworn then to secrecy, but I'd wager, with a few extra motives, just about any of them would talk."
She grinned down at Castor and moved about so she stood behind him, her fingers trailing up his arm before they suddenly pressed into his shoulders as she moved her fingers, grinding them gently into his muscles to massage him.
"Though, there might be one part of the plan worth mentioning,"s he began, still working at a hard knot on his shoulder. "You see, Carnavus used to think I was dead." She said after a time, bending over to whisper the piece of information into his ear. "Your little friend back there, Sarfeir, recognized me when I decided to interrogate. I," she paused, pressing her fingers into the knot of his muscles, before adding. "Let's just say I told him to let Carnavus know I was alive." her breath moved hotly against his ear, and she kept her lips there, still moving at his shoulders.
"Your all tense." she commented after a moment. "I doubt chasing after ladies in the desert is your only hobby." It was more than evident to her skillful hands he had worked in harsh, laborous conditions, and just continued to idly work at the muscles in his shoulder. Perhaps she could at least get part of him to relax and become less tense. Perhaps it explained a lot about his physique, and she began to wonder about his history, but questioned nothing into it as she went about her work.
Castor said nothing as she began her attentions on his shoulders, which, coincidentally were quite sore. Not that he was complaining, though. His heart beat a little heavier, alarmed, alert about just what her intentions were. No doubt she'd probably stab him or something as punishment for that little 'whore' quip. He didn't mean it, but if rumors were true, it wasn't far from what other people thought of her. He'd seen proof of that in the cavern.
Her revelation on Sarfeir was mind-opening and a lot of what he'd told him was starting to make sense... But then why did Carnavus want someone to go after the 'Lady of the Desert' specifically? Did he find out somehow that Zarrah was alive? How could he have known that he assaults on his caravans weren't just brigands like the ones in the caves? It was evident that Zarrah had quite the reputation, and was making it clear who it really was with the bodies she left behind. But how could have Sarfeir known to use the map as a bargaining tool? How could he have known he would come and look for it? Perhaps Carnavus knew more about the map than just him. And if he did, Castor suddenly began to care very much about just how much he knew.
"How can we get to him?" Castor asked, tensing further and shifting in his seat to get a better look at her. "It sounds like your former husband is a very important man. Perhaps he's also interested in throwing private functions. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a pretentious socialite in addition to his merchant business."
Castor rolled his shoulders and slumped forward, mulling over freshly woven details.
"Well, he likes socializing with other men who are like himself," Zarrah informed, still working at his shoulders as he spoke, and every time he tried to peer back at her, she made it her priority to keep her face just out of sight. "If I could get closer to one of his wives and get some answers, we might be able to plot an accidental meeting, or," she tightened her fingers into his shoulders, breathing a little heavier as she worked at the knot that didn't seem to want to go away. "Or, we could just approach himself ourselves,"s he thought humbly, grinning at the idea. "I wonder how you'd look dressed in silk?" Her words were spoke deliciously into his ear, her fingers still paying the utmost attention to his shoulder as her breasts were pressed against his back.
"I think our best option is to either cut Carnavus off at the pass, or," she moved back again, her fingers wriggling from all the work she was doing against his shoulders. "Or, we propose to meet him." she paused , thinking over how simple it sounded. "Face to face."
"That may be. But don't think I'm going to walk around wearing some kind of suit," he said. "I don't have that kind of money. A knight errant perhaps. An adventurer, maybe, with...peculiar tastes. Perhaps if I showed him that I was capable of retrieving the relic from the map's location for him, he'd be inclined to hand it over."
But she had a point, and if she was right, they'd have to come across him no matter what. Castor's approach was far different, though more or less would achieve the same result. He'd grown accustomed to the power Cynwulfen afforded him, and he'd always preferred a more direct approach to matters. He said what he meant and usually meant what he said. If it was his way, he'd go straight to the manor and break his way through, and make Carnavus tell him the location. Castor was not innocent to interrogation, and he knew he would have the man at his mercy. But at the risk of more bloodshed than necessary, perhaps it was better to consider an alternative to 'getting to the point.'
Castor felt his neck cramp up a little. And he reached up to stop her hands from massaging. "Wait a minute," he said. "I thought we were trying to come up with a plan?"
She stared down at her hands as he held them.
"And you expect to think clearly with your body so tense?" but she knew better and decided to move away from him, standing at his side so he could have a better look at her as she planted her hand to her hip.
"And of course we're plotting, what do you think we're doing right now?" Zarrah said with a coy grin. Then she shifted her wait, folding her arms across her chest.
"I'm not so sure Carnavus would just gladly hire out some nobody to show him where his treasure is. If anything, he'd only hire out more than one man to do the job, hoping at least one would come back alive, so you know, he can kill them and keep the relic for himself." she spoke and continued to pace about the room, pausing near the door.
"I think if we're going to convince him of that plan, or another, we'll have to have a pretty convincing back story." She turned around to eye up Castor.
"Do you really think just some ordinary adventurer would really keep his interest? What would you have to say for yourself to win over a man as vain as he?"
She turned away from him, once again, staring at the door.
"We could... find some resources, get you dressed up to look presentable, someone at least close to Carnavus's level. Then, while you have him distracted,"s he went on, moving across the room as she spoke. "Then I can find out where he's keeping the map. We might not even have to get him to allow us to be apart of his expedition. All we need is a way to get me in there and I can make good use of my time and resources and procure what we need." Though as she spoke now, she turned away, thinking towards her own revenge, over the map's destiny, as her hands sealed to fists at her side.
"You might not believe it, but I'm not naïve to doing what I have to do to get what I want. What I need," he said with some degree of venom. "I think I could convince him to allow me retrieve the relic. Especially if he knew just how difficult it would be for ordinary men to go in after it. As you've seen, I'm not just an ordinary man. There are things that only I will be able to pass through..." But Castor stopped there... He knew it was futile, not if he needed to be able to get away clean. Zarrah was building a better case than he was.
He got up from the chair and walked over to the small window on the side. The dusty curtains looked as if they hadn't been washed in several months. Parting them, he peeked out the window, seeing the evening begin to draw in. Just what they needed, another freezing night. Walking over to the fire place, he put in a log and found some tinder and flint to light it. After a few tries, the kindle began to smoke; he stoked the flames with his hand, not that it would hurt him.
Standing, he peered down at them, holding them out. "I don't know the first thing about pretending to be some kind of hotshot from out of town. Especially not with these on. I will not be able to hide them. Especially not with gloves. I'm sure he would ask about them, get suspicious."
"Just how exclusive are these parties of his? And just how do you expect to be able to just slip away? You're certainly not coming as my wife."
Zarrah smirked.
"Well, we could always say you're mywhore," she told him whimsically. "But then again, you seem to like saying I'm your whore over your wife,"s he tilted her head curiously to one side. "The thought could be as simple as that. And I could hide my face, as all good, untouchable women, often do,"S he informed him as she approached, then looked at him hands, studying the metal chained around his wrists.
"Can't you take them off?" she inquired, then looked into his eyes, catching a glimpse of something before she turned her attentions back to them and touched them lightly. "It would be hard for Carnavus not to notice... "s he frowned a bit at the thought. Perhaps sneaking him in unnoticed would be difficult, surely Sarfeir would have mentioned most of the details involving Castor, but perhaps not. Sometimes those minor details were of no use to Carnavus, and even if he did know, they could just as easily be forgot. After all, the man did fail at his mission, but that still begged the question.
What were these chains on his hands? Zarrah looked at him, curiously, almost sympathetically as she awaited an answer, an answer that might not come.
Castor flexed his metal hands, the gauntlets feeling as though they were hardening, Cynwulfen, cold and demanding, almost didn't want to let his hands move. "I cannot. They will never come off. They are a part of me now, and I am their slave. You've seen what I'm capable of. It is because of these gauntlets. But I didn't know they would stay on forever. You were a slave once...I've been a slave all my life."
Castor grit his teeth and took a deep breath and shook his head. "Perhaps....you've got something to that whore thing... Perhaps, I'm a slave driver, and the gauntlets serve as a way of keeping them in line. And you could be my favorite." He grinned at the idea. "Untouchable woman...exactly what does that mean?"
There was a sudden knock at the door, Castor paused and waited. It was the voice of the clerk, "Sir...that wine you wanted?"
"Just leave it by the door." There was the sound of a clunk and abrupt footsteps departing. Castor slowly walked over to the door and pried it ajar slowly, peeking out. Nobody was in sight and he looked down to see the bottle. He pulled it inside, lifting it by the top, closing the door.
"I guess, they do make exceptions, even if we aren't married."
It didn't take Zarrah to get the point of his story-
so the gauntlets held him captive? he was a slave to them?
It was an interesting theory, but what other secrets lie behind them? What sort of power, or master of power, could have done such a thing as to be able to seemingly wield metal to a man's flesh- and, one that would also lend the man the strength of a devil?
Zarrah only gave him a meager smile at his story, not knowing what to say.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have asked. But I'm glad you told me their story." then as she studied the wine he had retrieved he thought over his idea.
"You'd really consider me your favorite?" she teased, grinning as much as the idea as he had. "And when I say untouchable women, I meant to other men who do not own me." she said with a smile. "Don't you understand the laws of property of women around here? Only the man who is the owner of their slave, or whore, can dictate who touches her," she informed him, approaching him in a sultry walk."And who does not." Smirking, she eyed the bottle of wine again then looked at him.
"It seems like there are many exceptions today." moving away, she brushed her long hair from off of her shoulders, it falling onto her back, the flames catching the faint glints of gold strung through it, though that minor detail to her feature was almost to minute of a detail to be truly noticed- after all, it was more likely hte glimmer of the fire would make Zarrah's dark locks hold any glitter of gold.
"And stay long enough in this town, you'll find out that just about anything is for sale." Here, she took a seat on the bed and casually leaned back on the palms of her hands.
"I'm sorry to hear about you history," she then smiled and looked down at her legs. "I won't bore you with the details of my history then." she smirked at the thought. "After all, I can't claim to have been a slave to some unfortunate force in my life," then she rose her head to smile at him. "Only by the greed of men. It's funny what a powerful source it can be."
Smiling sadly over it, which was only evident in her eyes, that she tried to hide by lowering her head and having her long bangs fall over them, she stared over at his gauntlets.
"Do they hurt you?" she inquired, studying them. "The metal, I mean. It looks uncomfortable."
Again, his face turned to a smile as he grasped the bottle in hand. He hadn't had a good stiff drink in a long time. And whatever this was, it was most likely the good, cheap stuff. He'd have to remember to leave a good tip to the clerk for his generosity, who really went all out. There was a pair of mugs on the table, not quite the most suitable tools for wine, but considering their surroundings, he didn't expect more from them. He opened the bottle with great care not to break the glass, but the cork didn't want to come off easily. With some effort he popped it off and poured one cup, just enough to savor the taste. He brought it to his lips but waited for a moment and then approached her, handing it over.
"On the contrary," he said. "You will tell me your history. But perhaps when the time is right. Maybe now is not that time." He saw beside her, glancing over at the way the fire lit up her hair like gold. Strange that, almost like magic. Considering he didn't have particularly good experiences with things beyond the natural world, he found it particularly mesmerizing.
"The gauntlets...only when I try to pull them off. I feel as though my skin is slowly being ripped away. Agonizing. But I don't even feel my skin anymore. They've bonded with me and respond to everything I think, everything I feel." He looked at her again, right in the eyes. "Greed indeed is a powerful force. And from that look in your eye, always seems to be a man's undoing.
"But something tells me you don't spend much of your time feeling sorry for yourself."
She took the wine and poured herself a mug, but didn't drink any of it as she listened to him talking.
When he looked into her eyes and spoke about greed, she turned away with a smile.
"I've just seen it happen to many times. It's why it's always easy to slit a man's throat, when you know he's of the same stock as all of the other men who've violated you all your life. They only care about one thing." she smiled again, then took a sip of the wine before she set it aside on a night stand.
"And I have too much time to myself," she commented, her eyes remaining distant. "You would be surprised what runs through a girls head when she's got too much time on her hands." She afforded Castor a rare grin before turning back towards him.
"And why would you be interested in the history of a woman such as myself? From the looks of things, you've got more than your share to worry about." she stared down at the metal, thinking how it might feel to be in his shoes. She supposed she might not understand, or, at least know enough to feel sorry for him.
"But I guess if you want to talk about your own history, you can, I was told once I was a good listener," she commented, smiling as she recalled the nights listenign to his stories against the stars. Par of her ached to hear another story, perhaps one with a happy ending..."
but forgive me if I don't share too much in my own details," she turned away from him, becoming distant. She'd just rather not get that close to someone when she was so close to what she really wanted... her revenge....
and also, because she never allowed those scars to heal. She had never made any close friends since, only brief alliances.. like the ladies at the laundry oasis. Although...the last, true time she allowed herself to express hope, the one symbol of that hope had been taken from her, and she had yet to get over it, and might not ever get over it. After all... it had been her first love, her first taste of freedom, and here...s he let it sour her and for what? She was free, but still changed by he rown anger towards revenge on the one man who enslaved her all her life.
"It's not exactly something I want to talk about right now," she admitted, the hurt in her eyes apparent, but she kept it away from him. She never let it get to her emotionally, at least not around anyone, though part of her wanted to. There was a lot she kept inside.
"Besides, what's a woman without some secrets?" she turned to him again, giving another grin and quickly masking away any of the uncertainty that plagued her.
After all, they had some planning to do. It was best not to get too involved with a partner who would vanish at the end of the day. After all, he had himself to take care of- and obviously, it seemed, much bigger problems than hers.
"I bet you've got some secrets of your own. You seem well traveled," she said, thoughtfully admiring him for a moment before she walked over towards the fire and stared into it.
Castor frowned, but not out of anger or irritation. For once, he knew that he'd made a mistake in wanting to turn her into a man in exchange for a piece of paper to lead to some desolate tomb. Part of him knew he would have difficulty swallowing the action, though he knew he would've had to if he was to finish his quest, which he was determined to do so no matter what roadblocks go in the way.
Castor took a drink of the wine, feeling it's effect buzz into his mind. He downed the rest of it and placed the mug at the foot of the bed, which made a quiet clink. He didn't want to talk about bruised or tormented pasts, there as too much at stake to reopen old wounds. So he did forgive her silence and idly moved his hands. He reached above him to stretch but found something tear on his arms, and he yelped at the wounds on his arms, as they reopened.
"Goddammit," he cursed and looked at them. He took for granted that he wouldn't have to clean them. "Looks like I'll need to change these damn things after all."
Zarrah turned away from the fire to look at him.
"Well, your just in luck that you've partnered up with a girl who knows how to clean wounds well," she commented with a smirk as she moved over to a basin and began to fill it with some water.
Then, she began to remove parts of her clothing, and went about cutting it into strips then moved to stand beside him.
"You can use these to close the wounds. They're clean, considering those laundry ladies do a good job to keep their linens fresh," She smirked and waited for him to take it before she took a seperate section of it to use as a rag and pressed it into the waters, then rested the basin by his feet as she got to her knees.
"Let me see that arm," she commented, gesturing to the one closest to her. "This will be less painful if you cooperate and let me clean them out. I happen to have some sav on me, an ointment readily made in the desert. Let me apply it to your wounds, it'll help them clot and heal faster." and then, she afforded him a gentle smile, "It says it even removes some of the pain, once the bubble calms." Then, she waited, expectantly for him to give his hand over, the fire's glow even making not only her hair appear to have flecks of gold in it, but her skin even appeared a bit more bronze, shimmery... with the yellow flare of the fire capping her body in it's light.
"I've had to dress my own wounds too many times to know I'm better at treating them than most," she commented, not drawing any attention tot he light scab now forming across her htroat, though it was harder to see now. The ointment helped fade the redness and also helped to make it heal faster, as her words had promised, as was evident in the way it appeared compared to the night prior.
Castor was fairly hesitant to oblige her. But he knew it was better than letting them bleed all over the place again. Watching her fill the basin, eventually he began to undo the bandages that she'd placed on him earlier. When she was by his side, he turned and offered her his arm, where the cuts began to reopen the most.
"Normally I let them heal on their own. But the pain doesn't bother me until much much later. Unfortunately these seem to be having a harder time healing than others. You really should stop ripping your clothes just to wrap wounds. Eventually you won't have anything left. But then again, I guess you're used to that," he snickered, recalling the ridiculousness of her initial outfit. "But if men are foolish enough to fall prey solely by that, then maybe they deserve to die."
Castor hoped the one on his chest didn't reopen, but already he could feel the sting his movement had caused. If he was going to change one bandage, perhaps it was best to clean and dress them all. He kept his eyes focused on her face on the play of light and shadow the fire made.
"Among other things those ladies kept fresh...was their appetite for my humiliation. They slapped me on the ass," he said bitterly.
Zarrah smirked at his mention about the women.
"It's a shame I wasn't there," she told him, her eyes meeting to his as they sparkled wickedly. But then she went back to addressing his wounds.
"And modesty means nothing to me. I could run around naked and not entirely care. My pride for that was abandoned long ago. But it seems to be what those type of men crave, so it made it all the easier to slit their throats when they thought you were their toys." Though she said it casually, there was a bit of bitterness on her tongue. After all, being used and trained as a toy for so many years tended to stick on you. Even now, she still knew all of the tricks, and despite most of the time she never enjoyed what she had been forced into, it was also something she was used to.
Sex was just another bit of payment nothing more...
Though with Rassar..
She felt herself flush recalling him, especially upon finding herself in a more intimate moment with Castor. Even in this small gesture, it was sitll nice to be human towards someone.
"Here, removed your shirt," she commanded, after finishing cleaning his wounds.
"I know you had that nasty gash on your chest. Let me have a look at it."
He too had forgotten much of what it was like to be human. Ofttimes he wondered where the animal ended and the man began. If he was a man at all. He'd done much that he no longer deserved to call himself that. He fought like an animal, perhaps he truly was one.
Castor looked up at her as she finished his arms. He'd stitched the one on his chest, so he didn't think it ripped too much. But if possible, it still had to be cleaned. He complied with her wishes, slipping both articles of clothing over his head, his body covered in small, minor scars that he'd acquired over the years. The one on his chest would be a big one, and would take a while to heal. Not that he would let that slow him down.
"Ouch." He peered down at the gash, which did rip a little, but was still mostly intact. He didn't know how she'd get in there. "Sorry for getting all scratched up. I got another one on my leg. It's stinging too," he remarked.
"Was it always easy?" he asked. "Killing?"
At his little 'ouch'- Zarrah had to smirk.
"It's just a small scratch," she teased, knowing full well it probably hurt like hell. After all, she knew pain quite well, and would rather not think of it, after all, it was hard to explain to someone you had already experienced death...
"And you don't need to apologize for hurting yourself on my account," she told him simply, admiring the wound for a moment, and also trying to figure out just how she'd clean it. Best to do it the way she had done the others, but this time she filled the rap with more water, and let it gently soak in as she made her way down the scar, gently pressing the rag against it and flooding the broken scab with water. Thankfully, it did appear to be healing, but it was, after all, a fresh wound, and what with all that they had suffered together as of lately, it was a wonder it was healing up at all.
At the mention of his leg, she let that digest a moment as she worked at the larger one.
"You can take your pants off for me later," she replied, not looking at him as she grinned and continued to tend to his wounds, flooding out more of the fresh blood and just letting his skin breath the cleaner air would do it well.
But then he had to go and ask a question about killing, and she found herself pausing just before she placed a rag against his chest, her lips twitching before she continued on with her efforts.
"It was a blinded effort at first,"s he admitted. "When you're angry, it doesn't matter whose to blame. Everyone seems your enemy." This portion of his cut seemed to have come open the most, where it was slashed across the middle of his chest, so she paid extra attention to it, being gentle as she pressed more fresh water, the bowl beside her already turning from pink, to a deeper red as she continued to clean him up. It was odd, but being helpful to someone and talking had her at ease, but who knew how long that would last, or this momentary friendship.
"But gradually, over time, I kept repeating to myself those men were no better than Carnavus," she admitted, still not looking up at him, still focused on his wounds. "And most of the time, they weren't any better. But some of the tme," she paused, frowning. "Let's just say, nobody's perfect, and I'd be lieing if I said I didn't harbor any guilt when I miscalculate a killing." She hastened how she was cleaning his wound, finishing up the last bits of it before sighing and dropping the rag.
"Well, I can apply the ointment to your wounds once they dry, but for now," her expression grew wicked as she gave him a playful look. "Now you need to drop your pants. Or else I can't get to those other hard to reach places." She tried to give him an innocent smile, but she looked more like a fox waiting to catch a chicken.
Her found her words compelling as he listened, making no expression but understanding all the same. He knew what it was like to be blinded by anger, rage. Everything that stood in his path was destroyed into oblivion, into nothing. The Demon's prediction had been right. He'd become a force of destruction and havoc upon the world, though he had little choice. But did he? Could he have not used the curse that became his power? A somber mood took him, mulling over the thought. He knew he took many innocent lives. He knew there were many that were not quite innocent.
He didn't know what to say to that. Perhaps there truly was nothing to say and it was best to leave it at that. Castor stood as she finished, unbuckling his belt and dropping his trousers to the floor. He kept his boots on, leaving them wrapped around his ankles. The stab wound on his leg was not too deep, and certainly not wide but it was enough to cause him irritation whenever he moved his leg. But he saw that look in her eyes and grew skeptical but grinned all the same.
"We all make mistakes, Zarrah," Castor said gently. "I guess the first step would be to learn to forgive yourself... But it's not like I'm an expert in that particular department." He chuckled.
Zarrah gave a brief smile of satisfaction when he dropped his trousers, though at his words she wasn't sure quite what to say.
"Yes, but forgiveness is a thing you have to earn," she replied, soaking her rag again as she stared at the wound on his leg. "And I try to make amends where I can, but I also can't ignore my desire for revenge." She patted gently at the wound, this one looking a bit worse than the others as she appeared to flinch as she touched it. It was red, which wasn't good. It meant it was getting infected. She soaked the rag again, applied it and held it there with a firm hand.
"I'm not alive because I sought forgiveness,"s he told him, her eyes finally going to his. "There has only been one driving force in my life these past few years and that's revenge."
And she wouldn't take that off the plate if she wanted to.
Perhaps it would be healthier to let it go, as it ate away at her and made her sin nearly every night..
to kill, to prey, to let blood stain the sands...
She grew quiet, and just continued to work at his leg, not wishing to say more on it. What more could be said? She wasn't a woman to forgive herself so easily, not when she was well aware of how wrong some acts she committed were- and she did not WANT to forgive herself, she would rather rot away in sin to forget about everything, not realizing that it had actually made her lose everything.
"This wound may take some time to heal," she commented quietly, after having gone quiet after a time. She removed the rag, studied the wound and applied pressure to it once more for good measure. "You'll want to sleep with your pants off."s he added, even smirked, as she changed the subject to something more.... interesting.
Despite her smirks, the mood was somber, quite in fact. And for once, Castor got a good look at what was held behind the mask. For once, she was actually human, alive, driven, broken, hewn together by her own desire to right the wrongs that had been done against her. She wasn't the mysterious figure who hid behind sensuality and temptation in order to become a lady of the night, her persona. Everybody wore masks, it was true, but when it fell, it revealed the rawness of wounds oft left untended, and refused to scar.
Castor felt a shiver run through him. He tried quite hard to ignore her words, but it was getting almost too difficult. He said nothing and only reached down to untie the straps on his boots, placing them to the side and slipping off the rest of his trousers. He looked at her neck and reached for it, placing a finger lightly beneath the wound there.
He didn't say anything, wondering only how she would tend to that, but at least it looked like it was healing a lot better than his were. His hand wandered up and traced her jawline, stopping at her lips. He cupped her face and drew it near, placing his lips to her cheek, pecking it lightly there. Still nothing as he pulled away.
Afterward, he only smiled playfully and glanced behind her. "My arms are dried now. Ready for the salve."
Zarrah was taken back when he approached her, even stiffening when he drew near. She wasn't sure how to respond to him actually becoming somewhat intimate with her, the way his hands tickled her neck as he gently traced around her wound.. and then... then he kissed her cheek, and she felt her cheek,a nd body, grow heated before he pulled away.
It was at his next comment and smirk that caused her to huff, grab for the bowl of bloody water as she hurled it at him. She made sure the bowl hit off his chest, water going everywhere, even some splashed upon her as she stared at him incredulously, then gave another huff, then a wicked smirk.
"I don't see your arms dry anymore," she pointed out smartly.
She didn't like being the one being teased now on intimacy as she moved away from him and began unraveling her clothes without so much as saying a word. Her top fell down, exposing wraps around her body, to keep her breasts held tightly against her body (which worked well when she wanted to move swiftly, after all , she had been blessed with a rather, curvaceous body and larger... assets up top.
Now that her wrap had fallen down, she moved to untie a pouch she had hidden beneath her person, and,s ince her back was turned to him, he'd be able to see the other few knives and fan blades she had on her person. Once the pouch was untied, she slipped her wrap loosely over her body before turning around.
"Now, once you're fully dry, we can talk about applying the salve," she said with a quick smirk, her emotions well guarded again, masked over by the look of a fox.
OOC: SALVE
SALVE IS THE WORD I KEPT TRYING OT THINK OF ARRRRGH
D:
[Lol. I thought so. I was like: "what's sav?" but I wasn't sure if you were making up words, so I left it at that.]
Castor gasped at her response, not expecting it at all. But she made it quite clear she would only play if it was her game. And it seemed, quite obviously, that playtime was over. But he remained seated at his place on the bed, dripping with that bloody water, fuming, unsure if he should make the first move in breaking the truce, or wait until she was armed to the teeth. Maybe waiting wasn't the best choice, but it was more prudent than smashing her head into the room wall.
His face fell bitter, but expectant, sitting there as if just waiting for her to kill him. Goodness, if that's how she reacted to a kiss on the cheek, there was no telling how she would act if he'd tried to kiss her mouth. He admitted the thought passed across his mind, but it only remained a thought. Especially now. Castor placed no fear in his eyes, dripping still.
"So you're going to break the truce and kill me over a peck on the cheek?" he asked, unamused. Finally he stood and reached for the wrap across her shoulders and snatched it from her body, using it to dry himself before throwing it back on her rudely. "There. All dry now."
At his actions, she grew angered as well. Why should he be the one upset!? Unless he had enjoyed- but any thoughts on the matter she shoved away when her wrap was tossed back at her. She stared at him indignantly and flung it over her shoulder.
"I never said I'd break any truce," she hissed, debating whether or not to smack him in the head with the salve as well, but held her temper, after all, she had been the one to react irrationally. (and she couldn't have known exposing her weapons gave him the wrong idea..) "Let's just say I don't... exactly play fair." was all she said, leaving it at that as she stared at him, hesitating before opening her pouch.
"I suppose it wasn't fair of me to get angry with you," she finally admitted, her cheeks flaring red, and decided not to make any more contact with his eyes for the moment as she removed the lid on a small jar she produced. "I like having fun, not being made fun of." was all she said as she got to her knees and slicked two fingers across the salve before gently massaging it over the wound on his leg. "Though I suppose it sounds ridiculous I'd be upset you'd toy with me the way I'd toy with you." her face grew bitter as she continued, but she refused to look at him, feeling wounded and exposed. Though, she didn't feel like tending to him much after that outburst, and suddenly placed the salve jar into his hand as she walked away, towards the fire.
She didn't like feeling this vulnerable, nor awkward, considering the two of them were meant to form an alliance. Sighing, she leaned over the fire and kept her back to him, her eyes closed as she tried to recompose herself. She supposed it wasn't his fault she was remembering Rassar, or that she was feeling guilty for her life time of shame, for her pathetic existence.
But it was evident.
She was only human.
And someone with some dignity in herself, even though she tried to play it off she did not.
And even she had her limitations, and it appeared even the Lady of the Desert could become a prude. Which was odd, considering all of the sultry words she used to buzz in his ears earlier...
"I apologize for acting so foolish," she said after a time, then sighed. "I don't know what came over me. Perhaps i'm just fatigued." She rubbed at her eyes, and she left it at that, turning around to face him when she felt she was more composed, not realizing her weapons were still exposed on her waist, considering, for the last few years of her life, she wore then as naturally as a belt, her weapons being much a part of her as her costumes had been, so she couldn't have known he would have grown upset seeing them, which was why she didn't even move to remove them from her side when she moved to return.
"Here, I'll finish putting that salve on you and we can get some rest," she said hastily, approaching him and putting out her hand, expecting him to just comply. "I'll sleep on the floor so you can rest on the bed. You need to go easy with those wounds." She said, sighing as she hoped to just get back to working on his body, then be done with it so she could rest, not think about any of these complications....
except her mind was racing, as was her heart, and the blush on her face was hardly fading.
OOC: No, I just couldn't think of the REAL word and spell check wouldn't give it to me D: so I just left it at what i thought it was. How embarrassing, ha ha.
I blame spell check XD
Though I suppose I could have thesaurus .com-ed it!
[No worries. We all fumble sometimes! But it was still pretty damn funny!]
Make fun of her? Toy with her? Was that what she thought it was? Maybe in a way it was, and that's certainly how it appeared. He couldn't change that, but he knew he didn't mean it that way. But what did he mean then by his actions if not that? The kiss was a momentary moment of vulnerability between them and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to mean. Perhaps he'd done it out of an instinct to try and comfort the painful memories he'd brought up with his inquisition. Castor was still quite dumbfounded, but kept his mouth shut for the duration of her ministrations on his leg. He wasn't sure if he should apologize or walk away, leaving it to simmer down for a moment.
After she turned away, leaving the jar in his hands, he just held it there, eyes boring into her back. They peered over to the number of weapons she had on her, seemingly always prepared for the next assault. Never resting until her thirst for blood was satisfied, he supposed. Castor took a step toward her when she turned back around in an attempt to finish what she started, but he just placed the jar on the floor.
Gradually, so that she could see every move he made, he stepped in, leaning in and wrapping his arms around her, careful to avoid her weapons. He pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply,feeling the warmth of her flesh, matching it with warmth of his own, heat swarming through him. His hold was a vice grip, hard as stone, but not crushing as he held her to him.
He pulled his lips away after a moment and looked at her, unsure if she was gonna headbutt him or bite his face off or something, but risking it anyway. "I wasn't trying to tease you. Or play a game. I was only trying to help," he whispered, loosening his arms.
OOC: Posh!
IC:
She bristled when she felt him come near, but like in a bad dream, Zarrah couldn't move and felt herself being easily captured within his arms. And his hold was strong, his mouth, warm as they both shared a rare and vulnerable moment together, one that made her moan, almost whimper softly the moment their mouths connected as the world melted away, and time seemed to hold still.
As much as she had toyed with him, as much as she had played, she never realized how much she yearned for, craved for, and desired a moment and feeling such as this-
and she found herself wanting it to be with him in a way she hadn't felt in years...
It was the one feeling that had been taken to her all those years ago...
was it possible to feel it again?
Or was she just being stupid, her body only playing off the hormones she had ignited during their rendez-vous as she had toyed with him in the desert?
And as his grip loosened, her eyes, dizzily met to his when he spoke.
She was confused and anxious, her body and soul craving more of his affections, and enjoying the strength of his body holding her so close. She knew it wasn't wise to lose herself in such a predicament, but could she have really calculated the man out to get her was actually starting to feel something towards her?
Acting on her own raw emotions, she had moved in to kiss him, to return the favor, and already had her lips hungrily crashing with his, a dozen times over when she stopped to breath, her mind and body over whelmed with wild emotions and heat, her body pressing instinctively against him.
Then she stopped entirely, giving way to a desperate, hungry moan as her eyes opened, staring deeply, hungrily into his as her hand cradled his face.
"If we don't stop now," she panted. "I'm going to breed with you like one of those sand worms," she informed him, smiling slightly at the idea, her voice low as she placed a hand on his chest. "But from my experience," she continued to speak, pushing herself gently away. "...these... sort of unions don't end well." Avoiding his eyes, she made a more feeble attempt to push against his arms in any sort of means to escape, not wanting to be released from her intoxication, but fearing it all the same.
Something was awakened inside of Castor when she plastered her lips to his, hungry, yearning like a storm raging from the sea, awakened by wind and rain, destroying everything in its path. Castor had to step back to keep his balance from the force with which she kissed him. But he responded to her and didn't let go. He wasn't sure if he wanted too. Lightning lashed all over his body and he tasted her with fire.
He pressed his forehead to hers for a moment, trying to catch his breath, unsure of what to do. He wasn't sure if he wanted to continue. The moment was raw, caught in a moment of exposure of things they both wanted to hide. He found himself slipping onto even ground at long last. Even if it didn't last forever, it would at least last for this moment. It had been a long time since he felt human once more, instead of a ragged beast wandering the world looking for something he was almost certain he would never find.
"Does it really matter?" Castor said, breathing splaying on her chin. "Nothing is forever... All we'll ever have is the moment, here for a second and then it's gone. We live in thousands of moments in a single lifetime."
"And in those moments, we can make many regrets," she told him, but the fire and desperation was in her eyes, despite her words parrying his as she leaned forward to kiss him again. But Zarrah paused, her lips so close to drinking of his as she cradled a hand against his cheek.
"I suppose we can make one of those moments right now,"s he told him, grinning widely before sealing her lips to his, reminding him of the raw, savage lust she possessed as her body moved against him and she began to push, breathing, panting, moving with him as she tried to lead him to the bed, fighting to get her clothes off.
"Get to the bed," she demanded, huskily, her body clumsily moving along with him, though he was like a rock. "I'm more than ready for one of those moments you propose." she said, breathing hard as she smiled against his lips before kissing him again.
He didn't need to be told further, though he knew that regrets were as possible as moments of happiness. Both were few and far between, and perhaps it would not have been worth it in the end, but he for once he didn't care. There was no justice in this world, there was nothing but the promise of the grave awaiting everyone's fateful end. A life is but a single moment of moments.
Castor stepped back, feeling blood coursing everywhere, a hundred miles a minute, letting himself sit on the bed. His arms let go of her then, letting her take whatever reign she wished as long as she kept near him. His heart burned, a flaming forge of smashing steel upon steel, hammering itself into shapelessness, formlessness, absolution. He was breathless, almost as if she had stolen it and sealed it away into a jar to be locked forever.
He was tense everywhere, above and below, lips tracing the soft flesh of her belly as he pulled her close, metal hands on her legs. Though he could no longer feel with them, he certainly could sense the warmth of her skin permeate within.
Her kisses were unyielding, the intoxication from her lust driving her mad as he kissed and touched her flesh, her clothing left discarded in their wake. When she had finally lead him onto the bed, she was on top of him, holding his breath ransom as her tongue remained shoved between his cheeks as her body melted over him.
The heat was becoming unbarable, and she groaned, grunted and complained as she blindly worked at trying to untie- or tear off- the clothing that remained between them, the damn clothe across his loins, confining the single piece that could unite them into a raw and savage bliss. And her body kissed his, all over as she worked...
And then it happened, she slipped the clothing away and moved over top of him, her body, and hair, blanketing him darkly as she looked into his eyes, her lips open as she breathed.
"If you want it, you better take it," she told him, her body aching over his as her hands cupped his face, drinking of his love, his lust, or whatever it was that remained a feral hunger between them. And though she wanted to be sated at that very moment, a part of her wanted him to take the reigns on their first time, even though she was more than capable of it. Something about having him upon her, all over her, inside her made her almost blind with a lustful madness as she anticipated it, every inch and moment they were about to sin.
Castor found himself shivering all over, shuddering as she tried to take his underclothes off which were still wet from being splashed with the water. His hands reached down to help her, slipping them from his hips, sitting up just a bit to slip them from his legs. Turning, he had her to the side of him, kissing her hotly just wishing she would shut up long enough to let him taste her. He took his mouth to her chest, feeling her heartbeat with his lips, letting her impatience escalate.
He actually laughed at what she said. "I think you mean, if you it." But he didn't leave her waiting much longer, pulling her up over him as he leaned back, taking her mouth with a hunger of his own. Rolling over, he leaned on his side, propped up on an elbow before locking inside her. He groaned, blinded by passion, as he began his ministrations. He might have given consideration that he might hurt her more than help her, but his strokes were powerful and he couldn't stop himself from burying his face into her neck despite her wound, grunting in a madness all too much.
He did not think he loved her, but he knew apart of him understood her on a level that most did not, that most would have likely refused her. For too long had he been the animal denied any semblance of humanity, thrown into the darkness, never expecting to see the light of day again. He knew his journey was not yet finished. There was still so much ground to tread, so much toil to endure before it was over for him. But at least for one moment, he could reside in temporary bliss.
Sex was an art, and she, was an artist, but never had she found such inspiration to have a man be pleased by her in the way she had became momentarily infatuated with Castor. Perhaps it was more than their bodies that were uniting under those heated conditions, but she would never complain. After all, they were making perfect chemistry.
Her hips moved, her moans even inviting the raw power of his thrusts as she used every ounce of her being to grip onto him tightly, lips sealing to his as she moved to a rhythm, bucking and writhing against his sex that was moving deep inside her. Her body felt as hot as the sun, and she even felt she could possess the very energies of it as she moved her body, guiding him to follow along in every satisfying position she could think of to please him until she forced him back on top of her on the bed. Their motions were nearly rocking the wooden supports into buckling to bits beneath their energies as she cried out his name towards the skies.
This was all she needed.
This was all she craved.
To live in a simple moment, to live for the moment, and to be at the mercies of her own decided fate.
At long last when he was spent, breathing hard as if he'd just run across miles and miles of desert, sweating as much to boot. So much for the cleaning of his wounds. Castor leaned against her, his heart pounding unceasingly in both his chest and his ears, as he was trying to catch his breath. She sucked a great deal of energy out of him, more than he anticipated and he looked at her, kissing her cheek. "Ugh..." was all he could muster, quite exhausted.
He slowly rolled off of her, leaning back and trying to assess exactly what just happened. But he couldn't help the smile that touched his lips. He didn't know what to say. Maybe it was better to just not say anything, worried it might ruin what they'd just constructed together.
"Feeling better?" he finally did manage to say. But maybe that was the feather that broke the camel's back. Castor clenched a hand, looking at his gauntlets. Maybe he was more animal than man, but at least the strength they provided proved to be good for something. He didn't think he would ever come to think of them that way, but he couldn't help it as he lied there, looking back at her.
One moment spent. Even if it never came again, Castor knew he would not come to regret. He would trust her and help her as long as he could...as long as it didn't distract him from finding that Relic.
Zarrah collapsed beside him, curling against him as she released an exhausted breath. Her entire being ached to the point she wasn't sure if she could move herself from the bed, but couldn't care less as she smiled against him, thinking about what they had just done.
Then at his comment, she only made a noise, a gentle breath before she spoke.
"You could say that." She looked up at him with a grin, but closed her eyes after resting her face against his bare chest, her dark hair draped in ribbons across his bare skin. They were both slicked with sweat, among other things, from their night of passion. She wasn't sure how long they had gone at it, but after a moment, she lifted a bare foot and gently touched the corner of the bed and heard a light creak.
"Well, at least you didn't break it," she said, smirking as she look up into his eyes before stretching beside him. "But if I had to make a guess, I'd say we both needed that." She sighed again, contentedly and could have fallen asleep right there in his arms if given the chance. She had never felt so satisfied or exhausted in all of her life.
"Maybe if your lucky, we can do that again in the morning," she teased, her toes curling beside him as she breathed another contented sigh across his chest and closed her eyes.
She had waited too long for something like that.
Castor laughed at her insinuation, shaking his head as he looked up at the ceiling. “I think the bed was more worried about you than me,” he retorted but left it at that. Castor was feeling his energy gradually return. A life of being constantly on the move, you had to learn to willfully recover from stressful situations. The steel-handed man, leaned across and kissed her on the forehead before sitting up and trying to stand. His legs were weakened and he almost fell, but he caught himself just in time. He walked over to the fireplace and stoked the flames, which had died significantly since they lied together, he put another log in before walking to the wine bottle he left on the table. He sat at the foot of the bed, picking up his mug and pouring himself another cup of the wine. For something swirled in his belly then, reminiscent of shame. And the only thing he could think to do was to drown it with wine.
He downed it slowly before returning to her side, sitting down beside her. “Zarrah,” he began, offering her a cup. “Or are you too tired to drink too?” He smirked but it quickly faded. “Why did you react that way?” he had to ask. “When I kissed your cheek. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to…but I would appreciate it if you did.”
Zarrah remained laying on her side as she watched Castor move away and tend to the fires. She was content to let herself drift off to slumber if she could, for once in her life feeling at peace. So, she watched with idle interest as he poured himself some wine, and began to talk.
On his comment about how tired she was, she only smiled and stretched against the bed.
"I think you've exhausted me, but I could use a cup."she commented, peering at him through a mess of her dark hair, but as his grin faded away, she stared at him more curiously, then at his question, her own lips pressed together as the mirth drifted away.
"Better give me the rest of that bottle of wine," she stated, reaching across as she grabbed the bottle and downed it. The feeling rushed to her head as she sighed and wiped her lips from where she remained propped against a disheveled mess of her hair and pillows.
Then, she looked down for a time, not answering, not speaking, not doing much of anything....
but a thought was there, humming silently between them.
"I don't know,"s he said at first, trying to afford him a smile before she set the wine bottle aside. "I guess I wasn't expecting you to retaliate to my advances," she forced another smile at him,t hen looked away. "Most men would have advanced on me already, and I took delight in seeing you squirm at me from disgust." she shrugged. "I guess I just thought, well, perhaps it doesn't matter what I thought, but the result seemed to satisfy us both in the end." She eyed him carefully, her eyes dancing with a gentle presence of playfulness about the surface, but there was evidence she was guarding something else.
Wouldn't she sound the fool to admit she reacted hastily because she hadn't expected him to react to her the way she had goaded him, and well...
her heart was a sensitive area, she wasn't sure what to call any of her feelings towards him, but the idea of him actually kissing her sure set off a few rockets in her blood. It brought up a lot of old, dead memories, and feelings she had once forgot she was capable to possess. Even tending to his wounds was a simple gesture she was glad to have afforded him, even if it hadn't escalated into something more... steamy.
"Let's just say I held a bit more respect for you than most men, and didn't want this to happen the way it's always happened for ," she afforded him a sadder smile then stared over at the fire.
"I've bedded more men that I would care to ever admit." She studied the flames, and smiled slightly at them. "Though, what you showed me tonight..." She smiled and feigned a yawn.
"Let's just say I haven't been so complacent in anything for quite a long time." Sighing, she stretched out against the bed. "But if you want to gloat, I suppose you can claim you've finally captured the real Lady of the Desert." She afforded him to see her eyes for a moment, a raw, dazzling emotion bubbling at the surface before she closed her eyes.
"We should sleep." She suggested, and despite her offer to sleep on the floor, it seemed she didn't mind laying on a bed. Why not share it after what they had already shared?
“I knew you…got around, more than a few times. I’ve heard the rumors. I didn’t believe most of them. You certainly don’t look like a ghost to me,” he said. “But I don’t think of you in that way. I mean, solely as an object, I’ve never really thought of any woman that way. People deserve better if they can truly help themselves. I honestly didn’t think we’d end up like—well, this—” he laughed “—Not that I’m saying I regret it.” He took another drink of his own wine before she suggested sleep. He was tired, tripled over what he thought he could handle, and she was right.
He only nodded and set the cup down on the floor yet again after downing the rest of it. She was right indeed. Castor laid beside her, and for the first time in years, he slept well. Not quite peacefully. Like always, nightmares persisted and before his eyes flashed images of a man’s hand being severed from his body, a reminder of his quest, a reminder of his servitude. On his hand was a ring of embellished gold, dug into the flesh of his index finger with a glimmering emerald embedded at its center. The dream made Castor uncomfortable and he tossed in his sleep, watching the man scream as someone stretched his arm out by force, a leather tether wrapped around his wrists. A blade, dull rusted, cut into them, needing many strokes to finish its duty. The imaged repeated itself and suddenly, Castor’s eyes shot open. He kept his breathing controlled as to not wake Zarrah, but he swallowed hard on a dry throat.
His mind raced with thoughts of the Relic, and he felt his heart race as well in desperation, as if he couldn’t find it faster. It was still dark, the sun had yet to rise, but Castor couldn’t have wished more for the day to come. His eyes looked over to Zarrah’s sleeping form, eyes that knew the time would come when their time together would be short-lived. He knew that if it came between her and the Relic – the decision was already made for him. He would go after it no matter what… even if at her expense. It was inevitable.
But that didn’t mean there wasn’t an y guilt because of it. After a while of meditative breathing, Castor eventually found himself falling back asleep, with a deeply troubled mind.
Zarrah had awakened sometime before sunrise and had slipped out of the room unnoticed. She knew Castor had a rough time sleeping, and didn't want to wake him as she went about her errands. A bath had been in order, that was for certain, and she took the time to acquire some food, which she had rested on the nightstand for when he awake- just a simple meal of cheese and bread. She had already eaten and had take refuge by the fire, having doused it to enjoy the brisk chill before the desert heat would rise with the sun.
It was sunrise by then, which was only evident in the gentle cracks of sunlight that feathered from the windows heavy drapes. Other than that, the room might have still appeared as dark as the night itself. She had used this quiet moment to study Castor as she thought about what happened last night and what was to come.
Closing her eyes, she tried to push down any emotions that had been threatening to rise to the surface. After all, just because they both had become weak humans and felt the need to bed, didn't mean she could fully trust him- even though in that raw moment, she trusted him with her life.
The rest of the evening passed by uneventfully, and he was finally able to get some rest. When the few threads of light beamed through the curtains, creating blades of a reddened dawn across the walls, a part of it cut across his eyelids and he stirred as result, sleeping on his stomach. Castor propped himself up, wiping his face groggily.
His head was pounding, holding his head in his hands as he turned to sit up in bed. He didn't even drink that much...it couldn't have been the wine. As he tried to get a handle on the unrelenting throbbing of his head, Castor opened his eyes, looking over at Zarrah. "Morning," he said, smiling lightly. He saw she'd brought him food on the nightstand, and took it gingerly in his hands.
Picking up the cheese first, he sniffed it before taking a small bite. "Sorry if I was...a little fussy in the night," he commented before turning his head to look at the window. Another bite. "So how do we know when Carnavus is having his little functions? Find his wives, I'm guessing?"
Zarrah only smiled coyly at his comment before approaching the bed.
"Well, while you were sleeping I had a very productive morning," she informed him as she sat beside him on the bed. "You see, I spotted one of his wives at the market and as luck would have it, I didn't have to threaten her to get any information- she was spilling more details than I needed to know. Apparently, Carnavus has taken another new bride, this time a ten year old girl." Zarrah smiled disgustedly at the thought- she was barely 12 herself when she was married to that bastard. Turning back to Castor, she continued, "And it seems like he's expecting a lot of folks to attend." Here, she grinned a bit playfully towards Carnavus. "This is where we might be able to find a way to get close to him. He's having an event before hand, to celebrate his new marriage and the birth of his son. Apparently, one of his wives finally gave him a boy child that wasn't a still birth, and all the rest he had were girls. Probably sold those ones off into slavery." she wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"Either way, Carnavus is having a party." she grinned. "And it just so happens you're invited." She produced a scroll of paper from the folds of her fabrics, and handed it over to him.
"Apparently, Carnavus is trying to get more foreign relations to make his trade more lucrative. I over heard a man talking about it to the wife in the market and let's just say..." her eyes danced a little over what hse had done, "He'll be tied up in the mean time. No one would realize who you are, except perhaps that one wife, but we could cover your face." she informed him, lifting one of her sleeves to drape the clothe across his mouth and nose.
"And what's even more brilliant about this opportunity we were handed is you're about his height- though, too bad we can't reduce your... bulk." she said, eyeing the thick mass of his muscles with a smirk. After all, he wasn't really wearing any clothing...
What time would he have had? After all, last night the two were...
Well, it was a fun time.
"You could pass well enough for this man. His name was Jezerius," she smirked. "And apparently he likes slaves. I think he was aiming to do some business with Carnavus on that matter, but also, he's got an interest in treasure, from what I gadge. He had an entire caravan full of interesting items he's collected." And she shrugged if he would have questioned how she knew. "Once he was tied up, I checked his belongings. We could probably borrow a few of them." she smirked. "We should be grateful e was traveling light. It seems i only had to round up a few people he had hired to protect him, and they, well, let's just say they're also tied up over the affair."
Rising from the bed, she released a satisfying sigh as she took in the sight of Castor's messy hair and disheveled bed sheets tangled around his form, barely clothing him as he was sitting up to eat.
"It seems luck is on our side. We couldn't ask for a better opportunity to get close to Carnavus." and then she produced a jeweled dagger, handing it over to Castor.
"So, how good are you at playing pretend?"
OOC: If there are any typos in this I'm sorry D:
I'm cleaning and posting at the same time!
Multi-tasking! XD
[Methinks thou do protest too much about thy typos!]
Castor ate thoughtfully as he listened, taking his time to hang on her every word so that he missed nothing. It seemed he'd been asleep a lot longer than he thought, after all he had no time piece and there were none in the room. The sun was beginning to blaze so most likely it was close to afternoon already and the room was starting to get quite humid indeed. Castor finished his plate, quite satisfied in that result and set it aside back on the nightstand. He cleaned his hands on the sheet, seeing as they already needed a thorough cleaning anyway, it didn't really matter.
"A ten year old?" Castor asked looking at her in almost disbelief. He made a face in sheer disgust, the food he'd just eaten suddenly wanting to come up. He'd done many gruesome things in his years, but nothing that involved children, not in that sense. He swallowed that thought and shook his head. "Well, it sounds like a plan."
He blushed a little, thanking his tan would hide the most of it and slipped up from the bed. He took the dagger she offered him, a beautiful object to behold. It seemed Jezerius had his hands full with all these items he was busy procuring, including those of a more questionable nature he thought it was safe to assume.
"I don't suppose you have Jezerius' clothes on you right now do you. They might not even fit. But I'll make exceptions were I can. But first, do you know where I can take a bath? I mean...after last night, I don't exactly smell like roses."
At the comment about the child, she only nodded. Castor didn't need to know she was barely older than that when..
Well, not that there was time to dwell on that. Carvnavus would get what was coming to him.
Zarrah stared at Castor thoughtfully when he mentioned clothing.
"I could procure an outfit or two,"s he commented. "The clothing of his might be tight, but better than nothing." Then she stared down at his body. "Well, almost better than nothing." She smirked then studied his hands. "And we'll have to see if we can't get some gloves or wrap or something to hide your... hands." It was an interesting thing.. metal hands, but she shrugged off the thoughts and looked up into his eyes at the mention of a bath.
"What's wrong? You don't want to go around smelling like me all day?" her words were wicked, as was her smile as she gestured towards the door.
"You could request to use the bathing house here. They can provide you with a cold, or hot tub, whatever you prefer." Her eyes lingered a bit lower on Castor's body, before flickering back to his eyes as she grinned.
"Washing up would do you some good. You go ahead and take care of that, I'll take care of getting us the appropriate clothes."
OOC: Just be glad you don't have me on messenger- oh the typos! :P
and the last rp I was in I'd make some REALLY epic typos in my posts. Had a few good laughs over them, lol. At least in this forum, you can edit posts if you find your mistakes, haha :D
[Haha! I produce plenty of typos myself! So no worries!]
He worked hard to hide the blush that burned on his face. He wasn't even a modest guy, really. Years of a hard life can break the shame out of a person, one tends to not care about what others think too much when you're breaking your back swinging a pickaxe over your head or getting the sense pummeled out of you for two ounces of ore. Castor grinned a little, but turned his back to her, face frowning at the thought of just how sick a man this Carnavus was, even his name oozed slime and savagery. But he thought of anything – anything! – to push the thoughts from his consciousness.
He reached down and grabbed his clothes, slipping them on before strapping on his boots. "You make a valid point. I'll be back," was all he said before he headed out the door. He needed a moment to himself, to calm down, and think thoroughly just how they were going to pull this off. Castor walked up to the clerk who was quick to rush to the counter to help him. He was grinning from ear to ear. He made a face and pulled another gold coin from the purse on his belt. Placing it on the counter, he slipped it to the man. "Bathhouse nearby? Could I use it?"
"Yes, sir. Hot or cold water?"
"Hot. Scorching hot, please."
"Right away sir! Follow me, and please, keep the gold. This is...on the house, as you say it? Yes! Come!"
Castor followed him out the back where the bath house was and handed him two buckets of hot water to fill one of the tubs. When the clerk left him, Castor cast a glance his way, thinking him too strange for his own good. He shrugged and proceeded to one of the tubs. It was more of a series of dividers than a real house so to speak, with one solid wall in the back of the dividers and curtains in front to offer the illusion of privacy. He picked the last one on the end, empty and much cleaner than the rest.
He poured the water gently in and set it aside until it filled the tub, before undressing and hanging them on the offered hooks. He found a block of soap before hopping in carefully. Finally! A moment of peace.
Zarrah only smirked when Castor put on his pants and left the room. He didn't even finish his bread.
Either way, it was time to start moving, and while Castor was freshening up, she slipped out of the Inn again and went about her work.
Thankfully Zarrah had already paid the Inn keep a nice tidy price to keep the bathing rooms open, and so he made no fuss when she entered.
She made sure to move as silent as she could, and as she neared the very last tub, she kept her eyes upon Castor's shadow against the curtain and leaned against the divider.
She knew these places held peep holes, but figured it would be more... interesting to talk to him with at least an ounce of privacy. So, she leaned against the divider, her silouhette and curves evident from her new choice of dress (something more form fitting and revealing, with shimmering tassels that dangled off of every busty curve).
He wouldn't be able to see *what* she was wearing, but her shadow was rather alluring as she cleared her throat.
"Enjoying your bath?" she asked, turning one cheek in his direction as she anticipated his reply.
She wondered how angry he would be with her just walking into the bathing room wit him-
but hey, at least she was giving him SOME dignity, but remaining on the other side so they could speak to one another's shadows.
There was at least one other advantage to having Cynwulfen as his hands, they would never rust so at least that was one thing less to worry about. He had to be careful not to squeeze the soap into a creamy ooze that would have proved entirely useless. He took his time, enjoying the bath because truly, he didn't know when he was going to get another chance to have one. Castor even threw his clothes in along with it, scrubbing them until they were clean enough to wear.
He laid them out on a line someone extended, so they could dry out and climbed back into the water. He didn't care if it was grimy, it would all wash away. He laid his head back, closed his eyes trying to relax, just breathing, meditating. They had a limited number of hours before nightfall. Before the function... before.
"Enjoying your bath?"
Castor jumped at the voice, hands immediately coming down to his waist to cover himself as he looked, seeing no one but the silhouette. But he didn't need to see her face to know who it was. "Do you mind!?" he hollered back. At least she had the decency to say on the other side of the curtain. "I was trying to enjoy it... Really, this is not quite the relaxation I had hoped for," he commented bitterly before dunking his head beneath the water, holding his breath.
Zarrah smirked at his statement. They didn't have much time for Castor to take a beauty bath, and once she heard him submerge himself, she slipped around to the other side, approaching the tub before sitting on the edge of it as she looked down at him, her shadow falling over his form as the waters rippled around him where his air bubbles were fluttering to the surface.
She only smiled, waiting for him to open his eyes and realize she was right there beside him.
And to answer his question...
No, of course she didn't mind.... the view.
Maybe she didn't have the time, but Castor was going to take every second he could muster. He opened his eyes beneath the murky water, vision burning as he watched a blurry shape come over the surface of the water. He broke the surface, getting a breath as he rose. Water rushed down his face and he shook his head free of water, looking at her with a grim-grim-grim! look on his face.
"What do you want?" Castor said, holding the side of the tub with one hand and covering himself with another, not that that was really necessary since she'd already seen him naked, but maybe he did have a little shame after all. His patience was getting a little thin, frankly, but perhaps somewhere deep down, he didn't mind the attention too much as long as she didn't make it a time-wasting habit.
"Well?" he said expectantly. "What did you find?"
Zarrah quirked her brow at his sudden display of modesty. She had seen everything he had to offer, after all, even still...
She looked away, fingers trapsing over the water.
"I've brought you some clothing. I figured you could try it on so we can make any alterations if necessary." she removed her fingers from the water then glanced over at him as her cheek rested against her shoulder.
"A wedding is a big deal here int he desert, though Carnavus doesn't always pay a lot of money on each of them, he must've come up with a wealth of cash some how."
She kept her legs crossed, eyes on him as she continued.
"We don't have much more time to prepare. So you ought to finish your bathing and hurry up before your entire body turns into a prune."
She smiled at him playfully before rising.
"I'll go get the clothes," and she slipped away for a brief moment to let Castor compose himself before she returned, holding a few silken attires.
"I hope you like colors," she said, giving him a smirk.
Clothes, well, wasn't that a surprise. Then again, from experience, Castor was quite convinced Zarrah almost always arrived in compromising situation with an ulterior motive. He looked up to the rope that held the curtain, wondering how'd she string him up there this time. Maybe this time she'd have the decency to let him stay dressed however.
"All right, move aside," Castor said as he proceeded to stand, as she rose to get the clothes. Castor reached for a dry cloth that hung on the side, dried from the sun and shook some of the water off before wrapping it around himself. It didn't take long for him to dry and he was mostly composed when Zarrah returned, the towel wrapped around his waist.
"Silk," Castor said, looking at them doubtfully. "You really weren't kidding!" His expression was almost in disbelief and didn't if he could put them on without tearing them. The fabric looked far too frail than anything he'd even seen. Even that bastard Stravan wore more modest attire. Castor reached for the silk shirt, which dropped down with loose sleeves and had delicately designed ties by the neck and chest. He carefully pulled the shirt over his head, feeling the snugness incease around his chest.
It was a little tight, and Castor was afraid to relax in it lest he rip it. He held his arms out, too afraid to put them down. "How's that?"
Zarrah's smile was a smug as a cat's. Her eyes were dancing playfully as she witnesses Castor trying on the silk. He certainly looked like a duck out of water with his hands plastered out to the side, standing as if ready to be crucified.
The truth of the matter was that Zarrah was enjoying every moment of this. It was ironic to think of all of these changes of events in her life. She finally had the perfect opportunity to get her revenge and...
in the process, was finding herself becoming human again. Perhaps it was fated she not kill this man after all... and there was a good reason for their paths to cross. But for once she could say she was happy, even free of her own rage and hate...
All because she could flirt around with a boy named Castor.
Or rather, a man...
a man with metal hands.
Approaching Castor, she stared at him thoughtfully for a moment.
"Here, you need to actually be able to move around freely in these things," she told him with a smirk, and helped him to gain the confidence to lower his arms as she held onto his metal hands, gently guiding them to point at the floor and studying his shoulders as she did so, lest the material rip.
But from what she saw, the material only glided, pulling and stretching around his muscles with ease and...
dare she admit he looked rather handsome in red and gold silk? Thankfully, the material was strechy and soft and would be comfortable for Castor to wear (well, comfortable enough where it wasn't suctioned TOO tightly against his skin).
"I think this might work,"s he said, her eyes shining as she admired him with a thoughtful finger placed to her chin. "It seems you clean up nicely." She was against him now, a hand upon his chest as she smirked, then peered over towards a mirror where both she and Castor were framed within:
and they did look like a rather convincing pair.
Castor in his red silk embroidered in gold threads,
and Zarrah in something similar but more... scandalous.
and they looked delicious together.
"I think Carnavus might buy into our act after all," she smirked again. "Just don't go ripping the clothing while we're there." she informed him smugly, eyeing him up again as she backed away. "We'll still have to convince him on your mannerisms as well. Looks can be deceiving."
Well she was wrong! It wasn't comfortable and already Castor was starting to sweat and itch from being in the shirt. Or maybe he only wanted it to itch so he could take it off. It was too much for him, never had he worn so much silk in his life...or rather at all since being a miner didn't really afford one a whole lot of time to play dress-up. He wasn't too happy about it, but if it meant getting in and getting the goddamn map, he'd do it. All this for a fucking piece of paper...what the hell was he doing in his life?
He moved his arms around a little but already he could feel the fabric begin to protest to his movements. "Fine," he finally resigned. "I'll keep the shirt, but I'm not wearing gloves. He'll just have to accept my hands as they are. And if there's any protests, I'll think of something to ward off his suspicions. This isn't the first time I've had to lie to get what I needed. And I know damn well this isn't yours either."
He smirked at her and motioned toward the pants. He'd already had his underclothes on which had sufficient time to dry. "I thought from someone like Sarfeir, I'd be wearing something a little roomier. Why is everyone here so small? " He carefully put them on, but thankfully the silk of the trousers were much looser than the shirt was. He needed to able to move freely, at least enough to properly play his role. Castor sat down on the rim of the tub, feeling the cloth allowed him freedom enough.
"And you? You'll be wearing..that?" he asked, doubtful.
"What's wrong with my costume?" she asked with a soft pout. "I found this in Jezerius's wonderful menagerie of clothing." She looked down at the clothing that was barely there.
"This is more than what I was wearing when you first found me." Zarrah added with a smirk as she drew a finger around a gold collar she wore, one that matched the gold cuffs and bangles on her wrists and ankles.
"And just think, whenever this is all said and done, I won't ever have to wear such vile clothing again."
She then with drew a swatch of cloth that she dangled before him.
"And this will hide my face. No doubt Carnavus will know exactly who I am, so it's best to keep my identity well concealed. Thankfully, it seems this Jezerius fellow enjoyed having play times with one too many women. You should have seen the clothing I had to pick from. I think he was the type of man who paraded around his women like jewels. These even came with chains," She rolled her eyes, and she obviously since had the gold chains removed to dawn her costume.
"Yet I shouldn't complain, considering we've been handed the perfect opportunity to get exactly what we both want. So, how do you feel about all of this," and here, she smiled wickedly as she addressed him, approaching with a sultry walk as she sat on his lap, fingers traipsing up his chest. " Jezerius?" Her eyes twinkled as she admired him at their intimate position. "You know, you'll have to get used to wanting a woman like myself always at your side,"s he teased, a finger curling into his hair.
"Frankly...uneasy. Even with massive amounts of preparation, this will be a difficult task to pull off. Like you said, I don't think Carnavus will just hand over the map. And since he's not keeping it in his manor as you've said, how will you even know where to look to find where's he's hidden it? How do you plan to slip away? And just who will I be distracting all the while?"
Castor readjusted his position and bit his lip. "I think I need another bath," he admitted, eyes wandering away from her chest. "A cold one." he cleared his throat. "Look, if we're going to do this, we're going to need clear cut signals, and know each other better than we know our roles. That...and I think maybe I need a shave, and haircut."
He reached a hand up to push back his hair line with one hand. It was a messy mish-mash of jumbled auburn, that needed to be combed significantly or trimmed by an expert hand. Maybe was good at making herself look good, but he doubted she had the skill it required to cut his hair. But then again, she always seemed to be ready to use her blades on him at a moment's notice. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her chest, giving her a soft kiss before looking up at her neck, and he pressed his lips to the scar that would form there.
"How much time do we have to practice?"
"There's a lot of ideas we could play with," Zarrah began. "The main idea is for you to keep Carnavus busy while I find a way to get into his private quarters. He has a few areas I know he might keep some sort of evidence on a location of this map. I would check into those areas first, before prying elsewhere." She shrugged. "It is a bit risky, but not many know Carnavus as... intimately as his wives would." She turned away, a bitter face over the ordeal. "But because of.. how much he had liked me as his wife, he tended to trust me on certain things. And because of this, I have a good idea on his mind set of thinking, but I could be wrong. But it's a risk we'll have to take and if we don't come out successful, " she drew out a fan blade and fluttered it against her face. "We'll have to do things the old fashioned way." She smirked, then snapped the fan together and stared at his face at the mention of him needing another bath. Then at the hair cut and shave, she nodded.
"I figure you might want to freshen up. There is a barber's not too far from here. You could take the time to see if he can freshen you up, then I should have our arrangements made to infiltrate the wedding."
It was then she tensed when he advanced upon her, but found herself smiling when he kissed tenderly at her neck, her body burning and heart fluttering.
How could he treat her so sensetively..
She shook the idea away as she grinned at him.
"Not enough time," she told him, cupping his cheek as she looked into his eyes.
"The wedding will start in only a few short hours. YOu should go prepare." She eyed him up, then grinned again. "Though a cold shower might help more than a hair cut." Silk pants might be... an interesting combination, considering the roles they were to play tonight.
"Tonight should prove interesting. You just.. have to trust me on this. I'll try not to be irrational when I see Carnavus but.." here, she paused and bit into her lower lip. "You might.. have to keep me in line there. I won't lie to you. I'm not sure how much I stand being in his presence without...."
She turned away, and didn't bother to finish her sentence.
"Yes, you should hurry up and get to the barbers. There is a lot to prepare."
It wasn't often when Castor was in a mood for reflection, and very few people that made him think about things other than the road ahead. Even with all her words, which he listened to carefully to ensure he had everything in mind, he could tell by the look in her eyes that there was so much more going on in her mind, despite the cool smiles and flirtatious glances. Her eyes betrayed her, whether she knew it or not, and for someone who didn't say much about herself, her eyes said enough that he knew she would venture into the manor whether he went with her or not. That map was of no use to her...but she would have her revenge all the same.
What was wrong with him? Was he actually feeling sorry for her? Someone he'd only known for two days (and that was a stretch) and had gotten off on the wrong foot with more than once. He knew he had no right to pity her, someone like him reduced from man to apish scum knowing little more than brusque brutality. But he knew that whatever she'd been through, all the years, all the men she killed, getting her no closer to her goal, only to have it now so close to her grasp...she would be damned if she was going to let it get away. And he understood now why it was so imperative that this plan go off without as much as a hitch. Or the years she'd spent...mulled over...worked so hard for would all be for naught.
He could only imagine what it must have felt like, he who was more accustomed to acting upon instances of passion, whether in kindness or cruelty, to have waited so long for this. A thought passed his mind...what if what he was searching for, had spent ten years wandering only to find nothing, was suddenly snatched from him? What if the Demon rescinded on its end of the bargain? What then!?
Castor blinked the thought away from his mind, coming back to reality, heart skipping a beat from the horror of the thought. He put a steel hand to her face. "It'll be all right. We'll both get what we came for." He stood up, sliding her off his leg and grabbing the rest of his clothes from the line, putting on his boots afterward. He put them away in their room before heading down toward the barbers.
Castor shook the barber's hand, a portly man with a thick beard and close trimmed hair save for the top. "How are you sir? How can I help you today?"
"Going to a wedding celebration," he explained. "Make me look sharp."
"Will do...Mr, er?"
Castor almost fumbled that moment. "Jezerius," he said at last.
Zarrah had moved out, acquiring the clothed carriage she had procured from earlier and already adorning her costume. She made her way to where Castor waited inside the barber's, and stood just outside the door, bells jingling as she entered.
She wore what she had before, but now a thin, nearly invisible robe was draped across her body, red in color as it hugged and hued her curves in the delicious, apple-like hue.
Neat sandals were wrapped around her legs, heavy make up painted around her face with ornate henna tattoos dazzling around her eyes. she appeared all the more catty with her dark eye make up, but there wasn't a trace of the rest of her face, as it was swathed in a darker, red and gold color that hung around her face, leaving only a small plum of her dark hair breaching the top, mixed with a few peacock feathers and red plums from another bird.
Her own attire jingled softly as she moved, bowing slightly.
"Jezerius, your ride awaits." Her voice was almost unnoticeable, she somehow managed to sound almost like a different person- though the same Zarrah was there, she somehow transformed into something else...
and the barber was impressed.
Castor cut quite the image, and if he knew any better, he might have brushed passed the thought that he looked a little like Dominic Stravan, well, shortly before having his head pounded in. Perhaps that was the true reason he strayed from clean-cut robes and suits that made a man look like he was more than he really was. Castor pushed all negative thoughts from his mind. Hair was trimmed, slicked back with oil. While his face never grew much facial hair, he was clean-shaven, as smooth as the blade the pressed against his throat.
He stepped from the barber's door, the portly man himself had his jaw dropped at the sight of the escort that resided in the car. After paying the man, he bowed elegantly before Zarrah. After all it didn't take much to learn how to be a pompous asshole. All their weight seemed to light in their chests, walking around like stuffed turkeys. Castor grinned at her, as he supposed it was best to do so before stepping inside.
He closed the curtain that gave the privacy as the carriage headed on its way. "It's like being a whole new person," he whispered to her. "Good gods, I hope we can pull this off..." His face was more nervous than he could realize.
"You need to relax," Zarrah told him, resting a hand upon his shoulder. "Jezerius appeared to be very full of himself, wearing confidence on his sleeves."S he looked down at his metal hands, then back up to him before handing him a jar of gold paint. "Look, I need your help. I noticed in Jezerius's journal," and here she paused to roll her eyes with a nod, "It was a very... interesting journal, complete with a few sketches." she added with a little smirk. "But apparently he likes to have his favorite mistress in gold." She nudged him and gestured to the jar. "I need you to help paint the rest of my body gold. The idea is so if someone were to touch his prized woman, they'd be caught immediately and well..." here she smirked and turned around so Castor could access her back much easier after sh ehad discarded her head clothe and veil. "Let's just say he has a collection of hands somewhere in his private manor."
She again, smiled, realizing the wicked necessity of what Castor must do.
"And be careful not to get the paint on anything else," she said, eyes sparkling as she glanced back at Castor over her shoulder. "I'm assuming a servant might do this but we don't have the time. " Another smirk told him she was ready for the application process, to be painted head to toe with gold, untouchable paint.
And just like Castor, a nervous, giddyness rushed through her, tingling at the tips of her fingers and toes. She too, hoped they could pull this off....
but they had to.
THis was going to work.
Where in the hell did she have the time to procure gold paint and how did she pay for it? Never mind, he didn't want to know. Castor resigned to the task of painting her knowing they didn't have a whole lot of time to waste with questions. No doubt the manor was near and the carriage, even at the pace it trotted off on, the party was drawing ever near. Castor grabbed the brush, almost a little too roughly, cracking the wood just a little, as he dipped it in the paint. He'd never painted anything before, but he imagined it couldn't be too hard. He'd just have to be careful not to take off any of her skin.
He worked on her back quickly, applying an even layer of paint before moving down and pulling a leg onto his lap and painting gently and evenly there, getting everything from the back of the knee to the groin, down to her toes. "I can feel you smiling," he snapped. "You're enjoying this way too much." But he knew he was too, just a little, and would die before he'd tell her that.
Castor finished off with her face, after applying it everywhere else, getting the hang of each stroke, though knew it was probably more prudent to use his hands in the more defining nooks and crannies. He put the brush down and dipped is finger in the paint before carefully applying it to her nose and the crevices of her lips and upper-eyelids.
"All right I think that's most of it," he said, cleaning his finger on a curtain cloth.
Her eyes fluttered open when he had finished, staring at him for a moment before the sounds of the wedding began to fill the air. Looking away, she peered out from a single crack in the curtain.
"We're here," she breathed, then turned back to Castor, her heart tightening within her chest.
"If all hell breaks lose..." she began warily, "Well, I should be alright. Will you?" she inquired, though when she stared down at his hands she already knew the answer. She rested a hand upon them.
"I know this isn't your normal practice of business, but it is appreciated you are willing to align yourself with me,"s he afforded him a brief smirk. "Even if it's briefly." she said, then gave a more whimsical look as she admired the gold paint all over her body, not realizign it brought out the few flecks that shined in her hair.
"Not a bad paintjob," she mused, casting a sly grin at him over her shoulder before the announcements were made, and Jezerius's curtained 'carriage' came to a halt. Zarrah braced herself, holding her breath before she drew near to him.
"Now remember," she told him, anticipation gripping her heart. "I'm only your mistress," she gave him a flirtatious look. "And most men would die if they even so much as look too long."
Moving the costume into place by fixing the clothe up and around her face and then draping her veil, she waited beside him when the curtain was suddenly thrust open, nearly blinding her with color and light as the celebration thrived into life before them.
"Here goes nothing,"s he whispered, most certainly her words drowned by all the noise.
Her eyes roamed the crowd, but at the very end of the walk way, coming down the steps towards them was a very lavishly garbed Carnavus, and she felt her blood poison at the very look at him. The coldness of her eyes would be hard to shake, and quickly had to divert her eyes towards Castor.
"That's him,"s he breathed through her clothe. "That's Carnavus."
And the man smiled as he approached.
"Ah, Jezerius! We finally meet!" And his face cracked into a smile, never faulting as he turned his attentions towards Zarrah, eyeing her up but noticing the gold paint and it's significance as he turned his eyes quickly onto Castor.
"My my, what a pretty little thing. I bet she cost a pretty penny," Castor commented, his cheeks and bald head both blushing in her presence.
It took Zarrah every ounce of energy not to roll her eyes as she stood mysteriously and beautifully at her 'master's' side.
"I think I'll be fine," Castor said quietly. But in honestly, the closer they drew to the manor, the more Castor could feel his stomach grow jittery with nerves, bundled up in an almost agonizing way that made him want to abort the whole plan in that instant. But her words almost helped, at least, by the time they approached the entrance, where they got off, Castor held his head high and threw his shoulders back, like a proud bastard showing off something he didn't earn but stole when he wanted.
As they approached Carnavus, finally seeing his eyes on him, he could understand why Zarrah could hate him. He already hated him just by looking at him. The years had not been kind to the poor bastard, having taken hair, youth, and waistline. There he stood, greeting them, a potbellied pig of a man that wore too much make-up to hide his decaying face.
But Castor hid his disgust well as he extended a hand to Carnavus, smiling as he did so, and grinning even wider when he mentioned Zarrah on his arm. "Indeed," he answered. "And...she is all mine." Castor managed a laugh and motioned for them to go inside.
If he didn't know any better, he could feel Zarrah's temper broiling through his arm.
Castor walked through the entrance, a large broad archway, with guards standing at arms on either side. It was massive and he knew then that Carnavus' tastes truly knew no boundaries. Perhaps this was going to be a lot harder than he thought it was.
Zarrah's eyes surveyed the manor. It was as she remembered, with a few things added over the years, an extra urn here, a tapestry over there, new sheer, pink curtains off to a room that had once been Ryiah's room, though it appeared it was prepared for the new bride, showered in luxuries and flower petals.
She continued to look around in interest, her arm still hooked around Castor's as Carnavus lead them through the house and rambled on about his accomplishments and all of the various rooms that housed his wives. Most were busy preparing, only giving a brief glance to Castor and the woman at his side before moving on with their business.
As they passed Carnavus's own suite, he took a moment to sweep back the red curtain.
"My personal room, though no guests are allowed in here," he informed with a light chuckle. "And then over here are more rooms for my wives," he said, sighing fondly as he gave a shake of his head. "There is a saying a man can only be as happy as the wives he entertains, and frankly, I think I've got enough of them but, who says you can't have one more. And the jewel I'm about to marry today is quite young. I hope to keep her for a good while now."
He then nodded towards Zarrah, eyeing her up.
"So I see you've painted her in gold," he raised his brows, knowing full well of the concept. "Protective of your investments, are we?" Carnavus laughed again. "You could say I'm the same, except I'm too lazy to use paint." Again, his eye went to Zarrah. "Got any more like her?" he inquired, just as one of his wives moved past, bringign a feathered fan as she fanned them off while they stood int he large hall.
He managed another laugh despite the churning of his stomach. He didn't know how many men could handle one woman let alone as many as this man had. No doubt he didn't treat them as his wives, more like his slaves to do his bidding when he called upon them. Castor was having a hard time maintaining his composure, for the duration of their tour.
The guests were hardly varied in appearance from Carnavus. Zarrah wasn't kidding when she said he only like people who were just like him. He could smell the perfume in the air, thick and almost impossible to breathe. Then again, he was a man that spent the span of almost twenty years in the darkness, breathing dirt and dust and the freshness of moistened soil. Here, the primed and proper kept themselves clouded with illusion, that life was good, the world revolved around them, and nothing could change that.
Castor could feel his left arm tighten into a fist, doing his best to contain his irritation. All he could see here were men like Stravan. And he was pretending to be one of them. He didn't know whether to be more sick with them or himself.
"Women like Imrah, are one of a kind, truly. And the rest...could only hope to compare," he said, smiling expertly. "But why marry one so young? I prefer my women seasoned, all the better to please me. And you just got her, why so eager to get another? After all, you should take time to break them in before you move on to the next. That's why I have these. Makes it all the easier." Castor raised his right hand, Cynwulfen gleaming in the lighting, prided and polished, deadly and eager to demolish.
Carnavus stared hungrily towards 'Imrah'.
"Yes, sometimes a man does crave one who is seasoned, but there's a certain flavor to those who are... new to it all," Carnavus gave a wicked chuckle at his statement. Then, staring down at Castor's hands, his eyes shined with wicked pleasure as he stared over at his friend.
"You're my kind of guy, Jezerius!" he laughed. "We should take up some wine and mead. I'm sure you must be thirsty from your travels. Come, follow me, the celebration is yet to come, but the drinks are in abundance."
He lead the way, gesturing from them to follow as Zarrah stole a look towards Castor.
"You might need to keep a close eye on me when I'm near that man," Zarrah whispered beneath her veil. "When I made this plan, I've forgotten how much he poisons my blood." Her eyes narrowed at the back of Carnavus's head,a nd if looks could kill-
Carnavus would be dead. But Zarrah wasn't lieing in her warning, she couldn't help herself. So many years...
and he was right there..
alls he had to do was throw the damned knife at the back of his head.
"We nee to keep him occupied, perhaps while the wedding is taking place I can sneak away?" she whispered, offering Castor a curious look to see if her 'master' would allow such a thing. Though, even she wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to be caught away from Castor so soon, but who would notice?
There was a wedding to be had, wasn't there? And allthe focus would be on Carnavus..
and the poor child bride he aimed to wed.
Castor could feel Zarrah tense incredibly so by the slight contact they had on their arms. While he was having problems of his own, he could tell it must have been extremely difficult to hold back everything she was feeling in that one moment, to have her enemy so close yet so far away. He squeezed the arm hooked in his and only nodded to her.
"Just hold on until we get the map. If there's a moment to slip away during the ceremony, take it," Castor whispered, just audible enough for her to hear him. "Patience. You've waited this long. You can wait a few moments more."
Each moment they lingered too far behind was putting them both at greater risk. And Castor could only hope both of them could keep it together long enough to make it through. He caught up with Carnavus, who turned into a corridor that opened up to a grand hall, large and draped in immaculate white. It was clear this was where the ceremony was going to take place. And as more people began to usher in and take their seats, it was clear that the ceremony was about to commence.
Carnavus flashed them a generous grin, moreso to 'Imrah' than 'Jezerius.' "Please sit up here in the front," he said, giving them the honor of the closest view. With their place so close to Carnavus, they were going to have all the more difficult a time to get away. Castor only nodded graciously and stepped over to the seat on the farthest edge, but as he glanced around, he could tell that there were guards at every corner, and people would be watching should Zarrah try to leave. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.
Zarrah stole a glance towards Castor. He would know what she was thinking by that look as she followed him to their seats.
The rows consisted of plush pillows of a fine, dark blue color embroidered in white and gold, instead of chairs. And Zarrah didn't flinch as she took a seat near to her master, but kept her eyes glued upon Carnavus as he waddled away to go prepare for his wedding. It was hard for Zarrah to keep the coldness from her eyes and tenseness from her lips, so she tried to think on other things.
"I'm starting to think this was a mistake," Zarrah admitted, smiling madly at herself as she tried to slip back into her roll as the mysterious and untouchable mistress of Jezerius. "I don't know how much more I can stomach, but.." here, she drew ina cautious breath and spoke even more cautiously as she pretended to lean in closer to Castor due to intimacy rather than it's true purpose as she whispered, "But I can do this. the end will be so much more rewarding once we're through." She stole a glance up at Castor, some hope filling her eyes like jewels and then a clash of music was heard, and the festivities were to begin.
Zarrah grew silent as she watched the room fill and (mostly) men took their seats, as they all set to prayer for the new couple. Then, the child-bride was brought down the aisle, though she was difficult to see beneath the long, flowing veils of white that draped off of her body and trailed on the grounds behind her.
It was hard for Zarrah not to see herself in that poor child as she watched her move along.
Curiously, Carnavus had caught the unique gaze Zarrah was casting towards his bride and made a mental note of it. He wasn't a foolish man, and had to wonder....
"It's too late to back out," Castor whispered back, leaning into her as if speaking intimately into her ear. "We've made it this far." He turned his eyes back toward the ceremony. It was difficult to watch, and as his eyes wandered to the girl's face, just barely perceptible underneath her veil, it was plain to see that there was nothing but fear in her features, fear of what the future held, fear of the man she was about to wed. Castor felt his heart speed up and there was a good threat that his emotions would get the better of him. He tensed, physically and mentally, and kept his face turned to Zarrah, closing his eyes and pretending to nuzzle against her, but all the while the image was too much to witness.
He could only think of Stravan, of his mother, and of the moment he stopped him. But he knew, somewhere deep in his mind, that there were other moments before that one, other times where he knew his mother was at the mercy of a tyrant, forced to do his bidding. And the thought almost brought tears to his eyes. It was just, he happened to catch him in that one moment...that cost him his life.
"Is it over yet?" Castor whispered against her ear, unable to find the will to look himself.
Zarrah was taken back by Castor's sudden intimacy, but soon realized he was only using her to hide his face. They were both doing a horrible job at hiding their emotions, but thankfully the roar of the crowd as everyone applauded and tossed petals into the air signified the marriage had been complete. A knot tightened itself into her gut as she gestured to Castor to rise as she returned the mask hiding her face as she smiled and cheered along with the rest as Carnavus lead he and his child bride down the stretch of aisle and disappeared at the other end.
"That poor child," was all Zarrah said, disgust clear in her voice. "Come on, we have to pretend we're enjoying this." She told him, then smirked a little. "Unless you'd rather pretend we were distracted with anything else."
It was a horrible time to flirt, but anything was better than thinking about what just happened. "Come, let's get to the great hall. They always serve wine and food after the wedding. We'll be expected to make a face. Once we're there, I'll try to find a time to slip away to see what I can dig up on your map."
And as her eyes searched him, they begged a question she dare not ask-
Are you ok?
He could not say that he was, but he had to turn his mind to the task at hand. To the goal, and the Relic. He repeated that over and over in his mind and soon, after a deep breath, he cleared himself of any and all emotion toward the sight and opened his eyes when it was finally time to stand. He applauded, half-heartedly as he was inclined to do, his chin up arrogantly and a forced grin on his face. But nobody truly seemed to notice as the couple walked down the center of the aisle toward the end.
When he reached it, Carnavus turned around and raised his arms, calling for everyone to come into the great hall for the reception. The people moved like cattle from one end of the farm to the next, and Castor and Zarrah remained at the back of them, moving along with the crowd. When they made it to the hall, there were several long tables with benches aplenty for them all to sit comfortably.
Carnavus made their way to them and placed a hand on Castor's shoulder. "There is room for you over here, my friend. Please follow me."
Zarrah grew anxious as they entered the room, her eyes scanning the area. Things were as they had been left, though decked out in decadence for the affair. It was when Carnavus approached she swallowed down her emotions and smiled wickedly at him as he showed them where he'd like to sit.
"Your host is far too kind," Zarrah purred as she strolled beside Castor as a luxurious, decadent asset. With her body shining in gold, and not much left to the imagination, except the clothe that hide her face and more intimate places of sin, it left Carnavus pondering over Castor's claim to having a woman around who was already thoroughly bred for the occasion, and momentarily, his mind was far away from his child bride as he focused his attentions to Zarrah.
A woman of mystery and beauty, and one he could not have! Ah, that was how he liked it, and he began to plot of ways to have her for his own. After all, everything had a price....
and what he wouldn't give to find another woman like his former wife, Zarrah..
That despicable adulteress had left him hungry over the years and unsatisfied. He had taken ten brides since, and this one being his youngest. After all, that woman, Zarrah, had been taken at almost this young- perhaps that was the key to his.... success.
Tearing his eyes away from Zarrah, he smiled at Castor.
"You must tell me where you purchased such a fine prize." he said.
Zarrah only smiled and remained poised beside her 'Master', a hand resting lightly upon his shoulder.
"But first," Carnavus turned away, laughing as he produced some wine. "Let us feast on wine, before we take pride in our women." And he handed Castor a cup, hoping he would take it as he grinned, though his eyes seemed to settle more towards the mistress 'Imrah' beside him.
And Zarrah could tell exactly what was going through her former husband's mind...
If only Carnavus knew that 'Imrah' was the Zarrah he craved, and the one he had sentenced to death those many years ago.....
It took a great deal of breathing to keep himself calm, and soon he was able to lock himself inside that place of apathy that had long since allowed him to do terrible things without acknowledging them. He fell into his role as Jezerius much more seriously and took the wine their hose had given him with a gracious nod.
“Indeed,” he said, raising the cup in his honor. “To your bride! To your happiness!” he toasted before bringing the cup to his lips. He gave pause…remember Zarrah said something about poisons and held his lips to the cup, not risking a sip, before putting it down, smacking his lips as if he drank. Carnavus did not seem to notice and he put his arm around ‘Imrah’ holding her close, making it clear that she was thoroughly his.
“So how many does that make this? I prefer quality over quantity myself.” Castor pulled his 'mistress' close and let his hands thread through her hair, keeping his eyes on Carnavus and giving him a knowing glance. For a man who was just married, he couldn't hide what he wanted. And Castor was formulating a plan to fit that desire.
"How many?" Carnavus gave a laugh, patting his belly as he did so. "Too many to count!" he replied with a laugh, drinking down his wine and gesturing towards Imrah. "So you've told me before, but a man as restless as myself acquires a different taste everyday, though I must admire you in your logic to keep.. is she but your only mistress?" Carnavus had to ask, snagging some grapes as a slaves came by, carrying a group of ripe red ones on a tray. He continued to eye Imrah appreciatively, imagining what he might do with her..
and some grapes.
"I think I'm up to my eyeballs in wives," Carnavus added in good humor. "But it's not the numbers that count, because I could say the same thing for how many gold rings I owe! ANd you can never have too many rings." Though his eyes went to Jezerius's hands, realizing he was wearing those peculiar metal gloves before clearing his throat and looking towards his new 'friend'.
"So, might I inquire how those things work on her?" Carnavus asked, whispering towards Castor's ear as he peered over hungry at Zarrah. "Is this some sort of tactic I ought to learn to teach my new wife a few tricks?"
Zarrah couldn't help but let her eyes narrow, but turned away anytime there was focus on her, smiling beneath her veil and slipping back into costume when necessary.
THe man was a bastard...
she wondered how 'Jezerius' would react as she pressed herself against her master in a manner that let Carnavus know that...
oh yes, she was all his,and whatever you are thinking, we've done it a hundred times better...
"I have another eleven at home. But she certainly is the most...traveled you could say," 'Jezerius' said with a wicked grin. "She comes along whenever I must go somewhere, whether is business or holiday. But with her, you could say that business always becomes a holiday. Talk about a true stress-reliever.
"As for how these work? Well, that's a secret of the trade isn't it. I'd lose a good chunk of business if I told just everyone how it works. But I might tell you...provided we can speak more privately." Castor motioned his head to the crowd and the guards that lingered near.
He needed a moment to keep Carnavus distracted so that it might by Zarrah some time for her to slip away. The map had to be here somewhere, Castor was getting impatient with all this dawdling around, frankly and he wanted only to bash this disgusting man's face in and torture him into submission. Still, he had to keep calm. Perhaps in private he might be able to convince him to speak of business than just pleasure. At least that would give Zarrah more time.
Time...it seemed that wasn't on their side.
Zarrah pretended to be interesting in their conversation, but she grew restless. Once she found it suitable Carnavus was well charmed by Castor, she gave an easy smile and smoothed a hand up his chest.
"Jezerius, is it alright if I..." she smirked, not finishing her sentence, knowing it would not be polite to speak about using one's toilet at such an opportunity, and only feigned a demure look as she remained poised at his side, waiting his command.
Carnavus admired her obedience, and again, examined the way the gold paint glistened off her body. It would feel good, he thought, to have that rub off all over his body at some point before the night was over. Maybe even this Imrah could teach his new wife a few tricks....
"Yes, I understand the need to keep things private," he said with a chuckle then motioned. "And let your mistress be off, we can discuss a few things on business over here." he gestured, and Zarrah took this time to slip away- of course, after the order would be given.
Castor glanced over to Zarrah, knowing full well when he was prompted. This was the perfect opportunity. "Yes, darling. Go on. Don't be long," 'Jezerius' gestured for her to leave his side but not before he pulled her in for a kiss. Turning to look at Carnavus, he leaned back. "I hope you don't mind her using your facilities."
He leaned forward and picked up his wine again, careful to take a small sip before leaning back again and watching 'Imrah' leave. He sucked at his teeth and grinned wickedly to Carnavus. "You mentioned wanting another like her... I don't know if you can handle someone like her. It takes a certain physical stamina to keep up with her demands. She might be 'mine' but... Let's just say she has an insatiable hunger."
Castor laughed at his words. "But you just married. Why would you want another so quickly? Well, not that I can blame you. She is a darling, truly. Hm...maybe I can make an exception if the motivation is right." He grinned and placed the wine back down on the table, looking back toward where Zarrah vanished. Hurry, Zarrah...please find it.
The kiss was a nice distraction, but she still felt horribly dirty to be at 'home' again. She wasted no time in slipping away, chancing only a single glance back to Castor before she disappeared.
She made sure to go about her search naturally.
She went exactly where she said she was going to be, but no one would notice if she never left the facilities, would they?
Like most buildings, Carnavus's was no different as the walls never fully reached the ceiling in some places, and she took the time to scale the wall. Climbing across the tops of each wall pairings, she made her way swiftly towards Carnvus's private quarters, ensuring no one was around before she slipped down the side of the wall.
Landing in a crouch, she remained pressed against the ground, her eyes alert and studying the room before she made her way across it. She figured the best place to look was his locked cabinet, though normally guarded, it didn't take more than a bump on the head for the eunuch to be subdued- then she dragged him off to 'sleep it off' elsewhere.
Time was ticking, and it took several minutes for her to pick the lock-
but there it was, the familiar click as her eyes widened in delight.
Pushing the doors open, she peered inside at the vast array of documents and soon became overwhelmed.
Where the hell would such a piece of evidence exsist in all of this mess?
Frowning, she was careful to sift through the pieces of papers, eyes studying each one with care and also, being careful not to brush off too much gold paint on the pages.
Thankfully, not much had, and she had begun to wonder how difficult it would be to get this paint off her skin...
but that's something she could worry about later.
The time was still ticking..
ticking away and she was finding herself no sooner towards their goal and quickly found herself growing frustrated.
Then she tensed..
she heard a noise.
Was someone coming!?
She held her breath, eyes focused on the curtain as she waited.
For several minutes, Castor and Carnavus made idle conversation, but the sand was running out of the hourglass for her to return from her business. Castor said anything he could think of to keep Carnavus distracted and entertained. In fact, it was the longest Castor had ever held a conversation between himself and another since he was always quite hard-pressed to find things to say. Yet, maybe it was due to the fact that he was pretending to be someone else that the words tended to come so easily as he spoke to Carnavus about his various wives... yet conversation always seemed to turn back to 'Imrah.'
"You mentioned making an exception. What did you mean by that?" Carnavus asked after his fourth cup of wine. Castor still barely was halfway through his own, unsure of the possibility of poison that kept him drinking with care.
He smirked at the potbellied man. "Perhaps you might be persuaded to send a few trade deals my way. In exchange, I think I could be persuaded to allow you a...moment or two alone with Imrah."
Carnavus laughed, throwing his head back. "You're joking!"
"I could be," Castor said wryly. "Let's pretend I'm not. Not permanently...just a taste. I saw the way you were looking at her. That's a hard thing to miss. And I'm not a blind man. It might just be a taste. But that'll be all you'll need." He laughed.
"Jezerius...you're a dog," Carnavus said, chuckling to himself, before taking another sip. "I'm starting to like you, sir. Why don't you come back tomorrow? We'll have us another drink...and perhaps we can seal the deal?" He laughed again and looked back toward where Zarrah left. "Speaking of which."
Castor followed his gaze and grinned. "Let's go find her, shall we? Lead the way."
He got up, with some difficulty in his stupor, though Castor helped him as he lead the way, down the hall ways toward the facilities. Behind him, however, Castor could feel sweat bead on his face and he wiped it away with no vision on him. They didn't find him there, though Carnavus was too drunk to think anything more of it. "Where's that luscious woman?" he asked, giggling as he staggered through the halls. Castor held him by his arm, holding him back as they ventured further through the halls.
"She must have gotten lost," Castor said, projecting his voice as their shadows passed by a curtain. "I wouldn't be surprised. This place is quite large!"
Zarrah could have hissed. They were approaching quicker than she expected,a nd she hadn't gotten anywhere in her search. Slipping the papers carefully back into the cabinet, she closed the door, fussed over the lock then let her eyes dart around, securing an escape plan.
Before the two would enter, she had already disappeared into the shadows, lingering in the halls before slipping back into the main hall.
As she suspected, Castor and Carnavus were no where to be seen, so she pretended to look around for him, as if lost before moving towards the halls she knew they had went, and soon approached them from behind.
"Master Jezerius," she said, seeming surprised as she found the two outside the curtains to one of Carnavus's rooms. "I was looking for you all over the great hall."
She moved quickly to Castor's side, giving Carnavus a quick look as the man began to digest her with his eyes.
"Yes, well, we were looking for you, too," the man claimed, face red from wine. Zarrah raised her brows, then stole a glance at Castor. She wondered if getting that bastard drunk was part of the plan..
Then again, it was what, his 30 something wedding day?
"I hope you all weren't waiting for me long." Zarrah said with a pretend pout as her fingers walked up Castor's chest.
"Not long, not long at all," Carnavus said, enjoying the sights as well as his wine. "Would you all wish to join me back in my room?" The man smiled coy as a cat. "I have even finer wine held in my private storage."
Zarrah tensed at the statement. SHe knew far too well what an invite like that entailed as she remained poised at Castor's side, silent as his slave, head held high in obedience.
He was hoping against hope that they wouldn't bump into her in the halls. He knew he'd have to kill Carnavus if they got caught, and kill him as cleanly as possible, which was just about impossible considering his hands. Thankfully, the voice he heard behind them that broke their need to search the rest of the halls. Castor turned around and grinned, pulling an arm around her waist.
He reached down to grab her hand in his, gentle with the paint and pressing his lips to her hair. He cast a glance back at Carnavus, grinning. "Hold the invitation for tomorrow evening. After all this is your wedding night. It's been a very...very long day of travel and I'm sure you know, as any business man should, that we all need our rest." He chuckled.
Carnavus took another drink of his wine, glaring hungrily at Imrah. But he laughed anyway and looked back at Castor. "Of course, of course. I understand. Where are you staying?"
"A small place cozy place, not far from here."
"No, no, no, no! A man of your elegance? It's unacceptable," Carnavus grinned. "You must stay here. I have plenty of room. This place is much-much!—larger than you see here. I insist."
Castor was clearly taken aback by the offer, and wasn't sure what to say. But he didn't let hesitation take him too long. "I think the inn would be better. I have all my things there and...I'll need my privacy if you understand." He said laughing. But as he looked back at Zarrah, he wasn't sure if turning down Carnavus was the right move to make.
"My master loves the thrill of an Inn," Zarrah purred as she placed a hand delicately upon his chest. "Much can be done there that can not be done else where." Her eyes flashed at the idea, and it was obvious Carnavus was aroused by it as he stared at her, lips jerking into a smile.
"But if you stay the night, think of what unique opportunities it has to offer a man such as yourself," Carnavus continued, after all, why couldn't they all share in their wealth together?. "I wasn't lieing when I said I had fine wine, but I also have other forms of..." his eyes slid across Zarrah's gold painted body. "entertainment. Things that only people such as ourselves can appreciate."
But then he backed down, clearing this throat. "Don't damn my ideas just because of a silly wedding." he then added with a laugh. "I do believe I've had enough of these already. It wouldn't be hard to break in my wife, and entertain some guests for the night."
Zarrah kept her lips flat.
The idea made her stomach churn. What a dangerous thing to consider though...
Carnavus trying to appeal to his carnal desires..
just inches away from her blade.
She could kill him that night, gut him like a pig...
Carnavus caught the glint in Zarrah's eyes and smiled wickedly.
"I take it you like to play with chains?" he asked in a lower voice, though he looked at Zarrah, he was asking 'Jezerius'.
Nothing could make him sicker and Castor held himself surprisingly well at the comment. Was he really proposing what he thought he was proposing? Maybe if he was a different kind of man, he might have given a thought to accepting, but 'Jezerius' could only smile and pull 'Imrah' closer to him. "You might call me a selfish man. I don't play well with others." He laughed again.
"I'm afaid, Imrah here will be enough to handle for one night. Perhaps another time." He smiled at him and reached out a hand to shake with Carnavus who did so hesitantly. "If you'll excuse us. We'll talk more tomorrow, yes?"
His grin returned, and he drank another sip of his wine, deeper this time. And staggered forward, shaking Castor's hand. "Yes, of course. I'm looking forward to it. Very, very forward." He laughed heartily before showing them to the exit. Castor's face might have looked calm and collected, aroused even, but inside he was sweating bullets. It was only seconds to the exit.
Once they were there, perhaps he could breathe easy again.
Zarrah tossed only a wickedly playful smile towards Carnavus before she and her 'master' had left the party. Keeping close to Castor's side, she said nothing, draping herself against his side in an intimate gesture, and when they were far enough away, she breathed against him.
"I didn't find it," she said after a moment, unable to look at Castor. "He didn't have any clues kept here." She shook her head and finally turned to look at him. "But it seems you've secured yourself in a good position with him." she eyed him a moment, smiling quaintly. "I guess you must've impressed him." Arching a brow, she asked, "What did you two talk about?"
It was a curious thing indeed, and she kept her voice hushed as they were directed towards their tented carriage, and once inside, she let out another long breath. "I was so close,"s he said, resting back against the pillows as she closed her eyes, fighting all of the demons screaming inside her head.
Castor didn't feel it was the time the mention just what he had to propose to Carnavus, but he figured if it would give him time to look...and her an opportunity to exact revenge, she might have no choice but to accept. And if she didn't. There was always the thought of just taking her back in there and revealing who she really was. But they had an agreement...for now.
Castor had to give himself some space in the carriage to at least give himself some moment to think about all that just happened, that men like that in the world were not limited to Carnavus or Stravan. But even that bastard held true to his ends, that was until he tried to push up his mother's skirts. They were too alike, and it was as if he was about to relive that moment all over again. But he pushed it from his mind. They had a job to do, if they were going to get that map, they needed clear heads.
He looked back at Zarrah and sighed. "Where did you look? I made a deal for tomorrow night. We're coming back, that'll give us a chance to look again. And maybe I'll have better luck. A rich man like Carnavus no doubt has a vault of some kind, or a chamber far from the normal place he would keep things of value." He was about to tell her the rest when she spoke again.
"I—" but he stopped, clearly not knowing what to say. "Just wait a minute. You'll get your chance tomorrow night. For now, let's just get back to the inn and get some sleep. I need think this over. We're both very close to getting what we want. We've gotten this far. We need to keep going."
Zarrah kept her eyes closed, her mind still whirling from the days events.
"Yes, patience is a virtue," She said, sighing before she stretched out across her side of the carriage and exposing her perfectly painted, gold body as it shined in the lamp's light.
"To think we still need to wash this paint off my body," she sighed then peered over at Castor.
"There are a lot of places I didn't have time to check. Perhaps it's best we're going back. I went to the more obvious place, but he does keep a few things hidden in urns, and even in a valt he keeps locked up. More clues could be hidden there, but gaining access will be tricky."
She closed her eyes again, thinking everything over.
"You still didn't tell me what you said to make Carnavus so agreeable," she opened her eyes to look at him, but said nothing before stretching out into a yawn. "But whatever you did it, worked. "I wonder if i should be worried that you were able to charm a man as despicable as Carnavus, or, if I Should be applauding your acting skills." She gave him a sly, but tired smile.
Castor pulled at the collar of his shirt, feeling suddenly constricting. He sighed, pushing his sleeves up and ruffling his hair again, leaning back and trying to bide his time before answering. "Let's get inside first," he said as the clothed carriage finally pulled to the side across the street from the inn.
The door opened and Castor stepped out first before holding a hand to her. When they were inside, Castor offered another gold coin to the clerk, as a courtesy for holding their room and walked up the stairs. As he reached the door, he paused for a moment before gently unlocking it with the key.
Once inside, Castor closed it carefully behind him. "I did my best to play the part," he said. "And so did you. But there's more you ought to know." He wandered to the fire place and knelt beside it, putting a log into the furnace and striking the flint until it sparked and smoldered the dry wood. He sat down on the floor, knowing it was probably best to just say it.
"I promised you to Carnavus tomorrow night. I'm going to use the opportunity to look through the house. There won't be too many people besides the guards. And you'll have an opportunity to make him squeal like a stuck pig, and bleed as much too."
Zarrah followed Castor in closely, even leaning against him in a more intimate manner as she yawned and then entered the room.
As he went about fussing over the fire, she began to take off the layers of jewelry she was wearing and discarded them onto a tray upon the single desk inside the room.
She was listening to him as she went about her work, but at the mention of what he promised to Carnavus, the pearl necklace she wore broke, scattering to the ground.
It took a moment before it all sank in, her form tense as she remained bent over the desk.
Not only had Castor just sold her off to Carnavus but...
her lips twitched.
Yes, she could gut him like a pig being that intimately close to him, but the very thought of it made her ill as acid burned at the inside of her nose.
She didn't even bother turning to Castor as she moved to exit the room.
"I"m going to bath," she said simply, and left, the door clicking behind her on her way out.
Castor didn't think for a moment that there was a chance for Zarrah to take this well. He watched her out of the corner of his eye but didn't have the guts to face her. He knew what he'd done was a dirty low, thing to do, and no doubt if she wanted to cut his throat right then and there, well, he couldn't blame her. He'd very well would be pissed off at himself too, but he did what he had to do. What he figured was the best possible way in. And it certainly was the quickest.
He saw her tense, expecting her to fly into a rage, and said nothing, only sitting there, half-twisted, staring at her. As she left, he jumped a little, as if she slammed it. He knew he'd yet done another terrible thing. The proposal had been done, and there was still many hours before the moment came. Castor was tired and reached for a pillow from the bed, laying it on the floor and laying down by the fireplace, relishing its warmth.
He could think about this later. He could explain to her that she didn't have to sleep with him. Just distract him long enough while Castor searches for a vault. He'd find that map... After all, even Zarrah explained this was just a temporary alliance. The ends would justify the means.... Right?
The bath was drawn and she soaked in it. For hours she just let herself lay within the waters until they turned cold and were glossy over in gold paint. She was in a fowl mood, too many thoughts plaguing her mind for her to even consider resting- even though it would have been wiser for her to do so.
She played the idea over and over inside her head-
Then closed her eyes and submerged herself beneath the water, only to return with a gasp as she stepped outside of the waters, water splashing to the floor as it gushed down her naked body and she snatched up a towel, dried herself off before just collapsing to the floor.
She had her face buried in the towel, her make up smearing away, but even through the mess it was evident she had cried. She recovered herself, steeled it down and went about wearing the same mask she always had.
Castor hadn't done it on purpose anyways..
she would have done the same, had she not?
And after all, she knew all of Carnavus's tricks but still...
He would know..
the moment he'd bed her..
The game would be up.
She could slit his throat.
A sudden flash of movemet caught her attention.
She grabbed the nearest blade to her and threw it towards the light- where it punctured the wall, pinning the moth that had been fluttering around the lamp. She released a breath and narrowed her eyes at it.
She needed to walk..
to run,...
to breath..
to sleep..
TO just forget about this mess.
Why was it all so difficult for her to swallow?
She had used herself on Carnavus more times than she could count...
But that bastard...
He would pay.
For all those hours, Castor fell asleep, thinking Zarrah would come back shortly. It didn't long to bath though he supposed the gold paint she asked him to smear all over her didn't help. Castor slept well, no dreams, though a vague thought began to wonder why he didn't hear the door open at all. He was generally a light sleeper and would have heard it, but nothing. Hours passed, and his back grew stiff sleeping on the hard ground.
Eventually he stirred, grunting at the stiffness of his joints. Carefully he propped himself up and saw the log in the fireplace had smoldered to ashes, offering nothing more than a dim light. He got up and noticed the room was relatively unchanged, and the door had not been opened. He was beginning to worry. Either something happened to her, which it seemed things tended to do, or she left him. Had it been the latter, Castor knew perhaps it was best to leave her be, but he had to know.
He walked out of the room and down the stairs to the clerk. "Excuse me," he asked. "Have you seen the woman I was with? Where did she go?" He pointed to the bath house and he exited toward the back.
It didn't take long to find her, though the hall was dark and most of the stalls were empty save one. Castor peeked through one side of the curtain, seeing her there. He parted the curtain more, though she was nude. "Zarrah," he asked. "Are you all right?"
Zarrah was already tense, and catching the moving shadows, she didn't hesitate to move in one fluid motion, a knife tossed straight for his head- only she had missed as it sailed straight pass him, sinking into the wall behind him.
Zarrah only stared, wide eyed before her eyes narrowed as she turned away.
"There was a lot of gold paint," was all she muttered. She moved towards her towel, retrieved it and kept her back to Castor as she work at soaking up all the excess water in her hair. She wasn't in the mood to talk to him of all people...
and she was tired and exhausted...
she should have slept, her body aching and irritable, but here she found herself, it was nearly morning, and hse hadn't slept a wink..
and her pulse was still racing, as was her mind as she continued to fuss agitatedly at her hair...
now working at coming out her long black locks that shimmered like the night sky when wet.
He was lucky that blade missed him. He glanced back to it's shimmering knife embedded into the wall behind him, before looking back at her, wide-eyed. He understood of course, but wasn't going let that one slide so easily. Besides, who else was going to come looking for her. He came in, knowing she was avoiding talking about it.
But it needed to be discussed.
"Zarrah," he tried again, his gaze hardening. He stepped into the stall and tried to reach for her, only to pull back. "Zarrah, listen to me! You don't have to sleep with him. Just distract him, keep him busy, or make quick work of him, do what you will. You waited for years for this moment! Don't throw it away! You make him bleed for everything he's done to you... You cut him from stem to stern, cut off everything he holds precious!" he said.
He hoped his words would make her angry, or sad, or something to get her to respond. Anything was better than this silence.
Speak all he wanted.
She had already thought about all of the possibilities while she wasted away in the waters, and hearing Castor spew them at her hardly changed her mind. She wasn't in the mood to argue with him, or even think any more as she got up, slipped on a robe, not bothering to tie it as she yanked both her blades from the wall and began to walk back towards the room without so much as a word to him.
It had been too long of a day, and too taxing for her emotionally..
she had been so close..
and now they had to try again...
and she knew she'd get her chance- she knew she'd have her revenge...
but part of her had to wonder...
and then what?
Before she had a goal, and now it was within her grasp-
yet here she was, her mind mulling over it as she sunk into an anxious depression.
Yes.. all she needed to do was sleep.
For what few hours they might have had.
[short ><]
Now Castor was getting angry, where he'd hoped his provocation would upset her. As she walked passed him, he left her alone, knowing what he'd done was a terrible thing, far more than could possibly be forgiven. But he didn't give a damn anymore and if she wanted to mope and moan and ignore him, then she would leave for all he cared. He'd get that goddamn map, with or without her. He was sure she'd do the same for her own task in mind. She didn't need his help for that.
As she walked away from him, he had half a mind to grab her and shake her hard until her goddamned head came off, at least then he'd have a reason for her silence. But he did follow her hand grabbed her by the arm, yanking her toward him and holding her there.
"Say something goddammit!" he hissed, holding her prisoner until she gave in to his demands.
OOC: It's ok XD SHORT POSTS HAPPEN D:
and apparently mine isn't much longer lol
IC:
Zarrah was jarred when he suddenly snagged her, forcing her to look at him as she grimaced beneath his grasp.
"What do you want me to say?" she snapped, eyes blazing against the lamp light. "Everything will come into play tomorrow, weather we like it or not. We've won." she said, her lips twitching in a false smile as she tried to pull away, and grew angry as she continued to pull.
"Let me go, Castor," she growled, her robe falling off her shoulder, not that it mattered for her body was already half exposed. "Or I'll have half a mind to use my blades on you."
"We haven't won yet. Nothing is certain but death. Nothing lasts forever! But gods damned if I'm going to let you think you can just walk away, or smile or pretend to be something you're clearly not. You are a lie, you paint yourself in lies, so you can go on living the lie that you've made for yourself. I'm sick of all your pretending, your cool guises because they're just a frail shell coiled around a weak, and vulnerable woman gone mad with revenge, but you don't let yourself show it!
"What are you so afraid of? Ridicule? Rejection? We are not in this life for peace! I should know that. And so should you. Goddammit, if you're angry be angry! Take it out on me! Use it! Don't keep it bottled inside of you thinking those shells are going to protect you. It can't protect something that's already broken. You wanna hit me, hit me! Fight me! Anything is better than your apathy!" he was snarling at her, almost as if he was gonna tear her apart. And maybe he was just daring her to fight him.
"At least then you'll know you're still human."
Zarrah eyes narrowed at him after having widened at him spitting all of those words in her face.
"Who are you to demand what emotions I display?" she shouted coldly, violet eyes glittering with rage. "Who are you to judge me? I'm not here to please or impress you, or anyone else for this matter. I'm only here because it'll all be over tomorrow, one way or another, and I only temporarily need your help-" and she felt herself struggling, pulling angrily within Castor's grip. "Let go of me!" she snarled, writhing within his grasp like an animal. "I'm not here to play your games or to prove I'm human! I've given up on my humanity long ago. If you're calling me a monster? Then so be it! Half the men int his desert can make the same claim as you!" she spat the words in his face, teeth bared. "
"Now
let....
Me...
GO!" she roared.
"You know nothing about me so why should you care what happens to me?" She was breathing heavy, moving hard and angry against him as her entire body flushed with anger.
"Let me go, so help me..." she warned, baring her teeth at him dangerously.
OOC: My 300th post! Woo!
"I don't play games, unlike you, who hides behind her beautiful face like it'll shield you from the truth. I'm a monster as much as you are, but I still remember what it feels to be alive, to be human, to know that the only thing I fear is giving up on that part of me. It's the only thing that makes life worth living. We don't all get second chances. And those that do more often than not waste them."
He refused to let her go, holding her harder to him and gritting his teeth. "I care because maybe you're just like me. Alone, afraid, angry, desperate. So close, but couldn't be more far away. Why do you resist me? What are you so afraid of? Why don't you tell me what you're really angry about? What more did Carnavus take away from you? What was that happiness he'd stolen?"
"What do you know about me and second chances!" she cried, eyes filling with hot tears as she felt her mouth and nostrils burning with rage as she balled up her fists and hit him hard across the chest. "You have no idea what I've been through! You have no idea what was taken from me," she continued, hitting him harder and harder with each yell.
"And don't you damn well tell me you give a rats ass about me or my situation! We are nothing alike!" She bared her teeth, wrinkling her nose in anger, hitting him again and again.
" And when this is all over and done, I intend to get as far away from here, from the desert, from you... from everything... and the world will only remember I was just a scar on this wretched waste land..." She felt herself crack, her voice break as hot tears stung her eyes as she struggled again.
"Now... let... me... GO!" She roared, thrusting her entire body against the strength of his arms that it winded her as she cried out in rage.
He didn't let her go, refused to let her go, despite all her rage. At least now she was finally letting something out, which was always better than nothing at all. It was worse to hold it inside, Castor knew, who for years had bottled up his own turbulent emotions, frustrated at the world, at his negligent father, at the manipulative pig of man Stravan, perhaps even at his mother for not taking him away from all of that when she had the chance.
She hit him quite hard, but he didn't budge an inch. Instead he wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her to him, a solid vice until her rage had run out. "Maybe I would understand if you told me. Maybe we're more alike than you think. Do you think I'd run around this wretched place for my health? The only thing I've ever wanted was to be free. After I get the map, I'm only part of the way there. Don't you see, once you kill Carnavus, you're done. You get to leave this place! You get to walk away for good and go on to live your own worthless life.
"You're not the only one who's fighting for something. I've lost everything because of these goddamned gauntlets. You lost everything because of Carnavus. We're both digging our own graves."
When his arms fell around her, pulling her close...
She felt warm, almost protected and safe...
and she hated him for it, her body tensing before she returned to wriggling fitfully within his grasp, nearly wriggling out of her clothes by the time she let out an angered huff, freeing one hand and slapping him hard across the face as hot tears stung at her eyes.
"Don't you dare try to compare us when we're nothing alike!" she snapped, her voice raw and ragged. Even if it were true, and she knew it was, she couldn't bring herself to agree with him. And she felt wretched, and exhausted, and above all else, fuming mad and passionate-
She was upset with herself, upset over the situation, and upset it took her so long to realize she never should have accepted the deal to grant her more lives...
Even if she conquered Carnavus, then what? She could go on towards freedom, fleeing to any other godless place in the earth...
But did it matter? Freedom was something she only dreamed about, and it had only become a reality when she had met Rassar...
Now that he was gone, her hope, her reasoning, her sense of pride seemed to go with it; and she had been poisoned by her desires for revenge.
"You have no idea what I've been through, what I've become I-" her voice broke away, she bared her teeth, her mind becoming blindingly hot as she broke down into tears.
"You have no idea all that he's taken from me!"
Including her life.
and soul. She would be damned forever, thanks to Carnavus, and not even death could save her.
"I don't," Castor said calmly, still holding her, his face burning from the slap. She hit him hard but no matter how she struggled, how she fought, or scowled, or howled, or yelped and demanded, he didn't let her go. His grip actually loosened and he rubbed a hand against her back, holding her more comfortingly than like a prisoner.
"What did he take from you? Someone you loved? Tell me. Please," he said, trying to calm her down even after he wanted her to unleash all her rage. He just held her there, trying to make her feel that it was okay to say what she wanted, to react any way she wished without fear of retaliation. There was too much at risk for both of them.
Despite the deal that was made, there was no certainty that they would succeed. Castor knew that no plan went accordingly, but they would have to be mentally prepared as well as physically if they were going to make it through.
Her struggles lessened, and she felt his arms loosen around her as she breathed, remaining against him, still secure in his arms. Her mind, heart and body were fighting countless emotions as she shook her head.
"What does it matter to you?" she asked him sharply, her teeth still bared as she breathed heavily, hot tears threatening to spill down her face as she stared up at him defiantly. "What does it matter to you what has hurt me?"
Zarrah's eyes dared him to ask, a madness nearly blinding her..
but perhaps it was just those tears that blurred her vision instead.
"Because...all I do is destroy things, break, kill, smash... I can just help one person for the better instead of destroying them, then that might make things at least a little better. I want to know. I understand if you don't want to tell me. But who else are you going to tell if you don't tell me? Who else is trying to help you as much as you're helping me? We're working together for now. Maybe not forever, but now maybe is enough."
Castor laid his head against her shoulders, feeling her body wrack with tears. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but you should. It'll eat you alive. Until there's nothing left to give."
Why was he asking her at such a time as this? The subjects were too sensitive for her to divulge, ad for all she knew...
Castor had already betrayed her, and was now playing on her emotions to sharpen his trap. She had to remember..
not too long ago- they would have killed one another.
But here he was, pressing the issues..
as if concerned about her stability.
"I want to be alone," she said after a time, her voice quiet against the silence in the bathing house.
Now was not the time for her to consider opening her heart.
Tomorrow, there would be blood.
Carnavus would be killed, one way or another...
and for once in her life, she would feel at peace, would she not?
To think of all Carnavus had done, and will do in the future..
It would all finally come to an end....
And she and Castor Bane would be no more- but faded memories as their life went on.
How could she bring herself to admit she had no purpose after this?
That she had sold her soul and had nothing else to live for but for this?
That this one thing had her cling onto life....
and that she had ignored the subtle hope that had remained.
No, like the stories...
She would remain a cold hearted bitch.
She would get her revenge..
and it would leave the immortal blood prints from her blade in her wake...
and the Lady of the Desert would live on forever...
Even after her chances had run out.
He let her go, at long last, seeing there was nothing more he could say, nothing that would make her change her mind. His face had softened and he stepped back, looking down to the floor, almost ashamed at what he had done. If she wanted to be alone, if she wanted to wallow in her misery, if she wanted to push the only person who tried to be there for her, then there was nothing he could do or say to stop her.
"I'm sorry you won't let me help you," he said, honestly before walking away. Dawn would be coming soon, and that evening would be the moment they both were waiting for. He was well aware that Zarrah could take care of herself. And maybe somewhere in his mind, he was worried about her...that she might snap and something would go wrong. That she might get hurt. And then what? All because of him. There was enough blood on his hands as it was. He didn't need hers.
He walked away, leaving her to herself and returned to the room, dressing back in his old clothes so the new ones wouldn't get wrinkled. He didn't think it was prudent to wear the same clothes twice considering how rich Jezerius was supposed to be. He didn't know where Zarrah had hidden the rest of them, but he supposed she needed all the time to herself as possible. Castor went out into the early morning, the air still dark, sky not yet red, and disappeared into the streets.
She felt wretched when she was alone-
and angry...
and without any sleep, her kept mind reeling...
She did the one foolish thing she shouldn't...
She lathered her body in paint, dawned another outfit and set out to Carnavus's on her own. She knew it was stupid. She knew it would draw questions.
But she didn't care. She wanted nothing more than to end this.
Drawing out her blades, and 2 fan blades, she slipped them beneath her provocative clothing, tidied up her face and doused her body in perfume.
It was shown time.
Her eyes scanned the Inn- Castor was no where to be seen. She'd have to be careful not to run into him again if she wanted her plan to succeed..
After all, she didn't need him if Carnavus was dead.
She could loot the manor herself once his body drained of life.
She moved quick towards the curtained carriage and left Castor behind a pile of clothes..
Just to throw him off her scent...
He couldn't have known the carriage had clothing held within it as she pulled the curtains open, giving one last look over her shoulder towards the crowd.
"I'm heading towards Carnavus's manor. By direct order of my master,"s he told the men who were hired to pull the cart. They simply nodded and got into position..
andn again, her eyes scanned the crowds.
She'd have to be quick about it.
Carnavus would pay.
Castor didn't linger too far. The daylight hours would come soon and he'd return to the room when the sun came up to get out of the morning heat. His mind raced over what had happened, over what he said, and Zarrah's face as she wailed at him to let her go. She was right, however, why did he care to know what plagued her? She certainly didn't care to know what plagued him. He chided himself, regretting his words and actions. But he couldn't turn back the hands of time, and the sands would always flow. And flow on they did.
He walked for a while, lingering in an alleyway, just thinking when a familiar cart rode by. The cloth carriage... One of the flaps was open and he could have sworn he saw Zarrah riding inside. What the hell was she doing? Where was she going? It already passed him by a block and he made a run for it. Not long afterward, he latched onto the rear of it, holding onto the luggage rack as it went by.
And just minutes later, he saw that familiar manor rise up to the side of them. "Oh no...Carnavus," he whispered to himself, as they pulled up close to the side. By this time, the streets were almost empty and there wouldn't be too many people around. Castor slipped off the back and snuck across the street, slipping behind some vendor stands on the side, watching from afar.
A man in a slender robe was coming down the manor entrance steps, thin and effeminate looking. He opened the flap of the cloth carriage and helped her out, welcoming her inside the building.
Zarrah's heart pounded away inside her chest as they drew near and before she knew it..
SHe ws there.
Releasing a breath,s he composed herself. Part of her had wished, somehow, Castor could have stopped her, but the idea was fleeting as she steeled herself and dawned a new mask...
a mask she hadn't worn in a long time.
Stepping outside, she looked more beautiful than ever, her face swathed in violet, her body glistening in gold. The servant had met with her, inquired about her master and she merely replied,
"He wanted me to come alone," she informed. "Jezerius sent for me to please your master all morning."
The servant was taken back by how open she was with her claim, but only nodded as he eyed her up.
"I see."
Guiding her inside, she followed silently and disappeared inside....
She was guided to Carnavus's room as the servant went to fetch him.
As she waited, she drew her fingers over the cold metal weapons hidden beneath the meager clothing she wore. She'd be hard pressed if Carnavus didn't find one of those rather easily, and made quick work to slide a few daggers into place throughout hte room...
Then she heard his approach, and was quick to position herself before the bed, leaning against one of the wide postings as she waited.
The moment Carnavus came into view, her smile widened, as did his.
"Ahh, Imrah, Lady Imrah," he said, clasping his sweaty hands together, a smile just doting on how pleased he was. "I wasn't expecting you so early."
"Jezerius thought it was rude we had left so early that evening and wanted to give you an advancement on his wishes."
Carnavus raised his brows at her.
"Is that so?"
"Indeed," she replied, strolling forward with an extra sway of her hips as she approached. "He wanted you to know I am all yours for the morning." she told him, a hand slipping beneath his robes as she pressed it across his warm chest. "And all afternoon." she informed him, her lips moving over his as they sealed into a kiss. "I'm all yours, master." she told him huskily.
The man would have his pleasure- right before she'd seal the blade into his heart.
Castor didn't have to guess what she was doing here, and it only took him seconds to run to the outside of the manor. He didn't need the front door to gain entry. With a strong leap, he pulled himself up to the side of the building, over the yard ledge and dropped down into the darkness therein. He landed behind a series of bushes, spying a few guards patrolling the area. One lingered near him, his back turned. Castor quickly stood and wrapped an arm around his neck, an another around his mouth, strangling him quietly before dragging him behind the bush. He dropped the guard when he became quiet and moved toward the house.
He entered through a large veranda window, opened, free of prying eyes, slipping through as quietly as possible. Castor didn't stop to think, he did so on the move. He didn't know where he was, but he knew that this wasn't the grand hall or the one that led down toward Carnavus' bedroom. He knew he wouldn't have much time between Zarrah's moment with Carnavus and her bleeding him dry. He'd have to find that vault, somewhere inside the manor. And fast.
Castor steeled himself, determined to let nothing stand in his way. He'd tear this whole building down with her in it if he had to, to find it. He stalked down the hall, looking left and right, ducking where he could, and waiting for a guard to pass where possible. He'd remain hidden as long as possible. In the meantime he looked everywhere, knowing Zarrah said Carnavus hid things in places as innocuous as planters and paintings. But as he looked, he found nothing, all the while drawing himself through the meandering halls.
It was only a matter of time before he was caught. It was only a matter of time before Zarrah finished Carnavus off.
He was getting desperate, his heart beating faster. He began to get louder, jogging through the hallways as he found a corridor that led a ramped hallway, lowering itself toward a basement level. The walls were darkened, with few lit torches that opened the way. "Hey!" a voice suddenly called behind him.
Castor turned just in time to see a guard coming his way, but it wasn't too late to deal with him.
A mask was easy to wear when you could focus it on something else..
pretend to be something else..
wanting to be something else.
As usual, Carnavus was a pig, and squealed with delight when she refused to reveal her face at the beginning- he claimed it added all the more to her seductive beauty.
Like clock work, she seduced him and made him the happiest man he's been. Castor would have plenty of time to snoop in the basement from all the tricks she played on him...
ANd as she did so, she kept imaging that night with Castor..
How intimate it was, raw and exhilaration...
It had been her first time making love in a while, while all other occasions had just been sex.
Now, she was finding herself disappearing into that memory as her old husband violated her over and over again.
And she hated every moment of it, blamed Castor for each time Carnavus enjoyed her...
and wished she was back to that simpler time...
She hated herself for doing this, but just let her animal instincts take over, and once he was sated, she drew off her veil and dropped the clothe aside.
Carnavus only stared at her with delight, before Zarrah rammed her blade into him.
As his face lit up, the moment before it faded unto death, she realized what had happened...
the man squealing for his life had not been Carnavus but a duplicate- a master of disguise and illusion.
SO he still had those tricks up his sleeve.
Zarrah cursed herself. SHe just gave herself to a stranger, to a deception, and she fell right for the trap...
Carnavus was probably many miles from here and all she could do was stand there, feeling wretched and wicked as she looked down at the man, gurgling with blood as her blade jutted out from his throat.
The guard dropped limp like a fly to fire, lifeless, and just another on the list of lives he'd taken. But Castor couldn't be bothered with that anymore, he was getting close. He could smell the dank moisture of metal and water that promised he was getting close to someplace where there was a great deal of metal. And the only metal a man like Carnavus liked was that of the gold variety. Good gods, greedy people couldn't have been more predictable.
After more guards dropped to the floor, not to see the light of day again, Castor did find the vault, a cell-like structure that separated itself from an iron-and-wood door. The room was far too dim, but despite the lack of lighting, he could tell that the bars were fashioned of thick iron pipes, criss-crossed, and with a series of ten complicated locks to keep any sticky fingers out that might have been too sticky for their own good. Castor didn't bother worrying about a key. He reached for the bars, yelling aloud and bending them with little to no effort yanking them from their supports. They groaned in protest as they were ripped out one by one. After that he passed through, and rammed the door, which didn't even put up a fight.
Beyond that, Castor was almost awed by the sheer amount of gold he found organized in sacks and tables and chests that were overflowing with jewels spewing from their edges. To the side of him lay cabinets, locked and bolted with important paperwork. With splinters spewing out everywhere, wood cracked and stood little defense against his assault as he scrambled through the papers. He finally found what he was looking for...but something was wrong with it. It was aged so badly, tattered from constant handling that it was almost illegible. A section of it was ripped off as the map broke off near the center.
No...this couldn't be! After all this work! It was nearly destroyed! Castor grit his teeth, but truly wasn't in any position to complain. He stuffed the letter into his belt, and ran out back the way he came. No doubt, Zarrah had finished with her business with Carnavus by now. If he remembered right, the hall down the right looked familiar enough.
But he knew also, the guards would be on the lookout for him. He tried to hide the bodies as best he could. Even with being outnumbered, there was still a chance for him to escape. But the toll would be high. Castor made his way to the curtained bedroom, breaking through the frail walls that served more as a partition than a true separation. He stopped, looking for Zarrah, the debris clouding his vision.
Blood painted the curtains surrounding the bed, and stained the sheets well through. It took a while for her to come back to her broken reality, which was ironically from the jarring approach of Castor, who literally destroyed the walls and came stumbling into the the room.
She clenched her fists, swearing at herself before yanking the knife from the fake Carnavus's throat.
Had it been too much for her to have it all end?
Before she knew it, rage consumed her and she began to hack-
hack away at his stupid face-
at his stupid body, gutting him, tearing him, ripping the man's body to shreds.
Blood painted more than the curtains when she was threw as she screamed angrily in frustration, throwing the knife aside before collapsing to her knees within the warm puddle of the man's blood.
She had been tricked.
She had been had.
And she would never forgive herself for being so stupid...
It was all so close, yet so far away.....
and all she could do was sob angrily beside the dead corpse of the unknown man-
the imposter, the fake.
"Zarrah!" Castor called to her, once the dust settled and he could see her commit her savagery, but he kept his distance, knowing full well she wouldn't be afraid to let her rage out on him. And then he'd have to rescind on the promise not to rip her apart, which would make him seem like a pretty bad guy in the face of that. Castor watched in silent horror as she cut away at what remained of his face, which seemed only a sad, leathery mask.
"Zarrah, there's no time. We have to go. Now!" he said again, stepping closer this time. "Zarrah, if there's a moment to come to your senses, it's now! Hurry, they're coming!" Castor reached for her clothes, or what was left of them, most of which seemed to have suffered from violent, eager tearing.
He held out a hand to her, looking stern and desperate, wanting nothing more than to escape this wretched place. "If you value what's left of your life, you'll take my hand," he said, shoving it out to her, despite her tears. He knew there was nothing he could say or do to help her with that, she'd proven that to him earlier. But if only she'd wisen up... now was the time!
His voice rang into her ear- ignored the first time like the sharp buzz from a bee. But again, he persisted, and she finally heard it clear, felt it and turned to him, placing a bloodied hand into his and blindly let him lead her away. She was too shaken to do much else, her legs moving, though she could not feel them, leaving bloodied foot prints along the way.
It was hard to see, and the tears were hot-
and they seemed to bubble endlessly from within her.
She had nearly forgotten where she was whens he made a noise, her legs going weak as she collapsed and felt her hands slip away from his.
What had happened?
What had become of her? Of this?
Her mind burned, her anger rising as she pushed herself off of the ground and took his hand..
"I'm sorry I... I need you to guide me.. I'm having trouble focusing.. walking.." she said, amongst other things, Zarrah even felt ill, but knew she had to persevere...
if not for herself
For Castor.
Despite her mind being tattered by this...
she still knew she owed him something and felt it nail itself inside her chest.
At least if anything out of all of this...
it would be a simple apology.
But perhaps when they were both not fleeing for their lives.
Castor gripped her hand in his and nodded to her. Not that he really knew his way out. There was no time to dress her, and maybe there wouldn't be. He held onto them however, and put them away. There was a lot of blood on her, too much to worry about now. He reached down and pulled her knees up, and held her torso, cradling her like a child. He didn't need his hands to run, he just hoped he could be fast enough to get of here alive.
Already he could hear shouting down the hallway, guards saying there was an intruder in the manor. Thankfully they didn't him escape out of the large hole he'd made in the wall. Castor broke his way through the rest of the manor, leaving nothing more than decimation behind him. He kicked a guard that confronted him with weapon drawn, breaking his chest as he sent the man vaulting backwards in agony. He trampled him as he ran across him, heading out to the yard. The footsteps were getting closer.
He didn't know how...he didn't know when or where, his mind almost in a daze, but Castor eventually made it out of the manor. There was chaos behind him, people yelling at the body they'd found completely brutalized in the bedroom, and the numbers left behind. Castor left it all behind. Could they afford to make it back to the inn? People would ask questions, questions they couldn't answer.
But for now, it was the closest point of safety, he could think of so he went for it. Not through the front, but from the side. Daylight was still an hour or so away, and the streets were quiet as he set Zarrah down.
"Wrap your arms around my neck," he said, placing them there as he looked up toward their bedroom window. There they could think of a plan to escape, to leave for good. Castor began to scale the wall once she was attached to him, carefully not to make too much noise as he pried open their window and helped her climb inside. When he was inside, he dropped himself to the floor, sweating and breathing as if the mouth of hell had just opened up behind him...and perhaps it had.
The world passed around them in a blur. SHe had thought she had slipped away into the unconscious, but when Castor collapsed onto the floor breathing heavily, she lay there, cradled and bloodied within his arms.
Too much had happened that day, and she felt pathetic, weak and broken. But one sound she heard out amongst it all...
It was a steady pounding, a steady beat...
The steady, pounding heart beat inside Castor's chest. She curled into him, her hair, fanning across his chesta nd arms as she lay there, being drawn back into the world of the reality.
Her violet eyes slipped open- and she simply said...
"It wasn't him."
A pause.
"I didn't kill him... that wasn't him."
Castor was busy trying to catch his breath. His heart was pounding not only inside his chest but in his ears and his face was red with the effort. Breath pooled in white steam from the cool morning air and the room was freezing. She was still covered in blood and sitting on him like a tired child. Castor stared out into the darkness of the room, not trusting what could like therein, but he said nothing.
She was the first to speak. He did not find it in him to believe what she said, however, and didn't know what to say back. Didn't kill him? What did she mean? He had means to question her about it...but knew now was not the time. He got up, cradling her still and laid her gently beside the pillow he left by the fireplace.
"Don't worry," he said softly, and closed the window they climbed through. Castor looked for the water basin, which was refilled and brought it to her with a few wash clothes. He moved toward the fireplace again and put in more wood, enough to warm the whole room. He was having a hard time trying to hid his own shivers from the cold that lingered in the room. He shook as he tended to Zarrah, wiping her down of the other man's blood.
"Just close your eyes," Castor said, cleaning her hands of the red that remained there. There was so much of it, he didn't know if they would ever truly be clean.
Zarrah didn't know how to respond to anything.
She felt hollow... broken, and when he suggested she closed her eyes, she did not, staring out through the wall as if she were dead to the world.
She couldn't even feel Castor tending to her body, wiping away the blood... the evidence....
She had been tricked!
Tricked and deceived and may have ruined her only opportunity to extract her revenge. For all she knew, Carnavus was many miles from here by now. She felt vile and ill, and finally moved away from him to vomit in the chamber pot.
She wasn't sure if she could forgive herself after that night.
How foolish!
She was a fool!
Every effort in her life, every second had been carefully planned to execute just one man....
and now, it seemed, the one thing,t he only thing, she had to hold onto had been taken from her....
Perhaps she could forget all about it...
disappear?
She felt dizzy, as if she were to vomit again and remained hoovering over the pot.
That man she killed then? Who was he?
Who had she violated herself with then killed?
And where was the real Carnavus?
She drew back finally, her stomach being empty as she leaned against the bed, finally closing her eyes as Castor suggested. THen she wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand and asked,
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
She knew he hadn't gone there to find her.
He needed that map.
And again, she felt hollow for it-
Even though...
he had brought her back...
Why was it he was always there now?
Why was it he wanted to help?
Castor was about to confirm that he did. But what good would it have done? He could see that hollow look in her eye. He knew that look, held it himself in the years it took to search for something that he knew he would never find, haunted by nightmares, losing one's own sanity. Castor didn't thinking telling her the truth would help her anymore than it did. Instead he didn't answer and just tended to her. He had to use all the rags for there was much more blood than he could keep track of.
When she was finally clean, he pulled up the blanket from the side of the bed and wrapped her in it. He scooted her over just a bit and pulled her up to him, cradling her against his chest. He was still cold, still shivering, but thought nothing of it. He knew a broken person when he saw one. Something more had been stolen from her. And if she was telling the truth...she had no way of knowing if that chance to get it back would ever come again.
"Go to sleep," he said. "Don't say anything more. There's nothing to say. Just please, close your eyes. And go to sleep. You've hardly slept at all."
He was being so sensitive towards her, so careful... gentle...
She felt something stir as she moved, her eyes barely meeting to his as her hand, finger nails still stained with blood, touched his cheek. It was a gentle gesture, then she moved, her hands cupping his cheek as she leaned forward, eye lashes lowering, as she leaned in for a kiss.
It was gentle, almost not there- the feeling number to her...
But she pressed again, feeling all of the emotions it brought with it coming to the surface in a raw force, and before she knew it, she was straddling over him, kissing him hungrily and asking,
"Please, can you help me forget?" her voice begged softly, quietly, desperately.
She wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else, doing something else, doing ANYTHING else, than to remain in her cold, husk of a shell.
Exhaustion was starting to take him too, and Castor felt his own eyelids grow heavy. He gave a heavy sigh, thinking of all that had just happened. He was growing sick of this crusted desert, of this never ending expanse of emptiness filled with the pigs that men truly were. He knew he was no better, an animal all the same, though he cradled his brutality so much more than others. He didn't accept it, but he knew what he was capable of. His mind filled with disgust, And he almost wanted to wretch like Zarrah had done.
His mind was somewhere else when she kissed him. His body was like a machine, mindless and unresponsive, and he was breathless when he realized what she was doing. Castor sucked in a harsh gasp of breath. "Zarrah, stop, please," he begged in return. He turned his face away.
He could not heal his own mind with the flesh. "Don't. Why can't you just go to sleep? I'm so...goddamned tired," he whispered, tears filling his eyes, but he kept them closed and they didn't fall yet. "I'm so tired of everything."
Her lips paused before his, twitching, then she moved away, peeling herself off of his body as she turned her back to him. The remark hurt, but she knew too well what he meant as she rested her cheek against the wall and merely said,
"Is it really safe to rest here now? After what I've done...." She released another breath, still keeping her back to him, exhaustion also taking her toll on her as well. She was a wreck, and wanted nothing more than to hide away from all that was.
"I'm tired to," she said after a time, drawing her arms around herself as she rested her cheek to knee. But she wasn't sure if she could sleep.
She knew she could but...
if they did..
would they ever wake up?
And when they did...
what sort of world would it be?
Castor knew it perhaps wasn't the nicest move to make, but he wondered how she could be so eager to kiss him after what she'd just been through. He didn't know anyone that did that. It wasn't the time, and this certainly wasn't the place. He didn't know if they would be safe here, and he took his time in answering. Eyes drawing to the door that could burst open any minute. He didn't know for sure. Somebody somewhere could have saw them.
He turned his eyes to the fire. "For now, it's safe," he said. "But we must leave soon. For now we'll rest. Come a few hours, I'll have to go.'
Castor looked down to the scrolled map he had snugly folded in his belt. He didn't take a good look at it, but knew the sooner he left and inspected it, the sooner he'd find that tomb. The sooner he'd find the Relic. Would Zarrah be all right? He turned to her, almost wanting to ask...but knowing it was probably better to keep his mouth shut.
"Try to sleep, please. It'll be morning soon."
She tensed, fearing the worst in his statement.
It was just as well their alliance would come to an end in the morning. She hadn't helped him finding his object and she...? Well, she was back to where she started at and felt lousy for it. She closed her eyes and only nodded her head, smiling weakly at the idea.
She supposed she ran out her use for Castor.
"I suppose if we did get captured while we are sleeping it wouldn't matter."
she didn't know what she meant by and moved herself off the bed and by the fire, leaning against it as she stared at the flames. She smiled weakly.
She could fall asleep at any moment, but she wasn't sure how much she wanted to.
Too many questions begged at her mind as she rubbed a hand against her face.
She couldn't face to be so near to him, even if that's exactly what she needed.
And she was too confused and in no mental state to allow herself any rewards after a morning like that.
She had failed.
All of her hope was being taken from her.
And she'd be at nothing again.
"It would be easier to just fall asleep and forget." she used the poker at the logs,a nd watched the fire grow with flames. "Tomorrow is another day."
Then, with not much of another word, she resigned herself to Castor's suggestion, slipping off her clothing, wearing nothing, then she slipped under the blankets of the bed.
The clothes had been soiled anyways, stained iwth blood..
She'd find more in the morning.
Today had been...
difficult to say the least and soon she found herself becoming restless, fighting off the sleep she so desired until she became still and drifted off into the place of dreams.
Nothing could hold him, Castor knew. Even if they were captured and taken by surprise. He could destroy any bar or brace that tried to seal him from the light and air and the outside that he so loved and couldn't bear to part from. But the question was, not if they were to get captured, but rather would he help free Zarrah. She had yet to accomplish what she was looking for. The man she killed was not the one she spent years searching for.
Castor looked at her back woefully, biting his lip at the thought, wanting to help her if he could...but he knew she'd only push him away again. Sleep was the only thing that could help either of them in their exhaustion for now. He knew Zarrah would not be safe in the city. But safety, for either of them, was a dream best left forgotten. What would happen to her? How would she find Carnavus? What did it matter to him?
His heart went out to her, they were kindred spirits. He saw a great deal of himself in her, in fact, he wished she spoke more about the things that actually mattered to her aside from her quest for revenge. That one was obvious. But perhaps it was meant to be that they should just as easily walk away from another and go on to live the lives they were meant to. After all, even if he found the Relic, his journey had still only begun.
Castor laid back down from his sitting position, without the blankets for the fire from the furnace was enough to warm the room over. He felt his eyelids close, and he didn't fear the sleep he needed. It summoned him like the voice of the Creature that ruled his mind. That toyed with him, kept him, enslaved him, maimed him, protected him, dissected him... But at least now there were no nightmares. He was getting closer he knew, and the Demon for once showed an ounce of mercy to its servant.
When morning came, Castor was still drowsy, but rose with the dawn. The fire had died low and the morning heat had spread through the room. He saw that Zarrah was slumbering beside him, nude as it were. Perhaps it was best if he tried to get them something to eat. He brought back two hot bowls of stew and set them on the nightstand. He sat down beside her, laying a hand gently on her shoulder, nudging her gently.
"Wake up," he said softly. "You should eat if you can." He looked at her and tried to smile. "We need to talk about what happened. Why did you go the manor on your own?"
If she could do it, she would sleep all day, and would still do it as she grumbled and pressed her face into the pillow.
"Can't I sleep all day, and through tomorrow," she muttered, closing her eyes tighter and acting like a defiant child. But then she smelled the soup, realized the ton of his breath and opened one eye to peer back at him from where she was lying, only have clothed by the blankets on the bed, her dark hair, a mess across her face.
It was an interesting wake up call indeed.
'Come along. Wake up and tell me your life story.'
Because of the irony of the question, and seeing his smile through her sleepy eyes, she smiled back, took a nearby pillow and hit him playfully across the head with it before using the pillow to bury her face.
"Can I at least have another hour or something?" She groaned, sighing beneath the pillow as she recalled their plight and began to stretch beneath the blankets. "It is very rude of you to wake a sleeping lady from her slumber. I didn't catch a wink last night and I-"
It was then she paused, recalling what he asked and sighed from beneath the pillow again.
"My only answer I can give you is I'm a fool." she said simply, before pushing the pillow aside and sitting up, rubbing the heel of her hand against her eye as she yawned, not caring that she was naked - her hair only barely covering her chest (though not really) as she continued to rub at her eyes.
After a moment, she gave another irritable sigh and looked over at him. Then there was the smell of soup as she looked over at it, and a slow smile graced her lips.
"I'll tell you my whole life story if you just give me some cold water to drink," she jested with a smile, messy hair and bangs still hanging over her face before she took the blanket from the bed and draped it over her body, to appear, at least somewhat modest. She was staring at him, trying to get herself to smile, but it was evident there was pain beneath the surface...
and also, the more obvious tiredness of a woman who had just woken up from a much needed amount of sleep.
"What time is it?"
He wished they could, but he knew the sooner they left the city the better it would be for both of them. Castor was still tired as well, and fighting the sleep that drooped in his eyes. He yawned as he tried to wake her, and frankly wanted nothing more than to crawl in and join her... But would it truly be wise to leave now? Or was it better to stick around for a while, not leave the room, and see if they could get away by night. The news of their crime, no doubt would have spread by now. They'd have to find a way to sneak by the guards unnoticed, and it wasn't going to be easy.
"Maybe it's rude of you to sleep naked after trying to molest me, but I'm not complaining. You can sleep however you like, and go back to sleep in a while. I'm sure the guards are going insane trying to find out what happened at that manor and see who did it. It's best for us to lay low until night. We can leave by then." He noticed that he said we and not I, though he knew he had every inclination towards it. Why did he change his mind all of a sudden? And then he remembered the way Zarrah buried the knife into the imposter's face, gashing away any and all signs of recognition. If he could...he knew he had to at least help her get out of the city.
But what she said next caught him completely off guard and his smile faded, making him scoot back away from her for a moment. Now? All of a sudden? He didn't even answer when he left the room, and returned with a pitcher of it for the both of it. He filled one of the mugs by the desk and offered it to her. It wasn't sweating from the heat, but it was cool to the touch and would go down that way.
"It took you this long to decide to tell me? What made you change your mind?"
Her eyes only sparkled at his comment about her nudity. What? Hadn't he just seen everything about her anyways? Every raw inch of her...
When he left, she wasn't sure where he had run off to, and couldn't help but smile when he brought the water. Taking the mug happily, she lifted it to her lips and drank it down, making a most satisfying sigh once the mug was emptied. She then peered over at her current companion, eyes sparkling playfully for a moment before she turned her head, mug still cupped in her hand.
"Maybe ll I really wanted was that cup of water," she quipped. "And it seems you'd do just about anything to find out what's crawling underneath my skin." She smiled at him, a bit sadly, almost apologetically as she gauged him. What did he really want from her? And partly she had to wonder.. was it the same thing she wanted from him?
She smiled again, joking aside and leaned back against the wall the bed was pushed against. She held out the mug again, to see if he'd be kind enough to refill it, the request lingering in her eyes.
"Do you honestly want to know more about me?" she asked, studying him curiously. "But I suppose if that's what you wish," she said, turning away, looking down at the pillowing blankets tossed loosely over the bed. "Who am I to deny an explanation for a man whose saved my life more than once?" Zarrah's eyes returned to his again, smiling defeatedly.
There was a lot to tell.. a lot to explain for what had happened.
Castor only smiled shyly at her, averting his gaze. The truth of course wasn't that he'd do anything. It almost seemed insulting that he was almost programmed to come at ones beck and call. Though he was sure that probably wasn't her intention, it was a subconscious reaction that he felt stung him a little. He chuckled. "It's warm in here," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He got up and retrieved the pitcher, refilling the mug before placing it on the nightstand beside her.
He sat down on the bed, looking at the floor, hands intertwined together. She posed a riveting question. Did he want to know more about her? "What I want," he began, not looking at her quite just yet, "is the truth. What did Carnavus take from you that...made you this way? Who did he take from you? I want to know why you refused to listen to me when I tried to talk sense into you. I want to know what drove you to throw yourself into the pit of danger like that, when we had a plan to go by anyway. I'm sorry for 'selling' you. I didn't mean for it to happen that way. But I guess I should have expected that. Most things I don't mean to happen...often happen anyway.
"You can take your time. You don't have to spill it all at once," he finished. He kept his eyes averted, not finding the strength to look at her, knowing he was asking much from someone like her.
Zarrah listened to him quietly, her eyes studying him, even though his own averted her.
"You don't have to apologize," she smiled forcefully. "It was all part of our game, our plan. We were acting." She removed her eyes from him, looking towards her lap, which, she only then realized, how impolite it might seem to be naked as she hugged the blankets closer to her body and stared over at where the fire had long since died hours ago. "It's not your fault I...I chose to become reckless. I know very well I was being foolish, and I didn't care. I didn't care what happened to me."
For a long while, she did not speak, and only thought about today, yesterday and all the days past.
"Carnavus's world had been my world since I was twelve," she began, the sun was lazily rolling, its' warmth heating up the room as it peered in through the cracks in the blind. "My parents, though loving.... I suppose, fell on hard times for too many years. I remember being a skinny kid." She smiled, thinking about those few years spent with her family.
"But money speaks volume in the desert. My father could barely support himself, let alone a wife and child." She turned to Castor then, a weak smile gracing her lips. "So I was sold to him for a few mere silvers, but to a poor family, silver was enough for a few months of meager rations of food." She turned her gaze to the ceiling.
"I was terrified. Being young, I never knew much about life outside of my family's shop. Being sold to Caravnus,"s he closed her eyes, lips twitching. "It's hard to explain. I was afraid, but also excited. There was so much to see, but," she stared down at her lap again, laughing just on a breath through her nose. "Well, Carnavus found much for me to do. He tended to marry young, simply for the fact he liked to train his wives in the art of making love. He had an unsatiable desire for it and I-, well," here she laughed a little and rose from the bed.
"I suppose I should bore you with the details, but I was an exceptional pupil. But I wasn't stupid, I knew if I pleased my husband, and the more I pleased him,t he more I could gain. In turn, he eventually granted me some freedoms to leave his place and, as much as life seemed luxurious, to be a wife of some grand merchant, I dreamed of life outside his walls... of something much different than what he could give me. Yes, I was used a great deal by him, and in many ways I was never fond of, would never dream of and..."
she paused, letting her voice carry away, a smile waivering on her lips as they returned to the empty hearth.
"Life there wasn't my own. It was still a life I had to lead, costing my parents a few silvers." She smiled again and looked to her lap, her bangs hanging just over her eyes so her long lashes brushed against them. "When I was trusted enough to be granted some freedom, I traveled to the city and well, my desires to venture forth more and more on my own grew so much that I would do anything for my husband- becoming a slave to him for just those small slivers of freedom."
She smiled then, thinking back to Rassar.
"I eventually found purpose in my life, the thing that drove me to excess... the single reason for going on to live," here, she turned to Castor.
"Somehow, in this mixed up world I found myself in, I found myself falling in love. He was a commoner, an outsider, and he intrigued me. He was only visiting the city for a short time, but a short time was all it took. I did all in my power to visit him, and eventually, I realized what was forming between us- and well..."s he paused again, lowering her gaze. "He wanted to give me everything, and I, wanted him to. We planned a way to escape this life,.." her lips twitched, eyes glossing over sharply. "But our dreams were short lived. Carnavus found out, put an end to it, killing him and making a mockery of me. He shaved my head, threw me into the streets where I was stoned for my sins. When I survived, he dragged my body and threw me into a pile of rotting corpses to be sold to the highest bidder. I was turned into a slave and... well.."
Her voice cut short.
"Let's just say, I found a way out of that miserable existence with only one thing on my mind." she turned to Castor, smiling that same hollow smile as before. "Revenge."
It was then she rose from the bed, the bed sheets sliding off her body, colorful lights and shadows dancing off her beautiful naked flesh as she moved into the corner, retrieved some clothing, a shirt meant for Castor, and as she pulled her hair through, she sighed and let her dark hair fall about her shoulders.
"Now I suppose you've heard enough of my pathetic excuse or a story," she turned to him, composing her face again and smiled more fox like as she tugged the shirt around her body, it falling just to a length at mid thighs, perhaps shorter. "It's poisoned me ever since. But you stop caring when you find hope and it's taken from you. You think of only one thing, to get revenge on the single force stopping you from being happy."
She turned away from Castor then, staring at empty flames in the hearth, a place where fire yearned to breath, to grow..
"Our lives are too short to be miserable."s he added, more quietly. "Not everyone gets a second chance."
Castor was silent the entire time, letting her words sink in. At some point, Castor found himself laying back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was nothing like he truly thought. The entire time, from the destroyed caravan to this very moment, all her hints and references didn't even amount to the reality of her past. It made sense then, everything she had said and done. And it only made him avert his eyes from her further. He fixed ice-blue orbs to the ceiling, clenching his jaw, biting his lip until he felt the skin break and blood began to seep onto this tongue.
He understood now why she attacked him, why she did what she did, played her games. It was almost ingrained in her to do so. It made her so cynical at the world. There was no hope when the only hope you've ever known was snatched so violently from her. There was no room for forgiveness, though who she had to forgive, he didn't know. There was no room for happiness. Only damnation. Castor felt his eyes grow hot, wondering if his own choices had left him with nothing. Going to hell and back to obtain a freedom he didn't even know was certain.
He took a deep breath, however, and calmed himself before the dam broke. Reach up, he wiped his bleeding lip. He pondered her last words. Not everyone got a second chance. "Indeed," he found himself saying aloud. The tangled web, at last, was woven, its intricacies – all for him to see. "Now I know why you didn't say anything in the bath house. And why you savaged that man's face. Whoever he was."
Finally he found the strength to get up from his position on the bed, sitting up and looking at her with confusion. "Why didn't you leave then? Was Carnavus really worth the effort? But – I suppose that was a stupid question. You want to make him bleed for everything he's done to you, I know. More than bleed."
Castor reached into his belt and pulled out the worn, soft, cloth of the map, one fourth of it worn away completely and torn from the rest of it. It was so delicate and frail it almost seemed to want to turn to dust solely by contact. He opened it up on the mattress, trying not to ruin it any further than it was. He squinted down at it. "This is what I was looking for. But...I can't make any sense of it. I've never been to the desert before this. But I know what I seek is somewhere on this map. I think it's this odd symbol. I don't know what it means." He pointed to a strange symbol on the map that consisted of two triangles reflecting one another. The one above had a blackened eye at the center, while it's opposite was a negative of it.
He looked at her with a somber expression. "I know what it's like to want something so bad you can feel the breath of it on your flesh...only to have it snatched away so quick, it was almost as if it was the wind. If you help me find this tomb, to get the item I seek, I will help you kill Carnavus. I'll tear apart piece by piece, and make every part of him suffer for everything he's done to you. And for him to be in possession of this map, I'm sure he knows what this means. He must, or he wouldn't have tried to protect it. That means he will want what I want. And the enemy of my enemy...is my friend."
Zarrah let Castor talk, so he could reflect and properly digest what she said.
To her, it seemed pathetic, maybe even to him, it would sound like a pathetic tale. She only smiled at herself.
"Don't let my vengeance rub off on you," she quipped, smirking over at him, appreciating his sentiment, before peering down at his map. She folded her arms across her chest and studied it. "It looks so old, the paper could crumble at your touch." she had reached a hand out for her, but retracted it, curling her fingers up as she realize she recognized the symbol.
"That symbol..." her eyes widened as she took a step back, then looked up at Castor's face. "I've seen it before in the deserts. Out to the West." She shook her head, disbelieving it. "Sometimes it's buried under sands as the dunes shift but... " She pressed her lips together.
"I know what you're looking for."
He laughed and shook his head, he didn't mean it like that. But the map took his attention first as he studied it. Or tried too. The ink that was traced across it, a series of what he suspected were landmarks, were extremely faded and seemed as if they would blow away with the slightest touch. It was old, obviously, possibly thousands of years old. How it survived this long, he didn't know.
He peered at her wide-eyed when she said she recognized it. It was almost too good to be true. Good gods, if there was truly fate, things were aligning in his favor. Though he didn't know how long that would last. "Then this is where we go next? Look, if Carnavus has left the city, he could be anywhere in this expanse. And if he wants this Relic." Castor bit his lip in thought.
But with a sigh, he looked her square in the eye. "If we get it first, we can use it to draw him out. Like maggots to rotting meat, he'll come. What does it mean? How far is it? Should we leave now?"
Zarrah couldn't help but melt a little, smiling at his eagerness.
"I think I need clothes, first," she said, pressing one finger to his lips to get him to calm. She gave him a look, then turned away as she peered out, cautiously, through the window, but staying well enough sealed behind the blinds so no one could detect her.
"Castor..." she began, biting into her lower lip. "About Carnavus... Let's.. just.. ignore him for now? Ok? If this map says what I think it says,"s he peered over her shoulder.
"Getting you that relic is worth more than my petty revenge."
Her eyes kept to his.
At least she, had her freedom-
he was bound to the metal on his hands..
and what a fool she was for chasing after revenge and selling herself away!
She still felt horrible for it, but the least she could do was help another.
"Let's leave here as soon as we get some new clothes," she added with a smirk. "Though I doubt you'd mind seeing me in this all day." she said, hands to her hips as her legs were exposed, a sleeve hanging down her shoulder, and making her look rather irresistible wearing only his shirt in the dim light of the room.
Naturally, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease him-
after all, it was what started their friendship, was it not?
A confused expression caught his face. How could something so important to her suddenly take a back seat? But if there was a way for them to both get what they wanted...he would seek that route, no matter the cost. The end would justify the means. His eyes went back to the map, focusing on its design, studying it every which way so that it wouldn't matter if he had it or not. The map was bound to dissolve with time. It was not made to last forever. And it seemed, fate would have its final moments with him.
Castor grinned up at her. Finally there was something to follow up on after all this time. Frankly he was getting sick of all this running around and would just as well break out of this city now. But he remembered it wasn't just him anymore. Zarrah was helping him, Zarrah was going to show him what the symbol meant, and...Zarrah was half-naked.
He looked at her with raised brows, unsure of what to say. He bit his lip and cleared his throat, looked back at the map. "So, uh, Should we still wait till nightfall to leave? I doubt these desert prisons are anything to sneer at. Even if I can rip the bars from their bearings."
Zarrah raised her brow at him, noticing how he cleverly avoided her question. So she merely waltzed up to him, a hand hoovering over the map in hopes to get his eyes to pay attention to her.
"Night fall would be most wise, but also dangerous," she informed him. "And we still haven't resolved the other issue."
She stood there for a time, just staring at him before shifting her weight to the other hip.
"I.. still.. need clothes." she told him, her voice most serious, her eyes still latching to his and well...
It was true.
She needed clothes.
ANd it was also, just a little bit, fun to harass Castor over the matter.
They had already slept together- and she had showed him.. quite a lot through that experience.
Not to mentioned, he'd seen her break down, go on a suicidal kill on her lonesome...
and did her, standing there, half naked, really jar him that much?
It was a cute thing to think about-
meaning, old tricks could be played again.
"Oh...uh, right," he said, looked back up at her. It wasn't that it jarred him. In fact it was quite distracting, and he was finding it was more difficult to focus and in fact, he might have other ideas than worrying about finding clothes for her.
He swallowed hard on a dry throat and got up to get some water for himself. The room was warm from the desert heat anyway, but it wasn't helping matters further. "Can't you wear what I left behind?" he suggested, but his tone was far from sounding as if he was serious about it. He took another drink.
"I think after all that blood from last night," he said, looking at her. "I think you should probably take another bath." He glanced at himself and shook his head. "Maybe I should too. We'll find you something afterward. Maybe steal it from someone else. Somebody's bound to have something – er – tasteful.
Zarrah smirked at the idea of bathing, holding her tongue to tease him more.
But oh, how she could have teased him. but she took pity, recalling how sweetly he had tended to her, so she approached and gently took his hand.
"I still owe you for last night," she said, squeezing his hand lightly as she tried to search his eyes. "But a bath sounds like a good idea. If we can afford another, but I suppose we could share?" she jested, pulling her hand away and giving him a devilish grin. OK, perhaps she was that wicked.
"How about I get freshened up and you find me some clothes?" she suggested, leaning over him and giving him a smirk. "Unless you don't mind being in the bathing house at the same time as me," she leered at him, then pulled away, gathering up what was left of her clothing as she frowned. "We might want to make a fire to burn this evidence." she told him, turning to him more seriously. "And, we need to keep in mind, no where is safe."
Castor shook his head, putting the mug down and heading toward the door. "No, no, I don't mind at all. We'll save time if we take it together." His face turned red a little. "I mean, at the same time! he corrected himself. He shook his head again, stalking to the door. He checked the weight of the purse his belt and figured they could afford it. Besides it was going to be a while since he had another bath again, he assumed. Might as well go all out.
Before he opened it he reached for the blanket and wrapped it around her waist to give her some covering. He took the bloody clothes from her hands and shoved them in the fireplace, burying them underneath the amount of ash that was left from all its usage. He peeked out the window, barely moving the heavy curtain to peer at the people down below. "The guards are thicker out there than normal," he commented, "But they don't seem to be making a great big fuss. I think we'll be okay."
Castor put another log into the fire place, lighting it carefully, but so that the cloth would burn as well. "When we come back, it should be destroyed by then," he said, coming back to the door. He opened it and stalked down to the bathhouse, having paid for two separate tubs of water.
He handed Zarrah hers. "Here. If you hear anything unusual, alert me. I don't think they'll find us here, but like you said, nowhere is safe."
Zarrah gave an impish smile at his statement and blush, then simply followed his lead. It was rather charming he kept trying to keep her modest. Perhaps, for his sake, she'd find a nice dress and.. well, there's a thought! She could wear more civilized clothing. Though she had taken a liking to making her body.. appealing, and a rare time like this it had it's nice quirks, but well...
She studied Castor as they walked.
Maybe things were meant to happen this way.
As they entered the bath house, she smiled at him.
"We might be safer sharing a tub," she said, fingers walking up his chest. "Though perhaps another time?" She leaned in, almost kissing him. "When things become safer." she breathed the words across him, then retrieved her water and moved away.
"I'll be in the next stall over," she said, smirking over her shoulder before disappearing behind curtains and wall.
He'd be able to see her silhouette through the thin walls as she dropped the blanket to the ground, his shirt pillowing on top of it and remained a beautiful, brilliant, naked silhouette. She moved to pour the water into a tub, and took her time, making noises to indicate just how much she was truly enjoying her body being dipped into the nice, clean bath.
Once settled, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes-
Yes, bathing was a nice idea indeed.
Carnavus would never suspect them to be so foolish....
He watched her silhouette for a moment, taking it in before shaking his head and moving on. Why did she have to do that all the time? Was there ever a moment that she didn't try to be sensual? And why now of all times when they finally knew where to go? She was trying to drive him mad. He supposed she couldn't help it really, and he could at least humor her after all she'd been through. She seemed almost programmed to never turn it off!
Castor walked to his own stall and filled the tub before undressing and slipping in. He didn't make nearly as much noise as she was, and gave only a soft, quiet sigh as he leaned back and relaxed after he'd done all his washing. He laid his head back against the rim and closed his eyes. All he could think about was the Relic, the image flashed through his mind.
Vaguely he drifted off, still tired from having not gotten much sleep, mind reflecting back on the vault, the map, the Relic. He tried to keep himself calm, they would be there soon. Soon...
He didn't see the shadow appear from the roof above, crouching on the wall partitions, a figure cloaked in white. Carefully he sipped from the wall, stepping softly to the floor, and moving behind Castor. He moved a string over neck and when it was close enough he yanked hard on the wire. Castor went wide-eyed, feeling his air suddenly cut off, his arms flailing back and forth as he tried to pry metal fingers between the wire and his neck. He couldn't call out, feeling his face grow numb. The wire went tighter as he continued to struggle. He tried to reach back at the assailant with his other arm to no avail before sending his hand banging on the side of the time, slamming the iron for all it was worth.
Eventually, even Zarrah relaxed, thinking back to all that had transpired. Had it really only been a few days? So much had happened, so much had...
She thought she saw movement and held her breath.
Then a noise.
She turned to observe a silhouette move over Castor.
Her eyes widened. With on weapons on her, she had to act fast.
Water gushed off her body as she made a hasty retreat from her tub-
and moments later she was behind the fool who tried to kill Castor-
soap forced into their mouth, the blanket, over their head then pulled tight.
The roles, being reversed, the white cloaked figure released it's hold on Castor as Zarrah struggled with them. The man fought fiercely, bashing Zarrah against the wall as he went about frantically trying to breath, one wall collapsing ontop of another in a short domino affect in the bath house.
Zarrah gritted her teeth, feeling her anger and adrenaline rush through her body, as she used the man's struggling momentum against him, whirling him around then- down- and bashed his head clean off the tub.
The break was clean, and the man fell to the ground, blood seeping through the white hood of his robes....
Standing over the mess and breathing heavy, she turned to Castor and examined him.
"Are you alright?"
Lights flashed before Castor's eyes as the wire tightened and there was nothing he could do to defend against it. His face had turned a terrible hue of purple and he thought he would surely die. For all his strength, he would die by the force of a thread. Suddenly the weight lifted from his neck and he had no sense to register what was happening around him. He heard violent noises as he tried to regain his breath.
His neck stung something mad, a hand reaching up and cradling his throat, a red mark appearing where the wire had made contact. He gurgled, his head pounding with the lack of oxygen, and it's sudden return. When at last he felt Zarrah by his side, he moaned, trying to find the sense to form words. He leaned against the side of the tub, breathing hard.
"I-I think so," he croaked, managing at least that. He twisted around, looking at the bloodied assassin on the floor. He didn't know who could have sent them, but was clear it was someone who knew where to find them. Carnavus, he thought. Who else could it be? But then again. Castor turned back to Zarrah, putting an arm around her shoulders, embracing her tightly for saving his life.
"You were right," he croaked again. "A shared tub would have been safer."
OOC: See? If only he'd given in to her sexiness... lol
IC: Zarrah tensed a moment when she was brought into his arms, after all, they were both very nude. Then at his comment, she smirked.
"I don't know about that one," she teased before trying to find his face, then her concern went to his neck as her fingers gently traced over the mark, but with drew, knowing it probably still ached and instinctively, her hands went to her own throat where the cut she had received still remained as a mark.
Then, recalling their earlier ventures, she took a moment to look over his body, noticing his wounds were healing nicely, despite all that had occured and gave a small smile.
"It looks like Carnavus isn't foolish after all," her eyes returned to his. "We won't be able to wait until night fall to leave."
She spied the dead body and frowned, the moved to grab Castor his towel.
"Let's get dry and get out of here. Who knows how many more assassins he could send."
[She's a sexual predator!]
She was right after all. Gods damn her for being right. He didn't need to be told twice. He was clean enough as it was. His throat protested against any rapid movement and as well as his head, which woozed in dizziness as he tried to quickly stand. Still he managed, holding on to the tub as a support before taking her offered towel. He wrapped it around his waist first before kneeling beside the body.
He turned it over, pulling off the bloodied mask and was taken aback at the face he saw. "It's the clerk," he said. "He must have been working for Carnavus this whole time. Gods be damned. He would have tried to take the map. But why bother killing us? Maybe that's just what he meant to do this whole time." He shook it off. "Here, he's about your size. You put his clothing on," he directed.
Castor stood up and dried himself off quickly before slipping into his own clothes. "Hurry. I'll go check the room and get the map. What's the fastest route out of this city?"
OOC: lol
IC:
Zarrah held her breath. So they were being deceived. Though, she doubted the clerk knew of their intentions early on. She wondered if the excessive gold Castor carried brought on the undesirable attention?
At his mention of clothes, she nodded, ignored the blood, slipped off the clothe from the fresh corpse, and slipped it onto her own body. Looking towards Castor she gestured. "Let's get to the room. The fastest way out of this desert is through the Oasis, but that's the road most traveled. I could lead you on a more round about route around the city, but there's only a few real ways to get where we need to be going." Zarrah shook her head. "We'll need supplies before we go to." Her eyes narrowed as she swore beneath her breath. "Carnavus..." her hands clenched into angry fists. That man would forever haunt her dreams. She would kill him.
The real one next time.
And she would love every moment of it and watch him suffer as his life would slowly bleed away.
Castor stood up when he was dressed and did just that, walking quickly back to the room. The tavern room was relatively empty, not a sound, not a soul in sight. He opened the door and rushed to the tangled bed, relieved at least that the map was still there. He snatched it up and rolled it a small scroll and tucked it into his belt.
Turning back to glance at her, he noticed the blood on her clothing was a lot less than it had been when he found her the night before. Nobody would truly notice unless they were looking for it. Most of it was on the headpiece anyway, and she had no need of that now did she? Castor moved back to the window, watching the streets thicken with people. If they were lucky, they could disappear within the crowd.
"Okay, we go down to the market stalls and buy enough food and water with the gold left. First we get out of the city. Then we'll think of a way to get to the tomb. You know the desert better than I do, lead on."
"No one knows the location where I hid myself in the desert. We could use that as a safe haven to rest after we get supplies. I have some supplies there, but you can never predict the desert. Always be wary of that warning, Castor, for it could cost you your life."
Nodding toward Castor, she eyed every nook and cranny before slipping out with him into the streets.
"We have to be careful who we buy from. Merchant's alley is full of extra guards and spies." She fixed the wrap more securely over her face, her eyes searching. She then turned back to Castor, eyeing him up.
"We need to get you a head wrap." She spotted a shop, as good as any and waved the merchant down. She procured alight wrap for his head, and moved to help him fashion it.
"There, " she said, securing it in place. "Now, at least our faces will be hidden amongst the crowd."
She smirked at him, letting her eyes meet to his for a while as she took him in.
"Who would have thought a chance encounter in the desert, had I killed you, look at all the fun we'd miss?" the joke was meant to lighten the mood, as everything around them was tense. Her eyes searched the area again, before she gestured towards Castor to follow her deeper into the merchant alleyways. "We need to act casual. Buy some water, dried meats and fruits, anythign to help us survive the desert incase the worst."
Pausing, she thought she saw something and drew a hand on Castor, hoping he'd stay put. "I think I see one of Carnavus's men." she whispered, spying him through a drapery of beads and pearls hanging on display. Her eyes narrowed. "That's definitely Nimzah. We need to be careful, he has a lot of men who work for him." she spoke, her voice lowering as she glanced around, up towards the window... feeling watched, as if eyes were always on them.. always watching..
"There's a water merchant over there. Let's make this quick," she said, motioning to Castor. The vendor was only a few mere paces from 'Nimzah'-and Zarrah kept her cool, observing everything with as much nonchalance as she could.
Who would have thought indeed? Who would have thought that she wouldn't have left the city after she left him stripped and humiliated in the oasis the way she did. It was an odd turn of events to consider, and Castor had to wonder to if something greater wasn't at play. It was too convenient. But then again, maybe neither of them was nearly as smart as they thought they were.
He felt strange, wandering through these stalls with that ridiculous wrap on his head, but who was he to protest. Castor knew he was such an obvious foreigner that he needed something to help him blend in. While she procured him the head wrap, he found a robe to cover himself with, and more importantly, his hands.
He stayed put, feeling his nerves want to get the better of him. He saw the man called Nimzah coming through the crowd, walking slowly. But he was getting far too close for comfort. Castor didn't looked up from the wares at the vendor nearest them and leaned in close to Zarrah. He felt his heart in his ears, but still he did his best to remain casual. But when he felt eyes close in on him, he turned to face Zarrah and leaned in close to her face.
He sealed his lips to hers, leaning his head to hide his face from Nimzah as he strolled by. The man's eyes were speculative however and roved over them curiously in their display. All the while, Castor could feel his heart speed up with the spy so close at hand. He wrapped his arms around Zarrah, his hands still cloaked by the white robe and kissed her harder, until he was sure Nimzah had walked away.
At last he pulled away, casting ice-blue eyes in his direction. "He's gone now," he whispered.
She hadn't expect it, her heart fluttering within her chest, even faster when he kissed her harder.
They could be caught at any moment but still he...
Then he spoke, and she smiled slowly in response to his comment.
The vendor cleared his throat.
"So... do you still want the water?" he asked sheepishly?
Pushing away from Castor, but still smiling and dizzy over their 'act', she nodded and put her hand out. "We might even need extra." she told the vendor, her eyes still sparkling and cheeks still burning. THe vendor blushed.
"Yes, well, I can sell all that you need in terms of water." the man cleared his throat again, looking to Castor expectantly.
Zarrah did the same thing, giving him a smug smile, one that was revealed through her wrap since it had become loose and fallen from her lips last when they kissed.
And then something sailed past their faces in a blur, striking the vendor as he made a noise.
Zarrah's eyes widened as she whirled around, watching the vendor fall as he had a dart in his throat. She clutched at Castor's hand.
"We need to move."
Pulling him along, she pushed through the crowd.
So much for trying to be obscure.
Pushing and weaving through the masses, she knew the men would be hot on their trail. They needed to make a hasty retreat- but how and to where?
Thankfully (even though it was a bit of an irritation), they would find themselves weaving through the back alley ways and streets, turning this corer, than that, in and out and all around.
Her lungs burned, her feet were on fire, but they had to keep moving- they had to lose the men. It wasn't until something caught her eye-
a stable full of horses.
She didn't waste any time as she grabbed Castor's hand and pulled him along.
Breathing heavy, she made quick work to un-tether a pair of horses. They were rare animals here in the desert, but she knew they'd be fast. They could at least get to the Oasis.
"We can use the horses to outrun the men to the Oasis." she informed him, eyes searching him, then around him and the stable before she gestured for him so they could get a move on it.
It was all happening so fast. One moment they were standing there, gathering water when suddenly, an object moved faster than his sight. It was aimed at him it seemed as he felt it whizz past him like a gust of air and sink into the vendor's throat. The next moment Zarrah was pulling him along. He ran beside her, going wherever she went, as he heard people hot on their tail. Castor knew he could take care of them no problem if they stopped for a moment. But if they could leave them in the dust, all the better.
Castor was taken back the horses however, first trying to catch his breath. He'd never ridden before. Never had a reason to do so. But he supposed there was no time to learn quite like the heat of the moment. So he jumped onto the back of a blood bay mare, grabbing onto the hair and figured his horse would follow Zarrah's.
"Go! C'mon! I'll follow you!" he said, before digging his heels into the horses side, nudging her to move forward. The horse wasn't happy about his extra weight, not that she couldn't carry him, but she stood up and neighed wildly, as Castor fought to get her under control. He squeezed her side with his legs until she calmed down. "Easy," he bellowed to the horse, who did ease down once she figured she wasn't going to get him off her back.
Zarrah slipped onto the back of a horse, black as night, except a single diamond of white on it's forehead and mark before it's tail, and kicked it heavy, giving a shout as the two bolted out of there like bats out of hell.
The city was in an uproar, but soon, the two had the city eating their dust, as the horses thundered across the scorching lands. Zarrah knew it wouldn't take long for the horses to tire, but they could abandoned them by the Oasis to drink (it would be foolish to bring them deeper into the desert, though not impossible).
And soon the two had made it to the Oasis.
It was a hot hour, both horse and rider being slicked with sweat as Zarrah slipped off the back of her horse and guided him to the stream.
he was hot to the touch, and nearly gagged as he began gobbling up the water.
Zarrah did the same, splashing her face and hair before scooping some into her own hand for a drink.
The Oasis was empty at this hour, the sun still raised high in the sky, making travel impossible.
More laundry fluttered on abandoned lines twined between trees- it was the only real noise, besides the gentle rustle of palm trees and the drinking of the horses as Zarrah quietly observed the world around them.
OOC: 400th post! woo!
I'm slowly gaining on your 7,000 :P
When the horse bolted off like greased lightning, Castor's arm when around the mare's neck holding on for dear life as the horse followed the black stallion in front of her, almost wildly. He held on as they bolted out of the city, crashing through stalls, people barely barreling out of their destructive path.
The miles between the city and the oasis seemed small as the horse jostled Castor, his robe soaking through from both their sweat, the horse's nostrils red and raw from hard breathing in the desert heat. Two black shadows passing across the landscape, leaving behind the scraps of humanity. Yet both were destined to rot in time. It was the way of Men.
Castor fell from the mare's side as they finally reached the oasis, adrenaline coursing through him and he found no power to hold on any longer. He was amazed he didn't strangle the horse, but then again he wasn't trying to kill her...only to keep her from killing him. Castor laid on the cool sand by the waterside, trying to catch his breath.
He was surprised that such a normally populated area was empty as well, and eventually he found the energy to roll over on his hands and knees and crawl to the water, pulling off his headwrap and dunking it into the spring. As he soaked it, he pulled it out and squeezed the water out all over his face, relishing the coolness. He drank handfuls of water, cupping it into his mouth and drinking heartily.
He looked at Zarrah, knowing they made it barely by the skin of their teeth. "How far is your hideout?" he asked through bouts of breath.
[Good luck!]
"A ways pass the blinding sun," she informed, wiping her brow of sweat and water before looking around them. She knew the Oasis had chances to be empty at this hour, but this seemed too convenient. Her eyes scouted the area after she raised herself to her feet, her horse doing the same as it moved to another location further down the waters before collapsing and then the sickening snap was heard.
The horse let out a fierce now, crying out as it brayed wildly, blood gushing from it's leg that a trap now was sealed to, biting into it's bleeding, swelling, sweating flesh.
Zarrah's eyes widened as she backed away, then tensed, realizing-
"Castor, don't move," her eyes scanned the area.
There were more trap.
Many more traps and if they weren't careful, they too, would fall pray to them.
She cursed herself. The horse was injured. It was of no use to her now.
Her eyes scanned the Oasis.. but again, there was only silence, except the noise of the upset horse.
"We have to be careful. Carnavus's men have-" but her words were cut short as a dart sunk into her leg. Eyes widening, she quickly yanked the thing out and paled. Poison...
She had an antidote back in her hide away...
but would they even make it there in time?
Throwing the dart aside, she lipped out a pair of blades and threw one in the direction of her enemy- the blade now protruding out from his neck as blood bubbled from the wound, and the man went down- while several men sprouted out from the Oasis around them.
Her eyes widened, but she braced herself, more knives drawn.
"Be careful of your footing and those darts!" she shouted to Carnavus, dancing lightly to parry the attacks from an oncoming foe. "They're poisonous!"
It's like they sprouted up from the very sands themselves. They were lying in wait, for who knew how long. It seemed the long arm of Carnavus did not end with the city. If that was the case, they could leave no survivors, or they'd have one hell of a time trying to get to Zarrah's hideout.
Castor didn't need to be told to stay put. After the horse yelped the way it did, neighing in maddening pain, the mare he'd ridden on bolted from the start, dashing away toward the cliffside, intending to get as far away from the chaos as possible. Castor watched as several assailants sprang up from the dirt like weeds on a farm, unwanted, and annoying. He stayed put as three surrounded him. One shot a dart in his direction but he ducked just in time to avoid it while another rushed at him with a blade.
He took off the robe that slowed him down, swinging it out to distract the man's gaze as he slammed his opposing fist into his shoulder, breaking his arm therein. He connected with the other, right into his head, crushing it as if it were made of glass. The other two pressed the assault despite what happened to their comrade. One wielded a chain and swing it at him, a blade attached to the end of it. Castor raised a gauntleted fist just in time for the steel to clash against Cynwulfen, sparks flying. He stepped back, avoiding a bear trap just in time.
However he lost his balance at the moment and fell back. Seeing the chain coming down on him, he quickly rolled off to the side, sand flying up where the blade made impact. He was fast, climbing to his feet and leaping to strike at the assailant's shoulder and slamming both fists into his back, breaking it thoroughly and stepping on his head.
The third assassin was much faster, wielding twin scythes, one in each hand. Castor leaned back as the assassin spun around, waving the blades around a hundred miles a minute. The strikes were a blur, and all he could do was try to put ground between them. However, she kept advancing, sparks flying as they connected with Cynwulfen. Castor caught in time a blade coming down on his head, and shifted his weight to ram her to the floor. She threw one of the scythes, the blade spinning like those goddamned darts.
He launched a fist at the flying blade, shattering it pieces as it made contact. Castor jumped on her, slamming her hard in the chest and beating her in a rage until her head was little more than a bloody pulp. There were more assassins still, their movements were careful to maneuver around the traps they'd lain in the sand. His eyes turned to an animals as he drove toward them. His feet were quick to cover the distance and he threw himself recklessly on two of the remaining assassins, driven in a blind rage, tearing them both to pieces.
"C'mon, pigfucker," he spat at another, ready to kill, embracing the beast within. "Kill me! Do it now!" he yelled, before charging again.
It was a mad dance- avoiding death from the assassins, and death from the traps that laid, unseen in their wake. She was light on her feet, twirling about with knives and fans-
A quick gash against one mans' face, a slit to the throat of another, and another who rammed her, met with her blade well spent in his gut as they both fell to the ground, the man on top of her, his eyes, slowly fading away without life.
Zarrah gritted her teeth and pushed him aside, whipping her head aside to assess what was going on, and barely catching glimpses of Castor's blind rage. She had almost not seen the blurred movement before her, and was quick to turn at the noise, a slash across her cheek flashed, but she grabbed the wrist, twisted, and tossed the man to the air, rolling on her back to do so as he fell several feet away into the vicious snap of a trap.
He only made a few noises before settling into silence, his body twitching with the few last flecks of life.
Her eyes turned away, body rising off the Oasis floor as she looked around- spotting the blood soaked trees, and the blood soaked linens that fluttered in the air.
It was then she turned to spotting Castor rushing forward like a bore.
If that fool wasn't careful..
"Castor, the trap!" she shouted, and made quick work of her knife, throwing it towards it, the blade triggered the trap, the jaws snapping shut just seconds before Castor would trample blindly forward. She grimaced. What ferocity he had, like a wild animals-
and all the while even she was stained in blood.
There were only a few men left, one- it seemed Castor was about to handle, the other, advanced from his rear.
She drew out her fan, pushing it open against her face as she eyed him up...
then drew back, snapped her wrist and sent the bladed fan flying..
and it tore right across his face, sending the man into a wild panic as the bloody gash tore across his eyes.
Moving light across the ground, she advanced towards Castor- hoping these were the only two left.
He only heard the snap as he charged the last two assassins, making short work of them. One of them managed to sink a blade into his shoulder, but his anger was his shield and he saw and felt no pain as it sunk in. He broke the assassin's neck, leaving him limp in the sand, just toppling over his partner, who suffered a shredded throat.
Castor turned back to Zarrah, ripping the dagger from his shoulder and dropping it to the ground. He saw the other assassin fall to the ground, eyes bloodied and dead, if not, dying. Castor calmed down, looking around at the damage that had been done. From the looks, these were the last ones. They could only hope. But they couldn't afford to stick around to find out.
"We have to get moving," he said. The horse was already to the hills and he wondered if they should catch up to it. But it was bad enough carrying water for them. He knew it'd only be more with the horse, which would only die in a matter of days no matter what they did. Castor reached down and searched amongst the bodies, careful to avoid whatever active traps there still were. He found a sizeable waterskin, filled to the brim, and found another to criss-cross on his body. He did so, knowing they'd at least have enough to make it for a while, though he suspected it would be best if Zarrah carried some as well. Food wouldn't hurt either.
As the moment calmed, Zarrah released a breath, relieved to see Castor move away from the fight and focus on other things.
It was then she took time to look at her leg, which still pinched from the pain of the poison. She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore it, wondering, if she might be lucky enough to find an antidote among the dead.
She made her way around, searching quickly for the men who had blown the poison dart on her and began to search his body frantically, tearing through his clothes, searching his pouches but only finding...
More poisoned darts.
Her lips sagged into a frown.
She'd be damned if she'd die from a stupid dart.
Rising off the ground she turned to Castor, then looked out towards the desert where the horse was still walking nervously about half a mile away from the Oasis.
If only they could get to the mare...
She frowned.
Would she have to trek it on foot? And risk getting her blood flowing to quicken the pace of the poison.
"Help me search the men,"s he said suddenly, moving to another assassin's corpse.
"The dart that hit me was poisonous. I need the antidote, and quick." fear raced through her veins as she searched, time not on her side.
She knew she shouldn't waste her luck looking here, considering the only option seemed to be traveling on foot.
The assassin she looted was empty.
Cursing, she moved on to frantically search the next.
Castor looked at her with confusion, which quickly turned into alarm as the he realized the place where the dart had struck her. He had been so caught up in the chaos that he didn't have time to notice that she'd been hit. His own shoulder was sore and bleeding just a bit, but he was otherwise unscathed. Quickly he joined in her search, not quite knowing what he was looking for other than antidote.
"What does it look like?" he asked, but he knew they probably didn't have much time to be particular about it. The first of the three assassins to die had a small, tiny vial of clear liquid inside. He wasn't sure if it was the antidote, but snatched it up anyway. "Is this i?" he asked, hoping he was right, or she'd be dead quite soon. If it wasn't, then perhaps...
"If it doesn't work," he said. "I'll suck the poison out. I've seen it done. But I hope to the devils that works." He said. He shoved the thing in her hand, before turning back to the bodies, continuing a search just in case.
Zarrah was stung by his suggestion-
She knew the risks involved with drawing the poison out by mouth and hardened at the idea. Looking down at the vial, her eyes widened as she realized..
"This is the antidote!" she said, only to hear the hiss of a snake a moment later. Gasping, she dropped the bottle the moment the serpent went to strike, the glass dropping and shattering between the great snap of the serpent's fangs.
Zarrah was barely able to get two steps out of the way as the snake reared up, hissing at her and flaring out it's tongue.
It was a cobra.
She froze, keeping her gaze with it's and tested the snake, but every which way she moved, the damned thing followed her.
Growling, she moved, the snake lunged forward, snapping at her hand- but it missed, and she, quicker than light, drew out a blade and sliced the things head off.
It fell to the ground, landing on top of the sands that were soiled with the antidote serum.
Zarrah's gritted her teeth, merely staring at the sands.
Assassins, poison, snakes...
It seems the odds were against them. A moment later, she let out a yell, her blade slicing angrily into the serpent before she rose to her feet, and began frantically searching the next corpse.
"There has to be more!" she said wildly, digging through the dead man's clothe.
But what she found..
nothing..
angered, she moved to the next, and to the next, until it seemed all corpses were searched and then the last..
she found a vial, her eyes lit up and as she lifted it to the sun..
noticed there was but a few drops inside and her smile quickly faded as she stared at it..
dry and indifferent as the sands...
The snake was an annoying surprise, but Castor kept his distance. There weren't too many snakes in the mines he grew up in, so he was stock still, helpless and only watching what Zarrah was going to do. He saw in horror as the vial smashed to the sand. The glass must have been made so frail to have fallen like that and shatter so easily. He thrust his body into the sands, no heed to the serpent. He scrambled to try and salvage something of the antidote, only to fall short.
He only watched with saddened eyes as she tried to find another vial. "There's none," he murmured, knowing full well she already knew that. He crawled over to her, staring at the wound. He bit his sore lip, which still hurt from the night before and frowned. He truly didn't know what possessed him to suggest such a stupid idea, but it was their only choice if they were going to buy time to get to her hideout.
It must have been far, no doubt, but it was worth a try. After all he still needed her to lead him to the temple. He shifted his head and inspected the dart wound before putting his lips to it, making sure to suck out but not swallow the poisoned blood therein. He spat it out, making sure to spit thoroughly before going at it again. By now, the blood most likely was penetrated enough already. He put his mouth to her leg once more and sucked as much as he could before spitting it into the dirt. He coughed and opened the water skin, washing his mouth out before spitting one last time.
"That should be enough. How do you feel?" he asked, standing.
Zarrah remained numb as Castor tended to her. She felt so worthless she wanted to cry. but she held it all back and just let him work. Her leg was already tingling, but as his lips sealed over the wound, she shivered. His lips were warm and the motion, not quite unwelcome, but she still felt uneasy for it as he sucked the poison out.
When he was done, she still felt numb and said nothing, her eyes averting his.
Then she wriggled her toes, moved her legs and turned to him, appearing fully composed.
"I think that did the trick," she said, smirking at him. "Though perhaps next time, if I want your lips on my leg I should ask?" She turned away, smiling still as she moved to raise herself off the ground, now keeping her face away from him as she teased. "It wasn't exactly fun to think my life was on a timer, though, I'd suggest I ought to take it easy but.." She sighed, again, her back still to him as she stared out at the desert, the horse appearing so far away.
"I wonder how difficult it would be to get that horse back." she thought out loud, aiming to change the subject. They had to move along anyway.
He didn't have the patience for her jesting at this moment, they still needed to get out of this godforsaken place. But that didn't stop a blush from forming on his face. He rubbed it off however and dusted himself of. At least she was able-bodied enough to continue. He'd hate to leave his only lead back here to rot in the desert. What a waste of flesh.
Looking out to the distance, the horse wasn't far away. But she didn't look like she was planning on coming back anytime soon. Castor carefully stepped out of the realm of the Oasis, pulling out a fruit that hung on a branch and sunk his teeth into it. Tearing off a piece he offered another to Zarrah to eat before they ventured on.
He looked out toward the horse and began to jog in its direction. She saw him coming and took several steps away, but as he approached cautiously, hand out holding the fruit as peace offering. Castor dropped it to the ground, as the horse, tired and skittish approached. Slowly she nibbled on it, tantalized by its sweetness. It was then that Castor snuck around behind it and jumped on her back yet again, holding on for dear life as the horse bucked and kicked wildly trying to get him off her. But he clung on stubbornly until the horse was too tired to protest further, and steered the mare back toward Zarrah. He didn't have the faintest idea how to ride still, but figured if he held onto the mane and tugged it in a certain direction, the mare would wisen up and follow.
"Where to?" he asked.
Zarrah enjoyed a quick bite and simply paused to watch as Castor went after the horse. She followed, lingering somewhat behind and admired him stumbling over taming the horse. When he approached her, she smiled and accepted a hand as she slipped onto the horse behind as she cast her finger out towards the horizon.
"The cliffs, over there on the distant horizon," she informed him, then turned to look at his face.
"We've got a good ways to go, but the assassin's proved useful enough. Let's not have that set us back. We can get there before dark. Though with this heat," she shielded her eye as she looked at the sun. "It won't be wise, but we can take breaks. We don't want the horse to burn out." She frowned, knowing the horse might not make it, but at least the creature had gotten some water.
"Let's be quick. You'll know the land marks when you see them. Remember the sand worms?" she said, securing her arms around his body as she pressed herself close, these words spoken almost into his ear. "If you remember, you will find it, and to find it, you will see the place where I call home. " A smile twitched on her lips. "When we get closer, I'll explain to you in further detail."
Castor nodded to her as he nudged the mare to get moving. The mare trotted off to the distance, sweat dripping off the blood bay. He wasn't used to the bumping and jolting of the horse at such a slow pace, and felt his ass hurt in a way he couldn't have imagined, but kept his mouth shut. There was no room for complaining now, certainly not when they were finally having a moment of peace.
The cliffs were getting closer. Though the last thing he remembered about them was crawling from a dark and dank cave. The sun was abusive and rent her rays mercilessly against his flesh. Castor was dripping with sweat. But it wasn't long before he saw the familiar cliff side where the sand worms had called it home. Castor was tired, breathing hard and reaching for a drink from the water skin. He drank heartily as he motioned her to trade places with them, stopping the mare.
Once on the ground, he stalked over to the mare, nostrils raw and the horse clearly unhappy with him at the moment. He gave the horse more water, using his hand as a cup from which it drank, slowly and cautiously before climbing on the back again.
"You'll have to go the rest of the way," he said tiredly. "I can't bear to look at this desert any longer."
Zarrah remained patient and calm, nodding as she tightened her cloak over her head and took the 'reigns'.
"Hold on tight," she said, kicking the horse to start up, and they went on a trot for a while, and the cliffs quickly approached. It was a welcoming sight, after the sting from the sands and suns, and the heat that sweltered beneath the layers of their clothing. If not for that, their skin would have been burned alive. Guiding the horse to a nearby rock format, she dismounted and held the mare steady and waited for Castor to do the same.
"We'll have to go here by foot, it's rough footing ahead." She eyed the horse, patting it's mane and wondering if the horse would be wise enough to follow them- lest it trot off and dry off int he desert.
"Let's get more water, then head forward," she gestured to a series of twisting plateaus that jutted out of the ground and hung like gnarled teeth towards the skies.
Castor slid off the rear of the horse and was thankful for once the shade the cliffs finally bought. The desert turned once again to these hostile badlands, filled with sandworms and brigands and devils only knew what else. Castor looked at Zarrah and gave her one of the water skins after taking a drink. He looked at the mare, frankly hoping that the horse would not follow them, but instead go back to the city. There was no way for it to survive out here. And no reason for it to die on their behalf.
As soon as they were off, he have the horse a few drinks more of water and after a moment of indecision, he slapped the animal hard on the rump, sending the mare running back to where it came from. "G'it!" he said, hoping to scare it off further. He turned back to the plateaus and began to head on.
The cliffs were daunting, but there they would have some solace from the sun. They traveled for quite a long time, and the sun was gradually starting to fall away, though the sky had yet to darken. It would be night fall soon. And all Castor could think of was feeling like he hadn't slept in three days.
It was hard to believe Zarrah knew where she was going. The land was twisted and foreign, looking unforgiving as it towered around them and lead on ward into a forest of crags and plateaus.
But then, a sharp turn and...
a Zarrah stepped before a small opening in the rocks, nearly hidden from view. She gestured for Castor to follow. It would be a hard fit for him, but he'd be able to slip through.
She lead the way, crouching low at first, then finding a steep rise in the rock as she began to climb it. This lead to a more cozy location, and Zarrah's obvious home.
There was barely any light here, as Zarrah groped around, then found it and a moment later, she had a lamp lit and the room came into view.
The roof was barely ten feet high and the area, small but comfortable.
A pile of rags and blankets lay in a corner, obviously her bed. A large chest, with two smaller ones beside it was to it's side, then an area with a small pit for a fire near an opening that remained far enough away from the small cave to let the fire breath and not trap in the smoke.
There was also a gentle, trickling- indicating water was nearby, somewhere within the labyrnth of rocks. Against the wall hung a single necklace, single, with a silver charm at it's end, baring the symbol of a the lion. Other than that, the place was simple and humble as Zarrah turned around and gestured towards it,
"I call this home."
Castor followed her step for step, feeling his legs grow tired and weary beyond anything he imagined. He'd wandered the world for days on end, but he always found a place to sleep to rest, and he mingled with few people that allowed them the opportunity to attack him. This place was so empty, a strange world with people that always seemed to be out for blood. Yet at least his companion had found it in herself to aid him.
As the cave opened up to her home, the lantern light spilling over all, Castor was amazed at what he saw. It wasn't much of a place, but it was a hell of a lot better than that cheap room at the inn. Castor took off the water skin he hung on his chest and set it down gently. "It's brilliant," he said, gazing around. He grinned. He wandered toward the wall where the necklace hung. It was an unusual piece. And he admired it fondly but didn't touch it.
"How long have you lived out here? What do you do about food? ...Oh wait, you attack trade caravans and take their goods," he remarked, smirking. "Speaking of which...we need to eat."
Zarrah watched him approach the necklace, her face falling. But then as he moved on, she pressed her lips together more flatly before easing up on her expression as he began to inquire about her home.
"Too many years to count," she replied, then tilted her head, letting him continue with his own theories about how she made a living. "I'm sure you've heard the stories. Some of them are true." She replied with a smirk, folding her arms across her chest as she looked around with a sigh.
Then, at the mention of food she turned back to him and smiled.
"Not to worry, I wouldn't leave my guest go hungry," she informed him, approaching him with a sultry sway to her steps, before lightly stepping past him and towards the chests resting int he corner. She picked up a smaller one, flicked it open and parted a blanket that rested inside and lifted up a long, thin biscuit type bread and a few strips of jerky and handed them to him.
"Here, eat," she told him. "Ryian biscuits and jerky." She then removed a container of water and enjoyed a long drink herself before fetching herself some food as she took a seat upon the floor, Indian style and ate in silence,t he lamp glowing warmly between them.
Castor's stomach roared in a growl as he saw the food presented before him. It wasn't much and it wasn't a lot, but it was a hell of a lot more than that stew he only sampled back in the city. Thankfully this was free, at least for now. He wondered if he had to pay her back sometime, but perhaps now wasn't the best time to bring it up again.
Castor sat down across from her, sitting on his sore ass. He rubbed it for a moment, making a face before planting himself down. He nodded to her in thanks and ate gratefully, teething pulling at the jerky and biting the bread. "Thank you," he murmured, bowing his head to her. "When I was younger, this is the most we were given to eat just as humane sustenance. If it could be called that." He scoffed at his thoughts, musing to himself.
"But that was about the only thing humane in those mines," he said out loud, staring at her lamp. The light was warm, and made the cave cozy rather than blistering hot as it had been in those ruthless sands. He was sure by now the sun was setting by about now, painting the sky in hues of red and blue. Night would fall, and the blistering winds would come.
But he shook his head from his thoughts and wanted to change the subject. "So, how many days will it take to travel to this...symbol?" he asked, as he set aside his bread and pulled out the rolled map from his belt. He carefully unfurled it and spread it out before the lamp.
Zarrah grew quiet, listening to him talk. It was the first time Castor talked about his own history. Mines? She was curious if he was some sort of slave before. Then she looked at his metal hands. Perhaps he still was....
At his question, she peered over at the map, then over at him.
"It's not too far from here," she informed. "Perhaps only two hours travel on foot in good weather, assuming the winds don't tear you down or a fluke storm rolls in." If you were caught in a desert during a storm, you'd be drowned.
Sighing, she thought back to the icon he was speaking about.
"It's odd to think that structure is of any importance. Most of it's hidden beneath the sands."
She eyed him cautiously.
"If you want, we could rest here briefly and check it out at night. It should be safe, and if Carnavus is after the same treasure, well," she sat back. "Let's just say we'll be pressed for time that his men don't find it, first."
He knew it'd probably best to get a move on as soon as possible, but frankly the desert and cliffs had done much to exhaust Castor in mind as well as body. He wanted that Relic, he could almost taste it, he could feel it so close to his grasp. And he grinned eagerly to Zarrah, but shook his head nonetheless. "I know it'd be best to leave now, to get there before they do. But...even after all Carnavus has thrown at us thus far, his men would not survive the temple," he explained.
"You see these gauntlets." He held his arms out to her, the metal there in, still blood-stained and hungry for more. "These are called the Fists of Cynwulf. I have held them for 10 years. You've seen the power they give me...but that is only the beginning. Despite their gift, I am not their master. I am their slave. They are owned by... Their power is a privilege, granted to me by their master's mere pleasure, to do its bidding or suffer." Castor pulled his hands back and picked up the bread, eating it slowly, thoughtfully.
"I may not know the symbol, but I know that the temple is not quite a temple, it is a fortress, meant to protect the Relic from unwanted visitors. But there is something else that lurks within. Something men like Carnavus have no idea could exist. If the temple doesn't kill them, the Guardian will." He bit his lip for a moment, mind reflecting on the first Relic, the skull trapped in a knight's helm. And the cost it took to obtain it.
"I'm too exhausted travel further. I mean, aren't you?"
Zarrah listened to his description of Cynwulf and tried to wrap her head around it. It was hard to fathom what that meant for Castor.
He was a slave, a slave to whatever force lay behind those gloves. She felt pity for him, but still did not understand the depth behind it. It must be awful to be forced into such a scenario. Her own life, though being similar, was not the same. He was physically chained to this part of his life, she, socially.
But barriers were barriers, and chains were chains.
She let his statements go without question, only digesting the words as she nodded about the need to rest.
"I'm exhausted as well," she assured him with a small smile "But I know the importance of this to you, and how unrelenting Carnavus is. Perhaps, what you say is true, that this temple is riddled with curses and traps..." she shook her head. "Perhaps that's why it was left forgotten in the sands." She stared over at his hands then looked up at him curiously.
"Do they hurt to wear? I mean, does it get uncomfortable?" she thought it over. "I think what would irritate me the most would be the inability to feel anything."
Touch was a very intimate sense of the body- and again, it was something she had trouble wrapping her head around-
and..
was glad she was not in his shoes.
He didn't expect it to be something for her to understand. No one truly could unless they had the demon steel clamping down on their own flesh, prying from them every last strand of humanity until there nothing senseless left to exist.
He peered at her haggardly, eyes staring at the lamp light. He moved to sit next her and showed his hands to her. "They do, from time to time. It feels like teeth biting into the muscle. My skin and metal are one. But just because I can't feel with my hands, doesn't mean I can't feel on my arms—" his hand went to caress her cloaked arm nearest him, tracing up to her shoulder "—or my neck—" his hand moved to her neck, gently tracing the scar "—or my chest—" and shifting it down to her chest.
"Or my face," he said, moving his hand to her cheek, drifting his hand across it, before settling it into his lap.
Zarrah went tense as his hands moved across her, delicate and slow. It sent a thrill through her body, making her shiver beneath the surface. When he withdrew his hand, her eyes went to his as she smiled and moved forward, her hands moving over his metal fingers before she entwined them to her own, her other hand moved to delicately trace the features on his face.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," she told him, smiling into his eyes. "There are other ways to feel." Her eyes danced over the prospect, dual meaning behind her words as she leaned forward, smiling and let her lips hoover just inches from his own before capturing it in a brief, but hungered kiss, pulling away, even when she herself still hungered for more.
Her eyes had closed, but opened as she pulled away. She remained a mere inch from his face as she peered at him through heavy lashes. Her lips twitched a little as she smiled.
Yes, there were many other ways to feel.... she thought, fingers curling around his ear, a thumb brushing softly over his cheeks, and eyes reading into him with respect, desire, and perhaps love.
Castor held his breath, feeling what would come next as her words brushed against his skin. His head was feeling a little light because of it but knowing if he didn't hold it, she would snatch it from him. He responded to her kiss, knowing his body wanted so to betray his mind. But it was only a half-betrayal, the kind that lingered in ambivalence.
Castor let himself lean against her, leaning his head against her shoulder, breathing against her neck. He other hand came around to lay on her shoulder, wishing his hand could feel her skin rather than the cool metal crafted from the demon's forge. His lips lingered close to her flesh, not quite close enough for a kiss, but they brushed against the scar that was taking shape.
He couldn't think of anything to say. Maybe there was nothing to say after all. He pressed his face against hers, cheek to cheek, kissing her temple. He was confused, he knew what he wanted, but didn't know what it could mean. Attachment was neither easy, nor simple, and Castor began to wonder if letting himself go would jeopardize his quest. But deep down he knew it would. Was it love? He'd never known the true definition of the word.
She was his friend, his companion. For now, if this was the only other now with which she might be. Tomorrow, he could be gone. Tomorrow he could be here. Castor only knew that his lips sung with want as he brought them up to her chin, his free hand gripping he shoulder, before burying them against hers.
It had been too long since she had felt this way. And she wanted to, even if it turned out to be a lie. When you experienced it once, and it was lost, you always craved to have it again. Now her heart was hungry, her body heating up as she moved closer to him, lips moving over his hungrily as she cupped his face, tongue diving in, wrestling with his as her legs straddled around him, her body moving.
Zarrah only breathed through gasps of hungered kisses, hands moving to pry off the layers of cloth over his head, tearing it off and casting it aside while working towards the rest, her hands moving across his bare chest as clothing was peeled away.
But she never stopped kissing.
At long last, Castor's head pounded as he needed breath and he was forced to tear his mouth away from her. A part of him wanted to continue, he held her close to him, trying to catch his breath. He groaned in exhaustion, hands gripping at the clothing that cloaked her, pulling it down from her shoulders. He kissed her neck and shoulder before pulling away.
"Should we do this?" he asked, knowing he wanted to, but not knowing what it meant. Castor refused to let her go however, and clung to her despite his confusion. He was afraid what it could mean, afraid that letting go would make him let go of what was most important to him. And he couldn't allow that to happen, not when he was so close.
Zarrah felt stung at his statement, remaining in his arms in silent. Yes, perhaps it was foolish to fall prey to such emotions and laws of attractions but...
She moved a hand, running it through his hair while her other hand now traced over delicately the gaping wound, that was still healing, but healing nicely, across his chest. Her eyes then shifted as she looked up at him, into his eyes. They told so much.
"It does feel right and wrong," she admitted, fingers tracing down his face. "To think, after all we've been through... that we could easily find ourselves blinded by a need." she moved her lips, kissing his cheek a moment and let her lips just rest there, taking in his smells before she moved away.
She turned away from him, dark hair falling over her eyes.
"Perhaps we shouldn't be so foolish?" she said, her lips twitching into a smile. Yet, her mind and body screamed for his, her heart pounding with desire. What was wrong with her? Had she grown so accustomed to sharing her bed with men that that's all they were worth? Yet, she couldn't deny this time around it felt different...
and for once she wanted it, purely for the reasons of just wanting to be with him, with all of him and....
Perhaps there was a fine line between lust and love, but every inch of her ached for another satisfying moment with him.
Castor felt bereft just for questioning her her and his body cold when she moved away, but he didn't move away just yet. He knew perhaps it was foolish, but gods could not punish him for being a fool when already he was punished enough with he freedom he so desired but couldn't achieve. He didn't know if even his journey would be complete and perhaps once in his life, it wouldn't hurt to let go. One more time.
Castor knelt behind her, doubting his own words and feelings but venturing forth nonetheless. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the back of her neck. He didn't want her to move away from him. He kissed her throat before trailing up to her jawline. "I don't know," he said, honestly, but didn't stop kissing her neck.
"Maybe the wisdom of the fool can set us free," he said, eyes following the lamp light's traces on her revealed skin. He kissed mouth, angled awkwardly from the side, hard and roughly. "Isn't it because we need, that we ended up like this after all?" he asked against her lips.
Zarrah closed her eyes when he moved towards her, kissing her as she craned her neck for him. His lips made her melt, his words, making her want to let go as she kissed him back as fiercely and hungrily as he.
She reached a hand up, touching his cheek as she opened her eyes, moving her lips away from his, if only for a moment to nuzzle their cheeks together before she turned around, her hand still on his face, body moving slowly as her clothing began to naturally fall away.
"Need, want, desire.." she spoke through kisses, her hands cupping his face as she drank of him. Kissing him long and soft, sensual as her lips massaged over his, tongue slipping in to lightly twist around his as they wrestled. Then she pulled away, breathing as she kissed his lips, then cheek to his neck, nursing at it, then up to his ear, hot breath panting heavily against it as soft lips and tongue moved across the sensitive skin.
"The only thing I know at this moment is I want you," she spoke to him in a heated breath against his ear, her long dark hair hanging over her face and tickling against his shoulder.
A whimpered moan escaped him as his body took to shivering, he couldn't conceal them as much as he tried. But he didn't want to, honestly. He wanted her then and there let her kiss him, the way she did and confusion, at the moment, left him. He touched her everywhere as her clothing fell away, though he wished he could feel her skin underneath his palms, nothing to heated steel there. Cynwulfen grew weary upon his hands and protested it painfully.
Castor actually yelped at it, but didn't let it faze him. They throbbed with eagerness, the steel that coated his forearms began to move and bind closer into his skin. And the more they bound, burning into his flesh, Castor tore at what remained of her clothing, becoming savage, trying to use his temper to counteract the pain of his hands.
It's intensity escalated and a tear escaped his eye, but kept kissing her hungrily, raw. But the more he did so the angrier he got, and the more Cynwulfen bound deeper into his arms. He bit her lip, hard before pulling his mouth away took his teeth to the skin of her shoulder. He groaned in frustration. Castor leaned back, pulling her with him, stretching out along his body, his hands, mind, and body in agony.
Zarrah moved with him, gasping as his teeth met to skin. She was aware a new agitation ran through him, but knew not what or why as she cradled his face, pulling his lips back to hers as she pushed his clothing away and moved over top of him, pushing him down beneath her weight as she pinned him to the ground.
Now over top, body straddling his, there was nothing but air between them as she looked down at him- lust, want, love, hope.. a hunger burning deep within her eyes. And she lowered herself towards him, her black hair tickling his skin before her lips captured his again, hungrily preying, biting even, as she slipped his body deep within her own.
Castor didn't fight her, though he was taking her up to the challenge she posed, body for body, want for want. She was warm over him, and he bit his lip trying to keep himself under control, that quiet rage that lurked just underneath his skin and when she connected with him, he let out a shivering sigh, meeting her lips, wanting to feed her hunger.
His hands held her hips there, fingers digging into her flesh. Where he'd taken her first, she was posed to take him now, and he wanted her to. To take that power from him. Castor whimpered against her lips, he closed his eyes tightly and trying to catch his breath, that didn't seem to want to stay put.
It was natural... raw.. passionate.
Their bodies met and raised, flowing and crashing like a stormy tide..
ever moving, breaking, breathing...
The desert may have been hot, but here, their bodies melted together, lips pressing to skin as Zarrah made love to him. She let him know, delicately, then fiercely, then lovingly, how she felt. Using her body as a tool, she showed him pleasure like he would never feel before, almost moving, matching, finding ways to make him gasp, to make him glow. For once she could use her skill on a man she wanted to... before it was a way towards freedom, here, it was a way to connect, to feel, to become one with his body..
with his mind...
with his heart.
His mind reeled, as his head was thrown back against the floor. He moaned and hyperventilated to her every move, completely in thrall of her. No longer did he feel Cynwulfen sear into his flesh like a hot iron, branding him to damnation. Before his eyes flashed the visions of his nightmares, of his dreams, of all the things he'd done done against the race of humanity, but for once they seemed so miniscule, small, almost a pitiful remembrance.
For a moment, she made him forget about everything, made him feel free if only for that brevity of time. And for once it made all the difference. Castor cried in his excess of ecstasy, and whispered her name in incoherent murmurs, trying to wrap his head around what just happened. His heart was beating a hundred miles an hour, and he looked over to Zarrah, eyes shifting in and out of focus.
Sex.
It wasn't just that.
And in the end, they might see it that way, but the feeling, the soft echoing purr of contentment had her ultimately nestled within his arms, unawares to any other problems of the world and consoled by sheer exhaustion and bliss.
She was more than sated, and he? Well, she assumed her skills would have served him well, but that was only a mere after that of their pleasure as she sighed contentedly, nearly drifting away to a far away world within his arms.
"Castor," she said after a moment, her voice soft, sweet in the silent air- the only other sound being the gentle sounds of dripping water, far away in the cave.
"I hope you don't mind if I just fall asleep in your arms." She smiled, too lazy to open her eyes, her body, plastered to his with sweat and heat and sex. She didn't know what it was about him but...
Perhaps she was a victim of her own dreams. She sighed contentedly, kissing tiredly at his neck before breathing a second sigh and melting away into his arms.
For all she cared, she could stay this way forever.
Slowly but surely, Castor was coming to his sense. His breathing finally slowed as he'd been satisfied, the fire in him died down to mere smolders for now, though he knew that wouldn't last long if at all. Castor wrapped his arms around her warm, slick body, finger tracing down her spine affectionately.
At her words, Castor actually laughed, a humored hearty laugh, but with no tone of mockery in it. His own eyelids had grown heavy from their, shall we say, exercise. He laughed again. "No," he managed, his throat very rough, and voice quite hoarse. "I don't mind." He grinned at her, lifting his head just lightly to kiss her forehead. He didn't know if he loved her, but he knew he was starting to care, a great deal in fact. And feared what that meant for her.
True, she was no stranger to the dangers of life. In fact, she ventured forth into the heart of it. But as Castor lied there on the ground with her laying on him, he stared up in the warm darkness, knowing the eyes of Mahnum-Mal'katheir were staring back at him.
A whisper, almost an echo chilled through the cave, faint. "You are mine," followed by a low and possessive growl. And it slowly faded away.
Zarrah hadn't slept more contentedly in her life. For once, dreams appearing sweet, a seed of hope planted inside. When she awoke, she was surprised to find herself still in his arms, and smiled down at his sleeping form, studying his tranquil face. A hand lightly traced over the air before his face, not daring to touch him, lest he wake. It was a calm moment, one that belonged to her, hours later after she had belonged to him.
Last night.. the time before, and all of the hours spent together...
What did it all mean?
With Rassar, it was all so new, and she rushed into love, stumbling and enjoying herself along the way-
Love had brought the hope back into her heart, and here, she found as she stared down at Castor through her violet eyes, was the possibility of that feeling again.
Perhaps she was foolish, but wasn't he? They were both alike, in some ways- both knowing how it felt like to be chained. But she wondered more about him, wondered if he had known love before, had a family, been broken, had hope....
What drove their bond together?
Lightly, she touched his cheek before leaning down, her hair and scent surrounding his face before she delicately placed her lips to his and whispered, "Goodmorning. We should rise before the sun."
She knew it wasn't quite sunrise, they had slept for several hours, but no matter how exhausted she was, she would always rise before the sun. It was prudent for one who lived in the desert and she took the time, the luxury to trace her fingers across his lower lip as she stared down at his face and smiled.
Even if it were just a passing moment in their lives, she let herself go- to enjoy this, whatever their connection and bond might be.
After all, what else did she have to live for? If not for revenge, then what?
Was it possible to find a new hope?
To find love in the man that lay beneath her?
Castor stirred with a gasp, feeling his body quite numb with the weight that rested atop him. He shifted a little, feeling the blood stir and buzz its way back to where it belonged. Castor's hands throbbed and ached as he flexed his hands. He made a face, but immediately relaxed when his vision focused on Zarrah. A smile touched his lips, a humored grin as his lip twitched underneath her tracing.
"Morning," he said. And then he laughed. "I thought we were rising. But something tells me you just want to lay here," he said. "At least a little while longer." He kissed her lightly, tasting her lips to his and the electricity that rang through there. Her scent was intoxicating, and he knew now why all the men that fell prey to her to be so easily entranced into a stupor. But men were weak and women who knew how to use their power often found easy, willing slaves.
He didn't feel enslaved by her in this particular moment. Castor would relish this morning of distraction, to take his mind from the watchful gaze of beastly eyes. "Zarrah," he began, pulling his lips just a breath away. "What was his name? What was he like?"
[He's talking about Rassar, just so you know]
Zarrah's eyes had been shimmering, but the moment he mentioned Rassar, her lips fell, face fading to a frown as she pulled away. Looking at him seriously, she stared into his eyes for a moment before drawing in a breath and looking away, forcing another smile.
"I'd be lying if I said he was like you," she began. Rising off of his body, she stretched herself out within the dim light of her cave. The world was cast in blue, remnant light from the reflection of the moon, which barely filtered into the secret crevice of her cave. She began to pull on her clothing, wrapping her body in the clothe from the day before as she spoke with him, her back towards him.
"He was... just another man, as far as I was concerned," she smiled fondly at his memory, a hand brushing through her hair before finding a gold comb as she began to pull it through her dark hair. "We met one day in the shops. I was simply admiring some pearls when he moved beside me. He noticed my look, but something about it gave way that I was dreaming of something more than pearls," she smiled sadly, lowering the brush once her hair shined and was no longer in matted knots. Turning around, she smiled towards Castor.
"Why do you want to know about him?" she asked curiously, not sure if she was ready to share all the intimate details about her first and only love. Was Castor jealous?
No, she hardly suspected....
but if he was curious, was he thinking to compare, or replace, no, rather... become another figure like that in her life?
She couldn't think on it, not at that moment as she suddenly turned away, eyes going to the necklace on the wall.
Castor didn't smile as she pulled away and proceeded to dress herself. Despite her all her smiles and discreet motions, he didn't have to be a genius to tell his question had struck a chord with her. He didn't regret asking however, and would only wait to see what she had to say. She still didn't answer his first question, though perhaps really, it didn't matter. He wasn't sure why he asked, perhaps solely to make conversation, or because he wanted to know.
His expression was blank, but his eyes were softened, looking at her propectively, knowing she'd try to dodge it or brush it off as she was clever in doing so. But she surprised him with the answer, with at least some detail. He seemed like a good man at the sound of it, and if there was one thing she deserved, it was that, he felt it was safe to assume. He smiled lightly and shrugged his shoulders.
"Just curious. He sounded like a good man. Few and far between these days," he said. "But you still didn't tell me his name." He left it at that, knowing she didn't have to tell him if she didn't want to. He stood up then and reached for his own discarded clothing. He dressed quickly, buckling his boots, wondering why she could never answer directly, making him frustrated. What could he possibly desire from her that she had to protect as if it was the only treasure left in the world?
Words were empty, talk was cheap, and life was short. What did it matter why he wanted to know?
Zarrah turned her attentions back to Castor and smiled.
"He was a good man." She stared at him curiously, then finally gave him what he wanted.
"Rassar," she said, smiling sadly to hear herself speak his name. "His name was Rassar."
He might not understand what it meant to lose someone like that- and , perhaps it was time for her to move on, but...
It was hard to let yourself fall that hard again, to let yourself feel so protected, so loved that you became the only being in another person's life. That you were their treasure. You were their heart beat. You became their reason to live.
Hope was a funny thing when it was once a dream,
and still... perhaps it was. She tilted her head curiously at Castor and afforded him a smile.
"So you have any good stories?" she asked, that sly smile of her making it's way across her lips.
She was good at changing the subject, or at least passing it off to him.
She believed he told her he had not before, but could that have been true? She couldn't see how he had never felt for another before, never had even a brief courting or flirt, or just some sweet girl to think of from time to time.
Then again, neither did she. SHe had never thought of having someone like that until she had met Rassar.
Castor pulled his shirt over his head, not sure how to answer, or if he wanted to answer at all. It wasn't a touchy subject, but it made him realize there hadn't been much to say in that department. Perhaps it was little more than a life half-lived, but Castor couldn't see how he could have much to tell when all he'd ever been was driven, chained to these godless devices on his arms. She couldn't understand what a curse it was, but he wasn't about to waste time feeling sorry for himself.
"Not much," he said plainly. "Nobody truly. My first woman was a whore, I was seventeen." His tone was apathetic, almost as if he wished to rush through and talk about something else, anything else. "I don't get around, not as much as you do," he said, no insult intended. "I was growing, but still quite thin. Much thinner than I am now.
"I'm sorry, I don't have any grand tales of love and adventure to tell," he said, his tone half irritated.
Zarrah gave a mild smile in return. It seemed the tone had deflated, and what fire had happened last night, dwindling away as the first cracks of sunlight began to light the room in pale light. Zarrah turned her head, noticing the change and decided to move on.
"We should eat, get supplied, then head out before the sun gets too high," she informed. She moved over towards a chest, unfolded another piece of supplies, and frowned, realizing she would have to resupply soon. But there was at least enough. She brought a loaf of hard naan and kept one for herself, the other she offered over to him.
"It's not much, but my rations will get low if we eat as much as we did last night."
She took a seat within the blankets on the floor and began to eat quietly, taking long sips of the water before handing it over to him.
"So, is there anything I should know about this temple before we go?" she quirked a brow at him, wearing the same, suave face she always did. It was best to keep a face. She had a feeling Castor didn't want sympathy, and not having much of a love life was nothing to be ashamed.
It was actually quite charming that it seemed like she might be his first. She studied him, her smile softening as she ate her bread.
He had mentioned he was thin? He was hardly that now, tightly packed muscles on his body was something quite alluring and... well, she wouldn't lie. It helped a lot during their... time together. It was something to feel someone so strong wrap their arms around you..
but she batted the thoughts away, taking another drink of water.
He was happy to talk about something else. Castor didn't trust in matters of the heart where love was concerned. Maybe he used to when he was a blind and stupid boy who tried to understand why his father would keep on drinking even though he promised his mother he would stop, or why his mother never gathered their things and left that wretched place from that demon that lurked in the townhouse beyond? Love was a lie, a cruel and useless lie that even he, for all he felt for his mother, knew his love could not save her. By the time, at last they had escaped, she was already broken, a hollow shell of the woman he thought he knew. And perhaps the only thing his love had ever done was to let her go, to perhaps offer a chance for the light to return. He would never know if it did.
Castor took the offered food and stuffed it down his maw, ripping it apart with some small savagery. "I don't know what it looks like, or how far it goes. I don't know what lurks within exactly. But I do know that demons haunt that place, if it's anything like what I've gone through before. I don't know if these are ghosts of the people that once lurked there or the result of something else entirely." He sighed, dusted his hands off and looked to the crevice to the darkened sky below.
"It is a dangerous place. More dangerous than the manor of that pigman Carnavus. You don't have to venture inside," he said. "It would be much wiser if you stayed behind."
She had already finished her bread, studying him as he spoke. Demons? Yes, perhaps it made sense something so dark would lurk there, but she knew not what she felt about approaching or pairing off against a demon. What did she know about those sorts of dark and powerful creatures?
Yes, Carnavus might seem like a demon, but truthfully, did her own torment even compare to what Castor was forced into?
Then he mentioned she ought to stay behind and she raised her brows at him.
"I am capable of handling myself," she told him, wiping off the bread crumbs from her lips before moving and gathering up her supplies- most notably her knives, and a few fan blades.
"You're telling me this place might be haunted, full of demons, yet you think it's wise to venture alone?" she peered over her shoulder at him, a playful smile upon her lips.
Perhaps she was naive at what she might encounter-
but in all honesty, at this stage in her life... and the curse, she herself possessed, what did she have to lose?
"If that place is as dangerous as you say, it would be wise to have someone whose got your back." She tightened the belt of blades beneath her clothing, then smoothed the clothe down over top, peering over at Castor, eyes dancing and alive, as if ready.
"I can't think of anyone better." she teased, leering towards him for a moment before turning away, and gathering up some other supplies, water being the most important. Then, thinking on it, she turned back to Castor curiously.
"Do you need a weapon?" but then her eyes immediately went to his hands, and she dropped her gaze, smiling sheepishly. "Oh, I almost forgot."s he said, approaching him, fingers tracing over the metal. "You've got your own pair of weapons right here." Her eyes peered up at him in that moment, trying to search his eyes as if reading something deeper than what was there.
Castor took a step back from her, feeling trapped all of a sudden. She didn't understand, he thought. Good gods, she didn't know what she was getting into...but then again, neither did he. Castor looked at her with glowing eyes, almost as if he were possessed. There was something hardened there, determination burning like pokers stoking the coals of a raging forge, preparing to melt the hardest of steel if need be. Determination to take back something that had been stolen.
"I go because I have to. I don't have a choice. You do. Why would you risk yourself? The temple offers you nothing but death, but that's a separate reward altogether. You need to protect your mind as much as you need to protect your body. How can you know that you're strong enough?"
More importantly, how could he have known he was strong enough? He didn't, in an honest thought. Castor was filled with doubt, brimming over with the regret and anger as he felt himself pitted against the world. There was suffering enough for both of them. And yet perhaps there was a deeper, underlying reason. The people he cared for had been stripped away from him enough. Why add more fuel to the fire?
Zarrah studied his face, realizing his hesitation. Had he been alone his whole life? Why would he deny an offer for help?
"How do you?" she inquired back, eyes lingering over his metal hands as she touched them, then looked up up at him. "And what else would you have me do?" she inquired, a playful, dangerous mirth warming in her eyes. "There's not much left for me to do except to help someone who has helped me. It's called helping a friend, an ally."
And perhaps, someone she cared for even deeper than that. Zarrah'd be damned if she'd just lead him to his death. And even if she had never gotten her prize, whose to say she couldn't get satisfaction at having him find his?
"I don't see us having many options. You're going into someplace dangerous. Would you deny the help?" she paused and looked him him, seeming to implore, "Besides, I want to." To her, it seemed as simple as that. Besides, what better way than to waste a second life to help someone who had risked his own for her? And, someone she was beginning to see was worth a whole lot to her other wise meaningless existence. And she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Demons? They'd better watch out... as far as she saw it (and call it delusional) her and Castor could be a force of reckoning.
"I would," he said plainly, but he knew no matter what he said she was determined to come along. He wasn't as confident as she. The last thing he needed, the last thing he wanted, was more innocent blood in his hand. He knew the irony of the thought itself. But her sin lied not with him, not like he man he beat and tortured in that sad squat of a village in the mountains far to the north. Not like the woman who lashed him with chains that felt like fire on his skin.
He still had the scar.
"Why would you want to risk yourself for me?" he asked lightly, but knew she probably wouldn't listen. He resigned any further resistance and nodded his head for them to get a move on. He picked up his discarded waterskin and drank from it before strapping it over his shoulder. Where he was going, he didn't dare risk bringing more than he needed. Food would only get lost, and waste time, when really, that was all he had.
"Lead on."
Zarrah listened, still smiling when he informed her, had he the option (of which she was hardly giving him), he would deny her. Which posed more questions- she wasn't a woman who was weak or defenseless, but in the same breath... why risk her own skin?
She surprised herself when she actually answered his question.
"Because, perhaps I grow tired of only risking it all for me," she turned to him, eyes dancing sharply over the question before she looked away, moving towards the exit. He had no way of getting there were it not for her, and, despite the fact she was leading him, as well as herself, into some unknown danger, she pressed on, quick and stealthy, through the first dawn of light.
Thankfully the icon location wasn't too far, and it soon came into view after a few horus of travel, just as the sun began to heat the land and her body, thankfully, only beginning to sweat. She pointed a hand over the horizon.
"Over there,"s he told him. "See where the sands are broken around those black things? That's hwere we are headed." She turned to him. "That's where I found the mark. That should be the temple you seek." She pulled down the clothe wrapped around her head, exposing her hair as she searched the area. It still looked vacant. She turned back to him.
"I don't see Carnavus's men, but it doesn't mean they might not be on the other side of the pillars." She gestured towards the area covered in shade.
"We should move ahead, and quickly, but be careful where we step. If Carnavus is already there, he'll have a plan." Which, was probably more than they had, considering the only thought was to find the temple and retrieve what Castor needed- surviving whatever dangers and perils were tossed their way.
But before pressing on, Zarrah hesitated. It seemed as if she wanted to say something, but flattened her lip and moved onward towards the ruins gobbled up by the sands.
Castor kept his energy high though every inch he stepped closer to the temple egged his anxiety and anticipation as he wanted to bolt and run for it. But still he feared the dreadful wrath of the sun and the merciless heat that billowed up from this endless waste of sand and dune. These badlands offered cliffs with angles of shade to give, but within hours they back toward the dunes where the temple crest was located.
When they finally reached their destination, at first Castor was quite dumbfounded, eyes searching to where she was talking about but only saw more sand. But eventually his eyes scanned over where she spoke. His heart was beating fast. Curse Canavus' men. He was tired of hearing that disgusting name to go with an equally disgusting excuse of a man.
Castor only nodded to her. If his men were here, he'd be ready for them. They wouldn't stop him, no matter the cost, no matter what they tried. Castor run ahead of her, toward the pillars, careful, looking around, eyes scanning the horizon but saw not a body in sight. The pillars thrust up from the ground, sand covering everywhere. He saw the symbols there, engraved, but not the entrance. But he knew it was here. Immediately, Castor fell to his knees and started to dig, to move the scorching sands to the side that covered the ruins below.
He was thankful for the gauntlets now, to shield his skin from the agonizing heat. He dug for several minutes when at last, his hands hit something solid, hard as stone, must have been at least thirty feet thick, maybe more. He continued to push the sand aside, revealing the symbol underneath, much broader, wider. He dropped to his knees, feeling the hard stone. "C'mon!" he said, frustratedly. "Open!"
He slammed his fists against the stone, cracking it severely, the stone weakening and crumbling underneath the assault. He slammed it again with all his fury, until the stone finally gave way. There was no time to stand and dive away, and Castor fell through the pit he had made, slamming on something hard in the dark. The entrance had been made.
Zarrah frowned, feeling pity towards Castor as he began to dig. She looked around, still scouting for Carnavus and his men, but again, there was no sign of him. Which was odd. She scouted the area while Castor worked, careful to examine the area, but again, confirmed they were alone.
At Castor's desperation, she turned back to him and began to approach, only to pause as the entire ground began to shake.
"Don't you think there might be another way down there?" she inquired, her voice probably drowned through the noise.
She tried to steady herself, but the force of the earth shaking was so violent and incomprehensible that before she knew it, the very ground gave way and the pair were swallowed down into the earth.
That was one way to get inside, she thought, her eyes peering around into the darkness. It was impossible to see, and her entire body ached from the fall. Coughing after the dust began to settled, she waved at the air and called out in a raspy voice,
"Castor?" her eyes tried to study the darkness as she fetched a candle from her leather purse and fumbled over lighting it as she began to look around.
The place had tall ceilings and a dark, ominous presence. It was cold, with stale air, and immediately Zarrah shivered through her teeth as she waved her candle around, the light flickering across a cobwebbed and dusted statue of some sort of tiger-looking dragon beast. She studied it, tilting her head curiously before hearing a noise and turning around.
OOC: Edited this since I posted~
Just wanted to add a bit more and fix my typos >.>
Darkness completely took his sight, and the sting of stone smashing against his face. His skin burn from scraping and he groaned, as he'd landed on his arm. He thought he broke it because it felt numb at first before the sting of pain rang through it. After much deliberation that it was not (and moving his fingers helped too), he finally found it in him to stand, coughing the dust that billowed up from the shattered stone.
His head was spinning from the landing, having banged it against the rock, but he ignored the pain. The only light that poured in was from the large hole he'd made above. Sand poured in from the edge a little, in light reflective streams, that glittered in what light remained. Even as Zarrah struggled to light a candle she had, still the darkness swallowed them, though Castor could make out faint steps below them.
"Shh," Castor said as he listened for the creak of feet approaching them. He stepped behind her, looking through the darkness. As nothing came within a few minutes, Castor felt his nerves relax just a little. "If we're going to wander through this place, we're going to need more light than that," he said. He motioned for her to follow, and approached the steps that went further down. They were a sandy white, smooth under his feet as he went down. It was a long way, and the candle light revealed that there was nothing more than complete darkness below them, the staircase itself was intricately carved out of the sandy stone.
As the stairs finally flattened to a solid base, Castor's foot collided with something hollow that rattled when he kicked it. He looked down, to see the bones of someone he suspected wandered in and couldn't find their way out, only to die here. The bones were draped in tattered robes. It wasn't much, but it could work.
He reached down and took a piece of the shredded robe and pulled the femur bone from its place, and wrapped the cloth around the top, knotting it when it was snug enough. He stood and handed it to Zarrah before leaning down and making another one. It would be good enough for now and not waste the precious wax of the candle. He smoked the makeshift torch over the candle, which quickly took flame. The cloth seemed to be made damp with some kind of grease that made the fire burn hotter and stronger, spreading light much further than the candle. And the vast cavern of the temple was at last revealed, mass staircases and halls leading down and around and back up again. A place locked in time.
Zarrah smirked at his craftiness.
"Clever," she said, admiring the flame and bone, then moved to cast her flame around her and soon she began to see the tall walls with carved inscriptions, huge, gaping doors and steps going in every which direction.
She held her breath and took a few hesitant steps towards a nearby ledge, then peered over the side.
It was steep; the drop, her light barely touching the bottom when she noticed a chamber down below.
It was full of cages, bones... even a few stone slab tables that looked like beds...
Almost like some ritual or sacrificial table. She felt her skin chill at the idea before turning back around to Castor.
"So, up or down?" she asked, smiling in light of their situation as she gestured towards the endless possibilities. There seemed to be stairs everywhere.
At the question, Castor didn't even need to think. It was the only way to go and there was no telling how vast this place was. "Down," he said before leading the way. True, he didn't know where he was going exactly, but then again, he didn't think she did either. Already, he could feel the hackles on the back of his neck begin to rise, as though eyes were watching him. He looked in the shadows beyond the light of the bone torch, and saw glittering eyes, blue in coldness, gleaming back at him. Castor felt a shiver pass through him, his heart beating in anxiety.
Echoes of their breathing pounded through the cavernous antechamber hallway. Castor proceeded down the steps nearest them, careful to stay in the middle though even then that felt precariously close to the edge. He could hear footsteps passing through the hall, steps with no owner, that sent chills through him. He trusted not in the unseen, and saw shadows pass across his eyesight.
Laughter echoed, high-pitched and wild, reckless and hungry. "Gods," Castor whispered as the stairway finally leveled out and led to the right, a large, long hallway. Bones littered their pathway, and Castor kicked away a skull that looked as if it were peering him in the eye. He stopped, the dust becoming thick around them, as it seemed stone shifted under a great weight. He coughed and stood back for a moment.
"I don't know where I'm going," he said, to her though the comment was directed more at him. He leaned against the stone of the wall-nearest him, carved and inscribed with the image of a what looked like a priest raising a sacrificial blade over a woman. He didn't want to look at the image. But he didn't have to when the suddenly the wall turned and flipped, pulling him through and closing as the other side sealed the trick entrance and away from Zarrah.
Castor yelped as he stumbled to the ground. Immediately got up and slammed hand on the stone wall. "Zarrah! Zarrah can you hear me?" The wall quaked with the impact, but otherwise didn't move, as if sealed by an invisible force. But he heard the shifting of stone behind him, and as he turned, he saw the bones smashed to bits by a wall moving slowly but steadily towards him, ready to sandwich him against the wall.
"Zarrah!" he screamed, panicking. He dropped the torch and looked around, walls thick with cobwebs as the wall steadily moved closer. He lunged from wall to wall. "Zarrah! Look for a room nearby! The wall's closing in! There's got to be a switch of some kind! Zarrah!"
Zarrah's eyes had been studying the darkness, shells of things unseen, though her make shift torch could only extend it's reach so long, it was what couldn't be seen that made her more alert. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath when they came upon the image of a sacrifice. It looked old and ancient, the style of the art being crude, but it was evident what was going on. YOu didn't need to be an expert artist to depict a bloody knife.
She turned her face away, stepping forward to procede as the two continued to stumble through the darkness, although it wasn't darkness that Castor stumbled through- but a wall.
She heard it moved and turned quickly around, her light flickering upon his disappearing form before the wall sealed shut.
She lunged at it, beat her fist upon in before swearing.
"Damn."
She moved the bone torch around, eyes inspecting the area.
Then she heardt he movement and cries within. Pressing her ear tot he wall, she backed away the moment she heard Castor scream out for her.
Fear gripped her heart. The walls inside were moving?
Then they didn't have much time before he'd ultimately be....
Her eyes darted around, searching for something, anything upon the wall.
"Maybe there's some sort of lever I can find to open the wall or stop them from moving!" she called back to him, but as she searched, it appeared as if the walls were flat and unforgiving.
Swearing, she moved away, further down the hall and looked all around-
there had to be another way.
Rushing back to the wall, she yelled into him. "What's on the ceiling? Do you see any openings?"
Gods.. they had to think quickly!
"And what about the floor!? Are there any clues!? Are there any sort of inscriptions or carvings? Anything at all?"
She waved her torch around in the halls around her again, looking all over frantically for a clue, anything- lest the poor man be slowly crushed to death.
She continued to grope around, and found something. Frantic, her hands brushed the cobwebs aside to reveal some sort of metal recess withint he stone walls.
"I think I found something!" she moved her torch tot he other hand and studied it. "It looks like some sort of key hole but I cna't make much sense of it." Her eyes narrowed- it looked wide enough to allow a hand to insert.
"Here, let me try something!" it was better than nothing as she brushed more cobwebs aside then, licking her dry lips and tasting the bitter dust that coated her body, she slipped a hand inside.
She felt the metal, smooth and cool around her fingers as she tickled them around- findin ga few light recesses. There were five pits in all inside the key hole, seemingly thin enough for her female fingers to rest within.
And as she did so-s he heard a noise, and pressed into it and gripped...
the metal began to give and she felt, no, heard the noise of the walls halting in the other room.
Her eyes lit up.
"I think I might have this figured out! Hang on, Castor!" and she began to fuss over the key hole-t here had to be some sort of trick to it to get the wall to reopen. She halted their movement- perhaps this keyhole did more.
Gripping hard, she began to twist this way then that, finding the only give when she twisted left, then she held onto it and pulled it towards herself, listenign to the released motion of the gears within-
She heard the walls moving, but this time, they sounded as if they were turning on again!
Swearing, she fumbled over the lock, twisting left, pushing, turning right, then twisting again, pulling the lock towards herself, then forward and-
Another click halted the movement of the wall again as Zarrah held her breath, her hand still buried within the wall as she examined it.
Her hand twitched, growing nervous. Should she try again? SHe flattened her lips, and tried one more time, and there were three clicks as she found the keyhole giving-
turning..
once, twice...
three times and.....
Zarrah held her breath.
Then a loud click was heard as the wall began to spin.
She gasped, trying to pull her arm free as the wall was pushing her towards the prison where Castor had once been, while the man was being forced out.
She made a noise, still struggling, barely pulling free before the walls closed behind her as she grabbed onto her newly freed hand and stared back at the wall...
the ritual of the girl being stabbed with the knife staring right back at her...
and it was only then she looked down and realized the keyhold her hand had been in now held a sacred dagger.
Startled, she dropped the thing to the ground with a clatter and backed away.
THen she turned, facing Castor as she wiped the dirt and soot and sweat from her hands.
"Are you ok?"
OOC: I hope this works and makes sense XD Typing this up before I nap D:
If you want me to change anything just let me know~
"HURRY!" Castor screamed so loudly his voice had gone hoarse as the air was suddenly snatched from his lungs. He could hear the rock scraping as it slid across floor, ceiling, and wall, coming closer and closer. He looked around, spinning in a circle of desperation, for anything that would seem like a switch or a button or lever of some kind, but all he found were cobwebs and intricate carvings of acts of brutality. He felt along all the walls, pushed nudged, bashed against the stone which only shook and crumbled at the impact but did nothing to stop the wall from coming.
"No, there's nothing!" he yelled. "These walls are just bear!"
The wall that closed in, moved unceasingly, staring him down as if to say there would be no escape. His heart beating in his brain, knocking against his chest like it wanted to jump out and run away on its own. Castor ran towards the wall, pressing against it with all his might, his fear making his arms shake and legs weak as he pressed all the more against it. The advancing wall gave a weakened groan as the stone slowed further, but still pressed on. He pressed harder against it, sweat dribbling from his eyes and forehead and nose. The wall slowed but even with all his weight he couldn't stop it from coming closer. The room was two thirds closed now, and Castor put everything he had against it.
"Zarrah!" he yelled.
He could only hope against hope that she could find something, soon and fast that would open the spinning door or stop the wall. Three-fourths of the way full. Castor couldn't understand why his strength wasn't stopping the wall completely, and his face turned red with the force in which he pressed against the wall. Four-fifths now.
"ZARRAH!"
Five-sixths. Castor felt the wall suddenly stop, a click in place, and he opened his eyes, too exhausted to believe it himself, and kept his weight against it just in case it was too good to be true. He sure as hell wouldn't have believed it was a miracle. He heard a noise, the grinding of stone of the spinning wall and suddenly she was there.
He couldn't have been more glad to see a living person in his life. Immediately his arms went around her and he held her hard to him, more thankful than ever that she'd once again saved his life.
She supposed that was his answer as a small smile graced her lips as he held her fierce.
Zarrah couldn't even consider responding to him, physically, for how tightly he held her. And she knew what sort of struggle he must've endured- both physically and mentally; after all, she could feel the tremendous heat from his body and the quickened breaths beneath his chest.
"That was a close call," she told him. "We'll have to be more careful in the future. If this place is riddled with traps..." her eyes tried to find him, and he'd see that worry met him there. "This place is beyond ancient, and it's obvious it hides something of great value. Let's keep going and watch our step." She turned one eye back to the ritual painting before turning her back to it. "I suppose we need to keep heading down?" She gestured forward with her torch, the light growling lightly at the end of the bone as it lit the way, showcasing another deep recess of steps.
She approached with caution, pausing just before them as she noticed a nearby pebble and kicked it. The series of pebbles bounced safely down the first few steps, before their noises eventually disappeared into the void. Her eyes then scanned the area, carefully, before she turned back to Castor, her torch roaring between them.
"Do you suppose it's safe?"
Castor let her go after a few seconds, knowing he'd crush the life out of her if he held her any longer, or any harder. The desire to do so remained, however, though not because he was trying to kill her. He'd never been one for words, not in a moment where yet again, he was glad he didn't manage to sell her off to that coward Sarfeir. He doubted she would have stayed sold for long anyway.
"Yeah," he breathed, grinning just a bit. He'd left his torch back into the meat-crusher room, and his eyes traced back to the picture of the priest raising the dagger. This place was a temple of sacrifice. She was right. And if they weren't careful, the blood could be drawn from both of them. Castor regretted now more than ever letting her come along. She should have shown him the way and gone back. If this place could crush him to death, even with his strength, he only feared what it could do to her. But there was no going back now. They could only press on.
Castor saw on the floor, glittering in the dark, the blade Zarrah had pulled from the wall. He knelt down and plucked it gently from the ground. It looked just like the one from the carving and he held it like glass in his hands. He didn't know how she unlocked it from the wall, but perhaps it could be of some use later so he tucked it on the side of his belt and pointed toward the hallway instead of the stairs.
"It sounds like there's nothing down there. This way is better," he said softly. But as he stepped forward he saw red eyes glitter at them from the other end of the hall, quickly followed by a growl. Because the light of the torch spilled farther than the poor candle she first used, Castor saw a vague shape shrouded in the darkness. It slunk low, like a cat, or a dog, and sauntered a foot forward, grizzly claws, attached to reddened scales. It gave only a low rumble, almost as in laughter before it lunged at the both of them, claws aimed for Zarrah.
[I'm not sure what is is. Maybe some kind of reptilian dog thing. Maybe like a Mexican hairless dog on sterioids.]
OOC: OMGERD- PUPPY DRAGON
or the rare- PUPPY-CORN
also this reply might be special XD I should have went to bed ages ago D:
IC:
"Wait, what is that?" her eyes caught sight of something in the darkness, and she took a step back, realizing there was some sort of creature looking their way- and the moment it lunged all she could expell was a sharp cry, "Look out!" before the beast was upon her, knocking her painful to the ground.
Thankfully she carried blades, that were light,a nd it hadn't taken but a fraction of time to slip one out as the animal had come for her and drew it across it's maw.
The beast rared back, then roared again at her, ferocious fangs bared and ready to bite off her head as hot saliva splattered across her face. Her hands shot up, barely catching the giant mouth before it clamped down at her as she let out a noise, grunting and fighting against the snapping jaws before her.
OOC: OM NOM NOM
And sorry for the short post! <3 I'm full of those tonight XD~
but trust me, if I wrote longer ones you'd be wondering what the heck I was typing XD
<3 now Castor can pay her back by saving HER life this time, haha
There was no time to answer just as the beast, whatever it was, lunged at her, claws unleashed, ready to rip her to shreds. It shouldn't have been fairly difficult to since she wasn't wearing much to begin with, and large feet, almost human but larger and wider slammed her to the ground. The lighting revealed the creature to be almost canine like, and its flesh was in fact, not scales, but flesh that had been burned viciously, leaving behind scabs and sores.
Instantly, Castor leapt for the creature, wrapping an arm around it's neck and yanked it from Zarrah. The force sent him reeling back into the dark as he tightened his grip around the dog-thing's neck. It didn't yelp, only growled and fought against his hold. He pulled back tighter, Cynwulfen reveling in finally being put to proper use. The creature clawed against his upper arm, leaving lines of red that stung like wildfire.
As he strangled it into submission, he could feel the creature begin to melt into him as if it were butter left to sizzle in the hot sun. It shrank into shadow that fell like dust into the ground, billowing out in soft clouds before dissipating. Castor was crushing nothing but air as he finally opened his arms and confused as to what just happened. Was the creature real? He rolled onto all fours, and climbed to his feet. But suddenly there was a weight on his shoulders that sent him reeling toward the staircase, toward the emptiness that resided below.
The dog returned and opened its razor jaws, taking one of the guantlets and trying to tear it off. Castor screamed at the sensation it brought on his arm, and clubbed the dog in the skull, smashing into it. Despite its grievous wound, the dog backed away, growling and receding. Castor charged after it and tackled it to the ground before it could escape into the darkness. He beat it into oblivion, while it was flesh still, and blood ran into the cracks and creases of the floor. The body lay there still, very real, still solid.
The blood took shape of a design he didn't notice before, though it looked like nothing he'd ever seen before. Suddenly the temple quaked and Castor leaned on the floor to maintain his balance, to keep from falling into the chasm beside him.
Creaking of metal gears, and sliding, shifting stone began to echo through the chamber of chambers. The temple was alive. The floor was grinding beneath him, and he could hear stone cracking on stone below, vaguely making out by the torch, the stairs sliding into place below him. And the sound of grinding metal teeth began to ring in the hall ahead of them.
"To the stairs!" Castor said, leaping to his feet as the teeth rushed toward them.
Zarrah was left stunned, and very much relieved, when the beast was torn from her figure, and sitting up on her elbows, she went wide eyed as the thing melted away in Castor's grasp. Then as the fight continued, she was quick to draw her blades, on her feet in no time as she followed him around, waiting to see if there was a time to strike-
Though none presented itself, as both man and beast rolled together into a chaotic fight.
Zarrah only cringed when the dog-like creature was finally beaten to death as it's blood spilled across the floor. But she took, suddenly noticed the recessed inscription on the floor, her eyes now tracing it with the torch...
and then their entire world began to shake.
It took every effort not to lose her balance, then when the metal teeth began to head towards them, panic gripped her as she turned to run.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" she shouted, running at Castor's side as the two raced for the steps. "The next thing I'll know you'll be telling me to run faster!"
By the time she reached the stairs, she was practically leaping them, two by two.
"Is this temple coming apart?" she shouted to him, the place still rumbling and shaking with a violent force around them that she began to slip, catching onto Castor's arm for support.
"Because if this place is coming down, we really should have chose to go up!" and the hell outta this place!
Not that they had much of a choice! And after all, there was still the relic to be had...
It was only then, as she was braced against his arm that she noticed something moving-
a column was falling, dropping through the air right towards them. She made a noise, and quickly shoved herself into Castor, throwing them down the steps as they tumbled into an unceremonious heap, just as the massive column struck, plowing into the stairs where they had once stood.
Zarrah raised her head up, breathing heavily as she coughed through the dust.
A few more inches.. and they'd both have been flattened.
"Is this temple trying to kill us?" she wondered out loud.
In fact, that's exactly what he did. He yelled for both of them to run faster as he bolted for the stairs. Castor's body was already injected with the fuel of adrenaline and his heart felt like it wanted to pop out of his chest. He wasn't prepared for this, not in a hundred years. Not only was there suddenly realized risk that he was going to die, but that Zarrah would never see her revenge exacted. Neither of them would live to see the light of day again.
Or so he would think.
Castor was too busy trying to keep from being ground to death by spinning razor teeth coming at them as the stair suddenly came in sight. He didn't even bother with climbing down the foot of them. He jumped down from the side, landing with a weakened thud and losing the balance in his knees. He grunted, trying to regain his balance when suddenly Zarrah threw herself at him and made them both tumble down the steps. Castor hit his head hard on the stairs and his back.
By the time they made it to a landing, Castor was surprised his didn't break his neck, though his head was spinning, and she knocked the breath out of him. "I think you're trying to kill me!" he snapped irritated. But he knew for a fact that she was right.
"The temple is alive," he said. "This isn't a temple. It's a tomb. Made just for the two of us. If we thought things were bad now, I can only imagine how worse they've become. C'mon, we can only press on," he said. "We've still got the demons to worry about."
"A tomb you say?" she shouted over the rumbling as they had gotten to their feet, still moving forward as the place seemed to want to gobble them whole. "Well, I'd never expected to have such a grand and elaborate tomb!" she replied, her sarcastic reply echoing but nearly becoming devoured by all the sounds rumbling over head. Her eyes darted around over head, noticing as more columns began to fall, smashing into the earth. It was only when they made it to the next platform that she scrambled to a halt, throwing out her arm to catch Castor- lest he walk forward and off the platform into the dark.
She held out the torch..
and saw nothing.
"It's a dead end." she said, but then something caught her eye and her vision narrowed..
something framed in the faint, ghosted color of blood.
"What's that?" she said softly, her voice echoing into the void, only to realize, as she lowered her torch towards the ground to see...
"Is that a pair of blood colored steps?" she made a face and took a step back, drawing the torch forward as the light revealed that the steps continued, however, they were hardly stone.
The steps were like ghosts, appearing faded with translucency and were the color of blood.
"I'll be damned," she said, after kicking a pebble at them with her feet, the object going through it.
"Are these some sort of trick steps?" Her eyes flickered going wild as she turned around, watching as the temple still continued to moan.
Then she turned to Castor, the light of her torch burning between their faces and capping them in it's dancing, rich orange light.
"Have you got any bright ideas?"
Crimson steps came before them, sheer as glistening glass in the torchlight. Castor didn't know what to do next, and he leaned against the side of the staircase that actually had a solid wall in sheer exhaustion. He wasn't quite ready to resign just yet, but there'd yet to be a single moment of rest. Blood had awakened the temple, made it eager and thirsty to taste theirs. He understood it would only cease if it's thirst was satiated.
If it could be at all.
Castor watched as the pebble vanished through the sheer platform, in awe at what he saw, mouth slightly parted. With the columns crashed on the steps, there was no way to continue but these platforms. He couldn't see where they led beyond the torch, but the only way to find out was go forth. And they certainly couldn't stay here.
"We have to jump," Castor said, staring out into the darkness, icy-eyes taken with the emptiness. He could see glittering eyes on the other side, staring back at him, staring through him. He took a step back a little before making a run for it, as he leapt, only hoping the sheer platform would solidify and carry him. His heart had burrowed itself down into his gets as he lunged his hands for the platform. But he'd jumped just far enough, landing hard on a solid platform that seemed to be suspended in nothing more than midair.
His heart was pounding loudly in his hears, his arms shook at the anxiety but there had been no choice. Carefully, feeling the platform, which now glittered like a violet diamond, remain stable enough, he rose up from all fours and gradually stood. He turned back to Zarrah, and held out his arms.
"Jump."
"Jump!?" Zarrah's eye widened as she turned to him, staring at him as if he were crazy. "You can't mean.." but before she knew it, the man was preparing, then running full force and into the air.
"Castor no!" she shouted, and was shocked, drawing her hands back over her lips with a gasp.
He made it!
Fear tingled her, anxiety rushing through her veins as she hesitated at his request, only staring at him but not looking back over her shoulder.
Although the rocks had fallen through- perhaps they were still solid as well?
Taking a step back, she figured she had little choice before her feet tore across the floor, screaming all the way as she lept into the air and landed, gripping onto Castor's arm before her feet...
fell...
not finding the solid ground as Castor had as she gasped, and was left, dangling in mid air- her body going through the blood-colored glass like footings beneath them.
Her eyes were wide and desperate as she looked up at Castor, heart nearly in her throat.
"Castor!" she finally found her voice, hoping the man would do something to save her. The ground had not been 'solid' for her! Or...
she had mis stepped.. or miscalculated something as she hung despairingly over the gaping black void beneath them- the bone torch falling and becoming swallowed below.
Castor grunted with the effort of latching onto her arms just before she fell through the glass. He didn't understand how the glass was solid for him but ethereal for her. He only gripped onto her for dear life, not just hers, but hoping her momentum wouldn't make him loose his footing and tip him over the ledge and into the darkness below. As he held her there, he eyed her for a moment, staring into her face.
He could have let go. A dark voice in his mind told him to let go, but he didn't listen to it. He would be free of her, he could reason that she slipped, that she lost grip on his gauntlets. She would die and he would be free to pursue the relic... But for some reason his hand only gripped harder around her wrists. He couldn't let her go, not yet. Not after all she'd done for him. He promised to help her. He would at least see to that.
Castor pulled her up once he got his balance, her weight nothing more to him than a feather as he pulled her up in his arms, holding her at her waist, too afraid to let her go, knowing she'd just fall through again.
"Are you okay?" he said, face skewed in concern. "Could you find a way to climb onto my back? It would be easier to jump that way." Castor turned his head to the side and viewed the sacrificial dagger in his belt. It began to glow a violet-red, gleaming as if it had a heartbeat while he stood on the platform. "Look," he said, motioning his head. "That must be why I didn't fall through. We can still make it."
Zarrah didn't need to be told twice as she climbed onto his back and buried her face into his shoulder, sighing with relief. Then, after a moment, she couldn't help but grin and think about the last time they were in this type of predicament.
"I think the last time we did this I was a bit too cruel to you." she paused, awkwardly, then whispered against his neck.
"I'm sorry," she said after a time, then glanced down at the glowing dagger.
"Well I'll be." She couldn't help but smile a little, her cheek to his shoulder.
"THen perhaps you were supposed to find that trap int he wall?" then again, there were other ways to dig that dagger out..
Looking forward, she stared out into the darkness.
"Which way should we go?" but it seemed the dagger was only responding, and the path seemed to take light before them- like blood colored pieces of glass illuminating in a delicate path across the shaking darkness.
The platforms were few and far between, but they extended out across the chasm of nothing that remained before them. Castor saw the path illuminated by the dagger, which served as a beacon toward the darkness. As Castor balanced himself with her added weight, he took a step back as close to the edge as possible before taking yet another running leap. It seemed the next platform was farther and he barely managed to keep himself from keeling over.
He held onto the platform, still unsure if it could hold his weight. He glanced behind him as the glass platform was suddenly shattering and sending shards of violet glass flying everywhere. Castor shielded himself with his hands and looked across when the glass cleared.
"There's only one way too go," he said softly. He was busy concentrating now, and though her weight reminded him of the cliff, he couldn't think of it. One wrong step, one distraction and they could both plummet in to the dark unknown.
He made a leap for another platform that stemmed off to the left, catching himself again just in time. He didn't know this worked, or why, but as long as it kept them from falling through, that was all that mattered. He repeated the process again and again, taking his time with each jump until he was at last toward what seemed like the final one, a solid ledge beside it.
But this one was different, it was much farther away than the others. He could only jump and pray to the devils that he made it. Taking his time, he held his breath before running with everything he had and leaping just before the ledge. His arms and legs flailed as gravity suddenly took him, the glass edge so close. Castor threw an arm out just in time to grab onto the ledge of the sheer platform, though Zarrah's dangling weight around his neck was slowly making him lose his grip.
Zarrah let out a gasp as the two dangled above an endless death. She felt his muscles tense, saw his fingers slipping.
"Castor!" her heart beat rapidly, fear gripping her tense. "Am I too much weight?" she asked suddenly, wondering.. if anything, if she gave up then... just dropped and became swallowed in this darkness, would at least he be saved?
but even if she wasted her life like that, in a ridiculous feat, would it even matter? Could Castor do this alone? And the real question begged, would it all be worth it in the end?
She held her breath- but if she did.. they did nothing.. they both could fall into the dark.
"Castor- I could let go.." she began to offer, hesitating expel the truth...
and the fact was..
she only had one try left...
One chance after this..
then she'd be gone.
"You sicken me with your words," Castors spat, as he tried to dig his fingers into the glass. The platform actually began to crack underneath his grip. He lunged his other hand forward, the glass cracking further, almost to the breaking point as he managed to hoist himself carefully on his belly. He was holding his breath, afraid event he faintest shudder would cause it to shatter.
Castor crawled, seeing the ledge just before him and made one final jump for it, just as the platform shattered into a million pieces. He landed hard on his side, but was only glad to be alive. He reached up and pulled Zarrah's hands gently from his neck. He was breathing hard as he leaned over her, reaching for her face.
He cupped her cheek. "If you ever talk like that again...I'll kill you myself. Don't let go...never let go when it's only within your reach."
Zarrah felt sickened by his reply- her fingers tingling, as if her body dared her to try. It wasn't like she wanted to but given the choice, only one of them had the ability to.... but guilt still ate away at her.
She closed her eyes, gripping him tighter as he somehow managed to move them onward and forwards and then suddenly, they were both on solid ground.
Her heart fluttered frantically within her chest.
But she still held onto him, remaining quiet and burying her face against his back as she breathed.
But then he moved her, drawing her into his arms as she found herself beneath him, eyes wide, almost fearful, but also curious as he cupped her face, hair cradling her cheek.
Then he spoke, and she felt herself become paralyzed by his words.
And Zarrah could only stare at him in that moment, stunned.
"Life's too short," he went on. "Life's too precious. Even if you have nothing, as long as you're alive, you can always make something. Fight for something. Someone..." He held her close, listening to the rhythm of their hearts slamming in their chests and stared off toward the place where the platforms resided.
No longer did the dagger glow. But in fact it shimmered every few seconds or so, gently throbbing with light, flowing down along the blade as if to point them to the direction with which it belonged. After so much had happened, Castor wasn't sure he wanted to move. He just wanted to lay there with her for a moment, knowing it would never last.
But he knew he couldn't. They had to go on. They had to get out of this place if they wanted to survive. Eventually he did let go of her, reluctantly so, and held out a hand for her to help her up. "The dagger wants us to travel down this hall," he said softly. He stared down the aisle. There seemed to be firelight glimmering from the other end, calling for them to come.
Zarrah listened to his words, her heart moving nearly out of her chest as she looked at him. Her eyes might have given away the truth reveling in her heart, but she remained silent, letting the words, his feelings, his touch... all of it to just breath around her in a moment of simple emotions and bliss.
Now was not the time to be falling in love, and she was thankful for the distraction in the change of the dagger. Turning her head, she examined it as Castor helped her to her feet. Again, she followed is gaze and stared at the direction the dagger seemed to draw them. Sucking in her lower lip in hopes to repress the happy little smile her lips threatened to wear, she nodded and moved behind him in silence.
Her eyes remained focus at the end of the hall as they slowly approached.
"I wonder what will greet us on the other side?" she whispered out loud, hoping her question masked the loud beating of her heart.
It was a question he couldn't answer, and only mentioned his own confusion by a shrug of his shoulders and motioning his head to start walking. He tried to calm his breathing, the tension pulsating through his whole body, and only managed small breaths to keep their presence small and miniscule. However from all that happened so far, the temple only now calming it's tremble, Castor couldn't afford to take any chances.
He stalked forward, reaching out a hand to hold Zarrah beside him. The light drew closer and when they reached it, Castor found it was a large pyre, collected from wood and bones, a skull cresting the zenith. The dagger glowed brighter in response to the fire, eager, hungry. Castor pulled it from his belt, unsure what to do.
He looked around him, the carvings on the walls, depictions of men kneeling before a priest. Beside it showed the priest presenting the dagger in one hand and a heart in the other. He plunged the dagger into the heart and threw it into the fire, which raged and grew, engulfing the kneeling men in a lake of fire, burning them to ash.
"The dagger must go into the fire... But I don't have a heart," he said frutratedly. "Wait... The priest plunged the dagger into the heart to coat it with blood. The temple awoke with the feel of blood on the floor. It's not heart...it's the blood." He looked at his arm, which had been torn from the dog's teeth and gripped the dagger in his hand. The blood had dried by then and didn't think it would be as effective. He couldn't find the strength to cut into himself and offered the hilt to Zarrah.
"Can you do it? Just enough to coat the blade," he asked.
Zarrah felt her hand sweat as Castor held onto it, but in the same breath, she was grateful. The motion, however simple, comforted her as she began to realize the feelings she had been suppressing and questioning from before. Perhaps.. it wouldn't be too difficult to try that emotion again.
If they survived this place.
As they approached the skull-plated things, she frowned and looked at the paintings. The theme was gruesome and she listened quietly to Castor's thoughts.
A heart? She made a face, but at the thought of just blood and him handing her the dagger...
She took a step back and looked up at him.
"What?" she looked from him to the dagger, then back to him, shaking her head. "What do you aim for me to do?" Cut him or her? What a thought!
Castor hardened his eyes at her, shoving an arm toward her. If she didn't believe he was serious, he couldn't think of any other way to show her than by force. He reached out a hand for hers, wrapping it around her wrist and shoving his arm underneath it.
"Cut into me. It needs to draw blood. Better me than you. This is my task...this is my sacrifice," he said slowly, staring at the knife. "It should be mine. Do it, please. I--can't bear to do it myself."
He let go of her hand and turned his head to the fire, seeing the bones that burned in there. This was a gruesome place, that sickened him to the core and he couldn't wait to be free of the darkness, of the shadows that moved of the corner of his eyes, of the growls that echoed beyond them, of the walls that crushed and the carved paintings of blood sacrifice.
"Do it!"
Zarrah looked at him as if he were a mad man.
"Cut you?" was all she could say, then drew the dagger away while jutting out her chin.
"I couldn't cut you.." she began, not daring to give him a reason why as she defiantly held out her arm. "But I could cut myself." And before he could stop her, she slid the knife across her arm, wincing as it drew blood. The hot, red liquid bubbled out from her flesh and began rolling down her arm.
She pressed the knife against it, waiting for it to coat one side before turning it over and doing the same. Once the damn thing was well and red, she handed the knife to Castor.
"There." She looked at him, as if challenging him but said not a word more as blood lightly oozed from the thin scratch down her arm.
The deed was done.
"What are you doing!?" Castor yelled, watching the blade dig into her flesh as she slashed it across her arm. "Are you insane?" he seethed in anger and snatched the blade from her grasp. This woman was going to be death of him if she didn't start listening. He growled at her and threw the knife onto the floor, blood splattering across it.
"You stupid fool," he muttered, swinging the back of his hand across her face in a hard slap that echoed like the crack of a whip. Not even she could be spared his wrath. "Don't bleed yourself. Not for me," he scowled at her before turning to pick up the knife. It was too late to take it back and he thrust the blade into the pyre. The fire soaked up the blood, drying it, crusting it against the steel there.
Castor stepped back, watching as trickles of fire trailed from four corners of the fire, trickling down and following along cracks in the floor. Breathlessly, the fire meandered the cracks, spreading and sprawling everywhere. The temple was starting to become increasingly hot and Castor could feel the beads of sweat trail down his face. The fire was alive as well, possessed by the blood of the dagger as it traveled to lanterns and torches, and in a bright, blinding flash, the entire chamber became alight, Shadows receding, but watching where the light feared to tread.
The smack stung her, even long after the motion had been processed and the sound gone away. For a moment, she stood, numb and in partial disbelief at his actions. He wasn't the only one with a temper as she watched him and the flames, sliding out a blade. While he was distracted, she approached from behind and pointed the thing at his throat, but only enough to remind him the metal was cold.
"Hit me again like that and you'll find more than a blade at your throat," She threatened, then took it away, eyes burning towards him fiercely, the blade still pointed at his throat, even though not pressed. "I am my own person. I can make my own god damn decisions without you telling me what I ought to do." Her eyes were as wild as the flames, dagger still pointed at him. "We're here to work together." She added through her teeth, though if he'd keep that up, it would be difficult indeed. She slowly eased her blade away, but did not return it to it's holster as she stared at him warily, raising her chin up high to try to ignore the sting that still ached across her cheek and pride.
"This temple craves blood." the blade slipped back at her side. "It will get it one way or another." Whether it was hers or his.
Castor's eyes burned when he realized it was she that pressed the blade to his throat. Her threat did not go on deaf ears, but he only grimaced at her words, even when she pulled the blade away. He could see that neither was he spared her vengeance, should the moment arise. But the flame inside only roared as he stepped in and grabbed her blade from its holster, and pressed her hand to the hold, smashing the edge to his throat without cutting his skin.
"You don't get it do you?" he scowled at her, eyes boring into her. "This is my burden to carry, not yours. I didn't want you to come in here in the first place. Your blood doesn't belong here... Hasn't it been spilt long enough by the one you hate most?" He shoved the blade hand away from him, sick of her sacrifice, hurt and anger residing there.
But he stood away from here and saw that the temple was now lit. Not brightly but bright enough to make out passages and stairways that twisted and had broken off, and turned and columns that carried statues of men and women in various poses, some standing valiantly, others prostrated before their masters.
His eyes lingered on a man kneeling but trying to keep himself crushed between two opposing columns, carrying one on his shoulders, and another beneath his feet. He was that man.
Zarrah, annoyed he'd try something so foolish, tried to free her hand, but the man's damn metal grip wouldn't allow for it, so she settled to gritting her teeth as she glared up at him defiantly.
"My blood belongs to where ever I seek to drop it," she spat back, lips curling at him in disgust. "And I chose to follow you. I chose to cut my own wrist!"
Her eyes went wild, and when he finally let go, she drew back, squaring off her shoulders as she stared at him indignantly.
"And don't bring up Carnavus. Right now, I've chosen come here on my own free will to help you. Don't you understand? That this-" She laughed, almost pathetically, the sound becoming drowned in the near darkness. "-this is finally something I've chosen to do outside of myself. Outside of my own waste of selfish desires." She paused, only staring at him. "And it's because I want to. Not because of hate or revenge."
She followed behind him, her own eyes ignorant of the statues until she saw one- of a woman, trying helplessly with a tiny dagger to cut it into the flesh of a massive serpent encircling her frame, though the serpent's mighty head remained just above her, mouth gaping... ready to bite; that moment paused in stone forever.
Zarrah's word cut into his flesh like a searing white hot blade, and it pained him to hear her mutter them. He'd never had anyone go out of their way for him before, never once had someone hurt themselves to keep him from being hurt. Not his father, not even his mother, not the animals that called themselves men in the pits of the mines, fighting for ore, biting, killing, raping. Castor had always been on his own, and always done for himself when he knew no others could do for him.
This was his task! His sentence...he didn't want anyones blood shed if it didn't have to. "I didn't even want your help! I never asked for it! You chose this way because you're a fool and you know it and I know it and I know I'm a fool too... I don't want your blood! I don't want your mind, or your heart, or your soul. You act as though you love me, like you owe me something. You owe me nothing," he whispered.
"I'm not a man worth sacrificing for. I'm an animal, no mind of my own, no choices of my own... I'm a slave marching to my grave."
His words hurt, and she couldn't help but pressed her lips together to fight off the growing scowl an d hateful smile her lips threatened to twist into as her eyes burned with angered tears.
Who was he to accuse her of such things!? Even if it were true.
She defied him, taking a slow step towards him and kept her face held high, so he'd be able to see all of the raw, intense emotions brewing inside her eyes.
"How you feel about yourself has no barrings on how I feel about you," she growled, almost speaking through her teeth. "I am not a slave to what you believe in. My blood is my blood, my life is my life and my heart is my heart. You will never, ever tell me what it sees or what it feels."
Hands clenching into fists, she could have hit him, but instead, kept her shoulders square, head held as high and refused to let him back down from the intense, stormy gaze she rained down upon him as she approached, their faces a mere inches apart.
"I know what I'd sacrifice for in life," she told him,t hen grabbed his face and kissed him fierce, the moment hot and wild. Then, breath and lips returned to her as she pulled half an inch away, eyes piercing into his with a more intense flame. "What would you?" Her eyes flared. "Even a slave has a heart."
Castor clenched his jaw, his fists as well and wanted to smash them into her face. He couldn't take the intensity of her gaze and looked away. He couldn't stand her getting so close and would have backed further away were it not for the ledge. He knew it was her choice, but he refused to acknowledge the fact had anything to do with him. He was beginning to suspect she was more attached to him than he thought.
And when she kissed him, his whole body trembled, but he ripped his lips away and took several steps to the side. "I do not," he said bitterly. "It would only slow me down, keep me from what's most important! A heart makes you weak, distracts your mind. My body is all I have left." Castor turned his back to her and looked to the ledge, down to the statues below.
The torches illuminated a path, vaguely that was as good as place as any to start. He didn't want to continue this conversation and ignored the sensations Zarrah's kiss had left on his lips. He began to walk toward another staircase, loose and brittle, leading down to the statue level below. He didn't care if she would follow him, either.
Zarrah only stood there, anger blazing in her eyes. Was he stupid? What good was a body without the heart? She of all people, knew that and she simply watched him leave.
That idiot.
Turning away, she brushed away the hot remnants of her tears on the back of her hand and began to follow.
Well, she might as well swallow her pride and get on with it.
Once down below, her eyes studied the room in silence.
A heavy feeling had settled between them, a tension as piercing as the shadows.
Her foot steps were slow and purposeful, her mind still reeling over their conversation.. but there was nothing to be said.
Then she thought she heard something, her head darting towards the darkness..
but whatever it was, seemed to scurry away.
She ignored it when the silence returned and continued to silently follow Castor, not daring to get any closer.
But then there was the noise again- she saw a shadow move and whirled around, dagger ready but just as her dark hair settled against her back...
Nothing was there.
For a long moment she simply stared into the darkness.
A smirk twitched on her lips.
Her mind was playing tricks on her again.
Turning around, she remained where she was, studying Castor to see what he'd do, all the while the shadows continued to brew....
Castor was growing accustomed to the darkness and the bone torches were no longer necessary. He'd lost his back in the bonecrushing room, and he doubted Zarrah managed to hold onto hers during the platform jump. He didn't need her, he determined, she was only here to get in his way and if she died in here..
Well, she said it was her choice. And that would be the consequence of her choice. He refused to be responsible for her...and refused to let her be responsible for him. And he felt the coldness around his heart begin to harden all the more.
The room was sharp and rectangular, the chambers build atop chambers and stacking atop one another, carved out of each other until they were assembled in a block-like fashion. The steps opened up to solid floor, though Castor doubted this was the bottom of temple, but it certainly was a much sturdier level than the hallways that coiled around each other like intestines.
With the torchlight now illuminating, however dimly, their path, the shadows seemed to become all the more intense. Castor could hear the scurrying of claws on stone, as one passed into another, quickly away from the density of mortal sight.
He started to walk faster, coming between the statues that loomed overhead. Castor heard the noises get louder as they go closer to the large golden doors that resided at the end of the hall. But he again ignored them as something indeed was born from the shadows, a darkened hand crawling out followed by an arm and a weakened, whimpering moan, of a man's voice. Castor stopped dead in his tracks as he saw, between the statues where the shadows were thickest, hands were crawling out as well, slowly followed by nude bodies of people, broken, misshapen, dripping as being doused with some kind of black water.
Their heads were almost beast-like, maws of bears and wolves and heads of goats, horns growing from shoulders and ribs sticking from flesh, freshly torn. In seconds they surrounded the pair, steadily closing in.
Zarrah braced herself as the shadows suddenly came to life.
"What the hell-" and a tendril of darkness lurched towards her, coming down and reforming as a massive paw, claws and all as it slammed into the ground, the warrior barely jumping out of the way in time as she tumbled to the side. But the creatures hardly stopped, one behind her raised itself up, wobbling like a great mass of water before lurching forward and crashing towards Zarrah like a massive black ocean wave as it roared and turned into a beast the moment it was upon her.
Zarrah's blade glinted through the dark, cutting through he shadows, again and again as the creatures surrounded her, swallowing around her and splitting her away from Castor.
But every time she cut at one of the beasts, they merely broke apart and reformed, slowly- their bodies floating back together like slow movign droplets of black water.
Zarrah, panting as she had used all of her rage she had built up inside her from Castor's words towards her earlier- but despite all of her efforts- despite all of the beings she had cut to ribbons. she now bore witness to them reforming, this time, into one massive, angry hissing beast.
Zarrah's eyes widened as the creature rose a mighty tale, then slammed it intot he ground, the entire place rumbling as Zarrah lept out of the way.
"We can't cut them!" Zarrah shouted, quickly realizing they were running out of options. HOw do you cut a shadow anyways- if that's what these creatures were...
Castor was helpless against their assault as they surrounded him and bound his arms in liquid shadow. He tore one away and tried to strike his fist through another only to have it melt through and trap him yet again. He didn't feel his heart trapped in fear or panic as he was swept away in the coldness of their embrace. It seared his arms and face like ice and he could feel his skin growing numb to the touch, the pain of it finally reaching his senses.
Still he struggled against them, slowly coming to reckon it was a futile battle they were fighting. "Run to the door," he yelled. He tried to turn and run as the creature that had newly formed was slowly advancing toward them. He tore a shadow apart only to have it reassemble behind him and snatch his feet from underneath him. His face crashed to the stone ground and he kicked it away from him, crawling on his belly like a snake.
But soon the crowd was dissipating, and the shadows materialized together as one cohesive creature. A massive dragon the looks of it, glistening by the torchlight. The shadow, though large, moved slowly and languidly as it swiped a massive paw at Zarrah.
"Watch out!"
Zarrah was quick and agile where the creature was not, and when the massive paw swept at her, she jumped and twirled, acrobating her way over it to land on the other slide, her legs sliding to a halt. Raising her head up, she witnessed the beast whirl around with such a force that it's second paw was coming after her. Despite her swiftness, the massive claw went over her, batting Zarrah clean across the room and sending her into a statue, breaking it in half by the force as the woman crumpled to the ground in a pile of debris.
Castor watched in horror as Zarrah was swatted across the room like an insignifacant insect in the massive monster's rampaging path. As she collided with one of the statues, the creature paused suddenly and staggered backwards for a moment. Castor climbed to his feet, now free of the shadows' grasp and ran to her to see if she was all right.
The Shadow didn't take long to recover from whatever it was that momentarily stopped it's advance. Castor shook Zarrah's shoulders. "Are you all right? Get up, c'mon, it's coming back. We can still make a run for it!"
He didn't have a chance to help he get up when the creature unleashed claws at him that made him lunge far from Zarrah. The claws dug deep into the stone floor, making crooked ridges where they scratched. The claw came again and Cynwulfen came alive, though it felt like his fist had collided with slime and he wasn't doing much damage at all. It was a thick liquid-like sensation as he tried to pull his arm back, only to be lifted from the ground. His body passed by a statue with an outstretched hand. His free hand latched onto it, being pulled in opposing directions.
Castor yelled, feeling the shadow melt further onto his arm, numbing his flesh as if it was being dunked in ice water, but his grip on the statue didn't relent. The statue began to crack and crumble when the creature lost its grip and instead it pushed Castor into the statue, smashing the stone to bits and crumbling it to the ground.
The creature shrieked aloud, rumbling the temple as the statue broke.
Zarrah barely had a chance to recover herself when Castor was nearly clawed in half. With the monster now pursuing Castor, Zarrah raised herself carefully off of the floor, blades at the ready, only to observed, for a quick moment, with a tile of her head, the monster suddenly roaring out in pain as a statue collapsed.
Looking to the pile of rubble beside her, then to the other side where a statue of a man eating grapes stood next to her, she grinned wickedly.
"I think I know how we have to hurt these beasts!" she shouted, cracking her sword across the statue's face, the nose busting off.
It was only a light wound- but it was a test, and the monster, which had been pursuing Castor, suddenly paused and let out a hiss and whirled around. It's eyes blazed as it threw it's head towards Zarrah and just as she thought she was about to be gobbled up, the thing roared at her with such a force it shook the entire area.
Then it reared it's head back ad lunged forward again for the attack, teething crunching as Zarrah flipped away and up and over the wall, to come smashing down on the statue with such a force that it crumbled to bits.
However, it took much energy out of her as Zarrah staggered to the floor.
Dark hair ove rher face, she turned over her shoulder, body pressing to the ground as the shadow beast roared out. Her face exploded into a smile.
"How many statues are left?" She called, pushing herself off of the ground and making her way over towards Castor.
Castor was shaking the dust from his hair and eyes as he looked up at Zarrah, watching now how the statues were in fact connected to the state of the creature. He noticed as the next one came crashing down, the Shadow was growing more and more material, feeling itself bow heavier to the ground, moving slower. And the slower it moved the angrier it got and pressed the assault.
His head snapped to Zarrah when she called to him. And quickly he counted. "Thirteen!" he shouted back, and immediately ran for the statue nearest him, one with a serpent head being sliced in half. He smashed his fist into the stone, crushing it underneath Cynwulfen until the base left it falling to the ground in a growing cloud of dust.
"Thirteen?" she called back, only to realize the shadow beast was still attacking, thumbing it's tail slowly, but angrily into the ground, nearly toppling over a statue, which gave Zarrah an idea.
Smirking, she danced about, clapping her hands and calling over towards the mighty beast.
"Over here you stupid giant!" she called, voice in the air. "Come and get me for dinner if you can. I bet I taste much better than the man with metal hands over there." She twirled her blades over her thumbs, then added in a lower voice, eyes determined. "Though I've got plenty of other metal thigns for you to eat."
The beast, taking the bate, roared at her defiantly before taking charge. Clawing at her, it missed, as Zarrah tucked her legs and tumbled forward over it. Then it tried again, and she easily skirted the advance. A few hops, flips and a twirl had the beast smacking it's massive tail into two statues, crumbling them to bits.
Zarrah's eyes glittered over as she smiled victorious.
13 before. Castor downed one, she two.
"There are only ten left now!" She shouted over her shoulder towards Castor.
"Let's smash these damn things to bits!"
He didn't need to be told twice. In an instant, Castor crushed three statues, lifting them high overhead from their base and smashing them into another, the dust clouding up and obscuring his vision. But it seemed to be working as the creature suddenly became lamer and smaller, shrinking down and receding its attack for a moment, feeling itself trapped and caged.
As they tumbled the statues, at last Castor stood before the one of the kneeling man being crushed between two columns. The Shadow charged for Castor, lunging in a vicious hungry jump. He leaned with all his weight against the largest and heaviest statue of them all, heart beating in his ears and sweat dripping down every corner of his face. Just before the claws dug their way into his chest, the statue lurched and toppled over the shadow, crushing it underneath the rubble of centuries past.
Castor crawled over the rocks and stone of the mess they had made, exhausted.
Zarrah approached Castor, chest heaving as she breathed, blades still ready at her sides.
"Well that was certainly interesting," she commented, slipping her blades away as she approached him.
"Are you alright?" her violet eyes scanned him before she looked up at his face.
"I suppose we ought to press on." There was no time for rejoicing anyways, he seemed fine and well, didn't they have to press on?
With one hand resting steadily on blade, she approached the door, which they had been doggedly prevented from approaching, with caution. Her eyes scanned it before she paused.
"Let's hope whatever behind here is friendly," she stated, shifting her weight uneasily before it. She gestured towards him, and just waited for him to lead. This was his path to walk, after all. She, merely an accomplice. Though, part of her had to wonder if he'd ever consider where he'd be without her. After all, if not for her- he'd have been long dead by now- a mere corpse, demented by the crushing weight of those walls.
Thinking back to it, her eyes flickered towards the dagger Castor carried.
"Think the dagger holds any more clues?"
She hoped it had nothing to do with the initial image of the woman sacrifice-
considering..
She was the only woman bleed-able around here...
and part of her began to contemplate if Castor wouldn't willingly submit her to it.
she felt her jaw tense at the notion, fingers rubbing at her side.
OOC: XD there, crossed out the part that shouldn't happen since the dagger is on/in the pyre XD
Castor managed to find enough strength to balance himself on the rubble and started climbing down toward the golden doors, large and elaborate in design, that stood before him. He kept his back to Zarrah, walking ahead of her. Though they survived another battle together, he didn't feel a need to say a word to her. Not after what she said to him by the fire that illuminated this dreadful prison. His shoulders were slumped and heavy as he walked ahead.
He didn't think for a moment that what lied beyond these doors, but they were heavy and bolted down by appearance. These doors, he realized, weren't meant to keep them from going in. But to keep something from getting out.
He paused before them, unsure if he was quite ready to move on from the next ordeal. But there was no where else to go. They could not turn back, could not stay where they were. He lifted the bolts with ease and snapped them off to the side. He pressed his entire body against the doors, the hinges creaking loudly with the sudden movement as the chamber was open before them. He stepped inside. The light from the pyre had been spared here, and darkness surrounded the room, all save for one space where sunlight actually showed through, pouring down on a man that knelt, chained to the center.
He was alive, breathing, bald and pale. He didn't move aside from the breathing, didn't even raise his head as Castor's steps echoed within.
"Are you...the one?" he asked.
Castor didn't answer right away, drawing closer but stopping just short of twenty feet before him. But after a minute he finally answered. "Yes."
The man said nothing more, finally did look up, a desolate face. "It took you long enough," he said. "You know what you have to do. I'm quite surprised you've come this far, however. But I'm sorry that I cannot let you get any farther."
"How long have you been here?" Castor asked softly.
The man sighed. "As long as it took...for someone to come and try to take the Relic."
Zarrah remained quietly behind Castor, and slightly to his left, keeping her eyes wary, though the darkness before them was impenetrable. Though the faint beam of light caught her attention as her eyes went down to the man. Listening to the exchange, she began to wonder what sort of puzzle or test this might be. What could one chained man due to stop a man like Castor, especially, after knowing he was to come?
Zarrah stepped forward, looking to Castor, then down to the man. He looked wretched.
"Why can't we proceed?" she inquired, then her eyes softened a little as she looked at the man and without thinking, she drew out her pouch of water. "Perhaps you shouldn't talk and rest. Would you like some water?" HEr eyes went to Castor's for only a moment, then back to the strange man's.
He seemed harmless enough and had he been her grandfather or the sort, she would have taken pity. He was so skinny she could see his bones. What could the water do? It was a meager option, but even in this dark pit, she still had some sense to show humanity-
Even if this chained man might be a devil.
The man looked at the strange woman that walked beside Castor, and he made a confused face at her. Suddenly the chamber echoed with laughter, almost maniacal. He laughed at her offer and shook his head. But he didn't speak to her as his dark, empty eyes bore into Castor. "Who is this?" he asked. "The blood sacrifice?" he snickered again before snarling and moving to stand.
Castor reached out an arm and pulled Zarrah back. "Don't. Leave here. Please. For yourself," he begged. A sudden noise took his attention away from her as he heard the snapping of the chain, which was as thick as both of Castor's arms combined. The thin man ripped the other one from its base as well.
"Let's get this over with," he said. The man's skin suddenly began to change, transforming into flesh made of gold. Where his body was thin, it was now thick with muscle and he grew almost two feet taller than Castor, broader, stronger, fiercer. His skin changed, transforming into blocks of metal of a golden hue, powerful and deadly, the chains changing too, still strapped to his wrists. He rose as a golden giant, shimmering metallic in the light that seeped through, and with no warning, he charged forward, swinging his chains out at both of them.
Zarrah was taken back by the old man's reaction. The fact he called her a blood sacrifice didn't sit well in the pit of her stomach as she looked at him incredulously. She wouldn't admit it, but she was thankful Castor had pulled her back. And a bit thankful he actually seemed to care by warning her, though the notion brought more pain than comfort. The stupid fool needed to make up his damn mind if he even cared about her at all, love or not!
"For myself?" she coolly responded. "Maybe if you said, 'please'." Her tease was cold, but she wasn't in the mood for him to suddenly want to protect her. After all, he had cast her heart aside without a problem and she had to remember...
He was no Rassar.
However, what happened next made her jaw drop as she stared at the man transforming behind them. She should have moved when the chains came forward, and did it almost all too late as she lept out of the way, though one chain gripped around her ankle and forced her to the ground and before she knew it she was being pulled towards the beast.
He wasn't trying to protect her. She could do that herself. He was trying to get her out of the way. This was not her place, not her task, and if she died, she died. Castor was tired of the games, tired of being toyed with. He had enough of it from his master, he didn't need it from Zarrah. Castor steeled his mind and braced for impact when he felt himself lashed across the torso by the chain, sending him reeling into the chamber wall, knocking the wind out of him.
His head was spinning, his head having slammed into the wall. The Guardian swing Zarrah into the ground and grabbed her up into his iron grip when she was close enough. "More pigs to the slaughter," he laughed before launching her across the room.
But it didn't take long for Castor to recover and charge toward the Guardian. He rammed into the man, knocking him backwards though he quickly regained his balance. He smashed his fists into him, Cynwulfen sparking against the metal of his flesh, but the Guardian swatted him away like a fly. He fell down by his feet, and rolled out of the way just in time as a golden fist came smashing down into the floor, sending rubble everywhere.
Zarrah bared her teeth as the man held her fierce, then she was launched across the room like some pathetic toy. Crashing into the wall, she crumpled to the ground, her body numbed with pain and her mind dizzy as dust swelled around her.
It was until the entire place began to shake that she lifted her head, dust mixing with her dark hair as it fell over her face.
She noticed Castor just barely dodging the attack as she bared her teeth, raising herself off the ground and being hunched over like an angered dog. Was this man all that stood in their way of the relic? He had quite a power to him, strength as well. She had to think, and think quick, lest she fall prey to another one of those chained attacks- and she feared her body wouldn't do well with it. Just one crack to the skull would do her in.
Her eyes darted around the area, falling to the crack of light in the ceiling above.
It was so far away, and gave her no clue or incentive as what to do. She ground her teeth, eyes still scanning the area when she noticed a pedestal off int he distance...
She wondered, was that where the relic was contained? Inf the room behind that?
Perhaps they could distract the beast while one of them went for it? Though it seemed this creature was more than capable of handling them both as she leapt out of the way, just second before another whipped chain came smashing into the ground beneath her.
Castor was too occupied getting slammed into the wall, feeling his body begin to give in to the forces there in. His face was already bleeding, having been lashed by the sharpened edge of the chain. Soon the Guardian had him in his grasp and slammed him into the floor. He raised a foot, reading to crush his head like the fragile shell of a new born egg. Castor raised his hands and pressed his palms against the sole of his foot, but already he could feel his arms weaken.
His breathing was labored as he lazily watched the man turn his attention away from Castor just for a moment, knowing he was too weak to fight back as he began to march toward Zarrah. Castor grunted as he tried to get up, feeling his body scream in protest. His face was already bruised and bleeding; he didn't have the will to go on.
The Guardian raised both chains together and swung one at Zarrah, quickly followed by the other. But Castor moved faster than he ever moved in his life, throwing himself in front of the woman and raising the gauntlets that sparked upon impact with the golden chains. The second chain lashed him in the back, the motion making him scream aloud, knocking him to the side.
"Zarrah!" he called. "Get his attention! I...I can kill him!" But his voice sounded feeble.
"Get his attention?" she shouted, voice echoing between them. Her heart was pounding heavily within her chest as she turned, staring at the guardian as it snarled towards them, it's whole focus on Castor. She studied him for a while, then got a foolish idea.
Well, he didn't want her looking for trouble now, now he wanted it? She smirked a little at the thought, then turned her dark eyes towards the man with the chains.
Fetching the chains up, she approached the guardian, giving a mighty tug, though it seemed to rarely phase him as she shouted. "Hey!" and when the guardian looked her way, she threw her dagger towards him- blade sinking into his eye.
Her smirk widened as the guardian roared out in rage, tearing the chain she held towards him as she was pulled away...
but this time she was ready.
Usign the momentum of the pull , she propelled herself up and over into the air, her body spiraling into a flip, dark hair fluttering behidn her as she crashed to land, boots connecting with the guardian's face.
The fact she was foolishing attacking the foe far more powerful than she still kept the raging man in surprise, as another kick went to his face, diverting enough time off of Castor that she hoped his plan would work.
PLay time was over, it was time the fox were to run so the hunter could make chase.
Kicking off his face, she went up and away and backwards, landing in a quick crouch before propelling herself to her feet and dashing away.
The guardian was mad, as predicted and it rattled its' chains fiercely before launching them towards her at full force. They smashed into the grounds, Zarrah skillfully jumping out of their way, her heart in her throat as she barely escaped death one jump after another. Sweat glossed her skin like gold as she slid across the floor after rolling against a serious of attacks and paused off in a corner, eyes seeking Castor behind her black hair that had fallen over her face like a mask.
If she was going to be in the way, she might as well be doing something useful. And damn him to hell if her plan wasn't working. Castor knew if she hadn't done what she did, all the Guardian needed was a blow to his back or his head and he would be done for. And Castor knew the Demon could just easily replace his cohort with someone more foolish.
With the Guardian chasing Zarrah through the chamber, she bought him time enough to recover in part from his injuries. He began to change his breathing, channeling his anger, his adrenaline, his power, making his mind think of what would happen to Zarrah if the Guardian got his hands on her, her limbs scattered all across the room. His blood began to run hot, and he didn't need another moment to waste. He stood, the air becoming a raging river as he waded through it in a powerful run.
Cynwulfen's gift wasn't limited only to his hands and arms. His whole body was made powerful by their response. They burned in a mutual hunger as Castor lunged himself toward the man when he had his back to him. Castor reached for one of the chain as he swung it out to strike Zarrah and surged his muscles with strength enough to leap onto his back. The Guardian turned to whip them at Castor, but he only lunged into his embrace, latching onto the spaces between the golden plates of his skin.
Castor raised a fist, hanging onto the Guardian's shoulder, and slammed it onto the back of his head, he smashed it in pure rage, several times. He was possessed, an animal. The blow was strong enough to make the Guardian lurch to the side, the momentum knocking Castor off. He struck him hard in the side, the gold sparking and bending with every blow until the spaces between the plates began to expand.
He dug his fingers into one and yanked hard on it. The guardian screamed and bled under Castor's assault, his fists colliding harder and harder every time. He fell to his knees, exhausted, blood seeping from his mouth feeling his form on the edge of death. Castor stopped then, grabbing one of the chains on his wrists and wrapped it around the Guardian's neck. He leaned on his back, putting his feet on his shoulder blades and yanking back with all his might. The man gagged, the gold constricting, his golden face losing light.
Lost in life.
When he fell to the ground, Castor dropped down in exhaustion too, and slowly tried to climb to his knees.
Castor's attack couldn't come at a better time. She took time to catch her breath, lungs burning as she witnessed yet again, the full awesome power of her companion. When the deed was done, she felt a chill go to her bone. Numbly, she moved her legs and approached him, feeling it might be safer now that he had fallen into a pile of his own exhaustion.
"Is that it?" she commented, her voice soft through the ebbing darkness. "Is that creature dead?"
And the other question echoed in silence-
was the creature that momentarily possessed Castor with rage dead? She saw him try to rise, and Zarrah slowly extended a hand.
She'd be damned if he'd kill off her humanity through his pride. Feelings be damned.
"Here, let me help you."
After all, it seemed to be what they did best- and neither could deny it. Had they been just one- they would have remained pawns with no other gain, but together...
Things were happening for sure, but towards what sort of destiny? And at what cost?
Castor felt his lungs burning as if he was drowning, his arms lunging for Zarrah, wrapping around her hips as he hugged her there. He weakly tried to help himself stand, using her as a solid post, breathing hard, his face dripping with sweat and blood.
He looked to the Guardian, that lied lifeless on the floor and tears began to form in his eyes. His chin moved in sorrow and he closed his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to speak but all that came out was a broken sob. He looked to Zarrah, but quickly turned his head away. He leaned over the body of the lifeless man before turning him over. The gold plates of his skin did not fade, but were bent and broken wherever Castor had struck him.
He recalled his brutality, and at the cost of another life. Drained almost completely, he dropped his body over the man's and rested his head against the blood covered plate of his chest, his eyes overflowing with tears. He couldn't explain why he was crying. The toll of blood perhaps was finally reaching his breaking point as he hugged the dead body, whispering apologies, trying to control his sobs.
His bloody face hurt to move and he held his breath to keep from saying anything further as he, at last, dug his fingers in between the bent plates of his chest, the chamber rattling with the cracking of bone. He pulled out the four intersecting plates, revealing the stilled heart inside. Castor reached in, looking away, unable to stand the sight of his own actions as he pulled out the heart.
When it was removed from the body, the heart glowed a bright, luscious red, before melting away in his hand, transforming underneath it the Relic he sought. A gnarled hand, covered in fresh flesh, with a ring embedded around the middle finger. Castor bit his lip, chest heaving still.
He took a deep breath and held the Relic in his hands, gingerly. "Now you know why I had to kill the Guardian," he said, his eyes still taken with the angry hand. It was still so well-preserved, but cold to the touch. But this was what he was fighting so long and so hard for.
Only eight more to go.
Zarrah was stunned. There seemed nothing to be said and nothing to be done as she watched Castor break down into tears. Her heart went out to him. She could only begin to understand the pain he was enduring and could only imagine what he had gone through before they met.
She was repulsed by the action, the cracking of bone, but found herself unable to look away as the glowing heart melted away; and there, a withered hand remained.
At Castor's words, she released the breath she hadn't known she was holding, and lowered her hand away she had clutched against her chest. Slowly she approached him, slipping her blades away and stood quietly at his side in solemn reflection. THen she moved, crouching beside him as she studied the mangled body.
"Do you think that poor man had a choice to be in on this?" She paused, studying the relic. "To be the keeper, the guardian of the relic? Or, is that just how these things are? That he was simply created to be here." she turned to him, studying his eyes. "Waiting for you, and waiting for this challenge, this defeat to happen?"
He was silent for a long time, unable to meet her eyes. Her questions stirred him and he did look at her with a bruised face and swollen eyes. He didn't believe in destiny or fate, so much was his heart sworn to his freedom. A person that couldn't choose their path had nothing to make for themselves. How could he have known this was predetermined?
He shook his head, frowning. "If that's so, then it means I would have been chained to these things no matter what I did. Maybe after all I do. I like to think there is a choice to be had, that we aren't pawns in a greater plan. But we both know that is a lie. For both of us. I think he knew he had a choice. It was his choice to stop me, to wait for me. It was my choice to kill him."
The last sentence came out like an arrow that had buried itself deep into his gut, only to be yanked out with brute force. He did have a choice. And this was the choice he'd made. He knew then that whatever humanity had grown in him, was dead or dying, and with every life he took...he was nothing more than an empty shell. A memory of a man.
"Let's go. I don't know where the exit it is, but it has to be around here somewhere," he said, coming back to himself. He managed to stand, if wobbly so, but stand nonetheless. He looked up to the sky light. It was far up, a hole perhaps leading up to the badlands, but he couldn't know. "How are we going to get up there?"
Zarrah stared at him with a frown as he spoke.
"Our destiny is our own." she informed him, gently touching his arm, then followed his gaze up and away towards the broken shard of light. She smiled sadly towards it. It was an unreachable glimmer of hope.
and so was the jest she made.
"I know a certain man who can climb his way out of anything." She eyed him playfully a moment before turning away, a slight lilt to her walk.
Once at the wall, she ran her fingers over the stone. She kept her back to Castor, not expecting much of a response from him here. Her heart went out to him. She knew he was desperate for his freedom. She knew how he felt more than most, even if they both suffered on different levels.
She could have helped him walk, to stand... but she couldn't bare to remain near him.
Not because she was afraid of the beast he had turned into back there, but because she was afraid at what she admitted so foolishly earlier.
And well..
Perhaps she had been wrong. Even when her heart ached and twisted, letting her know other wise.
"Perhaps there are steps somewhere," she added softly, finally taking her eyes away from the wall.
Maybe he would... just forget what she said, but she could not.
They no longer had any reason to remain here. Castor pushed the solemnity of the moment aside and grinned at Zarrah's jest. She knew how to take his mind from things. And he knew that in itself was a double-edged sword. He only watched her as she wandered toward the wall. As his eyes followed her, he soon found the designs on the wall had started to jut and spiral around the room, in a sort of narrow-stepped stair case.
"The drawing," he said, pointing it out. "Follow it from the edge of the room. C'mon!" He was eager to be free of this place and was the first to approach it. They were feeble steps and creaked under his weight. But he made sure each step was quick, though his body still protested against any swift and serious movement. Carefully, he found his way to the top, but the ceiling would prove difficult to access.
He tucked the hand in a strap on his thigh, knotting it securely there before waiting for Zarrah to join him. "Climb onto my back. I'll scale the ceiling if we have to. We don't belong here."
Zarrah's eyes idly traced over what he was talking about, and soon was following after him. She too couldn't wait to be rid of this place. Although it was massive, she felt it weigh upon her like a cell. THe steps were narrow, so she stepped light ad quick behind him, though careful not to be in his way. When he paused at the top and suggested he climb onto her back she couldn't help but smile again.
"Yes, I do recall we've done this before," she said, slipping her arms around him tight. She found herself sighing against her will, a sadness taking over her, despite her playful tone as she continued. "But this time I think I'll behave," she added, lips close to his ear, for old time's sake.
And he was right at his last comment.
They didn't belong here.
He shook his head in amusement as he began to climb the ceiling. He could only be glad things were relatively back to normal between them. Well, as normal as they'd ever been. The only thing Castor could think of was the light of the sun high up and offering its brutal warmth in place of this desolately cold tomb. He would welcome the sun, and all her lack of mercy.
Doing as he promised, Castor scaled across the ceiling, monkey-bars style, though his arms were weak and tired from the battle. They managed to make it to the hole and Castor pulled himself up and out of the crevice, nothing more than a large crack in stone, a fissure born from the quaking earth itself, he presumed.
Castor crawled out, never so glad to daylight again as he was then, staring up at the hot morning sky with squinted eyes. Alive. At least he was alive.
Zarrah remained silent as he scaled, upwards and outwards and onwards towards freedom. It was one of the few moments the blazing heat of the sun was a comfort as she smiled and wilted, slightly, with relief against Castor. Closing her eyes for just a moment, she lingered against his strong back before slowly slipping away, ensuring he'd feel the soft caress of her skin before she left. Delicately, her boots met the sand before she stood in dark contrast to the white deserts.
To say she was relieved they lived through the ordeal was an understatement.
Not wanting to ruin their moment of reverie, Zarrah remained silent at Castor's side as the two stared out at the vast world of sands before them. Home.
She was home again, back to the world painted against the sun.
But what about Castor? Now with his relic in tow- what sort of path lay before him?
She was hungered with curiosity, and felt such a close sympathy for him it was driving her crazy. If she could save him from his burden, she would. But she knew he wouldn't see to that- nor admit he'd want her help. But it was these rare moments that well, she could safely smile beside him and dream.
This was a familiar feeling. This cherishing of seeing the light again. Castor knew well enough to relish every moment of it, for he never knew when it would happen again. His body was drenched in sweat and his throat was constricted in a sudden, eager thirst. But for all his physical ailments, he was happy, and lay on that hot layer of stone and dirt without a care in the world.
And for a fleeting moment, he was glad that Zarrah could be with him. He turned to look at her, lying still and his eyes searched for something in her expression, but did not find it. He grinned slightly, a weakened one, but instantly followed by a frown. He said nothing and turned his head back up at the sun.
"Thank you," he whispered to her. "I'm sorry for what I said." He would have to return to the north as soon as he could, and find the next Relic. His journey was only beginning. But for now, it could wait.
Zarrah made a light noise as she smirked.
She opened her lips to reply, but words fell silent before she closed her mouth, keeping her eyes focused on the distant horizon.
"You don't need to thank me, but the gesture is appreciated. It's nice to know I can do something that isn't centered around my revenge towards Carnavus," She smiled towards him, then turned away, drawing in a breath as a light wind swept through her hair. "So perhaps I should be thanking you for the distraction?" she gave him a playful smile, her eyes sparkling with mirth, hiding the hollowness that was settling into her bones. The sense of dred was still upon her. She knew that since this ordeal for him was all said and over... soon they'd have to say Goodbye. And she knew, form what he told her, that that would be it. And it was very hard to swallow.
"So how many more relics must you seek next?" she inquired. "And what are you meant to do with them once they're all procured?"
He grew shy at her indication and looked down, blushing lightly. He made himself sit up, body sore and screaming and looked at her. "I-I have eight more I think...or so I've been told," he said. He thought about it and wondered since it had taken this long to procure only two, he wondered how much longer it would be to collect the rest of them.
"It's taken me ten years to find just the first one. Several months to locate this one. I don't know how long I can this kind of punishment," he said, jokingly, referring to the state of his face. "I don't know where the next one is, I don't even know what it is. Until my Master tells me. I'll have many many...restless nights to look forward too. Thanks to you." He laughed.
But it was a bitter laugh and he put a hand on hers. "I mean it. I didn't want you to come because I didn't want you to get hurt. See what that thing did to me? You could have been worse. But I know if you hadn't...I could just as well not have made it out alive. You deserve thanks. Even if I don't want to."
Zarrah smiled more naturally as she looked at his poor face, her eyes seeming to laugh. It was nice to know he still wished to joke with her. But perhaps nothing had changed, especially as she listened to more of his jestings and closed her eyes, looking away as she simply smiled.
"I'll consider that a compliment," she informed, liking the idea she made him restless. She turned to him, smiling more broadly when he smiled. Then, looking down to the hand on hers, she looked up into his eyes.
"Maybe it would do well for you to listen to me more often. I have very good ideas," she jested, her tone insinuating much. "And I can take care of myself, perhaps it was you who we should really worry for." Her lips twitched a little leftward as she studied him. "These.. types of things you go after. I don't know, it just makes sense that you shouldn't do it alone. It seems acquiring them might come easier in pairs.." though she chuckled, not assuming much by her suggestion and added, "Or the dozen. I'm sure an army of men might have even had it rough back there though." she looked away, staring at the horizon again, wind moving through her hair, a real smile gracing her lips.
"Though it's nice to think, at odds like that, where we were only two.... we were still able to triumphant."
It felt good to talk this way. TO laugh a little and to smile after that wretched ordeal. It reminded her again why...
Well, she looked to the ground.
There was no point in thinking about that.
"And what do you suggest?" Castor asked with a bitter, wry smile. "That I lead a bunch of men into long forgotten wastes, risking their lives unnecessarily for something that would only kill them in the end? I'm not a leader. I'm not a soldier, not even a warrior. I fight because I have to. It's the only thing I've ever known. In the mines where I grew up, you had to, or you'd just as easily be chucked into the nearest abandoned mine shaft."
His grin faded, remembering all those years. "I'm not a hero," he said, shrugging nonchalantly. "I understand it was your choice to come with me. But I hope you can understand that it is my burden to carry, not yours. These are my chains. Not yours. Perhaps the time has come--"
He didn't want to finish, so his mouth stopped right then and there, silent, not sure what to say or how to say it.
"I'm not saying to be a hero," she said, smiling that he thought of the idea as she turned to him. "All I'm saying is, you have quite the road ahead of you. Not many can rise to the challenge. I'm not even certain how I would react if I had these bonds," she spoke, approaching him and lightly brushing her hair over the metal, then raised her head to look at him.
"Could you explain to me how you've acquired them?" She didn't want to press a issue he was avoiding, even if she was curious of how he thought and felt and well..
Zarrah wanted to be fully sure of what to make of this man. It seemed as if he were trapped without a choice-
And had that really been the case? Her eyes searched him silently.
Her question caught him completely off guard. Castor bit his lip, not wanting to think back on the memory of how he acquired them and when. There were too many things he could have done instead, should have done. Perhaps had he done them he might have been cursed to live nothing more than a happy, normal life than that of a wanderer with no aim, no path. A ghost.
"Why do you care?" he asked, feeling defensive. He wasn't sure he didn't want to answer, but wouldn't say it out loud to just anybody. Castor looked to the ground, keeping his eyes averted to his boots. "Why do you stay around me? You say it's your choice, but why? I have nothing to offer you?"
A poor attempt at trying to change the subject. But the questions remained.
Zarrah knew to well what he was feeling and did not press the issue. Though, she smiled a little, recalling how he had pressed the same issue against her. And my, my! Wasn't he getting defensive? Perhaps he had done something embarrassingly foolish? But who was she to say? for she knew not any truth behind the metal gloves.
She continued to study his face, her smile and gaze never straying. Yes.. they both were too alike. Perhaps that's why she liked him.
"Sometimes we just want to help people we care for to get that feeling of self worth. THere are not many things in this world worth fighting for, but I for one, believe you can not be punished for all the sins you commit in order to become free. Freedom comes at a cost, and is the only thing we have to identify ourselves, to figure out what we might be, what we wish.. what we desire...."
She let her words fade away, feeling the heat of the sun as she wiped at her brow.
"Come, we should head back to my cave. The sun will kill us if we remain. And then we can rest, the Gods know we need it." She added then, with a more playful smirk. "And perhaps a drink and something to eat?" She didn't know about him, but she was famished.
She was entitled to her belief, but Castor knew otherwise. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself...sometimes the ends didn't justify the means. And sometimes, you never quite knew when the battle was already lost. Castor pushed the thoughts from his mind. He couldn't let himself lose heart, not now with the second Relic already in his grasp.
He looked down at his side and eyed the petrified hand, gnarled like it had been trying to reach for something before it had been severed from its owner. This was what he'd been fighting for, he vaguely reflected, a man's severed hand? Yet he knew it was the same one from his dreams, his nightmares.
Castor peered up at her before resolving to stand. With difficulty but not impossibility, he did limping, his back locking up, his whole body stiff. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to stay one more night with her, with a friend before turning toward the dawn. He nodded to her, the heat starting to get to him now. "I think we need more than food and drink," he said, shrugging and looking tired. "After the temple, I'm just as ready for the grave."
She smiled towards him, her sympathy evident in his eyes as she knew far too well what he meant. There had been a time she had been there-
at the edge of her grave.
and then in it and awkwardly.... out.
She shoved the memories aside and moved quietly beside him, taking his arm, whether he liked it or not, and slipped it over her shoulder. Her hand pressed against his back as she motioned for him to lean against her for support. Although he was much heavier than she, she could at least help him out in any way she could.
"Here, just lean against me. You've taken quite a beating. We'll have to take it nice and slow across the desert anyways, since the sun is at it's zenith." She craned her neck to look at it once, though it's blistering whiteness was blinding as she turned to look at him wearily, his face casting her's in shade.
"Just think about how nice it'll be to collapse in the cool shade and just sleep all day long," and the husky, hungered way she spoke, it made the idea so sensual because even she craved it.
Yes.. sleep would do them both a world of good.
He was thankful for the help and didn't fight her motion to pull herself underneath his arm. He balanced against her, having difficulty maintaining it on his own and stepped slowly in the direction of her cave. He was thankful for the support she offered, her body so much more solid and tighter than his own at this particular moment.
He actually laughed at her insinuation. "Actually," he replied, leaning his head against hers for a short time. "I could use a relaxing bath first. No reason I should sleep in the crust of blood and the ache of bruises more than I have to." Castor shuffled along with her, the sun hurting every inch of his aching flesh as much as before.
He didn't see the flickering mirage behind them, a small dot on the horizon watching from afar.
The cliffs crawled closer, away from the desert sands. The sun followed them, falling toward the nadir, but it wasn't quite night yet. The cave was soon in sight.
"I didn't think we had much luck with baths," she commented in a light tone, smiling as they moved onwards towards her cave. As it was before, the pathway towards it was annoying at best, but it was still the road home as she helped escort Castor up and in towards the safety of her cave.
Guiding him towards the pile of blankets on the floor, she gestured for him to sit.
"Here, take it easy. I'll get us some water."
Zarrah slipped away from him, only after he would be ready to support his own weight safely before retrieving what little water they had left. She took a quick drink before handing it to him.
"Tonight, I'll have to get us more fresh water. Our supplies are running low."
She studied his face a moment, then took a glance over the rest of his body with a frown.
"You've acquired a lot more cuts and bruises," she commented, though she knew he could feel them and the statement- well, obvious. "I have some salve. Perhaps we can travel to that underground river source and get you cleaned up. I'm sorry I can't offer much of a bath here."
After all, supplies were limited. Although she had some running water nearby, it wouldn't hold up to the taste of bathing the dirt and blood that caked and stained Castor's flesh. She studied him for a moment before her eyes met to his.
Castor slumped on the blankets with a light thud, grateful to finally be out of the hot sun and sitting once more. He wasn't used to being so helpless, having been beaten nearly to death. He only now realized the true risk he had placed himself in, with the assault the Guardian had done. He could just as easily have torn him apart. Then he had to wonder...why didn't he?
The thought did not linger long when the water met his parched, dry lips. Within less than a second, it was empty and he was craving more. He looked at her and laughed, grinning. "You could have told me that before you sat me down," he said.
"I think I've had enough of being underground to last a lifetime...but let's go anyway. I'm sick of these cuts and scrapes. He struggled to get up, but managed to do so anyway and limped wearily deeper into the cave.
Zarrah rolled her eyes at him.
"Then to the caves," she smirked, and again, afforded him a shoulder to lean upon as she lead the way, and soon they would find themsleves in a myhtical seeming pool, with chiming cascades of cool waters gushing from blue rocks and breathing the life waters into a wide stream below.
It was calm and surreal, an ideal location for bathing and gaining a resupply. Fussing over her supplies, Zarrah lined up a few dried gourds and hide canteens against the shores before turning around to face Castor.
"Just take your time here and relax," she told him, giving him a rare smile. "And I'll behave this time." she teased him, fluffing her dark hair aside as she turned her back to him and set to work- filling up canteen after canteen of water. She would bathe, certainly, but water was the first and foremost important part of this trip.
And Castor could use some privacy and she-
well, even she needed her space.
Though above ground, the land was dryer than hand that was petrified on his belt straps, underground, the water coursed through creaks and crack in stone, the lifeblood of the earth, more precious than anything he knew in his life. Perhaps even more so than his freedom. Castor was grateful to be led to it and used the wall for support.
When he was alone, he undressed carefully, slowly, mindful of the Relic and wrapped it in his clothing. He had decency enough not to slip into the stream and instead cupped the water with hands before washing it over is body and wiping away the crud and blood that had gathered and dried all over him. It took a while, and when he was finally clean, he moved on to his clothes, washing them one by one.
He kept to himself, not watching Zarrah as she went about her collection. He was shivering from the coldness of the water, but stood, gathering his clothes and holding them over his groin, to give himself some sense of decency, returning slowly and limpingly to the cave.
Zarrah was quick to wash herself, not delving herself into full nudity, but rather let the clothing drape off once here to bare a shoulder, as she'd toss and press water across it, rinsing away the dust and sweat. Then moving around, she'd crane her neck, and press waters to her throat and face, then all over her body until she was mostly clean, and even took some time to cup her hands into the water. It tasted divine. The water was always best fresh from the stream.
Wiping at her lips on the back of her wrist, she noticed Castor had approached. She adjusted her clothing so ti was more decent, a strap, having fallen over her shoulder before she turned around to him and fussed over pinning her dark hair upon the top of her head.
Her eyes traced over his form briefly, and the sparkle was there in her eyes, but she remained reserved.
"Would you like change of clothing?" she asked, letting her hands finally drop, her voice soft, yet still it echoed gently between them before becoming lost into the depths of the cave.
She was beautiful in the glimmer and reflection of the water. He noticed now in the light of truth, not when she was trying to be coy and seductive. The motions were tired and had been done. Castor watched her form with lazy eyes, not sure if his exhaustion was withstanding. When his gaze trailed back to her eyes, he flashed a shy smile and shook his head.
"I don't think you'd have anything that would fit me," he said softly. "A blanket will do while my clothes dry by a fire. The water was much, much colder than I expected." He grinned at her and began to shuffle toward the cave.
"Do you have a dry one?"
Zarrah fought the urge to look over his body, but he'd probably see the strain sparkling in her eyes. She only nodded. "I could afford you a blanket, but I do have some men's clothing.."
her voice trailed off as she bit her lip, lowering her head. "Though, now I feel foolish for mentioning it. I doubt any of Rassar's things would fit." She lifted her head up, tucking some hair behind her ear as she stared at him before she moved to pull a small, thin wrap from her satchel.
"Here," she offered it to him. "It's not much but it will be better than nothing." She smirked, then hefted the weight of the waters onto her shoulder. THey were heavy, but she wouldn't ask Castor to help. He was sore enough.
"Come, let's go back," She smiled and lead the way.
"No, no, no," he assured her, trying not to be rude...standing there almost completely naked. "Er, that would be fine. His clothes will do. I'll make them fit." He tried to laugh and grinned boyishly at her. He caught the wrap she offered him and dropped his wet clothes to the ground, wrapping the cloth around his waist, knotting it on his hip.
Though he was tired, he had energy enough to help her. He quickly moved to help her, well limped more like, and lifted two canisters in one hand while bending to pick up his clothes in the other. "I've got it. Don't worry."
OOC: 20 pages! 8D
Zarrah moved to stop him but only breathed a sigh through her nose.
A hand on her hip, she shook her head at him, but didn't argue as they returned to her Cave.
Setting the waters aside, she moved over towards one of the larger chests inside her room. She was quiet and quick about opening the lock, then pushed the box open, revealing an array of Rassar's things within.
She stared at them for a time before sighing.
"Well, I suppose it's about time they've come to use besides me trying to wear them." she didn't go into the details fo the story, but it was pretty entertaining when she had cross-dressed to get a certain something she wanted...
Handing over a simple shirt and pants towards Castor, she smiled at him softly before turning her gaze back towards the box. It looked as if she might sigh again, but she did not and simply closed the lid shut.
After the water was set aside, he watched the emotions that flashed across her face when she opened the chest. He could tell the contents within meant a lot to her. He knew he doubted he would react any differently to objects that belonged to someone he loved. Perhaps that was why he thought it best to travel alone, to forgo attachments...they brought back too many memories that were best left in the past.
"Thank you," he said, taking them kindly and dressing when he was dry enough. He slipped the trousers on, which were looser than he expected and the shirt, while snug, was loose enough move comfortably. They fit, almost, and he supposed it was better than just walking around naked.
He sat down by the blankets, setting his own clothes out to dry. "You've kept them all this time," he commented, looking at her, but not expecting her to answer. "You must have really loved him." And that was all he would say. He knew he had no place commenting on her lover, so he kept his mouth shut.
"How long have you been out here?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
At his questions, Zarrah said nothing, her eyes averting his as she stared off and away to nowhere.
She was away with thought, and did not answer any of his questions for a good long time.
Then, smiling sheepishly, she lowered her gaze and smiled.
"I've kept them for too long and have been here even longer." she sighed, controlling her breath before she turned to him. "I had to keep them." she let him know. "Even though he is dead, they still remain as a symbol of what has been, what is to come, and are kind of like an icon of my freedom." She smiled sadly, her lips trembling over the thought as her violet eyes gazed across Castor in his clothes.
He almost filled them out...
He almost...
She lowered her gaze again, smiling in spite of herself.
It was ironic, a man seeking freedom wearing her symbol of the free....
He had to admit to himself that wearing these clothes felt simultaneously strange yet familiar. He was a little uncomfortable with the idea that she was so attached to these things, but his own clothes had been worn and torn time and again, and perhaps it was best to keep them on for now. He still shivered from the coldness of the water and sat back on his haunches.
Castor smiled at her and locked gazes for a moment. "That's nice," he replied. "You were right to keep them. You deserve your freedom. You deserve happiness. It's good that you have something to remind you of it.
"So often do we go without it, it becomes far...too easy to forget it ever existed, doesn't it. Funny thing that is." He turned his eyes to the ground, setting his body back against the wall, pulling a blanket over him.
"Too many things in life are far easier to forget and ignore," she lamented, not realizing her words could appeal to both. "But we should rest." She noted he was already making himself comfortable and smiled.
Fussing over her hair, Zarrah unbound it and let the dark strands fall across her shoulder as she moved towards the other side of the pile of blankets to gather her own little nesting for herself. She was finally beginning to feel the exhaustion take a tool on her body as she sighed contentedly, but found herself unable to sleep at first, her thoughts drifting towards the events of the day.
After a time, she stole a glance towards Castor, curious as to his history and what was to become of him come the next day and eventually, she found herself lulled into sleep.
Castor watched her go to sleep with some sliver of hope, albeit small. He smiled and when he knew she was already deep in its embrace, he carefully got up. He made a pained face at how his body protested, but he moved very quietly and softly toward Zarrah's side, dragging the blanket along with him. He laid down beside her and pulled the other blanket over them. Like a ghost, he pulled an arm around her and buried his head in her hair. Then drifted off to sleep then.
[SHORT! >< And feel free to have Carnavus make an appearance when you see fit, or I will. It dun matter.]
OOC: <3
SECRETLY HE CARES lol
IC:
Her dreams came easily, a luxury at best - to a golden time long forgotten... love nestled in her breast. There had been a time for charm, a time for change...
There was hope and respect, a whole world opened up to her...
Now everything lay in an uncertain mess.
The dream, however, reminded her of happier times, and perhaps times that had never existed, but after a long bought of merriment, the dream suddenly went cold as Zarrah shivered.
His presence was as silent as a shadow, as deadly as a snake as he approached in a form of a black snake that slithered it's way across the floor, gliding this way and that before slipping up behind Zarrah and taking form- as there, a man in tan wrapped clothing, even a wrap over his head, bent crouched over Castor's form as he held Zarrah.
His eyes, with pupil's slit like snakes, focused upon the pair- his mouth, unreadable behind the clothe mask her wore.
And for hours he simply watched, both of them peacefully dreaming before he melting back into the snake and slipped over Castor's body and circled his cold, serpentile body around Zarrah's arm....
And then as strangely as he had come, he disappeared, but not without breathing the notion, the visions into Zarrah's head of his arrival...
"Carnavus wants you to come... you have three days, lest the mark of the snake make it to your heart..."
And that was all that was said, all that was shared as Zarrah murmured in her sleep-
her dreams shifting to the image of a man bending over to her and lifting up her body- exposing her, naked to the world before wrapping her in black gauze that twisted into the form of snakes. When she tried to scream, the snakes bore into her, slipping into her flesh and wriggling beneath her skin as she silently screamed out in pain...
and she heard his voice...
Three days until the mark hit her heart...
Seek out Carnavus...
She awoke with a start, Castor's arm falling off of her body as her heart raced within her chest.
She threw off the blanket from her body, patted herself down, nearly ripping off her clothing as she got to her feet and saw nothing-
her body was intact..
She breathed a sigh of relief when the voice returned to her...
Three days until the snake reaches your heart... the voice whispered in a hiss, and she jumped, batting at the sound as if the rattling of the snake's fading voice tickled her ear.
Then you will die.
She clenched her heart, then tore her sleeve down off of her shoulder, only to stare in disbelief at the dark printed mark of a snake that curled around her bicep, it's head reaching up, tongue extended towards her face.
Paling, she backed away until her back pressed up against the wall, eyes darting wildly about as she drew out a knife defensively, but no one was there.
Castor felt a chill in the air, but he knew the desert was always cold in the night, almost as cold as the sleeping shade of the mines of the highlands of his home. The wind whistled through the redrock cliffs, drifting a song of desperation, need, home, blood, and regret. It wove into his mind, flashing images and shapes of the man who was once an animal, but his flesh made bare and made separate from the others. He was exalted, but faltered and crawled on his belly until the skin from it was made thin and he no longer had use for his arms or legs. Only to be crushed by a giant underfoot.
The images made no sense to him but he felt something warm leave his side so he opened his eyes and saw Zarrah leaning desperately against the wall of her cave, an dagger out, looking alarmed. It was difficult to tell in the darkness, but vaguely could he see the reflection of the moon glittering on her eyes.
Castor sat up...unsure if the blade was pointed to him. "Zarrah?" he asked lightly. "Is something the matter?"
She dropped her dagger and turned away, hugging her clothing around herself in an embarassed manner. Could he had seen it? She couldn't be sure, but it wasn't something she just wanted to announce-
'oh hey, I had this dream once about this snake crawling on me then OH MY GOD, MY ARM HAS A SNAKE SYMBOL ON IT THAT MIGHT KILL ME!'
No, she sweated. Drawing any further notice to the mark would be unwise however... she felt her grip on her clothing loosen, but her hand remained hoovering over the place where there had been a mark, not hidden beneath her clothes. She lowere dher head, sighing and merely shook it.
"I... I just awoke. I think it was just some dream." she tried to play it off, rubbing at her eye then turning to him. "You could have slept on the other side of the room.." she commented, as if to change the subject and pin her aggression on him- perhaps start some sort of stupid argument so he wouldn't question her about this... incident any further.
Something was wrong... Castor didn't know what it was, but even he for all the strange things that happened him, he knew nobody woke up in the middle of the night with dagger in hand, pinned to a wall and hoping to brush it off like it was nothing. He became immediately alarmed and looked at her with confusion.
"I wanted to lay next to you," he said. "The night was cold...it is cold still." He crawled closer to her with some difficulty as the blankets on the ground had made his joints and back stiff. He knelt beside her and raised a hand to caress her arm. "You're shaking," he said.
"What did you dream?"
Zarrah jerked away from him, suddenly paranoid, fearful and tense. Confusion then set in, his words...
he wanted to...
NO!
No..t he night was cold. She turned away, growling. "You wouldn't understand." She stated, simply walking awy.
"I need to walk. I'll return later." and she quickly moved off and away.
OOC: THERE
A SPECIAL POST *toddler tantrums*
Castor watched her walk away and his face burned against the night. What did she expect him to do, let her walk away? She was lucky he was bruised and sore in most places of his body or he would have flew after her. He watched her leave and when her form had vanished in the darkness, he stood up, agonizingly.
He limped after her, putting on his boots over his feet, to keep from the cold. He leaned against the wall, and saw her form vaguely in the thick darkness. "Why push me away? I thought you wanted to help me...I thought I was helping you. Why do you always walk away from me?" he called out to her, though he doubted she would listen to him.
He left the safety of his perch by the wall and tried to make his way through the darkness, after her, though he couldn't see much of where she went.
Castor was right if he believed Zarrah would listen. Why couldn't he just go back to sleep? She wanted to figure out if what she saw were real, not explain her crazy dream to him. It wasn't his problem, now was it? So why was he making all of this fuss?
Angrily, she walked faster, knowing full well Castor was injured and couldn't keep up before she slipped into a crevice, seeming to disappear into the dark...
Or so she hoped.
She knew this cave better than most, and found herself a small spot beneath the gentle light of hte moon that bathed her from a small crack int he ceiling of the cave above.
Untying the clothing she had slept in, she held her breath, did not hear Castor approaching, and let the clothing drop around her bottom as she sat, it pillowing around her form at the waist, her hair now the only thing keeping the top half of her modest.
There, she found in truth, while bathing in the moonlight-
the marking of the black snake..
and the haunting words returned.
Suddenly, she gripped at it, pressing her and into it and trying to rub it away, but it seemed it was to no avail...
Sighing, she let her head drop, a hand pressing against her eyes as she tried to consider what this meant...
and if the voice from her dream had been true...
She only had three days to find out.
Castor had no way of finding her in the dark. He was blind, feeling out the side of the cliff's wall, and could not see where Zarrah had went. His feet smacked against stone and he hit the ground hard, having lost his balance, scraping his face on the ground. He got up and crawled on his hands and knees, feeling a crevice in the wall and slipped in, completely surrounded in darkness.
He couldn't leave her side, not after what she'd done for him. Maybe she didn't want him too. Well, like what happened by the pyre in the temple..pfft, that was too damn bad. He slid in little by little until he saw a pull of moonlight slipping through to guide his way. He saw her then, made bare by her own nightmares, staring at something was angled away from him.
He stuck to the shadows, watching her, eyes softened. What was she looking at? What had made her run away?
"Zarrah," he said, finding strength enough to stand. "Tell me what's wrong." His voice was gentle but demanding and he stood in the narrow crevice of a passage so she couldn't get passed him.
Startled, she gripped robe together to spare herself some modesty in his presence as she stared at him angrily through the glowing light fragments from the moon. Hesitated, Zarrah sighed and looked away.
"I think what I had last night was more than a dream,"s he informed him, still keeping away her gaze. "I... think something.. someone slipped into the cave last night, but it sounds silly to explain. He might have been here, but not, but if it was only a dream well..." She slowly raised herself up, turning her shoulder towards him before exposing it.
"You're as familiar with my body, you ought to know this wasn't here before." she sharply quipped, her skin glowing from the moon's breath while the snake remained a menacing shadowy patch on her flesh.
Castor let go of the walls and limped toward her until he was beside her and leaned toward her arm. The moonlight made the design quite clear and it was obvious that this was not here before. He had no reason to doubt her, and he looked at her speculatively. He knelt beside her and slipped a finger underneath her elbow, turned his head side to side to get a better look at it. The symbol of the black serpent was not familiar to him.
"Do you know who could have done this? What else happened in that dream? Something more to make you as startled as this. What was it?" Castor was determined to get some useful answers to her. And if this incident was a serious as she made it seem, he was not going to standy idly by.
Zarrah tensed as he drew near, but relaxed, only a little as he examined the mark. Then, at his questions, she threw her robe back over her shoulder and held it tightly together.
"I saw.. some snake like man in my dream." she frowned, still feeling defensive and odd for it, primarily because... "I think he was sent by Carnavus." She bit into her lower lip and tossed a sharp gaze his way. "He told me I have to find Carnavus in the next three days, and went on to tell me the snake figure on my skin will move and... that on the third day it will.." her lips quivered. "Well, if it makes it to my heart, the snake will poison it." she told him bluntly. "And I will die."
Castor's eyes widened at the revelation, his tongue caught in his throat. How could he have known where to find them? Why hadn't Carnavus shown his pig-like face at the tomb like he expected? But no, the fat man was far too clever for that and Castor boiled inside. So instead he sent an assassin in his place to try and draw Zarrah out.
And when that happened, they were on his playing field. And the reality of it came crashing down on him all the more. If he thought he could leave Zarrah now...no, how could he when she would die in three days. There was no reason to doubt this, even if it seemed all the more unbelievable. But he'd come to know plenty of things that were inexplicable.
Castor bit his lip and looked away from her eyes, gaze spilling to her shoulders and neck. "Where can we find that bastard?" he said, his eyes boiling hot. "We must leave immediately. I won't let you die...I won't."
"I don't have the slightest clue," Zarrah replied, frustratedly. "And this isn't your problem." she growled beneath her breath, moving away. "Carnavus could be anywhere, though it's obvious he wants to toy with me first, before I aims to kill me again." She had been walking away from him, the paused in mid-step, realizing what she said.
Well, it wasn't like she admitted she actually died to him..
not that he'd care.
Little did she know Carnavus had an idea as to why Zarrah was still alive..
He knew for a fact (or so he thought) that she woman was dead.... and well, needless to say, he wanted to find out precisely why she was alive...
and if there was some magick at work, acquire it for his own.
He burned at her comment and rage took him. For all his physical weakness, he stood strong and strode after her, gripping her back by her other arm and let go of her. Her words infuriated him as his mind thought back on how impudent she was back at the temple. He turned her to him and glowered at her, ice-blue eyes turning molten.
"Why would you say such a thing? Now you're trying to go all high-and-mighty on me and keep me from helping you? You told me in the temple that you chose to do what you wished when you wished, regardless of my wishes. I wanted you away because I didn't want you to get hurt! I care about you, who the hell else in this godforsaken place could say such a thing to you?"
Castor at first hadn't registered what she said, and all he could hear was her other words resonating in his mind. But that word echoed, only vaguely "again"...
OOC: Oh my, I love my typos sometime XD *Looks at last post*
anyways... posting.. right!
IC:
Zarrah steeled herself, feeling foolish. How many times would they bicker like this?
Sighing hotly, she turned to him.
"You yourself desire freedom,"s he told him, looking intensely into his molten gaze. "Don't you understand what I am to you? You've said it yourself." She growled, or if he hadn't said it, he certainly had it implied. "You have your relics to find.."S he tried to pawn it off as that excuse, but part of her yearned for him to say it again, goaded him on for himt o just shake her and say it again...
but why did she care if he cared? Her mind and heart reeled in confusion.
"Besides, won't it be dangerous to follow around such a woman?" she goaded. "And don't talk to me as if I need your protection. What can you do, tear out the magical snake from my flesh?" she internally winced at the idea. "And I have nothing to go on but some crazy dream!" a crazy dream she was still reeling from! One that obviously had her unnerved and at wit's end!
Why must she find herself, relieved from one predicament, only to be foiled into another!?
And now Castor...
their relationship making it all the more complex... or, as complex as the two fools made it.
"A poor excuse for a foolish woman," he said slowly, eyes looking dangerous. "Why don't you tell me what it is exactly that I said. I'm in chains today and I'll be in chains tomorrow, nothing has changed that. And it certainly didn't stop you when I tried to keep you away. Why would I try to protect you?"
He was furious now and clutched her to him. "What exactly are you to me? What am I to you? Why won't you let me help you?" the early morning air gashed through the cavern and Castor shivered against her. But his rage made his flesh warm to the touch.
He shook her again. "Answer me!"
"I wouldn't know!" she told him cruelly, smiling with mockery and sadness in her sparkling violet eyes. "I seem useful to you, a companion, good in bed, but nothing more than a toy and someone for you to bicker with when you want to play my hero." She pushed herself away from him. She'd had enough of this. She wasn't going to let them become entangled together any longer, her heart could not endure it, so it was better to just break themselves now-
"This isn't a game, Castor. I've lived my life long enough to know when I'm simply being crafted into a folly!"
Or, at least is what she told herself when they had returned to the cave last night-
and it was why she felt suddenly defensive as she recalled waking up - despite the alarm of the dream- with his arms wrapped comfortable around her. It was all too confusing for her.
If only she could spare herself these pathetic emotions this damn man persisted to seed inside her, she might be better off for it!
or...
worse.
Castor could have beat her for all she was worth and the sting her words set in his mind. And she would have deserved every moment of it. His body tensed with all the rage she inspired and he wanted to set loose. She slipped from his grip and he felt wounded and betrayed with the way she spoke to him. For all he knew, he could very well have been the toy she spoke of to her.
"I don't play games," he seethed. "I don't have the patience or the time for them. You would walk away from the only person who has stood by you even when they didn't even want you there. You pathetic waste of life. Goddammit, Zarrah! You're the one who said it.
"I don't give a good goddamn about your sentiments regarding where I belong or if it's my business or not. I'm going to help you. And the only way you'll stop me is to kill me. Go get your knives and slit me open if you want to be rid of me. I dare you, you coward."
Zarrah stared at him as sharply as the snake on her arm.
"Then you ask me to tend to a child," was all she said, moving away from him. "And you need to rest before you continue your raging tongue towards me. Let's get back to my place," she added warily, not waiting for him to follow as she moved away. She tired of this. If he wanted to tag along, apparently she had no choice, and she felt a bit foolish for their argument.
Yes, they were too much the same.
And right now, she was too stubborn and upset to admit it. But really, there was the guilt for it- but what was she to say? She was fearful of dieing, despite knowing she had another chance, and was also beyond upset Carnavus chose this way to toy with her. She was sick of playing games of cat and mouse and her feelings towards Castor were trying, another game.. one that would, she figured, only end with only her own heart broken and abandoned in the end. WHy couldn't he just let her go like his confession in the cave? That damned fool! Damn him and his sense of propriety! Damn him and-
Zarrah stopped suddenly, only when she noticed, a bit too late, that the figure of the snake man from her dreams now stood before her at the mouth of her cave.
"You.." was all she breathed out, before suddenly whipping out a knife and tossing it in the snake man's direction-
only for the image to fade away like a shadow, leaving Zarrah feeling more hollow and confused as her knife merely clinked off the cave wall.
Angered, she stormed after her weapon, snatching it from the ground and tore off into her room, hot tears piercing her eyes.
An the last thing she wantd was for Castor to follow, yet she knew he would.
A chain was a chain...
Castor waited for several minutes after she left, her words boiling and roiling like the raging of the sea. He sighed, his anger leaving him and leaving him tired and bereft as cold as the early morning wind that cut through the caves. What did she want him to say? Perhaps she was right and it truly was not his fight. Perhaps it was only right to leave her be. He still had a long way to travel north anyway, back to the mountains, back to the altar.
He shivered and when she was gone long enough, he stumbled his way back to her cave, resolving that his clothes were dry enough and he could return the shirt and trousers that rightfully belonged to her. When he got back to the cave, he said nothing to her, not even looking at her. He limped to his clothes and knelt down beside them.
He slipped the shirt she offered him over his head and folded it neatly and nicely. Next came his boots and the trousers, which he gave back much in the same way, placing it on the shirt. He reached for his own clothes, slipping on his trousers and boots, buckling them together. And pulled his tunic and leather shirt over his head. They were cold but dry and would do for now. He picked up the set, and stalked over to her, handing them over.
"Here," he said tentively. "These belong to you."
When he returned the clothes, she felt the sting. He might as well have slapped her.
BUt it was her own undoing and she'd rather not associate.
She took the clothes away hastily.
"Thanks." came her weak reply, as she moved towards her chest, feeling a bit shaking as she nearly collapsed onto her knees while shoving the clothing away.
She was still emotional from their argument, and upset over the image..
Was she going mad? Was she seeing things? She couldn't be certain... and just hung out beside the chest a moment, head lowered as she grimaced, fighting her own internal demons.
Castor saw how she reacted and bit his lip, feeling his own face grow hot. He wanted to shake her but he knew she wanted nothing more to do with him. Still, he couldn't resist drawing hear her, at least for the final time if it was to be so. He knelt beside her and cupped her cheek. His touch was gentle but would not be pushed away.
"Come here," he said.
He pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her completely to him before pressing his lips to hers and kissing her softly despite her tears.
As he drew her towards him, she felt numb, being cradled by a man that did not love her. The effects were harsh, when all she craved was when he was giving to her now...
Yet he would deny her the one thing to make her whole.
As his lips graced hers, she did not respond, simply let him kiss her as hot tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Please.." she said softly, gently... choking on a sob as she pressed a hand gently to his lips. "We can't." Her eyes raised to his. Could he not understand how much he was hurting her? She could sleep with any man, any man at all, but could not find herself wanting to kiss his lips in that moment, even as her body heated towards the cause.
His lips kept their attentions to hers, though were considerably softer. It was difficult to express into words how he was feeling, trying to comfort her, trying to show her that he wanted her as much as she had wanted him. He massaged her lips with his, kissing her jaw until he was just a breath away and reached up to wipe her tears away with a cold, metal thumb.
"We don't have to do anything else," he whispered. "Just kiss me. Please. I just want you to kiss me. I'm sorry about everything I said. I just want to be close to you. Even if its for the last time. Please."
His lips were hot as the begged for contact, his breath whispering against hers.
Zarrah found herself numb to him, despite his efforts and pleas before she turned away, tears rolling down her cheeks as he'd only be able to see and feel a face full of her hair.
"Castor.. I can't do this," she told him again, a hand clutching between her chest as she slowly shook her head. "Please, I don't want to be used anymore." She sobbed once, then again. "All of my life, all I've ever done is used my body to please a man. And I can't do this with you, not anymore... Not when I..." Growing angry, she moved off the floor and away. "Gods, you make me so foolish!" she whispered angrily though a sob, and ran off again into the cave, though she didn't get far before collapsing in the dark, her sobs echoing throughout the cold air.
OOC: So much drama XD
Castor went after her again, and when she was on the ground, he crouched down beside her. Dawn was still many hours away. Was this how it would end? After all they've been through. Castor remembered his promise to her, that he would see to it that Carnavus got what was coming to him. He wasn't too keen on breaking any of his promises.
He reached for her shoulder and lifted her up into his arms. "Zarrah, don't be like this... If I only wanted you for your body, don't you think I would have taken it by now. I want to help you...if only you'd let me. I don't want you to feel trapped. Tell me what you want me to do... If you want me to leave, I'll leave, if you want me to stay, I'll stay! Tell me."
She was a fool, and all she wanted was the man she was running away from-
and yet she was comforted when he came to her, but she..
she still felt stung and turned away, tears falling down her cheeks.
"If you want to help me, stop pushing me away," she finally growled, finally turning to face him, eyes piercing hot. "But I suppose things can never be so simple with us, can it? You can care about me when the fire's not hot and you're not on the trail of your damn relics, but the moment you've got me to yourself, you become another person." She backed away, cringing. "I don't want to be just another tramp, another woman who wants you to stay because her hearts says to, only for you to come back and snatch it away, push it back, and leave me regretting any advance I had ever made."
She wiped at her eyes, then laughed sadly at herself, turning to him, placing a hand to his cheek.
"You're such a fool.. though perhaps the fool is I. Don't you understand why I push you away?"
A tear slid down her cheek, a sad smile on her face, a longing in her eyes.
"I don't want to fall in love with you but it's too late." Her lips trembled as she smiled wider, sadder. "And you've already let me know how you feel about me." Another twitch to her lip."Or rather that you don't."
Acid raised itself within her as he turned away from him, pushing off the ground to leave.
"I've had enough of all of this," she said, wiping away at her face, despite the tears that kept coming.
The reality slowly washed over Castor and he didn't quite know how to react to it. But he didn't feel the need to run away, as much as she did. He was silent for a long time, thinking on what he had said that would cause her to think this. But he remembered in the temple, by the fire. And the image of the knife digging into her flesh, slathered in her blood. His gut twisted and looked back at her.
"I never said I didn't feel strongly about you, Zarrah," he said keeping his distance. "Nobody has stood by me for so long before. You don't understand the weight of the boulder that I bear. But you had to know, despite all I told you, that coming with me put you at risk. You made your choice. I don't want you to get hurt because I care about you!"
Castor felt his own face grow hot with tears and the cold air made his eyes sting. He blinked them away. "I cannot give you what you ask for, not in the way you want. Not in the way that you had. You love a condemned man."
She paused in mid-step, just enough to listen to him, her back to him.
"What does it matter if you've got the weight of the world. I offer to bear it with you, to help you through it yet you kept wanting to push me away. So you're fearful if I die? So what? So long as I am doing what I want, it's all worth it in the end. Don't you see? All that matters if we live for what's in the moment, what we want, what we want it all to be.."
she found herself slowly approaching, hand to his cheek as he looked him int he eyes- her tears to his.
"I never knew it until I had met Rassar, but when you embrace it, love.. it's..." she smiled terribly for him, her eyes welling it. "It makes you crazy, it sets you free, and the Gods be damned if they can take that from you, because not even they can break a burning heart.."S he shook her head. "Not even in death."
Again she shook her head.
"So I tell you this again, and I need the answer right now, or else to the Gods, I have to, will need you to break my heart! Because damn it!! Castor!!"S he grabbed his face, kissed him fiercely. "Just kiss me and tell me if you love me or not!"
For a man who never experienced love before, he quickly saw it was not as easy as one might assume. But he never assumed much. He never gave it a thought before now. All he'd ever known was this godforsaken quest for freedom. But how could she carry such a thing? And how could he want to put her at risk.
His lips melted into hers when she smashed them against him. Castor couldn't fight her fire, for his own had weakened in its confusion. His face was hot and he closed them and turned his face slightly away, though he didn't want to. "It's not that simple, Zarrah," he said. "How can I say I feel something I've never known before? Do you want me to lie to you and say that I do, when I don't. Or say that I don't when I do!?"
"I don't know. I DON'T KNOW! That's the truth of it!" The words struggled to go further and were caught in his throat, choking him. He bit his tongue and fought the tears that burned in his eyes. Castor had never felt so defeated in his life.
Zarrah only stared at him, not realizing what strife it must be...
and she felt pity for him just then, a tender hand sliding to his cheek as she drew him near and hugged his face into her breast, then cradled herself ontop of him, her dark hair spilling across his form.
"We are poor lost souls, you and I," she told him, running her fingers through his hair.
"I, who crave and want love and you..." She smiled a little. "You who has perhaps never had it."
She looked down at him, smiling sadly as she realized his plight, cupping his face.
"You do not have to chain yourself to this, to whatever it is. But perhaps one day we'll make sense of it all."S he kissed him softly, just once, brief and tender upon the lips.
"I'm tired. Let's forget all of this nad just rest,"s he said, smiling miserably for him, but a smile true. "After all, I was awoken by a terrible dream." Again, another attempt at a smile.
His arms wrapped helplessly around her, holding onto her as if she were the only rock in a sea that raged all around him, holding on for dear life. This was the last thing he wanted, but it was the only thing he could think of. He couldn't bear to face her and kept his eyes closed as she pressed his face against her chest.
He couldn't let her go either. How could she think of just going back to normal after that? Castor pushed her hair aside and kissed her softly on the cheek, leaning his head against hers. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wish I could give you the answers you wanted. I cannot sleep now, not after this. You sleep. I'll keep watch."
She smiled and kissed him softly. THen kissed him softly again.
"I would argue with you, but I feel exhausted after all of this,"s he said, sighing against his neck as she wilted against him and closed her eyes.
After a good long moment, her hands found his and entwined them together.
Even if he didn't know it..
she still wanted to believe this was love.
Lifting her face up, she keeps him, right beside his lips.
"Tomorrow is always another day. Then we can figure out what we ough tot do." her eyes lignered to the mark hidden beneath her robes before she raised off the ground, sighing again.
"Thank you,"she said after a moment, offering him her hand. "For at least offering me something."
Again no words came. But Castor responded to her light kisses and craved more. But he didn't do anything further other than follow her back into the cave. She was right and even though his mind still raced and reeled, he was tired. Castor sat down upon her blankets and drew her down with him.
"The air's cold...and there's still many more hours until dawn," he said. "Lay with me." Castor wrapped a blanket around both of them and cradled her close to him. At least he knew he could still find comfort in her touch. The dawn would come and the devils only knew what that would bring. They wouldn't even know where to start.
Zarrah could only obey, though despite her best efforts, she slept fitfully and.. eventually after an hour, she settled into his arms and breathed softly, drifting off into an unsettled sleep.
It left her groggy, anxious and strained when she awoke, seemingly moments later as she stared over at her now exposed shoulder, having discarded her robes in order to sleep- loving the feeling of her skin pressed to his.
But the snake reminded her of her plight, yet she wanted nothing more than to remain curled within his arms, held within his embrace and to forget about anything else in all this chaotic world.
"I don't think I can sleep," she said, after a time, gently caressing his cheek with the backs of her curled fingers. "My mind is still racing over the mark..."
Three days...
"And my mind is still racing over you," she replied softer, a gentle kiss to his lips. "Castor.." she said after a moment, entwining his fingers into hers. "Can we just take a moment to forget?" she kissed his lips softer, eyes lowering, hanging into a gentle dark frame atop her lust filled, violet eyes.
Despite the drained energy of his body, Castor could not sleep either, not well, either. And his position against the wall wasn't helping matters either. His back was growing stiff and he realized then what it was going feel like when he was an old man, bent and broken. But he looked at the warmth cradled so close to him and he suddenly didn't care.
He grinned at her as he awoke from a sorry excuse for a nap, his neck stinging from the movement. He was silent to her pleas but his lips responded to hers. He didn't know if he loved her, in fact he preferred not to think on it. If anything that having these gauntlets taught him, it was that sometimes it was better to forget.
But something about this moment reminded him of the time he found her in the manor after having savaged the body of Carnavus' double. Yet something was different. He leaned against her and kissed her softly against her neck. He fixed the blanket around them both. His eyes cast towards the dawn that was slowly starting to rise, watching it.
"And what do suggest to help us forget?" he asked softly.
She kissed him again, softly, ever so softly upon his lips as she curled her fingers against his face before cupping his cheek.
"Anything with you in this moment," she informed him, leaning forward, devouring him, pressing against his body with need as her kisses went unending, hot...
like the never ending desert sun.
"Anything you want..." Another kiss.
"So long as the choice is ours."S he told him, moving over top of him so her legs straddled his and her hair tickled across his face as she leaned over...
and again..
just kissed.
Castor whimpered underneath her prowess and did not fight her advances. He honestly did not want to, for he knew it would be all to easy to fend her off. His body melted with hers and blood roared in his ears, coursing a raging river though his whole body, feeling an insatiable ache in his belly and groin.
"I wish I could feel you with my real hands," he whispered, feeling her lips with the steel of his fingers. "I wish i didn't have these dreadful things on my arms. Gods...you make me so weak. But, yet I feel so strong."
His hands roamed to her waist and squeezed her tightly to him, as he buried his face in hers in hunger.
Kissing him, she informed him through a breath, pressing open his clothes;
"Some day you will,"s he moaned, rolling her tongue against his lower lip before digging it into his mouth, her body pressing needingly against his. Their lips and tongues wrestled as she worked at his clothes.
"After we get all of your relics.. you can make love to me..." Zarrah told him, drinking of his lips and fighting to tear her own clothes off.
"Then you can feel me.."s he guided his metal hand across her breast..
"Touch me..." she guided his hand to trace across her stomach.
"Taste me.." she rested his hand against her hip and just kissed, kissed him as she cupped his face, holding him tight as their bodies blending together as their clothing seemed to all but fall off.
Castor trembled underneath her and wished to the gods, to the devils, or anyone who would listen that the steel from his hands were gone now. He wanted to feel against the warmth of his palms now, and he only held his breath in anticipation as she slipped his clothes away from him. His lower half felt some degree of relief from the constraint, but he only stopped when the reality of her words registered in his mind.
He pulled his lips away and looked at her. She wanted to help him find all of them? His brows furrowed but he didn't say anything, only looked for something in her eyes that even he couldn't name. He knew it was her choice, but some part of him resisted the idea. He couldn't put her at risk like that, though she was apart of him now. He spoke nothing of this, however.
Castor only smiled sweetly at her and wrapped his arms, wholly around her, almost possessively, slipping himself deep inside her. "I've never wanted a woman...as much as I've wanted you," he whispered, stealing her mouth away, and showing how he felt.
OOC: Mature is in the thread but.. just another warning here
DX do not read past here lest virgin eyes bleeeeeeeeeed
IC:
Zarrah gasped through his kisses, feeling his need press deep inside her hot, wet body as she gripped him, inside and out and began to stake her claim, moving over him wildly and with need. Lips met to his, to his throat and across his chest as she breathed across him, raked her fingers over him and then back and away, arching her back as she smiled in delight.
"Gods.. Castor.." she rolled her neck, her hair falling behind her shoulders before she moved forward, capturing his face again with hungered need.
"Show me how much you need me,"s he begged him, biting onto his lip and then even more dangerously, biting and breathing into his ear.
Yes.. sex..
it was the perfect way to forget and...
the perfect way to feel and expression their raw passion, the drive uniting them in one simple moment of bliss.
He showed her, leaning her back as his mouth took to her chest, kissing her breast and listening to the maddened rhythm of her beating heart, and trying to keep in time with it. If this was love, perhaps the truth lied in the complete surrender he gave her and demanded in return. It wasn't all that he thought it was, though the confusion dissipated a great deal and the words threatened to spring from his mouth, lips parted in pangs of pleasure and pain and heat and fire.
She burned him alive and he did all he could to do the same for her. If love was blind, then his sight had been stricken from him, driven over the edge, smashed again and again in the roiling waves of this breathless bliss until he felt he could take no more.
He slumped back against the wall, when he had his pleasure, drained even more than he was before, but he held here there in his arms, not letting her go even if she tried to tear herself from him.
Waves crash and fall in the ocean..
a natural force, a natural motion of a massive body- the most powerful thing in all the world.
It was how she felt when their bodies united, and as the they crashed together, singing cries of pleasure from the storm..
and like the waves, she felt his power..
the unity..
the connectedness and sighed...
The moment a ripple and nothing more.
She wouldn't dare leave him now, body pressed to his as she savored the sweet contented bliss in the aftermath of their love.
Sighing, she stretched out on top of him, and nuzzled her face into his arm while her cheek remained pressed to his bare chest.
"Castor.." She said after a time, then went quiet, enjoying the sound of his heart beat. She almost said something silly, and simply smiled, enjoying the moment.
No.. words should not ruin this moment and she simply kissed his chest and craned her neck up towards him, affording him a coy grin.
"Perhaps next time I'll let you be on top."
Any doubt about his feelings toward her before were washed away in this moment. He loved her he knew he did. He wanted to take care of her, to protect her even if she didn't want to be protected. He wanted to show her that he cared... But he knew he couldn't say the words she so desperately wanted to hear. He knew he could never give her the normal life he wished he could give. His journey would come first, it had to come first. All else was for naught if he couldn't be free.
He laughed at her comment, pressing his lips warmly to her forehead. "Zarrah, thank you for the consideration, but something tells me you enjoy having a power trip. Don't tell me I'm wrong...because i know I'm right." He pulled her close to him and gently massaged her lips and tongue with his mouth, exploring the hollows of her mouth.
"I made a promise to you," he whispered. "I would see to it that you're made forever free from the demon that plagues you. From Carnavus and anyone else who has ever felt they possessed you."
She felt warm and comforted by his lips, and crashed them back together when he dared try to pull away. Sweeping her hair aside, she teased him with her tongue, only to pull back and stare at him admirably..
though her face fell at his last claim, the fire, slowly dieing from her eyes as she frowned.
All of her demons?
Such a promise..
and a promise of things he hardly knew.
He only knew ever of Carnavus..
then if you counted it, this 'Viper King'- whatever mage now stained her wth it's dark magic as she forlornly looked at her shoulder, pressing her hand over it as if to mask it before dragging her fingers nails across it and away.
And no..
that was not her only burden..
She had once believe in an after life..
and if there was ever a paradise for the immortal soul...
if that would be their only freedom after all was said and done...
She would never, ever obtain it-
for in the end, her soul was no longer hers to keep.
Turning back to Castor, she smiled for him.
"Such big promises,"s he told him, pinning him down again with her hands and her lips.
"But I suppose you're good with that."she purred, leering him hungrily.
Castor knew he couldn't protect her from everything. It was a generalization that he could never fully realize, but for what it was worth, he would see to it that Carnavus would die a horrible, bloody death. The pact had been broken and Cynwulfen were restless for blood and suffering.
He grunted a little as she pinned him to the ground. With him still inside her, he gave a strong thrust, forceful and powerful. He leaned up against her, hands holding up his weight. "I mean what I say, most of the time," he said. "I never really had that when I was younger. Too many people that made promises, only to break them. My father was an alcoholic, and a gambler, and my mother put up with it. He lied to her, all the time... Until it was the death of him."
SHe kissed him softly once, then gently caressed his face with her hands, bringing it through his hair.
"Shhhh.. do not worry of it now," she told him softly. "Things in the past... they..we.. it just can't be changed." She kissed softly to his cheek. "But other things.."S he moved her hips, smirking. "On the other hand, can breed wonders of change." she cupped his face, kissing him yet again.
"But I suppose you're not the only one who has those wishes."s he told him, her dark hair concealing their faces, as if inside a small, private, draped tent of her hair.
"You see, I can only wish to protect you.."s he moved her hips again. "To make you feel as I feel.." she gripped him... "And to just let myself fall hopelessly in love with you."s he kissed his lips, kissing him long and fierce to silence him from any protests and as she pulled away, dragged her lips against his as she bared her teeth.
"I would follow you unto Hell,"S he purred, dragging her lips and teeth across his throat.
He was made drunk on her scent, and his breath hitched when she undulated her hips against him. Cynwulfen gave him a quicker recovery rate than what otherwise would be normal. He grit his teeth against her words, pressing lips to hers softly and listening to her. She was right, let the past remain there. A softer moan escaped him when she did it again and his eyes met hers, his hands digging into the rock, breaking stone.
"Why do you love me?" he said. "What...is so special?" he felt he needed to ask, moving his hips against hers as well. "What did you see...that I didn't?" Castor craned his neck and laid his head on her shoulder, kissing her gently there.
Zarrah smiled, and laughed almost musically as she rised beneath his movements.
"Do you have to ask?" she said, claiming his lips as they moved. She couldn't stop smiling. Why were they doing this again?
"I thought it was obvious." she groaned, gripping onto whatever she could as they moved, moaning, twisting her body to feel every angle of him as she writhed.
"Gods.." she panted, arching her back...
"Maybe I should.."S he panted again.. turning to him, her face ad body in blush. "Make you guess?"
She smiled coyly, moaning again as she moved, riding him like a slow and steady horse.
"I seem to recall.." another pant.. "A man hating me,.." another pant.. " ....but becoming quickly charmed away as he climbed with me chained against his back." She shifted herself, but still gripping as she looked at him with a hungered gaze. "Perhaps I like men who are a challenge." she purred. "And not ones so easily won over by what other petty fools wish to claim."
Castor smiled against her lips, forgetting everything for this brevity of a moment. He liked how she was able to complete such a feat with imperceptible ease. She distracted him, made him want to linger in this moment and forget the world of demons and pig-men that lurked behind every corner, ready to strike. Ready to kill.
He rolled his hips into her movement, giving soft groans and steady exhales of breath. He kept his focus on her instead of losing himself to pleasure as he wanted to, rolling his hips against her and with her in one fluid fashion. "Is that-" he gasped a little, adjusting himself a little "-so?" Chuckling against her he smiled again, regaining youth to his icy eyes.
"I don't recall--hATING" he thrusted harder for a moment, giving ease, "you. I was just trying to keep a steady mind. You're very distracting. You're very satisfying... But you know this already."
His breath hitched. "What else?" he asked, prodding her. "I'm simply curious. It's not every day I get to share a moment like this with someone like you. I'm glad that it's you I can share it with though." His eyes smiled instead as he balanced on one hand and reached up another to stroke her cheek softly. "Of all the things I'm sorry for, meeting you is not one of them." Pecking her lips gently.
His eyelids were feeling heavy and he leaned back against the wall again and looked at her through lazy half-lids.
OOC: THEY'R EGOING OT MAKE ZOMBIE BABIES *random*
but geeze, really- round two for reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelz
*too lazy to fix the special typos*
IC:
"I don't know, perhaps it was part of your temperament," she stated, grinning coyly with her teeth at the fact they were carrying on a conversation with not only their mouths, but their bodies as well.
Her eyes lids fluttered back as she perched about, him, shift to another position so she could feel him all the way deep inside as she gave way to a moan.
"Gods.. Castor.." She held him tight. "If only we could just do this forever.."S he panted, grinning up at him as she swelled around him in hot, soft velvet bliss.
Play time was over, she pinned him to the wall, moving over him with need.
"Gods.."S he held him fast, moved over him fast, an art of grinding in deep- hip to hip.
Sleep was extremely tempting as of now and his eyelids would have closed for good had she not pinned him to the wall. Castor braced himself, adrenaline seeping in to fight-or-flight, as that had been his first instinct from such an action. He was at her complete mercy, however, leaning into her demands. His heart was reckless, his breath was gone, and his mind was restless.
But something slipped from the early morning shadows that startled him and he held his breath on purpose now as he saw the figure, cloaked in tan, appear suddenly as if nothing more than a spectre and drew a large dagger from his belt. The stranger drew his arm back and threw the blade with expert precision, intent on planting it savagely in Zarrah's back.
"Zarrah!" Castor cried as he rolled them out of the way and he thew his body on hers. The blade struck the wall with a mighty clang, and clattered to the floor, curved knife, long and brutal. As he looked up, the spectre was gone.
"I saw it! I saw him!"
The moment was jarring, and as she half lay there upon the floor, chest heaving with breath, she felt a cold chill run up her spine...
Three days... came the cruel words, like a breath.
Grimacing, she pushed herself off of the floor.
"We should get moving,"s he replied, finding her clothes and slipping them on. "I think we've spent enough time being distracted I nearly forgot this damn mark." Frowning, she peered down on it before covering it up with a feeble, nearly translucent robe. She turned back to Castor, eyeing him up.
"We'll have to travel back to the city to get some leads on where Carnavus might be hiding." Then she frowned again. "Though I hope he hasn't traveled too far.." Looking away, she sighed, annoyed. "But it would just be his style to remain 3 days out of my reach, just so he can watch me suffer and die pathetically before him."
She shook her head and began to gather her things, knives and all.
It had only been an hour since the mark, and she already found herself believing it had moved... frowning, she ignored it for now and continued to fold up a series of fan blades.
Castor was still reeling from what he saw, knowing nothing like that could have been real. He didn't believe in ghosts, but that--that!--how could he explain that!? He couldn't, and that pissed him off to no end. Yet he quickly knew that that knife was indeed very real. And the man that threw it, therefore must have been very real too.
There was no time for questions, and Castor too climbed to his feet, cleaning himself off first before rapidly dressing. "Go back to the city!?" he exclaimed. "We're wanted there! Wouldn't that be the last place to look?" In all honesty however, where else were they going to find some clues as to Carnavus' whereabouts. Castor shook his head, trying to think about all that had happened so fast.
"Wait, wait, wait! Sarfeir. He was the man Carnavus sent to deal with me when he commissioned me to find you, " he said. "Sarfeir said he was leaving on business. He might have already left, but we can find him on the trade routes, most likely heading north. We find him, I can make him spill everything he knows. And about that spectre too."
Zarrah eyed him a moment in silence before a slow smile tugged at his lips.
"I suppose the Lady of the Desert, this ghost, could pay his caravan a visit tomorrow night.." she tapped a blade to her lips in thought, before sheathing them nd hiding them.. somehow, from view. Turning back around, she nodded towards Castor and brushed her unruly black hair aside.
"Let's fetch more supplies and head towards the caravan trails. It would be as good as spot as any to find a lead.. and well," she smiled a bit darkly. "This is my line of work. I could have us cut through vulture's pass and down Settler's Ridge He might have perched himself there before leaving this area for good."
"Wherever you lead, I'll follow," Castor said. His mind reflected back to the moment she attacked the caravan that sleighed him through the desert. She was like a one-woman-army and managed to kill just about all the men, except him. But that wasn't a particular surprise since she had no idea what he was capable of. And neither did he know what she was capable of.
He stood up and grabbed the waterskin he'd left on the ground and filled it with one of the jugs that she filled from the stream inside the caves. His stomach was growling hungrily, and perhaps a little frustratedly from a southern neighbor left unsatisfied, but they had things to do. And very little time to do it.
Three days would come and go.
And so would Zarrah.
It was hot work. And Zarrah was no fool. She ensured the both of them were well supplied, and both wearing robes to protect their bodies from the hot sun that blistered over head. Vulture's pass, at least, afforded them a winding, narrow press of land between rocky, dusty cliffs. NOt many would venture through here at such an hour, and the would have to break from time to time in some of the subtle, crumbling caves.
At one such pause, Zarrah offered her water to Castor after taking a thirsty gulp and wiping the water that ran down her chin.
"We're making good time."s he said. "We should be in Settler's Ridge within the hour. I can take us across the lands, where there are no trials, so that we can perch on the outposts above. THough I know for certain some other men, perhaps tribes, might occupy this location, but it would be the best spot to seek Sarfeir out." Turning to look at the cave behind them, she gestured.
"Not too far from here is a series of caves. Though they are ancient and dry, the travel is faster, though dangerous. Cave ins can occur, so let's hope, by whatever God's blessing we have, that we can pass with little interference."
Wherever she led, Castor followed, though he was opposed to being covered up so much. Still he did not protest as the sun was not a merciful mother and the sand blew at them relentlessly as they traveled through Vulture's Pass. The name was intimidating and as they walked through, Castor saw a man's broken skull half buried in dirt. A shadow passed over them, wings spread wide. He looked up and saw the carrion birds circling overhead. Now he knew why they called it Vulture's Pass.
"We don't need anymore attention than we've already caused," Castor said, looking over the horizon. "We need to get there quickly so we can be ready when Sarfeir passes through. But of course we need a plan. I mean do we just come in swinging? Or are you just going to distract them with...your body." His eyes glanced over her for a moment and gave her a quizzical look.
Zarrah stared at him with a frown.
"Sarfeir knows who I am," she said indignantly, hugging her robes closer together, so he couldn't get a good look at the scandalous material she wore beneath. "And that hardly seems an appropriate measure since.." She just dropped it, shaking her head with a sigh.
"We do not have many options, but I suppose we could just go directly into Settler's Ridge. But I would think, if Carnavus's men are looking, they would, infact, easily piece together a woman traveling with a man.."she stared over at him, frowning. "I think our pairing is a bit suspicious."
"Then perhaps the best method of attack would be to split up. You lead us to the ridge and I'll find a place to hide. I'm sure you can disguise yourself to distract his men guarding the caravan and I'll come out from behind when you give me the signal. If Sarfeir gets spooked about having seen you, he won't be expecting me. There's an advantage in that."
Castor didn't know what else to think. He wasn't trying to insinuate that Zarrah should use her 'assets' to sleep with any of the men. Just to hold them off. He would do the same for her if the question came down to it.
SHe stared at him for a moment before she sighed.
"I'd hate to say it, but you have a good idea," she said, moving forward and drawing a hand across his chest. "I could take the high road... and you..' her hands slipped down across his stomach to rest at his hip, eyes sparkling. "You can take the low."
"Perhaps we should see what we can gather before pulling off any maneuvers?" She looked up towards the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun then pressed herself back beside the cave's entrance.
"There's a small Inn. At night, we could meet in the alley behind it. It's not hard to miss. THere are only a few buildings that stand in Settler's ridge."
She kept her eyes locked to his, fingers now drawing up his chest.
"And be careful out there,"s he told him, eyes tender and soft. "I know we've risked a lot together and I know you're strong...but.." She cupped his face. "I don't know what I'd do if I'd lose you."
No, she knew exactly what she'd do. SHe'd be as broken as she felt after Rassar...
Castor nodded to her and held her hands to his face, he leaned in and stole quick kiss from her before nodding again. "First lets focus on getting there. If we can intercept before he even makes it to the settlement, all the better. And that much less risk to both of us." He almost wanted to tell her how he felt then and there, but the moment was to soon. They still had a long way to go, and the sun was scorching at his back, even through the robes.
Castor didn't want her to worry. He wasn't quite done with living just yet.
Zarrah nodded.
"It's still best to be prepared for any occasion." Her eyes lingered against his, wanting to kiss him again and steal away into the caves, but rather, she moved away and out, back into the sun-dusted trail.
The sun was unforgiving, and the road, still lonely as the two backed beneath the trail. After a time, however, a small figure appeared on the horizon and Zarrah held back, drawing Castor back with her to press against the trail's steep walls.
Frowning,s he studied the cart.
She looked back to him.
"It's unusual someone is traveling here at this time of day."s he whispered. "Perhaps we should hide back inside the caves until they pass? Then examine them to see if they have any connect to Sarfeir?"
Castor paused and squinted at the stranger on the horizon. He ducked and watched them in the distance. They were hard to make out, but they left an echo that clattered on the hills. The cart seemed to lean to the side and there were men flailing about, one of them yelling loudly.
"What do you mean we don't have any spares!?" he bellowed. That voice, Castor thought, it was familiar. To familiar.
"We're a goddamned merchant Caravan. What the hell do we have on the back of this thing if not wheels and bolts and fucking axles! Oh..oh, no! Don't tell me you don't know how to fix it now!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Sarfeir, sir!" another man replied.
Castor looked at Zarrah with a sly grin. "What do you know?"
Zarrah folded her arms across her chest.
"This is far too convenient." Shaking her head, she tossed a playful gaze towards Castor. "And here we made such significant plans.."S he eyed him up, stealing a kiss suddenly before moving away.
"Come on, we can simply apply the direct approach." She smirked, letting a blade slip beneath her robes and into her hands.
It wouldn't take much effort, the men were well distracted and Zarrah walked soft, but fast, and soon was behind the first men argued, but instead of cutting his throat, she grabbed him round the neck and pressed the blade against him.
"If you be quiet, your lack of skills towards your master will be your saving grace." Pushign the man towards Castor, she nodded then moved silently towards the front where Sarfeir was standing, angrily huffing and staring at the road ahead.
Grinning, Zarrah slyly approached, an extra swing to her hips.
"Hello, Sarfeir."
Gasping, the man turned around.
"Z-Zarrah."
She only smiled.
"Wha.. what a surprise to see you.." he licked his lips tentatively, studying her body as if seeking for something, then to her.
"To see me what?"
He swallowed hard as she approached, she tilting her head up towards his as they were but feet away, and suddenly, a blade was pointed at his neck.
"Come, Sarfeir, we have much to talk about." and she grabbed him around the neck, then threw him into the dirt, slamming her foot into his neck.
"Start talking and tell me exactly what I want."S he threatened. "Tell me where Carnavus is."
"C-Carnavus?" the man stammered. She pressed the heel of her sandal in deeper to his throat.
"Yes.." her eyes narrowed. "Carnavus."
Just when Sarfeir thought he could get away from this wretched place of druglords, sex, and alcohol, the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan and blasted him directly in the face. The slender man was no match for the likes of Zarrah and trembled underneath her very gaze as she tumbled him to the ground and smashed a foot to his throat, choking him.
He saw the man who called himself Castor Bain appear from the side of the cart, holding the man he'd been arguing about the wheel. The man seemed to be alive, and he watched as Castor clubbed the man lightly in the face, knocking him unconscious before starting to rifle through his clothes, then jumping into the cart, pushing everything aside, looking for gods knew what.
The foot pressed into his throat and he tried weakly to pry it off. He coughed when the pressure alleviated some and gagged. "He's in his villa...deep in the desert.... A three-days walk!" Sarfeir squealed like a pig, offering a pathetic pittance of a cry. "He's waiting for you!.... You should know the one! it's to the North..... Please don't kill me!"
Zarrah glared at him, her face growing fierce. Pressing her foot deeper into his neck, she narrowed her gaze.
"And just what makes you think you're so special you get to live?" she asked, grinding her heal into his throat, then eased up, giving him enough air to breath.
She cast a look back at Castor, then glared again at Safeir before removing her foot, and promptly kicking him in the side.
Spitting on him, she said, "I ought to cut your tongue out."s he said, pullin gout her blade and pointing it at his face.
Sarfeir whimpered at the point of the blade, trembling so. Castor had long since finished his rummaging through the cart, only finding a few articles of food and stuffing it into the pockets of his robes. He chewed on an apple and watched as Zarrah displayed her brutality.
"His fingers," Castor said. "Just cut off his fingers from one of his well-manicured hands. Let him live. He's a rat who deserves it...but he'll die by his own shame if the blood loss doesn't. You insipid cowardly goat."
Sarfeir only looked to Castor then back to Zarrah, shaking and unsure which would be his fate.
Zarrah kept her sneer as she looked down at the whimpering man.
"No... I don't want him to tarnish my blade." and with a heavy kick to the temple the man was out.
Then she got a wicked, wicked idea.
"Say Castor.." she leered him. "Do you recall the Oasis.." she smirked over at Sarfeir and moved swift, dragging off his clothes and tieing him to a nearby tree. Hands to her hips, she admired her handy work.
"Brings back memories, don't it?" she said, giving Castor a knowing grin, and a knowing look across his body.
"Too bad Sarfeir isn't lucky enough to have the laundry ladies find him."
With a flick of her hair, she moved towards the cart.
"I suppose we could use this to travel into the village." Frowning, she took a moment to recall what Sarfeir said.
It would have to be three days travel. She touched the mark, not looking at it, but knowing the black snake was still on her skin. Staring up at the sky, she sighed.
"Come on. Let's hurry."
The frown that took Castor's face could not be swept away at the mention of the oasis. If only he could forget about that. Castor lost his appetite and dropped the half-eaten apple in the dirt. "Oh, don't remind me," he moaned, seething with anger and disgust.
After Sarfier was strung up, Castor looked to the cart with the broken wheel. It would be their best form of travel if they could fix it, and would certainly let them get their faster. He looked to the broken wheel and had indeed found one inside the cart. He pulled it out, holding it as if it were nothing more than a feather, and slid the other wheel insde until it clicked into place. Bolts...ah, there it was. He squeezed the bolt to keep the wheel locked in.
"Zarrah," he said, motioning for her to climb inside. "Do you know where this villa is? We'll get there faster with the cart. Nobody will think much of two travellers with some cargo, rather than two wanderers on foot."
Her humor seemed to wither away at the mention of the Villa.
"Yes, the cart will get us there much faster." she sighed. "But perhaps only buying us half a day." Frowning, she looked northward up the trail, then scratched at her shoulder, letting her silken robe drape down as hse stared at the wicked symbol of the snake.
It was probably in the same location still but... she couldn't help but believe it was still crawling up her skin- as promised.
Readjusting her robes, she climbed into the cart as his request. "Come now, we should make haste. I only have three days to find Carnavus. So we might as well keep playing this game." Gesturing up the narrow pass, "Let's follow this road. Then we'll head west at the summit. There'll be a crude sign for a WindWard pass." She frowned. "We'll have to follow that, unfortunately, if we want to buy any extra time."
Anxiously, she sat back and gestured for Castor to lead the wide, all the while her mind was reeling over the idea of the poison.. and the snake..
and of seeing Carnavus once again.
What did that wretched man have planned for her now?
Castor bit his lip at the mention of buying time. The morning was already done in the hours of their travel and if they could gain as much ground in the daylight that remained, the better. But the desperation resided mostly with Zarrah and he could only guess how much anxiety she was feeling. He said nothing and smacked the reins on the beast of burden as he began to scurry down the road.
He kept his hood over his head, blocking not only the burdensome rays of the sun but to block his identity as they passed through the village. It was a small squat settlement with mud huts and people looking at them speculatively. However, a few armored men came out in front of them, raising hands and holding weapons on their hands.
"Halt," one of them cried. "Where are you going?"
"Through the pass," Castor answered calmly.
"You enter at your own risk, sir. The sand worm activity has kicked up. For your safety, you should set camp here and leave tomorrow morning."
"Please, mister," Castor said, shaking his head. "I'm afraid that's not possible. You see...my...sister here is quite sick. I'm going to visit the cult altar in the Northern Monuments. If we don't get there soon, she will die. I'm afraid we're just going to have to risk it."
"Sick?" the man stared at the superstitiously. "Not a plague, I hope." he stared at them with caution. Zarrah felt herself sweat as they were beneath the man's gaze.
She held her tongue. She had a few smart words she wished to offer to Castor, but this was hardly the appropriate time....
"If she is ill.." the man began, wary, not of lies or deceit, but of the illness spreading, when Zarrah felt something..
and her eyes widened suddenly as a jolt of pain shot through her body..
the snake had moved, and quite suddenly, releasing a ray of toxins into her blood.
Zarrah barely had time to even make a noise as she collapsed suddenly, black hair spilling out from beneath her hood and about her face.
The man stood back, wide eyed.
"She has the plague! Get out of the villa! Leave here at once!" the man shouted, and backed away, his heart nearly beating out of his chest...
Zarrah was barely able to peer through her messy curtain of black hair-
the world around her drumming over with the noise of heavy blood within her ear..
her skin had paled, her veins, straining in a black mass as the poison washed through her in a sickening wave.....
as it began to dissipate, Zarrah felt herself become nauseous and suddenly..
she threw her head outside the cart and vomited to the ground.
The men watching suddenly turned tale and ran... all the while Zarrah tried to find her strength again, wiping at her mouth before looking down at the blood on her hand....
The signs of sickness couldn't have come at a more convenient time. But the moment proved to be a double edged sword as Castor watched Zarrah reeling in sickness, the color lost to her once browned flesh, death seeping through her veins. He, himself, paled in horror and when she vomited the emptiness of her stomach off the side, alarm immediately set in.
The man ran and Castor pulled an arm around Zarrah, drawing her into him, as the other hand rapped the reins hard on the back of the beast that honked and chuffed in surprise and irritation. Castor held her too him, rapping the reins again for the beast to go faster as it zoomed down the dirt road. Nobody stood in their way now.
"Zarrah? The poison?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. He tried to search the sickness in her face. "Zarrah!"
OOC: That poor mule XD
And NO, Castor. She has MORNING sickness!
<3
JUST KIDDING!!!????
XD
IC:
Zarrah took a moment to compose herself, shuddering as a chill raced across her skin. She raised her violet eyes to look at him and muttered, wiping off the blood from her lips.
"It.."S he grimaced.."then turned to pull down her shoulder.. revealing the snake mark had moved. "It moved.."
She scowled at it, throwing the corners of her robe back over it before looking to Castor with a menacing gaze.
"Let's just find Carnavus as quick as we can." she spoke through her teeth, and settled herself back into the cart, her body still reeling from the after effects on the shock of the sudden dose of poison.
Yes.. damn Carnavus. This was no doubt his trick, his card to play.
Sighing, the quick bumping of the cart had her feeling ill again, and she fought the urge and wretch as she placed a hand on Castor's shoulder.
"Be easy on the animal." she said. "Lest we waste our only resource dry."
Then she noticed the blood on her hand, that was now on his shoulder as she yanked her hand away.
She turned away, almost bashful and gritted her teeth.
"Sorry."S he took the corner of her sleeve and wiped it clean, sighing.
"WEll, this trip'll be fun."
[You're gonna kill him! And feel free to time skip ahead, if you'd like.]
If it was devastating for her to experience the effects of that dreadful poison, it was just as devastating to watch her. Castor was at a loss. This was different than when she was bitten in the oasis. The snake was real, not a mark on her arm that was steadily slithering itself toward her heart. He couldn't cut her open and spill the poison out of her. He could only watch her grow paler, grow weaker, grow sicker.
He nodded to her advice. The mule was not happy with the pace it had been setting and for a moment, Castor pulled the reins back to a halt, getting off to give the poor beast a drink of water, and himself and Zarrah one too. Before taking off again, Castor climbed over the buckboard and into the cart on the back. Loud noises emerged of heavy shoving and sliding and strenous grunting until Castor emerged and nudged her shoulder.
"Lie down in the back. I made room and laid some blankets for you on top of a trunk. The motion should be easier to take back there." His face was still quite horrified at what he saw, but he knew all they needed was to get to Windward Pass. And he smacked the reins on the mule, going at a gentler pace now. But his heart raced that perhaps every little moment they stopped quickly drained the sands from the hourglass.
Zarrah watched him work, and smiled at his efforts, but turned towards him after he perched back infront.
"Don't you wish for some company?" she asked, feeling a bit better after they had some water. "Surely you can't go down this road for several hours in silence."
She afforded him a smile, but knew what his answer might be. But still..
She pecked his cheek softly and smiled at him, touching his face
"I'll be alright."s he told him..
After all, neither he nor Carnavus knew she still had one more trick card up her sleeve..
that extra life...
Though how peculiar it would be to waste on such a curse as this.
OOC: Maybe time shift later.. unless you want to fast forward lol <3
She had to thank him anyways for being so um.. concerned.
[Oh what a waste of a life it would be if she died from the venom curse!]
Castor was unaware of any such hidden advantage. Only the sun and time pressed on him to make haste. Three days was a long time to travel. Even with the cart and all the water they could carry, there was still no guarantee they could make it there in time. Castor's heart was beating in desperation and despite her kiss and words, he was NOT feeling very reassured.
He was silent, saying nothing as they traveled. The sun was steadily falling. And before he knew it, night had fallen, and in the distance he could make out a wooden sign with the words "Windward Pass" printed on it in fading ink. They were nearly there. Finally a smile took him as he paused for one more water break.
He turned to Zarrah. "The mule is worn. We can take a break, but ...the curse." He stopped and looked at the withered animal, breathing heavily.
OOC: It *would* be sad!
IC:
Zarrah released a sigh as she stepped down from the cart. SHe had already indulged in water, taking long, refreshing gulps as it sated her throat, but it could not ease her mind from the poison she could feel settling inside her blood.
"We should rest,"S he told him softly, hand going to his arm as she peered up at him, her violet eyes, a reflection of the night time stars.
"I know the journey will seem long, but we can not tire ourselves because we feel pressed for time." She squeezed his hand. "And don't you worry, as I said before.." she afforded him one of her clever grins. "I promise you things will be ok." she took his hands and lightly kissed his metal fingers before turning to catch his cheek, then lips met to lips.
"Carnavus will not be the end of me." she smiled at him fondly. "After all, he has failed before."
Castor couldn't help but pull away from her. He didn't care about Carnavus right now. Even if they got to him, he'd most likely kill the both of them. Or try to anyway. They needed all the time they could get. The mule was the most tired of them all and Castor pointed to the cart. "You should get inside and try to get some sleep. I'm not tired. I'm stronger than the mule. We'll make time."
Castor went back around and undid the yoke around the beast's neck. The animal honked in surprise as Castor lifted the animal with ease, holding its legs on his shoulders and its belly on his head. He transferred the animal to the rear of the cart, forcing it inside to what little room was available. He secured the beast before turning back to the front. He put himself in place of the mule, took a healthy gulp of water and lifted the cart onto his shoulders, heading straight into the pass.
OOC: And that's how we all know he loves her <3
what other man would become a mule for his lady? XD
IC:
To say she was surprised was quite the understatement. Zarrah was far beyond impressed as she watched him turn into a mule for her. Her heart went out to him. The fool.
Even if he'd never say it..
perhaps she could say it to him?
But it could wait for another time,f or she could't stop her smiling as she cradled herself inside the cart. Yes..
Even if he didn't understand..
He must realized what his actions meant.
Love.
It was unconditional and would stand the test of time.
Love would see her through in the end.
And with that notion, she found herself drifting off to the most sweetest of sleeps.
OOC: D'awwwwwwwwwww
XD~
[I think you jump to conclusions too quickly! D8<]
Castor grunted with the effort as he walked through the pass only as quickly as his legs could carry him. Though he was strong and the gauntlets made the weight of the cart seem like nothing more than a sackful of feathers, he was not invincible. He labored with every step. And just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, the pass gradually was turning into an incline, going uphill.
Castor paused, the cart jerking for a moment. He stood there, watching the hill go higher and higher until it was almost as large as the cliffs. "This isn't good," he said. But he wouldn't make it Zarrah's problem. He stopped the cart before the angle got too steep and slowly climbed around to the back of the structure. It was easier to push than to pull.
He started back up, face pressed to wood and each step was taken with care, the angle going upward. Surely there had to be someplace in hell where this was a man's eternal punishment. But said man never had gauntlets like Cynwulfen. But even with his strength it was strenuous work. And he could feel the dirt begin to slid unevenly underneath his boots.
OOC: I think I jump to the right conclusions <3 *snickers*
IC:
It wasn't long before Zarrah stirred, the mule, whimpering as Castor's efforts were becoming noisier outside. She took a peek outside, frowning at the steepness of the hill before delicately moving towards the back of the cart.
She pushed the thick hide roof aside and found herself gazing down at a man bulging with muscle and sweat. She couldn't help but smile towards him and whispered, "Castor..." before pressing a small kiss to his face.
"Come inside and rest with me, won't you?" she asked, drawing a hand forward to stroke gently through his hair.
Here he was struggling to get them up this goddamned hill and she had the nerve to kiss him! Castor's face flushed with irritation as he stopped mid-step and looked at her, catching his breath. They were so close to the top, why stop now.
"Zarrah..." he said, straining. "If I let go of this cart, it will roll back on me and crush me to death. The mule will die and you will die. Now I don't think you want that. I certainly am not ready to die yet." He managed a small grin for her and kept pushing uphill.
Zarrah smiled at him softly, appreciatively as she rested her head against the back side of the cart.
"I suppose you're right, but I've done to you worse." her words were simple, the memories were there and she slipped away, disappearing into the back of the cart again to let him work, smiling all the while as she nestled inside.
She was beginning to grow rather fond of this treatment. If Castor didn't watch it.. well...
She smiled thoughtfully in spite of herself and sighed, staring at the roof of the cart in thought before curiosity had her staring down at the mark on her arm. It as already up at the crest of her shoulder, it's face breathing, licking towards her heart. SHe tossed the robe back over it.
Best not to think on it any more for now...
Just when Castor thought it was safe to keep going, his foot slipped out from underneath him and he yelled loudly as he felt the weight of the cart bearing down on him. "Zarrah," he breathed. The cart jerked and almost made him slip again but he pressed against it with all his might. He heard wood resisting his motions. Anger began to set in and Castor had had enough of this uphill climb.
He stepped back and let the cart slide back toward him, bracing himself for the impact. As it did so, he swept his arms underneath it, the whole cart jerking high into the air as if it had just hit a boulder. The mule wailed in nerves and shock. As the cart came down, Castor lifted his hands up and caught the bottom of the cart on his hands, carrying it upright as if it weighed little more than a few dozen stones.
He balanced it carefully as he walked up the hill once more, regaining lost ground and pushing his body to the very brink as he began to run up the hill, sweat blinding his vision, seeping through his robes and when he finally reached the top, he cried out as he plopped the cart down on flat ground.
"Zarrah," he said, leaning against the side of the buckboard, catching his breath. "Okay you win. I'll take a break. Just a few hours. We move before the dawn." He climbed inside and set the mule back outside, with food and water and a blanket to protect against the night wind and slumped against the driver's seat, staring at the stars.
After the whole ordeal, Zarrah was lucky to have kept whatever was left inside her stomach as she stormed out of the cart and over to his side.
"Oh, you silly fool," she told him, hitting him lightly before cradling her arms around his neck and sealing to his lips a quick, hot kiss.
"Do remind me that I owe you my life for all of this," she told him sweetly, nuzzling her face against his neck before she pulled away, tearing off some of her robe to make a make shift rag and began to coat it with cool water.
Now, damp clothe in hand, she approached him and began to pad down his face.
"You know you really ought to have listened to me sooner,"s he chided, but smiled at him and looked into his face.
"We don't have to rush there, you know." she frowned. "But I.. do realize you worry for me." she said, turning away and re-wetting the clothe with cold water. She turned back to him, patting it down upon his chest, the heat so intense she could almost hear it sizzle as the cool rag touched him.
"Thank you."s he told him, hooking her eyes sincerely to his.
She was insatiable! And much to her advantage he was much too tired to pull away, and he was much too tired for kisses. He closes his eyes and thought he could fall asleep right there when she plunged something cold and wet on his face that made him gasp for air. But it wasn't unwelcome.
"Zarrah," he said. "I just think sometimes, what if we don't make it? I've seen enough people die in front of me. I don't want you to be one of them." He was silent and he looked away, watching the mule eat its feed, looking at him strangely.
"Sometimes I think we're all just insects crawling on the face of such a worthless world. We don't deserve to exist with everything we do to each other. Sometimes I think would have been better off dead." His musings were depressing, but he had not the energy to think positively and closed his eyes.
Zarrah frowned as she stared at him.
"You're not alone in your thoughts you know." she bent over, touching the clothe lightly to his chest. "So many things just don't make sense in this world that, at times, even I become consumed by it. It feels all too surreal, to think we're put here, almost as if puppets to be toyed with by some unyielding, horrific fate."
She frowned, staring at him.
"But what makes it all worth it in the end, is when we can find the simple moments, the simple peace that make all of our struggles much easier to bear." She touched a hand to his face.
"Would you rather I die, helping you at your side, making memories as we go, or would you rather forget about me? And not have me here, just a haunted remenant, a ghost?" She frowned looking at him gravely. "Because you and I aren't meant to live long lives. We are subject to the conditions surrounding us. This world is cruel, so we, find ourselves needing to find ways to be crueler, or to simply find ways to merely survive."
She sighed, but found a small smile as she worked another cool, wet clothe across his chest.
"I think it's a bit more enjoyable with it's new found risks.." she mused out loud.
"Would you rather I die, helping you at your side, making memories as we go, or would you rather forget about me? And not have me here, just a haunted remnant, a ghost?"
Castor did not answer, leaving it to rhetoric. But he'd been guilty of thinking of the answers to it many times. He'd never been much for words, it showed when he moved, even when he spoke. And the words to say anything regarding it were difficult to form even if he wanted to. He just laid there, listening to her musings and smiled when she smiled and kept his eyes to the stars.
Only when she finished did he look at her. "I'm glad I got to have met you," he murmured softly, a hand reaching up to hold the one that clothed his chest. "You've been more loyal to me than i own blood. I don't want you to have to owe me your life. Promise me that. If you can survive...fight for it.
"Remember the temple. I couldn't let you jump. I would have jumped to. I should really be thanking you for all you've done for me." Another hands reached up shakily to touch her cheek.
Meanwhile, outside the cart far away in the hills above a lone rider stood, gazing down at them, cloaked against the night, just watching them.
Zarrah craddled his cheek.
"It's best not to think on it." then she gave him a wry smile. "And don't think you can be rid of me so easily. Carnavus can attest to it. I'm not so easily disposed of." Her grin widened as she studied him, moving then, so take a seat beside him as she craned her neck up at the stars.
"Don't think I won't fight for my life, Castor. Believe me, I'm not ready to die anytime soon." She turned to him, smiling and resting a hand softly overtop of his metal fingers.
"But please, don't get me wrong when I say, I feel that risking my life for you is worth it. Even if I die, do not blame yourself. Blame the stubborn woman sitting beside you.."s he squeezed her hand over his. "One who just wanted to be your friend..."
and perhaps, more.
"But I would like to see myself as a rather fierce warrior,"s he then added, on a lighter note as she grinned, taking out a dried piece of meat from their supplies and chewed on it, offering him a piece and some bread.
"Are you hungry?" she inquired.
"Oh, you're the fiercest one I've met so far. Well, one of them at least. You don't have any magic chains on you do you? No, thank goodness." Castor managed a laugh despite the lack of any energy to do so. He rolled off his back to sit up even though every thing in his body told him to lay down and just go to sleep.
"You're a find friend who leaves her companions hanging naked in trees to be sexually molested by women of a questionable nature." Castor frowned and took the offered meat. "That was mean, you know. I don't think I could ever forgive you for that." He ate the beef and spit out any veins that hadn't been cut away. "You've got a funny way of showing you love somebody." He continued to speak, well, grumble more like in inaudible bits as he chewed at their rations.
But he stopped suddenly when he though he heard shuffling up high on the ridge. From the driver's seat he saw a few pebbles tumbling down the rockface, but as he looked up, he saw nothing would have...or should have, caused their movements. After several moments of silence, he kept his eyes back to Zarrah, though his nerves were already on edge.
Zarrah studied his face, even long after his comment about the Oasis as she tilted her head at him.
"Are you really still angry with me about that?" the idea amused her, and she couldn't help it as her violet eyes danced. "Really, Castor."s he said, pressing a hand across his chest. "At that moment in our lives, we were to never meet again." She kissed the edge of his chin fondly. "And those women.." she couldn't help but smile. "They're good people. I figured they would have done as little harm to you compared to any assassin or warrior has been trying to do to us..." then her grin widened ever more playful. "Or what I've done to you many a nights.."s he said, lips nibbling gently at his ear.
"I'm sorry.." She said after a moment, cheek to his, lips to his ear, her hair over his shoulder as she braced herself against his tense body.
"Not just for that, but for a lot of things."
Castor closed his eyes to the comfort of her body, feeling relaxed and tired and warmed by her words. There was solace to be had in the embrace of another, not just in pleasure, but in moments of pain as well. He wrapped arm around around her waist, holding her close and feeling along her hip.
He rested his lips to her neck, tasting the smost sensitive portions of her skin, but paused suddenly when he heard more rocks. There was a sudden shadow against the sky as he turned his head up the cliff again, large and round. A shape move around the side of it as if nudging against what only could be a massive boulder.
"Shit!" he cursed. Castor grabbed up the reins and slapped them hard across the mule's back which spooked the animal made the cart jerk into motion just when the boulder came crashing down the cliff's side, barely making it out of the way. The rock crashed into the road, leaving nothing more than a cloud of dust and destruction in its wake.
"Zarrah, let's get the hell out of here!"
OOC: Twenty -five pages 8D~
Zarrah lost her balance, spilling into the inside of the cart, dark hair everywhere. The entire thing was jerking about in a rough and hasty manner, panic ever present in the air. She glanced up at Castor, only able to nod.
"You don't need to tell me twice."S he peered out at the dust of chaos behind them and frowned.
She peered outside, noticing a looming shadow and bared her teeth at it, a hand reaching, just touching over the cold metal of one of her knives.
"So we are being followed.." she growled, pressing herself back into the cart. "I should have known Canarvus wouldn't make this any easier." She said and helped Castor control the reigns. "Looks like we won't be sleeping for a time." She frowned at him, then lowered her head, resting her forehead against him as she wilted. "I'm sorry..."
After all, if it were not for her, he wouldnt' find himself in such a mess, and in such a tired and exhausted state. She peered out the back of the cart cautiously, ever tense, ever ready, fingers itching over her blades. "Perhaps I can keep watch for now as you rest?" she asked, but had a feeling Castor would never allow for it. Not when it was obvious a shadow loomed over head.
As alarmed as he was, Castor was in no condition to defend himself or Zarrah. He only nodded to her statement. "You take the reins, I'll go rest. But we have to keep moving, don't stop for anybody or anything. We'll rest in the morning. But first let's just focus on making it there." He nodded to her and kissed her temple before climbing in back.
As the mule honked in disapproval, it reluctantly kept moving forward, hauling them quickly but steadily. The road was silence save for the turning of the wheels and the breath of anticipation. There was no sign of anyone. And hours passed before a lantern light appeared ahead and beside it a man sitting on a rock. As they neared, he stood up, raising both hands for them to stop.
"Hello there!" the man said, he was tall, lithe, body bundled in grey robes as he hailed them. "You wouldn't mind helping a weary traveller."
Zarrah noticed the light off in the distance, and growing wary, she slowed the mule. When they approached, she studied the man, the mule whimpering in protest at the taunt reigns.
"You pick a horrid hour for travels,"s he told the man, stopping the cart, despite Castor's warnings from earlier as she looked him over. "But I'm afraid we've got pressing business to the North."
And less than three days...
They were down to two, and the precious minutes were ticking away.
"IF you need water, we can spare some, but that is all."
It was the least she could do.
She wasn't always a cold hearted bitch to strangers- and anyone could use a friend in this unforgiving desert.
The man approached the cart, raising the lamp shoulder high. "Gods bless you, lady," he said looking at her with ruddy eyes where the fire of the lantern danced in his pupils. He grinned at her. "Could please take me with you? Wherever you are going, just drop me off at the nearest settlement. I've lost my horse somewhere in the hills. I call his name and he doesn't come. Most likely eaten. I promise I won't slow you down. And I can pay for passage."
There was a rumbling in the back and Castor slowly emerged from the cart, looking at Zarrah talking to this stranger, but there was immediate alarm in his eyes. "Who is this?" he asked, looking at her.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Radu," the man answered, holding out his hand to either of them. But slowly retreated it when Castor gave him a hard look. "I explained my plight to your friend here. I'm a lost traveller. I only asked to be taken to the next settlement. Please, I can pay you."
Castor furrowed his brow at Zarrah.
OOC: He's probably SOOOO pissed at her right now for even stopping XD
IC:
Zarrah frowned.
"And you need to travel on ahead?" she glanced towards the grey hills of rock and sands. "Yes, a horse eaten out here is not unlikely. The sandworms travel and eat here most often." It's why most chose not to take this path, but thankfully they still needed to travel down the hill side to get there.. and that's where the real danger (and fun) would begin.
She frowned at his statement.
"I'm afraid we are in much of a hurry.." she began, giving a start when Castor appeared as she cast away her eyes from him, knowing he'd be quite upset with her for even stopping.
Despite what Castor assumed of her, Zarrah had done a lot of good things during her time as the 'Lady of the Desert'. She wasn't completely heartless. The man would die, this much she knew, once the sun would rise and he had no horse and no trees to shade him.
"The pass up ahead is full of sandworms,"s he informed Castor, frowning a bit at the thought. She then looked to Radu, cautiously. "Why would you need to be headed out that way?" she asked, still being too cautious to accept him into their cart.
There was no reason not to suspect he might have been the one trying ot smash them iwht a boulder, after all....
"I was trying to travel north to visit my father," Radu explained without missing a beat. "He's getting on in his years, he's quite sick. I've been meaning to travel north sooner, but work kept my hands tied. He's very dear to me. That's why I tried to see if I could make it alone with my horse, but I lost my way. My horse was spooked by the rising activity on the sand worms so I sought refuge in these cliffs. His nerves were shot by then, and took off in the afternoon."
Castor only scowled at the man, furrowing his brows and not sure he was buying the story for a minute. Too many details... But if he was telling the truth and they left a tired lost man to die out here in the desert... He was too tired to give a good gods damn! He turned to Zarrah. "Leave him, " he said.
But Radu grabbed the cart. "Please!" he begged. "You're the only people I've seen on this road for hours. It could be days, weeks, before I see someone out here. My water is running low. I've got no food. Please."
Zarrah visibly winced at the gesture. Her heart went out to the poor fool, and much as it were, she found herself ignoraning Castor's good advice.
At least if she were to die, she wouldn't have this man's death fresh on her conscience.
"We can take you as far as to the end of the pass, from there you'll have to walk. But you need to stay up front with me." She tossed Castor a look, pleading with him to understand before she shifted over, making room for the man. "I'm sure you'll get a chance to see your father again before the next day is through."
Castor felt his face grow tense, but he held his tongue as he watched the stranger climb onto the buckboard and sit beside Zarrah. Everything in him wanted to clobber the man (and her) over the head as he turned to thank her with a handshake.
"Thank you, kindly," Radu said, sitting to himself, pulling the lantern up to his feet, dropping it there. He turned to look at Castor. "I won't cause any trouble, I promise," he said. Castor only glared at him before disappearing back into the cart to lay back down. If it was broken, he'd stick his head on a pike.
Radu shivered against the cold, glancing back to Zarrah. "He's a grumpy one ain't he?"
Zarrah only smiled at the comment, snapping the reigns as the mule honked in protest, but continued onward.
"Yes, he's a real charmer," she stated, her smile un-erasable upon her lips. She'd have to make this up to him later. After a time, she settled back against the cart for more support and glanced over at their temporary companion.
"Do you need any water?" she asked, knowing how crucial water was, the vital, non-surplussed life force out here in this dry world. "We have some dried breads if you're hungry."
She wouldn't lie, it was nice to have a less... tense distraction for a change as she tried to study the man's face against his lamp light.
"Yes, please," Radu said, accepting the offered rations and water. "My own stores were running low. I ate the last of my bread just five hours before you arrived. And well, the rest were on my horse, but I guess that won't matter now." He frowned at the mention of the lost animal now serving some unruly beast as a tasty snack.
In the lamplight, the shadows that remained only accented the broadness of his features. He was a handsome man, face quite unmarred and hair of dirty blonde swept cleanly out of his face. His ruddy eyes seemed to sparkle by the lantern, and when he turned to look at Zarrah, they seemed almost possessed, but he only give a friendly smile.
"What about you?" he asked kindly. "Where are you going? It's awfully late to be travelling."
At first, she would have been intrigued by the man's handsome features. She wouldn't tell Castor, but she had a small thing for men who were blonde. Perhaps it was the foreign appeal, though the man's eyes were unsettling as she was forced to look away, tending to the reigns.
"We've got a long ways to go," she simply commented, frowning some. "I'm ill and we're seeking a remedy in a villa about two days ride from here." And she said nothing more, keeping the conversation brief, and her eyes on the road, though she wanted to glance back at Castor to ensure he was ok, she felt guilty for this situation, and for the stress he knew he was enduring on her behalf- probably only amplified now that they had taken on a third companion.
"Then I see the need for urgency," he replied, reaching for the water and taking a long and hearty drink. "I hope it's not contagious..." But the jest was only half serious. He frowned with concern and put the water down. He glanced at her and gave a soft sigh, noticing her apparent beauty but keeping his mouth shut about it.
"I hope it isn't too presumptuous of me, miss," he said. "But I am something of a doctor in my profession. You do look rather ill." He reached a hand into a pouch on his belt and fished out a small vial. "I'm not sure what it is you have, but this will give you a semblance of strength. Please, take it. No charge."
He tried to smile again, giving a sublte grin as he saw the flap of the cart slowly open and Castor looked at him with eyes from the darkness.
Quote from: Lion on January 11, 2013, 04:15:28 PM
He tried to smile again, giving a sublte grin as he saw the flap of the cart slowly open and Castor looked at him with eyes from the darkness.
OOC: Ok.. THAT made me lol XD *can just see this imagine now of Angry McCastor glaring out with GLARING eyes of GLARING-ness!*
IC:
Zarrah was a bit taken back when the man offered her help. She stared warily at the vial, then away.
"I should be able to manage," she informed him, but had to smile. "But thank you anyways. I could not possibly accept your wares. I'm a strong woman. Some say I have a rather good constitution." she chanced a glance back, noticing Castor's eyes and sighed, turning to him.
"Castor, you need to rest,"s he reminded him, smiling at him, hoping she could see the apology within her gaze, and if not, she gently mouthed the words to him with a shrug, then went back to keeping her gaze upon the road.
"I've slept enough," Castor said, though his body didn't mean it. He crawled out from the cart and leaned halfway out, watching the stranger with hawk eyes. "Besides, you two seem to be having quite a heart-to-heart out here, leaving me the odd man out."
"That was not my intention," Radu said. But he left the vial by Zarrah's side, knowing it was better for her to take it than not. "Please, drink it. You don't know what might happen if you don't. Besides, how can you know that you'll make it to this villa? I wouldn't even have known to find you two friendly strangers out on the road. You must take opportunities when they come to you."
Castor grunted, but Radu ignored him. "What is that vial?"
"Medicine," Radu answered keeping his back to him. "Your friend here said she wasn't feeling very good. The vial will give her time. Time is of the essence in every endeavor."
[I'm guessing the vial is some kind of antidote or at least stave off the effects of the venom for a number of hours.]
OOC: ZARRAH IS STUBBORN AND WILL NOT LISTEN TO A DOCTOR DX
XD
IC:
Zarrah turned back to Castor.
"You really haven't slept at all," she commented, but seeing his expression, her own face fell as she just let it go. Shaking her head, she focused back on the mule, it honking when she goaded it into a much faster pace.
"I... well, if the symptoms persist, perhaps we'll keep it in tow," she glanced down once at the vial, sighing before slipping it into her robes, blushing a bit as she realized she might have exposed some of her more.. scandalous attire to the stranger beside her. But she ignored it. It wouldn't have been awkward had Castor not been burning a hole between them.
She sighed again, forcing a smile.
"So Castor, you want to share a story with us to help pass the time?" she inquired, peering over at him from over her shoulder.
[He's a killer doctor. Maybe she's doing herself a favor. Maybe she'll only use it at the last second and it actually saves her life! I durno.]
"I don't tell stories, Zarrah," Castor said bitterly. He couldn't keep from glaring at her either. She was lucky she was the one steering or he'd push her under the cart too. Radu could feel the rising tension and turned in the cart to get a better view of the both of them.
"I can tell a story," he quickly cut in. "I've lived in these deserts my whole life. I've heard tales of a ghostly woman who wandered the sands, only appearing in the evening, looking, wailing for her lost lover. They had been parted by a tragic fate, one can only imagine. And she loved this man so that she vowed that even death could not stop them from being together. She calls out to lost travellers, most especially men and those of the trade caravans, calling out their names, though they are not the name of her lover, in the hopes of finding him in another form. Only the weakest of men are drawn to her, and they become possessed by an insatiable need to answer her call.
"She draws them far away from their camps, far into the dunes. She seduces them but once she realizes they are not her long lost lover, she slays them brutally, rips them limb to limp, blood coating sand everywhere," Radu explained carefully so that even Castor could understand.
"Now one legend involves this ghostly lady calling out to a lone traveler lost in the sands, much like I was I suppose. He makes camp for the night, with few supplies and no horse, little water, and tries to warm himself against the desert winds. After dinner he prepares for sleep, bundling himself in his blankets. He hears the voice of the woman calling his name. It frightens him and he tries to ignore it. But it calls louder and louder and for a long time he just laid there pretending like he didn't hear it if only it would go away. Yet it doesn't. Hours past, the night grows colder and the voice only stops when he feels something more than just a chill in the air. He awakens and looks at the ghostly form of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life, tears in her eyes, asking if he is her long lost lover.
"The man looks at her with sorrow. 'Who was your lover?' he asks, frightened but drawn to the woman. She says she cannot remember his name, only his eyes if she were to look into them. She asks to see his eyes but he refuses. They argue for a long time as to why he refuses but her anger overcomes him and she forces his eyes to peer into hers. And in that instant she realizes it is indeed him and she tries to embrace him but her body goes through him and he runs away, drawing a holy sword, telling her to keep her distance.
"He explains he refused to show her his eyes because he knew she would find him. That she is doomed to forever roam the deserts in futility as punishment for betraying him, loving another when he had gone to war. But he said he too could not rest, that he loved her so, that his broken heart could not mend or give forgiveness even in the grave. They would be forever doomed to be a crossways with one another. She tries to apologize to him, that she has always loved him, but he said it was too late for forvigeness. All they could do was wander eternity alone. And he leaves her in the dying flames of his campfire, walking away."
Zarrah listened with interest. She was tense at first, this man would bring up... well her own legend, but upon listening to it, she couldn't help but smile. The stories had become so embellished over the years she couldn't help but laugh.
"I think the entire desert has heard that story, told from one tongue or another," she said, clicking the donkey to press it forward. "A ghostly woman, sounds hard to believe." she turned a wry smile back to Castor, but felt a jab of guilt inside her heart. She turned away from him, hiding any of the pain on her face as they continued until they met the end of the trail- the looming crags of rocks across the sandworms territory now expanding before them in endless wonder.
She halted the donkey, pressing her lips flat together, eyes studying the sands. The sun would rise within the hour, making this pass all the more treacherous.
"Well, we're at the SandWorm's pass,"s he said, forcing a smile to all of the others. "I do hope you all don't mind the bumpy trail ahead."
Clicking the reigns, the mule hesitated, but with another snap, he brayed and the cart lurched onward, careful, steady and quiet across the solid dirt path.
It was eerily quiet here, with the sun just raising itself upon the distant horizon.
[You know mules and donkies are two different animals right?]
As the story came to an end, Radu looked at the effects it had on the pair, seeing Zarrah turn away and saw flashes of something that seemed like guilt on her face, he knew that look. He'd seen it before. Too much to concieve how close the story had hit to home. And as he looked at Castor, his face had turned downcast and he stared at the metal gloves on his hands. He'd heard say of a man with such hands, but he made no mention of it.
Their journey soon stopped and before Radu departed he reached down and grabbed Castor's hand though he knew the grumpy man would resist to the idea and shook it vigorously. "Thank you, sir," he said, and pressed a small sack of gold into it with his other hand and he looked over to Zarrah, a soft light in his eyes in the early morning dimness. He took her hand though she did not offer it, his own slightly roughened to the touch and brought it to his lips like a gentleman, kissing her hand soflty and setting it down. "And I thank you. You've been most generous," he smiled charmingly and let go of her hand after much reluctance and stepped off the buckboard, with his lantern beside him.
"I hope you make it your destination in time," Radu called as the cart rolled off down the pass again. When they were far from sight, Radu's smile faded, watching them disappear and he turned toward a low-lying hill behind him. He gave a low, sharp whistle and waved a hand in the air. There was a low and happy neigh and the sound of hooves as a powerful beast trotted from down the hill. He was a powerful bay horse, coat so deep he seemed painted with blood. He was saddled and ready and after a short water break, the man called Radu climbed on the back of the animal in the saddle and started back up the hill, trailing these two travellers to ensure they reached their destination.
Meanwhile in the cart, Castor could not hide the fact that he was deeply unsettled. He took Radu's place beside Zarrah and gave her a curious glance. "Something wasn't right," he said gently, watching the mule take them along.
OOC: Phsh. My typos extend to mules and donkies now, it seems!
I know they're different! *flails*
IC:
Zarrah almost wanted to offer him to tag along. The journey would be dangerous without their collaborative support, however, she did not fight it when he went to leave, but felt a flush grace her cheeks at his goodbye. It had been sometime since she was in the presence of someone who treated her like a lady, rather than a slab of meat, or shrunk back from her in fear.
"May the Gods see you to your destination," she said, nodding to 'Radu' as he left.
She made no efforts to look at Castor as he moved to sit at her side. She simply sighed as the cart rolled forward, into most dangerous land.
At his comment, she grew quiet.
"I'm sorry, Castor." she said after time. "I know you said to keep going, but please understand, things are.. a bit different in the wilds of the desert than you may be accustomed to."
"They're no different than if it were in the rolling hills of the Wester Highlands. Didn't it seem at all strange to you that he seemed to show up not long after that boulder nearly crushed us to death?" he glared at Zarrah. "He could have been anyone! A killer, a scout, maybe he told somebody about where we were headed. We are wanted criminals, Zarrah, well, perhaps you more than I but wanted all the same. We shouldn't have stopped! We should have let him die out here. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway."
Castor scowled at the ground and looked to where the man had left the vial. Carefully he picked it up, placing it between his thum and middle finger and looking at the translucent blue liquid within. "This could be poison for all we know! I have half a mind to just throw this out!"
Zarrah sighed, feeling anger and guilt riling within her at his words.
"Then throw it out then." she commented, bitterly, staring off listlessly into the deserts before them, the cart jostling with more forced since the land here was more rough- lest they stray from it and awaken the slumbering sand worms within-
but perhaps it wasn't the sand worms, or an unusual blue mixture in a vial she should have been worried about, for as the rays of the sun continued to stretch their white fingers across the land-
The symbol of the black snake moved again.
Caught unawares, Zarrah suddenly felt the over whelming sense of pain become her, and before she knew it, she was falling off the sides of the cart, tumbling into a crumpled mess in the dangerous sands below....
He was about to do just that when he saw Zarrah double over in pain and flail out of the cart. Without hesitation he stopped the motions of the mule, yanking hard on the reins and dropping the vial on the vial on the seat. He dashed over to her, dropping to his knees and turning her over to face him. "Zarrah! Zarrah! Can you hear me? Please answe me!" His voice was desperate and he shook her hard on her shoulders.
"Zarrah!" He grabbed some of the water from the skin strapped around his shoulders and poured it on her face. He shook her again.
Zarrah trembled beneath his grasp, her body feeling cold, brown-bronzed skin turning sickeningly white as she shivered, veins appearing black beneath the surface as she stared up at him through half-lidded eyes.
And then the ground moved...
slow at first, and distant...
and then silence again.
The movement was lost against Zarrah, her body wracked with pain, the poison over whelming her as she suddenly fought violently within his arms and fell back to the ground, vomiting blood. It was here she froze, staring down at the amount that had came from her lips when a sound suddenly struck her ear.
Turning around slowly, ever so slowly, she could see the rising snake like earth rushing her way through the strangled dark mess of her hair.
The sand worm smelled blood...
And before she realized what was even happening, to be able to warn Castor-
the massive beast plowed it's head through the sands, terrifying maw gaping wide and open, exposing needle like teeth against the black, swallowed depths of it's throat, as it sailed up and over head, blotting out the rising sun as it's mighty mouth aimed to swallow Zarrah whole...
It was too much to be born. All Castor could do was kneel back and watch helplessly as the sickness too Zarrah deep into its clutches, poisoning her veins, making her wretch her life out, heave after heave. And time seemd to stand all too still, until it rushed all the same, dizzying him in moments of conscious brevity.
The sand opened up and as he watched her, already the sun was darkened by the sand worm's hungry maw and razor teeth. Castor turned his head for a moment and saw the creature about to crash down on her. But many things suddenly happened at once. As Castor rose to meet the mouth of the terrible creature, something blurry came out from the otherside, a red shadow that swooped down and snatched Zarrah's still form off from the ground and dashed away to safety, the sound of hooves pounding hard on sand and stone.
The sandworm burrowed down on Castor, his hands going deep inside the creature's mouth, and took him with it as it dug underneath. Teeth ground on the metal, as he wrestled to pull his arms free. Castor fought to stay above ground and gripped hard on the teeth of the sandworm, separating the jaws therein, tearing flesh, and unleashing from it a terrifying scream.
The quick rider that pulled Zarrah from the sands had her positioned over his saddle, and returned her hastily to the cart, setting her gently with surprising strength. And with another nudge of his boots into the horse's sides, he bounded off again. A masked rider that unhooked something long and thing from his belt.
The sandworm reared up it's head, spitting Castor to the ground. There was a sting in the air, and Castor only watched as the rider reared his right arm back and lashed the barbed whip in his hand like a bolt of lightning. The barb shred into the exposed belly of the sand worm, causing the creature to squeal in agony, as green venom seeped into its veins. The rider moved swiftly out of the beast's wrath, as it slammed into the sand, cascading waves of it that blinded Castor as he tried to move out of the way.
The rider twisted his horse around the worm, brandishing the whip once more and lashing it against the belly of the beast, slicing two more long cuts into the vulnerable skin. He repeated his processes again and again, as the sand worm tried to whirl around and burrow away, only to be given three more lashes. Castor forgot about the rider and shuffled back toward the cart where he saw Zarrah had been placed.
The vial, he remembered and hoped he could reach the seat in time.
Zarrah could not witness the events that soon unfolded, for her world was blinded to her- and suddenly she was flying- whisked away in the arms of another. Skin so pale, body so fragile as the pain became too intolerable she couldn't even scream.
When breath returned to her, she gave a start, gasping, writhing as she let out a cry- feeling the poison slowly killing her from the inside. And then slowly, ever so slowly she opened a violet eye, body trembling, twitching as foam and blood seemed to froth from her mouth before her eyes rolled back, eyes closing tight and blood began to spill from her nose.
OOC: Short post- hope it makes sense~
MORE POISONOUS PROBLEMS!
|8\*
The sand worm slammed into the sands in a bloodied heap, still and dead as the rider stepped softly away. He wrapped up the blooded whip and bound it to his side again before trotting across toward Castor as the man scrambled for Zarrah.
Castor cradled Zarrah's head in his arm as he tried to prop her up. "Zarrah! Answer me!" he pleaded, but only heard nothing in response. The rider approached with caution but Castor was too distraught to be alarmed. He held the woman's head against his chest and watched as the rider dismounted and reached for the woman. "Don't touch her!" he cried.
"No time," the rider calmly replied and pulled a dagger from his belt, blade shining like silver. "Cut her arm about mid-elbow."
Castor held the blade tentatively. But after a moment or two of hesitation he went ahead and cut into Zarrah's arm just before her elbow. He looked at the stranger with confusion. "Now what?"
"The poison needs leeway. It needs to seep out. Here." The rider snatched the vial from the seat and uncorked it, handing the stopper to Castor.
The Rider leaned over Zarrah and pried her mouth open with gloved hands, after wiping her frothing mouth with a cloth and poured the liquid down her throat. "Water please."
Castor obeyed. The rider dribbled water into her mouth and closed it before massaging her throat, and lifting her up against his shoulder. "Come on," he said through his mask, eyes narrowing as he shook her a little.
He motioned for Castor to find something to bind her arm with as it slowly bled.
Her mind whirled, vision reeling in and out of whiteness as she shivered, body turning cold, white, almost pale as snow. The veins just beneath the surface still seemed black, but as the elixir was applied, the woman began to slowly still...
remaining unmoving within his arms as if death had consumed her.
But after a moment, her chest heaved, mouth gaping as she gasped with a dry breath, coughing and spewing up more gunk with a hiss, baring her teeth as she turned away, retching out more blood before she panted, breathing- chest in pain...
but slowly it began to numb away...
Her violet eyes stared out listlessly for a while, catching towards an unknown horizon...
It was only then, as her vision, still hot and blurred, turn back to the man looking down at her now, whoever he was as she told him softly, "I'm sorry."
His eyes smiled upon her form as she finally stirred. "For what?" he asked, but motioned for Castor to come near when he appeared from behind the cart holding a length of cloth. Watching her come back to consciousness, Castor swooped down upon her and held her tightly against him.
The rider took the cloth and cleaned her bleeding arm before binding it snugly there. Castor, pressed his lips to her forehead. "Gods, Zarrah, I thought I lost you!" he held her tight. He looked over to the stranger, who took another step back, cleaning his dagger and sheathing it in his belt. He squinted his eyes at the man. "Who are you? Why did you help us?"
The man did not answer and instead. "You two seem to have a hard time listening to good advice, but no matter. The elixer will only stave off the poison for twelve hours. It is not a cure. You've got to hurry if you're going to make it to your destination."
"Wait a goddamned minute!" Castor growled, suddenly angry. "How did you know where we'd be? Have you been following us? This is too convenient. Why help us?"
"Because the noose is a little too tight."
Color began to return to her skin, but her strength was still not all quite there. She was forced to lean against Castor, still limp, but numb enough to know she was still very much alive. Zarrah could barely make out the exchange, eyes remaining on Castor before slowly turning towards Radimir...
Her visions, still toyed with her as the toxins began to dissipate as she muttered something- though it might have made little sense to the two that heard it..
"You're the man from my dream..."
but then she blinked, wincing slightly as she moved about uneasily in Castor's arms. her face had been thrown away, the pain slowly throbbing, slowly fading as she caught her breath, controlling it a moment, sweat slicking her skin.
It was only then she returned her eyes to Castor, beginning to fully see him for the first time since the spell..
"C-Castor?" she said, tentatively, fingers reaching to touch his face, afraid that, if she did not , the image might fade away...
OOC: SHORT POST DX phsh
Castor did not hear Zarrah's soft murmur over the sound of his own voice and heartbeat intertwining with each other and looking at this cloaked stranger with intense distrust. But he seemed unfazed by it. He only stepped back toward hiis massive horse and mounted with a quickness that even Castor was amazed by. "You have less than two days, my friend. I only bought you a short avenue of time." And with that he disappeared into the hills.
Castor looked down to Zarrah, rubbing her face with his cold gauntleted hand and propping her upright on the cart. He climbed up with his free hand and sat beside her, inspecting the stranger's work. "I'm here Zarrah," he answered as he looked at his companion. "Are you okay?"
Zarrah le ther fingers move against his warm cheek as she let out a breath.
"Thanks to you, I think I am," she informed him, a warm weak smile on her lips. She tried to force herself to sit up, but found herself clutching onto Castor, her head growing dizzy as she was coming off the spell of poison.
That's when she looked around suddenly, then turned back to him with a frown.
"That man..." her eyes met to Castor's. "He reminded me of the man from my dream."
"The one who cursed me with the mark of the snake."
And ti was then she turned, pulling the robe from her shoulder, the serpent's face was now painted across the top of her chest, it's tongue still pointed wickedly at her heart.
Less than two days...
She threw the robe back over it.
"Let's keep moving," she said, moving forward, as if she was about to return to her duties at the front of the cart, hands reaching for the reigns.
Castor was immediately alarmed at her claims and looked back toward the trail where the stranger vanished on his bloody horse. "If it is...we have no reason to trust him. Even if he did save both of our lives just now," Castor muttered, holding Zarrah close to him. "But it still doesn't make any sense. Why help you if he was the one that cursed you?"
But the question would remain unanswered. Castor grabbed up the reins, holding Zarrah with one arm and slammed hard on the mule's behind with the tethers. The cart bolted off, if a little stubbornly at first. The mule was tired. But they couldn't afford to waste anymore time. The sun had already risen and would beat down on them in a matter of hours.
"Please, go easy on the mule. The path here is treacherous. Though we've only seen one, this place is like a breeding ground for sand worms," Zarrah informed. "And the sun will be high and hot in a few hours. We may even need to pass the time inside the cart and sleep through it."
A dangerous thought to have happen, but it seemed the group would have little choice.
Sighing, she leaned against Castor, wrapping an arm around his.
"It seems no path before us can be easy."
OOC: Sorry it's short, brain is full of fail today- got too much on my mind ;_;
Castor couldn't help but feel the stress of the odds that were ever-stacking against them. First it was the curse, then the mule, then the sand worm, the strange rider, the exiler, the sun, the water, the food, the gloves... He had to stop, feeling himself suddenly overwhelmed and he leaned over the reins as he pulled the cart over to the side of the road, in the soft shade of a cliff that braced against the sun. There, the air was significantly cooler and it was easier to breath.
He needed all the air he could get. Castor yelled aloud, buried his face in his hands and pulled himself away from Zarrah, stepping off the seat for a moment. "Zarrah..." he breathed, pacing from side to side. "I don't know if I can do this Zarrah. I don't think we're going to make it."
Zarrah watched him in dismay. It wasn't like him to throw a fit like this, or.. perhaps it was. She grimaced and slowly slipped out of the cart, approaching him cautiously.
"Castor, you need to calm down," she warned. "We can make it. We've made it this far. And it's not like I'll die here."S he shook her head. "Not out in the sands, not until I've had my revenge and you..."s he touched his arm gently, eyes seeking his. "And I will not leave you so easily." She kissed lightly his cheek then turned away, sighing as she looked down at the mark that was already cresting across her breast- the vile, black snake mark that sough to fill her heart with poison...
How much time was left.
"Why don't you rest? I can lead the mule forward. The sun might bake him, but if we continue for a time, we can take breaks, seek shelter inside the cart and rest when the sun is fool. But.."she bit her lip, frowning. "I don't know if the mule will make it if we push it. We're running low on water." SHe looked at the trail behind them, then back to him, gently touching his arm.
"Castor, please.." again her eyes sought to his. "You need rest." She paused after a time, guilt stabbing inside her heart.
"And I'm sorry I took on that stranger. I know it might have wasted some precious time but.." she sucked in a breath and lowered her gaze. "As a woman of the desert, I understand how precious life is out here. To find a wandering soul that I could help.."S he lowered her head so that her dark hair spilled over her eyes. "I could not go to the grave knowing I did not help that man. Even in my.. " she frowned, before adding through a sigh. "Condition."
"Oh, we're fools Zarrah! We won't make it! Look at you! Look at me! We're two heaps of flesh trudging along with a rusted old cart with a mule that looks half dead. How can you just look ahead and think we've got a chance! You don't have a chance," Castor had to step away from he sick of feeling the metal upon his hands and knelt to the ground, pounding away to the dirt there.
"I can't do it. I can't. I don't even know how I ended up here, like this, with you. I just wanted my freedom. I just want to go home," Castor said, feeling blood rush to his face and he buried his face in his shoulder.
Zarrah winced, stepping back away from him as he had his little tantrum, though his beating on the ground was most unsettlign as she peered over her shoulder, seeing another snake like rise moving beneath the ground.
"Castor, you' should do us both a favor and get a hold of yourself!" she hissed, snatching onto his arm. "Now is not the time for us to feel pity. We are on a worthless journey, perhaps with an end you'd rather not see- but we will get there. I will cut of Carnavus's head, and you will stop pounding the ground and drawing all of the sandworms our way!" She grabbed onto his arm, forcing him to stop and grabbed onto his face, pulling it her way.
"Man up, Castor! You have the strength of Gods behind your hands! The strength and courage in your heart to get us this far- now is not the time to be giving up!"
and as if on cue, a massive sand worm lunged out from the sands and roared it's way towards them. Gasping, Zarrah dove onto Castor, and both of them went tumbling out of the way, but into the more dangerous soft and sweltering sands.
Once they settled, she raised her head dizzily to realize a second sand worm was also in hot pursuit. SHe swore between her teeth and grabbed Castor by the hand.
"Come on let's move! We need to get off of these sands, and quick!"
The sand worms couldn't have come at the worse possible time. And Zarrah throwing herself on him only made Castor as red-faced as a ripened beet. He was pissed. At everything, most especially at her and wanted to push her away and leave her to these godforsaken worms. This was all her fault anyway! They could have been well on their way if she hadn't taken in that goddamned stranger! Nothing was going right!
Well, if that was making him mad, he sure as hell wasn't happy about a worm smashing down on him and burying him deep within the sands, tearing Zarrah's grip from him. Oxygen was stripped from him, pushed out of his lungs as the sand worm wiggled and squirmed dragging him deeper into the sand. He could register nothing but darkness before him. His hands buried themselves into the roughed topside of the worm, holding on for dear life as the creature suddenly burrowed up to the surface several yards away, swinging Castor about as he peeled away at the scales and proceeded to beat his fist into the creature in pure rage.
His grip was stronger than iron. All his emotion swept into crushing his fist into the animal. But in one fell swoop, the worm swung him hard and his fingers slipped and he whirled into the air. And into its maw he went, swallowed whole.
Things kept going from bad to worse, and when they were separated, Zarrah panicked. Slipping out her blades, the tools seemed useless against these large animals, but she wasn't about to let them get the upper hand-
not when they were so close.
"Castor!" she called out, trying to rush across the sands as if to catch him- only to watch in horror a the animal gobbled him up. Her mouth remained open, chest heaving, face twisting in such rage as she called out his name again in a blood curdling scream. "Castor!"
Then she tore after the beast, rushing across the loose sands, taking aim with one of her blades and throwing to square at the worm's face- pausing just inches before a sandworm behind her exploding from the depths of the sandy seas.
The noise it made terrified her like no other,a nd the hard sands that ripped from its body exploded around her in an array of chaos. She barely had time to turn around and register, but now she had to deal with not only one sandworm, who just recently gobbled up Castor- but now two.
Zarrah only took two steps away before the mighty beast lunged towards her- as hungry as ever and ready to eat some fresh meat.
Castor was boiling. Not just as he was being slowly digested, but from everything that was happening. He refused to die now, of all times. And certainly not by a hungry sandworm. In the darkness, he could barely move but as he twisted around the angry beast's guts, he found enough room to plunge his fist through the creature like butter, blood and screams exploding from the creature.
He tore his way out in a gruesome blast of guts and gore, covered in grime and sand. He tore the cumbersome robes that Zarrah insisted he wear from his person and tossed them to the sands and went to the head of the creature to finish the job, pounding its head into oblivion. He rushed back to the other half of his body and lifted it high into the air, gripping hold of the hardened scales and twisting around and swinging its massive form over his head, crushing the the other sand worm that reared up to eat Zarrah.
He dashed forth and used his strength to launch him inhumanly high into the air and plummeting down with his fists forth, mashing into the worm like an arrow through glass, coming out the other side. He rolled out of the way as it landed, cascading sand in tumultous waves.
Zarrah only watched in horror as Castor himself turned into another vicious beast. She couldn't deny the small smile that spread across her lips as the man turned into some form of a disturbing 'hero'; but she would cheer him on all the same. The fact he was alive brought enough happiness to her- the extra plus was that both worms were dead.
But then the second dead worm smashed between them, it's dead bodies sending sand and dirt everywhere. She barely had time to shield her face, it's gore and death and sands covering her, knocking her to her knees. And it wasn't until after a time that she pushed herself up, slowly and surely, and began to make her way towards the dead beast. But she couldn't hear Castor over it.
"Castor!?" she called out, chest heaving hard as seh ripped the hood off her head. "Castor!?" she hoped he was alright, and took a running start, leaping up and onto the top of the massive, dead worm before pausing to notice him in the sands below.
"Castor!" Jumping down, her landing was hardly so graceful int he sands, she nearly fell over before rushing to his sides in a panic.
"Castor- are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Castor said viciously, his temper still pulsating. He glared at her and pointed to the runaway cart that the mule was trudging along, terrified at all that was going on was trying to make a run for it. "Forget about me, damn woman, get to the cart! Let's go!"
Castor ran on ahead of her as the sand was blasting up here and there with more hungry worms, feeling their feet smashing in desperation. One nearly made him loose his balance and take him into its maw again, but he mashed his fist into its teeth and threw it out of Zarrah's path.
"Hurry!"
It wasn't until Castor pointed out the frantic mule that Zarrah began to tear across the sands. Their only hope to make it in time now would be to rely on the animal who was on a crash course towards it's death. Glad Castor took out the newly approachigng sand worm, she found herself nearly toppling over another as it's tracks raised beneath her.
She used the momentum to jump, and rushed back down towards the desert, sands kicking up from her boots. She eventually made it to the stony landing, only to watch in horror as a sandworm was heading her way- but not HER way.. it was after the mule!
Panicked, she tried to make a run for it, but the beast was still a great deals a way- and soon the sand worm was air born and Zarrah could only watch in horror as it's shadow loomed over the mule....
Quick thinking had Zarrah rush beneath it's shadows, sliding and scraping across the rough terrain before barreling into the cart, pushing it away just moments before the thing smashed into the rock mere feet behind them.
But the mule was only frozen in panic for a short time, and soon honked and carried onward, seemign to ignore the extra weight of Zarrah as it pulled, the woman's legs being dragged behind as she held on for dear life!
Precious seconds were lost int he confusion, but soon she dragged herself up and onto the cart, scrambling forward to secure the reigns and once she did, only then did she dare to access the situation behind her-
Where were the sand worms?
Where was Castor?
He was thankful Zarrah did not question him and had in fact made it to the cart first. He had no time to observe her feat however as he found himself yet again entangled with another sand worm, jumping away just in time as it broke the sands sending him to the other side. Sand and screams took the air. He dodged and scrambled away, but found he was too slow for the worm.
It came crashing down on him just as he reached the stonehard road. He rose up to break its face, tearing it from its body with ease. However, he couldn't avoid its body as it crushed his legs, making him blackout as he was pinned to the road.
Zarrah watched in horror the display of heroism and it's terrible fate. She tried her best to calm the mule, and when finally it halted, she lept from the cart and rushed for him.
"Castor!"
Thank the gods the sand worm raid seemed to dissappate as she reached his side, dropping to his knees as she worked at frantically trying to lift the heavy beast off of his body.
"Castor, Castor.." she growled, pushing with all of her force until the side of the beast was finally off of him. ANd here, the man made it look like cake walk!
Grunting and growling, she managed to drag the man out from beneaht the worm, not without falling into exhaustion across his form, black hair a painted mess across his chest.
She calmed her breath,a nd slowly pressed her ear against him to listen for a heart beat.
It was still there.
She smiled. How cruel fate was towards them!
And now, exhausted, sandy, and hot, she set to work, throwing Castor's arm over her shouldera nd managed to somehow drag him back inside the cart.
Once inside, she collapsed beside him, crying against his shoulder as she stroked a hand through his hair.
"Please be alright, Castor," she cried, kissing softly of his lips as she held him.
"Please be ok..."
Now was a good a time as any- despite their dangerous perch wihtin the sands..
but the sun was too hot and high, and after a time, the mule was smart enough to crawl beneath the cart for the shade, while Zarrah laid, eyes wide open, staring up at the ceiling of the cart, beside Castor.
She was exhausted, but fear kept her awake.
And fear would keep them alive...
Nothing registered in his mind. It was blank and no thoughts would seep into it. If he didn't know any better he would have thought he was nothing more than good and dead, but not even that one could feel its way into him. Sounds were dulled and numb, feeling as if they were underwater or a million miles away from him, buried somewhere beneath the earth.
He felt cold, as if encased in snow, and in the grip of something evil. That voice that owned him creeped into his mind and his face made pained expressions though he would not consciously know it and for many hours the Master tormented him in punishment until tears softly poured from the corners of his eyes. But he could not scream. His voice had been wrenched from him.
In the hours that passed, Castor's chest finally arose in a deep breath, face red, visible lashes having formed on his skin though he hadn't moved. Castor's eyes burst opened and he looked more worse for wear. Feeling for his voice, throat dry and harsh, he tried to speak. "Wh-ere a-am I?"
Hearing him wake, Zarrah lay still a moment before sitting up suddenly and moving closer to his side.
"You're in the cart in the middle of the desert,"s he informed him. "We're still in the sandworm pass. I'm letting the animal rest, but the mule is weary and the sun is hot." Her eyes studied his face, and gently she reached forward to place a hand upon his shoulder.
"You have been out for several hours." she informed.
"ANd you saved our lives.."s he moved her hand to his, squeezing it lightly. "Thank the gods you're alright."s he said, eyes turning to tears as she smiled at him, capturing his lips within her own.
Castor winced, his body in pain as she touched him. He hurt everywhere, most especially on his face and torso. He barely heard what she said when her mouth came smashing onto his again. He felt and looked like a sack of demolished bricks and all she could think about was kissing him? Castor pulled his face away, whimping from the agony but biting his lip hard.
"We need to keep moving," Castor said, feeling distant but he couldn't move a muscle. "We're still in danger."
"What we need to do is rest. The mule needs to rest and we're nearly out of water."S he peered outside the cart, studying the land around them, though the heat still seeped through the cart's weak clothe protection that hooded over them. "It will do us little good to die by dehydration when we've already come so far." She frowned, studying Castor's restless form for a moment before sighing and moving away. "We'll start moving again once the sun begins to wane. Maybe as soon as the next hour. Just rest, Castor. Regain your strength. We've had a long day."
"don't you think I've rested enough?" he bellowed, slumping his head back against a rice sack that had served as a pillow. He struggled to sit up, but he did so through sheer stubbornness. "What's wrong with you?" he asked with venom. "You're going to die if we don't get going as soon as possible." He slumped over holding his side. "Gods..."
His body protested and the lashed scars throbbed as if touched by hot water. "Give me water," he said. "Please."
Zarrah sighed and hesitated before handing him the last skin of water.
"Drink it slowly, carefully,"s he warned. "That's all we have." Turning her face away, she stared back at the open road.
"We have a few hours travel. We should come across the foothills soon after, then after that... well, we'll be much closer towards the villa where Carnavus is hiding. There's a well in the town before it, we can supply there quickly, perhaps steal a horse or camel or two, then press on ward. Without delay," she added turning back to him and sighing again.
"Don't think I'll die so easily, Castor. We've come this far. Waiting to regain our needed strength will have us survive in the end. Do you really want us to die out here because we've allowed the sun to sap our strength?"
He tried to drink slowly, but thirst got the better of him. He gulped down until the skin was two-thirds full and offered it back to her. He wasn't really listening to her plan, feeling himself burn with the shame of uselessness. Here he could barely move, and the mule was a useless heap. They were in sand worm country and she had a tattoo on her body that was slowly killing her.
He shook his head. "Zarrah...I'm just so goddamned tired of this. I want this to be over, now. Why three days? These are the longest goddamned three days of my life. I would rather be in the temple again over this. How can you keep so calm? I bet by the time you reach Carnavus your time will be up."
Zarrah drew in a careful breath.
"I am calm because I know Carnavus can not win in the end," she assured him. "He made sure to give me enough time to reach him to watch me suffer, but if we do it all and get the upper hand, then all of this will be worth it. I know it seems trying, I know it seems impossible but I..."s he wavered, uncertain of herself before looking back towards the road with a sigh.
"If you don't want to tag along with me when we arrive. I'll understand. You could wait at the outpost while I move ahead to Carnavus. That way... in case I don't make it.."s he felt herself grow hoarse over that detail,t hen shook her head. "Well, what i mean to say is, when I make it, you can be spared to watch me tear Carnavus apart." She tried to smile, but even she knew it felt fake.
Castor was silent for a while, feeling the sun's heat even through the soft canvas of the cart. The supplies had made sitting rather uncomfortable and in his state, he could barely reach for an apple that lay in a small bucket beside him. He made a pained face, bringing the fruit to his mouth and chewing like a child would chew solid food for the first time.
"I'm not waiting anywhere," he managed to say, staring at the half-eaten apple. "I...I made you a promise. I don't know why I made it but I don't just quit in the middle of something. I promised to help you see Carnavus through to the end. I'm just tired...I've never been beaten so badly...by a worm."
Zarrah smiled towards him, taking an apple for herself, but finding she wasn't hungry. Instead, she leaned over the side of the cart and fed it to the whimpering mule. The poor thing...
The animal might not make it through this journey.
Turning her attentions back to Castor, she couldn't help but afford him a soft grin at his last comment.
"I don't know why you did, either. I did try to kill you," she pointed out. "And those worms.." her smile broadened a little. "Let us hope that's our last time facing those beasts."s he drew nearer to him, touching his arm lightly. "You know I'd be dead without you,"s he reminded, warmly.. sincerely.
Castor chuckled a little, but it was a pained expression and he went on to eat the rest of his apple and threw the browning core to the winds. Though vaguely he could hear crunching outside of a hungry mule munching away. He'd forgotten about the animal, in fact he was sure they were both starting to smell just like it.
Castor only glanced at Zarrah. "I don't even want to think about them anymore," he muttered, shaking his head. "It seems I'm always saving your life but mine is always hanging by a thread. I guess I should have expected that the moment I stepped into that temple... The moment I put these damned gauntlets on."
Zarrah frowned as she studied his face. Gently, she placed a hand upon his cheek and looked into his eyes.
"Fate has a peculiar way of dealing it's cards. On one hand, we could have died from much simpler things, but here, we find ourselves at odds not only with the desert, but with monsters and men."
Her violet eyes moved down towards his hands, now covered in metal,a nd for all they knew, it would be that way for the rest of his life. SHe gently traced her fingers along his, then across the palm before returning her eyes to his face.
"I don't know how I'll ever owe you for all you've done for me, Castor," she afforded him a soft grin, fingers moving to gently run through his hair. "But I do know I owe you my life. And if I can afford to do so, I want to help you remove these from your hands- to free you from whatever it is that chains you to them and let you walk with me as a free man within this world."
She shook her head.
"Call me a fool, but if we survive this,"s he said, raising his metal hand and resting it over her heart. "It'st he least I could owe you. It's the least I could do with my life."
Castor couldn't meet her eyes. He kept his gaze low, staring a sacks of useless supplies stacked in the corner as she spoke to him. He looked at his hand, raised to her heart. He could feel nothing there, not even her flesh, not the beating underneath it. She loved him, he knew, but he couldn't fully understand what that entailed. She wanted to stay...he wasn't sure if this wouldn't kill him in the end.
"A life is not something you should owe another person," he said thoughtfully, staring at the corner like it was her. "I saved it but that doesn't make you in my debt. I've been burdensome enough. I'm sick of this desert. This endless expanse. And I'm still pissed at you for picking up that stranger! I don't care about how difficult life is in the desert. He could have slit your throat while you were making petty conversation. That was the truly foolish thing."
Zarrah frowned at him, especially in the way he was avoiding her eyes.
"Foolish, but I won' go to my grave with regrets,"s he said shortly, then turned away, sighing as she looked out towards the blistering sun. "Life is too short, Castor. We all want to survive, but the end result is the... " she found herself only realizing something the more she spoke, and was barely able to finish her sentence because of it. After all was said and done...
She would only die.... becoming nothing..
Her soul would belong to the devil int he desert.
"..er.. same.." she said, finally finishing her sentence as she moved away from Castor to give them both some space and sighed.
"We can not undo the foolish things we've already done," she murmured, keeping her eyes distant and angry towards a wall. This place was confining, and she couldn't even run away from him if hse tried-
but did she want to?
It seemed he'd always find an excuse to leave her behind..
she looked sourly towards him at the thought.
"After this is done, if you want to part ways, I can take you back, all the way to the city of Essyrn if you wish."
After all, she wasn't going to keep fighting him if he continually wanted to push her away. SHe didn't need more drama added to her curse, and she supposed, he felt the same way. Though despite herself, she was lonely.. and she loved him. The idea of never seeing him again pained her but...
If he didn't care for her-w hy go through all of this trouble?
A silly verbal vow was nothing really.. but perhaps, in the end, that's all she was to him?
Thinking about it made her ill, and idly hse touched at the black snake branded across her skin.
She grimaced and moved away, slipping outside the confines of the cart nd into the sweltering heat of the day.
The heat was intense, hitting her like a ton of bricks, but she moved swiftly, dragging the mule out from beneath the shade. It protested, but was soon tied back into it's spot.
They had waited long enough.
She slipped back up towards the front of the buckboard, took the reigns, and gave them a quick snap. The mule made a noise, not wanting to start at first, but the second snap got his attention and the animal pressed onward through the rocky sands.
Castor thought nothing more on the subject. There was a time and a place for the musings of the future and the heat was getting unbearable even beneath the canvas. It was piss poor protection against the merciless rays. He was silent as the cart began to move again, the mule braying in a terribly uncooperative mood. He couldn't blame the creature. But it could have been worse. It could be ground to bits by the sand worms.
He looked to the rear of the cart, watching the road grow smaller in the gradual distance. As they pressed toward the foothills, he could find no strength to keep upright and fell asleep in the back, keeping silent the entire time. Hours passed, the cart lurching and the mule tiring, heaving in breath and from thirst until it could pull no longer. Night was falling, the sun pulling down over the horizon, melting below the hills.
A small town could be made out in the distance.
They had made it. They were out the outpost- but at what costs? The mule, it was obvious, would not be able to go on much longer, so she parked the cart outside of the area by the wella nd silently filled a bucket for the suffering animal. It tried to drink, but it's innards seemed too parch, and when it drank, it burned on the way down.
Zarrah gently patted the creatures head before filling their water supply and returning to the cart. She noticed Castor was still sleeping.
That was good. He needed it after a day like that.
She moved forward and gently touched his arm.
"Castor.."s he said gently. "Castor, we've made it to the outpost." She paused, then added, "We're almost to the Villa."
And they were already on the night prior to their last day....
He awoke with a start, his back hurting as he sat up. Evening's cold touch had found its way into the cart, making him shiver. Castor slowly crawled out, the welts on his skin having slowly healed over and disappearing. He landed with a tired thud, holding onto the cart for support. The town was quiet, the outpost almost empty safe for a few torches that burned high upon the turrets. People were most likely asleep by now, but he had plenty of that and with his stomach and thirst now refreshed, he looked off to the distance.
An outline of a building could be made out in the fading sunlight. "We walk from here?" he asked.
"We could walk or steal horses," Zarrah informed, staring off at a pair that were tethered off to a building in the distance. "Though it could bring up problems if the owners sought to make chase." She offered him a small smile, then turned her face back towards the well where the mule was on it's belly, still whimpering, whining as it's insides burned. She knelt down beside it, stroking it's nose.
"You have done well," she told the beast quietly, then slowly raised herself off of the ground.
"The mule is useless to us now. In order to press on it might be best if we were to steal a horse, but if we want a more stealthy approach, we could move across the valleys on foot." It really just depends on our end goal- do we wake up this entire city to make off with those few horses or..."s he smirked, staring over at Castor. "Or do we take our chances to make it there on foot? I think we might make it there by morning, even on foot, however.."S he hesitated, touching her shoulder.
"The mark has yet to move again.. and it's due to soon."S he stared down at the ground, knowing, that once it moved, then.. they were one mark closer to the last.
Sighing, she moved away from him.
"Perhaps we should just get those horses.." Naturally, did they really have time to debate?
"We don't need anymore trouble than we already have. I think that answers any questions about the horses. And frankly I don't much care for them. I think on foot is the best mode of travel," he said, though he could barely walk at that. He forced himself to stand and quivered as he did so. He was getting too old for this he wagered. But no matter, better to get it over with.
Castor grabbed any remaining supplies from the cart that might be needed, the remained water skins, slinging them over his shoulder and looking to the villa again. Darkness would give them much needed cover and without another word began to walk toward the hills.
Zarrah abandoned the idea of horses-
so he would rather travel on foot. The poor soul, he looked so defeated. She moved towards his side, grabbing a few of the supplies from him and throwing them over her shoulder.
"Then let's walk."
The villa was about as far as Zarrah expected, and as the night crept onward, the town came into view and from a distance, she could see the warm glow of candles in the windows still burning. The sun was only beginning to rise, but the stars still dominated the skies, twinkling over head in their timeless wonder.
It was here she knew Carnavus would be- or..
so she hoped, and they had only just crested a hill towards the city when she felt the familiar pang strike through her body.
As usual, the pain came most unexpected, and at the most inopportune time, for as Zarrah suddenly let out a cry of pain, dropping to her knees and spilling half of her supplies onto the ground-
The man swathed in tan clothe appeared on the horizon, serpentile eyes glaring their way while winds carried the scarf aloft about his neck. His brows, though as pale in color as the sun, hung sharply over his eyes as he looked at the two, then moved a hand towards his sides, fingers itching over the leather whip that hung at his side.
"So you have finally come.." his voice spoke, but came from no where, but everywhere all at once. "You survived long enough to reach your death." He slid out the whip slowly from his side, the leather glistening against the bloody color of the rising sun. "So now it's time to see if you will die by my hands.. or the poisons." His eyes glittered with malice as he snapped the whip into the air.
"How long do you think we can dance around your death, Lady of the Desert?" He snapped the whip again, towards her. "And everytime you suffer, I relish in the fact, watching you drop to your knees back there was my pleasure.." the man hissed, almost purred his response before drawing back his whip, then snapping it viciously towards her, the end of it sniping through the air and .. as if by magic, the very tip transformed into a snake- of which bit into the air, mere inches before Zarrah's face as she barely threw herself out of harms way, landing on her ass.
Every bit of her body was in pain, but somehow she managed to dodge the first blow, but it would surely not be his first, as he drew the weapon back again, then forward again with another thrust- and this time the whip snapped against the air before them- and three venomous snakes sprung out- fangs ready to bite the weak flesh of the pair.
Gasping, Zarrah shot to her feet, but quickly fell over, barely able to skirt herself away from the approaching pair of black snakes heading her way..
while the other danced before Castor, venom dripping from it's fangs as it raised it's head and danced to the side, snapping towards his feet and not letting him get anywhere near his lady friend...
Castor watched as the villa came evermore into view. it was a massive building, constructed from only the sturiest of stone and mortar, and much more elaborate than the manor Carnavus had left in the city. And it seemed he spared no expense for comfort and protection, despite what seemed to make this his hideaway. Castor only seethed at the decadence with which the potbellied man seemed to swath himself in, as if he couldn't live any other way. He supposed it made sense - why not live in luxury if you could afford it even if you were the scum of the earth? In a way the house reminded him of Stravan's townhouse on his estate on the otherside of the mines...
But here in the desert, there seemed to be no boundary on what Carnavus didn't own. For all he knew, the town was most likely his too. All was too quiet, moreso than he would have liked and the only thing that shook him out of that meditative silence was Zarrah's sudden yelp in pain as the curse struck again. It seemed the elixer's twelve hour protection had finally wore off. He crouched to her side but he didn't know how to react, there was nothing he could do to help her as she suffered.
He closed his eyes, refusing to watch. He didn't believe her when she said she would make it. She overestimated herself and now she would die right before him. A tear escaped him, silently drifting down his cheek. But something else caught his attention. A shadow that appeared on the horizon. But it was the crack of the whip that truly shook him out of his sorrow. The one that poisoned her.
Castor immediately stood up and took a step back, expression scowling and grimacing with frustration and rage as the man taunted and launched his magic forth. Castor feared no serpent, for most men died from bites to their hands as they tried to reach forth. But their poison would neither seep nor penetrate the demon steel that encased his hands. And when the snake slithered its way forth toward him when the mage cracked his whip for the final time, Castor lunged forth and gripped the creature's head, ripping it in half like it was a piece of thread.
The mage's eyes suddenly widened in shock as Castor braved the serpents with reckless motion. He snatched the snakes their tails as they slithered toward Zarrah and slammed their heads hard on the ground as if they were whips themselves, smashing their hands on the sand and rocks. He was tired of these games. "I'll have your head!" he cried out. "You poisoned her. A coward, striking from the shadows because you have no strength to stand your ground."
"You should keep your distance, beast." The mage's voice was calm as he lashed the whip out toward Castor, whipping him across the face.
But he got up again, only to be tripped up by his feet, the whip yanking him time and again. Castor eventually rolled out of the way in time for another lash and climbed up, tackling the mage to the ground. But all he captured was air as the man appeared farther away, higher on the hill.
"Who sent you!?" he cried out.
"No one sends me! I am Adurim. Lord Viper. Your friend will die before you can kill me. Before you can save her."
"She may very well die... but I'll have your head before the night is over!"
Adurim was growing angry with Castor's persistence and used the whip to stave off his advances. Castor's flesh was cut open and bleeding where the whip lashed against him. He tried to strike him when he was near but he was too nimble for the brute. He laughed, goading him, and put him to the ground in a back kick and lashed the whip around his neck.
"You'll die here too."
When the snakes were gone, Zarrah allowed herself to gasp and cringed and seethe with pain, clutching onto her stomach as the robe rolled off her shoulder-
the black serpent was now positioned dangerously close to her heart, it's eyes bleeding and hungry.
It was only after a time that she was able to force herself to her feet, pushing up from the sands as she glanced over at Castor and the fight was brought to him.
Gritting her teeth, she drew out a blade loosely from her robes and moved forward, stealthily, slowly as she walked forward with determination- took aim, and the blade graced across the air-
like silver spit and sunk into it's mark-
though Adurim managed to dodge only with enough time to have the blade sink into his shoulder as he gave a start...
but Zarrah was ready with another blade..
Fuming, the man disappeared through Castor- and appeared a step later, form slicking back into solidity in the lapping form of a ghosted snake. He snatched onto her clothing, then to her wrist, applying pressure as she cried out, dropping the blade into the dry dirt.
"Lady of the desert.. " he purred, admiring her form as he drank her in with his snake-like eyes. A forked tongue seemed to even sprout from his lips, but it might have been an illusion.
"It's a pity you will die before the day his done." he affectionately stroked her face, her eyes, now falling prey to the seductive enchanting hypnosis of the snake. She couldn't move, and soon he was leaning forward, crashing his lips onto hers as he drew out a blade and aimed to cut across her throat..
Castor gagged when Zarrah drew Adurim's attention away from him. He fell to his knees, and sunk into the sand on his side, hands prying at the whip that had been wrapped tightly around his neck. He unraveled it, slowly and delicately, feeling the air being brought back to his face very slowly. And he watched with blurry eyes as Adurim toyed with Zarrah in return. He was a powerful enemy, full of too many tricks to be taken head on.
Castor slowly climbed to his feet, unsteady as he was, as the mage transformed into a ghostly serpent, his eyes casting itself into double vision. There was a flash of the blade. He rushed forward. It all happened so fast. The steel fell dully into the sands, only dampened with sweat. Blood drizzled onto the sands. One moment Adurim was grinning, but slowly the cloth fell from his face and he blinked, unsure what had just happened. He took a step back, wavering, looking down at the whole in his chest, and seeing a bloodied fist through it.
He wasn't sure what had happened. He saw his heart in the fist's grip and his entire body grew limp. Castor pulled his arm back. Adurim stumbled backwards, mortal hands gripping the hole in his chest and fell backwards into the sand.
Castor held the heart in his grip, shaking from what he'd done, but letting his anger make him numb to the act. He crushed the organ in his grip and dropped it to the ground beside its owner.
At first she was stunned, her eyes widening as largely as Adurim's had when he realized his death-
with a fist plowed throw him,t he heart beat a few more times until the man crumpled away.
As did she, nearly fainting from shock as a wisp of black washed across her body- and the image of the snake burned away, turning into nothing more than a faint white scar across her skin. And she shivered, feeling so cold, and then the blackness was gone, burying itself back into the man who would certainly rot away within the dirt and sands where his blood now spilled, staining the ground red. And Zarrah lay there upon the ground, dark hair splayed around her brown, gold body....
unmoving, eyes barely open..
as if dead...
...or asleep.
When it was all done, Castor became alive again. He found himself back to where they had left off and he rushed to Zarrah's side, the dawn beginning to bleed through the sky. Was the sand finally all gone from the hourglass? Were they too late!? Castor knelt beside her, unsure of what to do. Too afraid to even touch her. His hands were soaked in the man's blood and he didn't botherd to clean them as he hovered a hand over her face.
"Zarrah?" he said quietly. He looked at her shoulder, the serpent had vanished leaving only the whiteness of a scar as a memory. Not knowing what else to do, his hand smacked her hard enough across the face. "ZARRAH!"
Zarrah gave a start, her body arching suddenly at the impact from his hand and she found herself, gasping and wide eyed for breath.
Then she began to shake, her entire body wracked with shock as she began to rock and curl up against herself in the hard sands....
It all happened to fast...
the poison sucked from her body..
the scar nearly erased from her flesh...
and slowly, ever so slowly she stared up at the bleeding sky, then to the bleeding hands as her violet eyes fixated upon Castor- but her face could not register any emotion as she was still in alarm, still filling her lungs with desperate breaths before finally she sat up, coughing and dry heaving off to the side, then settling to a shiver again, dark hair draping off of her face and curtaining her grimaced expression from view as arms hugged around her own shoulders, and she swallowed hard and stilled.
It was only after a moment, her eyes slowly looked up, peering through cracks in her black hair towards the man before her.
"C-castor?" her voice cracked, but her body was too weak to act upon a thought, or even a clue as to what just happened. All she knew was that the world was finally beginning to settle, but her mind was still dizzy and reeling from the effects.
"I'm here," he said. That was all he said. Words could not come to him, certainly not in a moment like this and he just watched her, unsure what had happened inside of her and too afraid to ask her, fearing what the answer might be. From without, she appeared quite fine, as if there had been no poison in her blood at all. But he knew inside there could still be something wrong. What more could he do?
"Are..." he said tentatively, "you all right?" He sat back, pressed his hands into the sands, letting the sand collect where the blood hand been and dusted them together. "How do you feel?"
Zarrah continued to stare at him with tired eyes through a mess of dark hair. Slowly, a smile reached across her lips.
"A little dizzy," she informed him in earnest, a short laugh escaping her lips as she closed her eyes and lowered her head. "Gods... I feel so... so strange."s he admitted. "As if the moment you killed that man, the poison too, was ripped from my body." She still felt shaky, a hand remained to her stomach as she calmed herself before slowly opening her eyes again and glancing back up at him.
She looked haggard, but also beautiful- and only if so, it was because she was alive.
And again, she afforded him a rare but tired smile.
"Thank you," she whispered. But did not dare to rise.
"I didn't know killing him would cure you... But I'm glad i did it anyway," he muttered. His face was still quite in shock however and he couldn't bring himself to smile. His eyes seemed almost innocent in their lack of regret and before he could even think of going against it, as if on instinct, his arms swept around her, holding her tightly too him and kissing her hair. And then his mind returned and he sobbed but did not cry, only happy that she was alive and not turned into a rotting corpse on these worthless sands.
If only things could be as simple as that-
and then they were, at least, for a time as she remained, held desperately within his arms. She shivered, realizing the blood must be staining her, but not caring for it as she felt tears swell from her eyes.
"S-see?" she began weakly, nestling against him with a contented sigh. "I told you I couldn't die so easily." she paused, enjoying the simple moment, the simple pleasure of just being close. "Not with you around. I just... can't let myself die." She looked up at him through her hair. "I remember a certain man asking me not to." She smiled for him, a smile as warm as the sun.
But it was only after a moment she began to realize...
"But we should not dawdle here.."s he said, chancing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Carnavus's men are ever watching. We need to be cautious." Even if he was not near...
Who knew what other sort of tricks he could pull! But for now.. she stared over at the bloodied and lifeless body.
The Viper King was dead.
Castor wanted to hold her there, and pulled away when it was time to rise yet again. His body trembled with adrenaline and he looked up to the massive structure that served as Carnavus' last line of defense. She was right. The bastard had eyes everywhere...and if he could afford to send men such as this serpent-type mage after them, who knew what else he had up his sleeve.
Castor shook himself off and stood over the body of the mage, tearing off a part of his clothes to clean off his bloodied gauntlets. He turned back to the manor and motioned for them to get a move on. The path was made clear and sentries patrolled along the outskirts, looking drunk and lazy.
Castor motioned for them to go around. "Up there on the balcony," he whispered to her, pointing up to a small torchlit railing. "Can you vault up there?"
Zarrah found her strength slowly returning as they approached the make shift home Carnavus was taking hold within. At least, she hoped, the man better god damn well be in there. She felt her blood boil, but steeled her rage as she turned towards Castor her motioned up to the balcony as they crept along. Craning her neck, she nodded.
"I can get up there easy." her violet eyes returned to his. "What about you? Are you to climb up after or do you have another plan?" Yes, climbing was a breeze, but she had to know where her back up was, after all. He was, in short, the main hero here- the man with the strength to push through almost anything, or so it seemed..
"I'm not sure yet. We can stick together or split up. But perhaps it would be better to split up," Castor suggested. He motioned for her to go ahead and climbe the balcony. Though he could easily follow along behind her, he knew it would better to go in the back. The building was large and was guarded on every side available. They would have better chances of finding Carnavus separate than together.
"I'll be fine," he whispered and disappeared on the cliffs behind the villa. As he suspected the courtyard was large and wide, filled with large pits and planks that crossed them, leading to what he figured was a basement level. Animals perhaps? A fighting pit of sorts? What other sick pleasures did this bastard partake in.
A sentry walked passed him and he ducked low just in time before leaping up to the yard. He crept across toward one of the pits and saw nothing but darkness below. Before the sentry returned he lowered himself down into one of them and felt the ground just beneath him, more dry sand. They were tunnels it seemed, and indeed led to the basement level.
Zarrah scaled the walls to the balcony. Using stealth to her advantage, she snuck up on one of the guards and slit his throat, hot blood spilling to the floor. The next, sadly, was a trifle easier, he was sleeping- It didn't take much to break his neck as he remained a crumple heap upon the floor.
Moving along, the rest of the balcony was now left open, nd a window, now becoming far too easy for her to access...
and that's just what it was.
Far too easy, for inside there was a great number of men, all ugly, all wielding swords.
She remained crouched low and listened quietly to their conversations.
"So when is this woman comin', huh?" she heard one raspy man say.
"Is she really the ghost they all talk about?"
"Yeah, as far as I heard, she's that adulterous wife you sent to the slaughter! Should have died with the other slaves!"
"I hear she serenades entire caravans of men- sleeps with them all, even fucks the dogs and mules, then slits their throats after she'd had their way!" another informed, using his hand into an action across his throat, indicating the most certain and cruel death as he gave a gnarled laugh.
"She can fuck me all she wants!" another man bellowed, laughing through his belly. "Why, I'll fuck that woman so hard she'll have my cum shooting out of her ears!"
and the men all laughed about it.
Zarrah's blood only broiled. These men were foul. Slipping up towards the roof, she made quick work and hid herself, crawling to the other side and the open window. SHe took careful study of the room- and once noticing the heavy curtains went up, reaching tall towards the ceiling, she figured on climbin git.
What a better way to have a more grand entrance than up above?
Using her blades, she scaled the clothe, one dagger digging into it at a time. When she was at the top, she moved around, studying all of the men below...
She counted nearly twenty..
She didn't have that many blades, but she picked out a few favorites she could pick off first.
Really, only twenty men, Carnavus? Surely, he would have more than that.
Smiling darkly, she reached down beneath her robes and slipped out a knife, taking careful aim, right at the eye of the ugly one who so lovingly professed his unique ways he'd fuck her brains out-
Yes, she'd kill that one first.
WIth a quick flick of her wrist, the dagger met it's mark, blood spewing from the man's eye as he began to pinwheel his arms about in a panic-
Then two more knives were thrown, and the men who were going ot check on him- a balding, sinister looking, pig faced fellow- and another man- who looked like a rat, all went down by the glittering swiftness of her blades.
Chaos ensued, and byt he time the fourth blade was thrown, sinking into another mans' throat- they finally were made aware...
"Up-up there!" a man pointed, finger shaking in ragea nd fear. "She's in the drapes!"
Swords were drawn and in one swift motion, Zarrah kicked off from her perch, spiraling in a twist about int he air before sinking down into a heavy crouch as she landed, staring off at the men as dangerous as a lion.
"KILL HER!"
And soon the men broke out into a fight. Her arms moved swiftly, deftly about- knife to blade, and blade to knife, swords clunked and pushed her away, but her dark hair was moving fast, legs moving long, legs kicking, hitting, punching, cutting, slicing across one throat, then tearing apart another-
then she kicked off another man's chest, which made her run up and over, spiraling now into the air as her hands snapped out- fan blades extended as she slit them across the approaching throats of two men at her sides and landed, with a crouch, black hair crashing around her form as blood came down in soft, splattering rain.
The fight was on.
While Zarrah was preoccupied upstairs, Castor was having problems of his own. The pits he fell into were labrynthian and all connected to some dark, dank area underneath the massive villa. They smelled strongly of urine and...perhaps animals but Castor couldn't pinpoint exactly what kind. He found his way carefully through the darkness, until complete blackness ensconced him, and he knew then he was underneath the house.
He felt alongside the walls, feeling something protrude outward from it. A torch. He reached for it, but knew it wouldn't do him any good unless he could light it. He struck his gauntlets together after feeling the top of it, sparking them to light the fuse. A few more times and he was successful, giving way to burning torch that was strong enough to light the way. But as he did so, he heard a sudden low growl and he stopped in his tracks. Castor paused turning around slowly as he saw the eyes of a dusk tiger glowing in the torchlight.
It was slowly crawling toward him, seeming to have been following him since he enterered into the pits. And without another moment's notice it lunged for him. But Castor's legs had been at the ready and he ran from the beast down the tunnel he'd been headed. The tunnels were inter connected at cross sections and he weaved his way in between them, running from the tiger as it bounded after him, ready to sink its claws into his exposed flesh. No matter how far he got, the beast was right on his heels.
A quick left, then a right, another right! He was going in circles and he knew the beast knew it too! Castor's heart pounded in frustration, feeling trapped, dogged, as he reached a dead end, slamming headlong into the tunnel wall. The tiger was not far behind him and lunged for him yet again. Castor dodged just in time and bounded around the animal, running back where he came from and making a final right, determined to go straight through anything that would impede his path.
Castor kept running in the dimness of his torchlight, which wavered and burned feebly, catching the wind of his running speed. But he managed to hold onto it. There was a gate ahead of him! A way out. Without even slowing down, Castor rammed his way through it, the metal resisting little, though the tiger too followed him. Around him were a series of cages, a prison hold or so it seemed as he turned to face the beast head on.
The tiger stalked around him before lunging a final time. Castor had dropped the torch and wrapped his arms around the animal, lunge for lunge. They fell to the ground at the same time, the animal ripping into the leather of his shirt and trying to snap his jaws around his neck, which was dangerously close. The beast was stronger than he expected and slashed at him again. Castor rolled back and charged a final time. With a pivot of his hips, he twisted around the tiger and wrapped his arms around its middle and used all his strength to crush it to death. He was bleeding, the claws having ripped open his back. Soon the beast fell limp against him, too much to simply slid off, but he managed to so do.
Castor took a moment to regain his breath before limping to the torch on the ground and picking it up. there was a stairwell going up to the next level. He turned to look behind him once more, and didn't want to wait to see what other animals were lurking in the underground. As he rose to the stairwell, he realized he must have hit a aqueduct of some kind. The stairwell opened up to an empty ledge and there was a trench of water below. There was no way across but to swim.
Without so much as second thought, he left his torch behind and jumped feet first into the coldness of the waters below, attempting to swim across the streaming current. He'd made it far enough to the otherside to latch onto the ledge...when he felt something snag onto his foot.
OOC: 29 pages! Almost 30!
IC:
In a fury of movements and in a rain of blood, the twenty men easily fell to the power of her blades. Raising her fan blade from her side, she rose from a crouch as dark eyes peered over the metal tips and across the blood splattered floor. Corpses littered her path, and she folded the fan blade together at her side, blood dripping off hotly from the tip, adding a small trail of blood droplets to the massive chaos she had left behind.
Unfortunately for Caravnus, if this was the sort of men he'd hire to kill her, killing him in return would be a joke. After examining the room, she noted a doorway nearly buried in the room on the far side.
Well, that looked rather interesting. Stalking her way towards it, she pulled the door open, staring into the gaping darkness before her with cringed hesitation.
Did she dare go down the rabbit's hole? Or try to find Sanctuary in the more wider girth door on the other side of the room?
Always finding the rabbit more clever, Zarrah slipped into the darkness before her, bloodied blades ready at her sides.
Into the darkness, Zarrah went. And out from the darkness, Castor climbed, yanking his leg from that which bound him and he hauled himself up and out of the aqueduct, which threathened to sweep him away in its current. He was soaking wet and shivering. These halls were drafty, the cold grasp of wind doing much to make him shake at its touch. Castor peered over the ledge and could have sworn he saw something with several eyes staring back at him, but he didn't linger long before rolling over to the side and climbing the steps that led up to the upper basement level.
He pulled another torch from the rack, following the stairs as they led ever upward through the dark corridor. His heart was beating in his throat and he only hoped it couldn't echo down the halls. He heard footsteps approaching and paused, waiting. As a shadow rounded the corner, he struck first, capturing the figure around the middle and tackling them to the floor. He saw in the torchlight the face of a guard and quickly smashed his fist into the man's face with little resistance.
He pressed up the stairs further.
-
Radimir was breathing hard, the vision still flashing in his mind. His father half buried and windblown in sand. He did not shed a tear but could feel the rage slowly building in his body. There was nothing more he could do but wrap the body in his cloak and drag him on the back of his horse and ride away to a hidden cave far off to the east.
He returned to this fortress, knowing his murderers wouldn't be too far off. They were headed here after all...but he'd never expected them to make it. He'd underestimated them, no doubt, but that was a mistake he wouldn't make twice. He found his way through an open window, a balcony that opened up to a scene of slaughter. He knew he was getting close.
And when he turned around, he found an opened passage...it would be only fit to assume the murderers...or one of them at least went down that way. Radimir plucked a knife from his belt and followed down that way, slowly carefully into the darkness. His eyes flashed with magic, the darkness parting in the center making it easier to see. He saw a woman's shape coming down the stairs and he was nothing more than a silent serpent behind her, stepping where she stepped and when she was close, he raised the dagger high above his head and lunged for her.
The passage way was dark and narrow. She presumed it lead into the inner 'gut works' of this stronghold. She hoped she was right, for it took several steps in to gather her senses, to calm her breathing and to notice, almost all too late when the blade came down for her head. Whirling around in a flash, her blade kissed across the darkness, and sparks snapped between them in a quick bite of silver light as blade met to blade. She forced it aside with a growl, a boot meeting to his gut as she pushed away, then lunged towards his shadowy face with anger and precision, using the beautiful and deadly fan blade before following up with another fast kick then upward slice of her blade.
The spark flashed before his eyes, which were narrow and focused on their target. Her kick sent him back but she fought with less calculation and more fury as she pressed her assault. He took several steps back on the stairs, keeping his feet underneath him and throwing the knife at her. Though he passage was narrow, Radimir leapt up to the walls, using his feet to bounce from one end to the other and somersault over her head.
As he did so, he unleashed the whip from his belt and snapped it just as it would wrap around her body, catching her around the waist, and landed softly on the steps behind her. He yanked the whip back toward him, taking her with it, dragging her down the steps until they reached the final landing, finally alit by torches.
Zarrah felt the knife graze her shoulder, blood stinging from the wound, yet as the chaos continued, she heard the strike and let out a gasp, finding the whip secure to her waste as she was pulled about, losing her footing and breath. Then her body collided, each step banging against her body until she rolled into a crumpled pile at the base of the steps, her mind whirling- world still appearing bleary and dark.
It was only then she caught sight of the form above her and moved suddenly, quick and agile, knife snapping forward, ready to bite...
Radimir snapped the whip away from her and brought the biting tip to wrap around his shoulders, holding it there as he pulled out a pair of knives of his own. He kept his distance from her, face masked from distinction, only his eyes showing like two ruddy slits as he lunged for her gut with his right, twisting round her and trying to stab her back with his left. He dropped a leg underneath hers and swept it backwards, intent on dropping her to the ground.
Zarrah was at a disadvantage, her body sore and bruised, head throbbing and eyes barely adjusting to the wild glow of the orange torches that lit their path.
But one thing was clear, she could hear the metal hiss of a knife, and twisted, barely out of the way as the blade missed her front, but the other sunk into her back as she made a noise- only to find a reprieve when her legs were kicked out beneath her, spilling her onto her back to lay in the stinging wetness of her own blood.
It a took a second for the shock to wear off, and another for her leg to kick out sharply, though blindly towards her mark before she slipped out a second blade and threw it towards his face.
Radimir was nearly upon her when his own legs were lost beneat him and he landed hard on his back, dropping him just barely missing her knife. He tried to regain the air back into his lungs, rolling away from her to gain some distance. "I'll bleed you like a stuck pig," he said lowly, pulling the whip off his shoulder and snapping it hard in the air. He swung it at her, barb ready to slash into her vulnerable flesh.
Zarrah bared her teeth, moving silent, rolling in the dark, barely making it to her feet again before the whip cut through the air, slicing into her left arm as she gave out a cry and dropped her knife- the blade clanking loudly to the stone floor. But with renewed venom, she cut her other hand forward, fan blade in tow as the piece slipped open and wide and she cut it towards the eyes she saw burning angrily towards her not once, but twice, then hefted it upwards towards the hand that held the whip, closing the distance between them quickly as her hands latched onto the vile weapon and she yanked it, jerking him forward and hoping to smash his face in with her fist.
He ducked, only a moment in time as the fanblade cut at his face, the second strike tearing the cloth that hid his face, ripping it away. But his evasion had only bought her time to close in on him and before he knew it, his back was flat on the ground once more, as she pulled the whip, him along with it.
Blood seeped from his nose when her fist collided with his face and he grit his teeth, spitting out blood and stared her squarely in the eye, a blade hidden in his sleeve shooting out and pressed hard against her neck.
It was a chaotic time-
of blood, darkness, blades and blood.
But in a flash, she saw his eyes-appearing almost too familiar and then- in a second blur, a blade was drawn to her throat.
She felt her grip loosen on her fanblade as it dropped to the floor.
"You.." her eyes went wide. "You were that man from the desert."
So he played them for a fool and had been hired to work for Carnavus this whole time!?
"You...you," Radimir's voice was shaking, but his hand was trembling with rage as he wanted to slash that knife right across her throat. But he couldn't complete his thought. Instead he used the opportunity to flip her off of him and he wrapped his legs around her and his other arm holding her in a sort of half-nelson, the blade still pointed to her throat.
"Yes, I was the one from the desert. I gave you the elixer that helped save your life! I helped you and this is how you repay me? I should skin you alive!" he said harshly next to her ear.
Before she knew it, she was flipped over and eating the dust from the ground. She grit her teeth.
"Nobody asked you to help,"s he spat, struggling beneath his weight, venom scorching from her eyes. "You attacked me first!"
Naturally, she had no idea he was angered about his father being killed.
"And I'd like to see you try!" with renewed strength, she smashed her head into his, tearing the bladed hand from her throat as she tumbled beneath him, moving away and hoping to plant a foot into his gut while another fist moved to smash into his face.
"I was trying to give you a fighting chance," Radimir spat back. "My father would have never let the playing field be leveled, but all he wanted me to do was to make sure you got to your destination in more than presentable condition, even as the poison rotted your veins. But I had to help you. And you kill him...in cold blood. I should rip your heart out all the same!"
Her foot smashed into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He fell to the ground from the punch and scissored his legs out, catching hers between his and flipping over, hoping to knock her down. He climbed to his feet and leapt into the air, spinning and about to land on her head with an ax kick. He landed hard however and lost his balance, reaching for the whip that had left his grasp.
"Father!?" Zarrah drew back with a start. "And what do you mean help!?" She growled, tumbling along with him as she shot out another powerful leg to kick him aside. In a quick motion, she was back on her feet, violet eyes piercing the darkness. "Nobody asked you to help bring me here to my death! I thought I was helping a poor man through the desert!"S he seethed between her teeth, drawing out another blade and quickly slicing towards the hand that went for the whip.
The dagger buried itself into his wrist, catching between the veins and bone there. A lucky shot to be sure and Radimir seethed in pain, clutching his arm to his chest as he knelt there before the whip. But he plucked the blade out and threw it to the side, grabbing the whip with his other hand. He stepped back tearing the bothersome hood from his head and slamming it to the floor.
"And it seems we've both made foolish decisions, and perhaps we'll die for them," he muttered, before lashing the whip out at her. "You should have listened to your friend with the iron hands."
Zarrah reared back as the whip struck forth, barely finding the time to block her face from the blow- receiving a nice clip across her high cheek while the rest struck at the palm of her hand as she let out a pain filled cry. She stumbled down on one knee, hand throbbing in pain, but managed to latch onto the end of his wicked whip as it struck her, pain seering her as she yanked him forward, aiming to smash her head off of his.
"I won't die so foolishly!" she promised. After all, even if he DID manage to kill her-
She'd be back for more.
He resisted the force which she used to yank him forth and twisted the whip round so that it would wrap around her arm and yanked her forth. His wrist was pained to have been stabbed with such force and he screamed even as he pulled his weight against her, leaping for her yet again, wrist blade ready to sink into her heart.
"You've already crossed that threshold the moment you decided to hold back. You should have killed me when you saw me!" Radimir cried, trying to pin her to the floor.
Zarrah let out a noise as she was jerked around, barely having time to slip her own blade out to stop his attack as the metal collided, hot and quick as she hissed the metal against it, and pushed his arm and blade away.
"I wouldn't have killed an innocent!" she seethed, flipping her blade around and tearing it at the air towards his face, holding the handle fiercely as her knuckles turned white. "But now you've proven to me you're as wicked as a snake! You will NOT stand in my way." And she thrust a foot forward, aiming to kick him back. "I will kill Carnavus!" and her eyes went wild, as did her hands as she aimed a few more skilled cuts towards his chest arm and face.
"NO ONE WILL GET IN MY WAY!"
"If only you knew how close to the truth you really were, but your own hatred blinds you!" Radimir cried to her as she shoved him back. He somersaulted in landing, using his good hand to vault him backwards, but it wasn't enough as she quickly covered any distance between him and slashed at him with absolute fury.
He parried where he could but she was quick and her blade slashed through his upper robe and sparked as it made contact with the steel buckle at the center of his chest. The blade made some contact with his skin and drew blood. "I had no quarrel with you until now..." he said, glaring at her with eyes as wild as hers.
He took a step back, his hand holding out his own knife, looking at her differently. "Why would I stop you from killing him? Did you think he hired me?"
OOC: 30 pages 8D
Zarrah only slowed in her attacks, starting at him with wild eyes, then narrowed them in fury, dark hair spinning as did she, flipping around her blade as she made another strong swipe at his chest.
"What do you mean he didn't hire you!?" she spat. "THen why do you care if I"m here?" She swung her blade again, this time retracting the fan blade, spreading it open and cutting it towards his face, then across and back again towards his waist.
"Get out of my way so I can kill him!" there was venom i her words as she rushed him suddenly, closing her fan blades and flipping out two meaner, longer knives as she went at him- aiming to dig them clean through - one to his gut, the other his shoulder as she aimed to ram them clean into him with a mighty force.
Radimir ducked and clashed his knife against her fan blade in a spark of fury at the second slash. He backed away again, still trying to make sense of it. "Because this is where I found you! This is where I knew you'd be...and when you killed my father, I had to take my revenge. But that is not the point anymore," he said, trying to dodge her blows. Her dagger found its way to his chest again and he grunted in pain as it sparked against the buckle and slashed at his pectoral.
He saw her rush to him, fresh longer blades hungry for his blood. He then pulled Vidain from its sheathe at his side and clashed it against the one coming down overhead and used the momentum of the strike to twist out of the way of the blade aimed at his gut.
"Why are you trying to kill him?" he asked, kneeing her in the ribs and shoving her aside.
Zarrah felt her breath become lost, then was seeing stars as she was kneed then knocked into the wall. Scrambling to stay upright, she pushed herself from the wall, using her entire body and force to crash into him, sending them both flying to the ground, she on top and pinning a blade to his throat.
"I aim to kill him because that man took away everything of value in my life." her eyes burned with promise, venom and hate. So much was sparkling inside the depths of her hot violet eyes as she held the blade to his throat, just enough of it's sharpness cutting at his skin to warrant the danger he would face.
"I only live for my revenge." She lowered her face down, baring her teeth, dark hair tickling off his form.
"And no one will stand in my way. Carnavus will pay."
Radimir peered back at her with no fear, more than ready to meet his fate if need be. But something else flashed, and he couldn't think. He only saw the ferocity in her eyes, therein lying the truth, all her passion, all her hate, all her rage, aimed toward one man. He felt his heart drop into his stomach as he peered into her eyes.
"Then have your revenge. I don't care what happens to that pigfucker. But let me bury my father. And I will spare you, for now. Go, get out of here." He said, eyes locking into hers.
Zarrah narrowed her gaze.
"You are in no position to make such demands,"s he reminded him, keeping the blade in place. "Do you expect me to just believe that when you hunted me this entire time and just attacked me now in the hall?"
OOC: So.. many.. short.. posts!
"You would have done the same thing in my position. If your enemy is within reach, you strike! You don't dawdle like some indecisive child." He felt the blade press closer into his throat and he swallowed, feeling blood drawn. But he kept his gaze locked to hers. "My loyalty is to my clan, to my order. My father was the one in charge of accepting contracts. I was simply ordered to keep an eye on you, protect you. That is all. And my father is dead because of his overzealousness... But it doesn't change anything. He's dead. And your enemy remains alive. If you're going to kill me, let it be swift."
Half of her wished she would, for the sake of his own humiliation, the other half knew she wouldn't for what good would it do, what more would it prove? His heart pounded in more than anticipation. "Carnavus should only be so lucky if he makes it out of here alive with someone like you after him. But let not your blade be wasted any longer. Go."
Zarrah continued to bare her teeth towards the man, anger broiling in her blood.
But he was right.
She shouldn't waste her time on a pawn like him, but she also couldn't let him go so easily.
With a swift motion, she knocked him out cold, and let him crumple to the ground, falling prey to the darkness before she slowly raised herself off the ground. Her violet eyes pierced down the hallway where torch lights flickered in a wicked dance.
She'd spilled enough blood today. The man would sleep for now and wake up with a hideous headache, but not before she bound his limps lightly with his whip. Then, proceeding onward, she kept her blades ready at her side, slowly moving down the hall, ears every listening for any on coming or any new presence of danger.
OOC: Lion, if any part of this post doesn't wokr just let me know and I can fix 8D
[It's fine!]
Castor paused, hearing footsteps coming his way. He dropped the torch that lit his way, setting it at the bottom of the steps before pressing up them, having to trust his instincts not to trip and fall. There was the smell of blood and sweat prevalent in the air and whoever was approaching was fresh with it. He kept going in the dark until he felt the air move about him, they were approaching fast.
Immediately, sensing they were in reach he threw his body at the form and tackled it to the ground. But instead of feeling the chain and leather of armor. The hair, the flesh, the scent. "Zarrah?" he said, pulling away in the dark.
Zarrah had heard a foe off int he dark, but the corridors were a poor source for sound, and her ears prickled as she tried to strain to hear it and slowly inched her way forward with her blood stained boots. It was only after her breath was taken from her, body on the floor and blade raised in the dark that hse heard Castor's voice and gave a start.
"Castor!?"S he dropped her blade, blinking wildly as she sat up on her elbows. She breathed a slight sigh of relief and got to her feet. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a quiet voice, eyes moving outward, reaching into the dark.
One could never be too careful around Carnavus. Then her violet eyes returned to his.
"Did you find anything useful?" she asked.
"I came in from the back...you have no idea how large it is. Or if you do, he's certainly done much to expand it since the last time you were here. There are beasts in the labyrinth below, crossed by an aqueduct that no doubt rushes out below," Castor explained as he crawled down from the steps and plucked up his discarded torch. He returned to he side, smiling, glad to see she had yet to be killed.
"This was the only way up I found. What about you? What's up there?... Geeze, you look like hell. What happened to you?" He noticed the lashes and the stab in the back of her shoulder where Radimir's blade had met her flesh. "Who did this?"
Zarrah nodded as she listened to his words and remained quiet, though as he lifted the light and examined her body, she shied away from the it and frowned.
"There.. were some men I had to deal with." He might have noticed the faint flicker of light, and the emotion she tried to quell in her eyes. She was withholding something from him, but she figured he didn't need to know about the man from the desert... after all, it would only prove to anger him. she looked down at the blood, then over at him and quirked a brow.
"You could say I had a run in with animals like yourself. Then I found this door and followed it through and.." she hesitated, nto about to reveal the next part before she shrugged. "And here I found you."S he easily hid her unease with a coy smile. "I'm glad to see you're alright. But we've got to find Carnavuas." her eyes looked around across the hall before returning to him.
"Which way did you say you came from? We could try moving down the other way."
If she thought she could hide something so easily from him, she was dead wrong. He knew something was amiss, but knew the also didn't really have the time to go through it. They needed to find that fat fucker and fast before he sent even more guards after them. Or worse yet, dogged them all this way only to escape from their clutches.
Castor's expressioned turned hardened and grim. "The basement level I suppose," he answered moving on. "There was a door behind a massive statue but I wanted to see where the stairs led to first...and stop any guards that were on their way down. Let's go inspect it, I'll move it with no problem."
Castor took her hand and started back down the stairs to the corridor where he'd left the dead guard.
Zarrah nodded.
"Alright, let's check it out." And she followed at his side, ever wary of their surroundings and it wasn't until she slowed in her tracks that she noticed the gash on his back.
"Castor.." her eyes went wide as she looked to him with concern. "You've been injured." The cuts looked deep, but at least most of the blood on his body had been washed away. She still had her whip lashes, cuts and scrapes,and the blood still painting her from the other men.
"Do I need to treat you with more salve?" she teased, smiling lightly, though knowing very well their situation was delicate as she moved closer to his side. "But I'm glad you're alright. For now, let's move with haste." and Soon the pair found themselves in a darker room before the statue. It was a peculiar pieces of art, a serpentile woman in bronze standing proudly and holding a spear, and a smaller version of a male serpentile creature in her left arm against her breast. She studied it, then turned to Castor. "I wonder why Carnavus placed a statue here, before the door?"
S he pressed her lips together, then narrowed her eyes. "This must be one of his vaults. There might be treasure inside,"S he reached out, touching his hand to halt him from any movements further. "Don;t.. move it just yet. Let's make sure there are no traps." She looked into his eyes. "Carnavus is a clever man. He protects his prizes well."
Then, moving away, she began to inspect the area, boots kicking pebblesto test the weight and cracks within the cobblestone around the statue's base. It seemed solid enough, then she moved to the wall,s fingers gentle pressing until she felt a hollowed area that was just out of reach of the light.
"Here, I think I found something."
But then she heard a noise and drew back, hands barely making it inches away from the snapping jaws of a snake.
The creature hissed and snapped again, dropping onto the floor as it continued it's slithery, biting attack towards Zarrah's leg.
But a quick flick of her rest had her burying a knife into it's head as Zarrah backed up against a wall and caught her breath.
"Let's be careful. I doubt that's the only trap."
"I'm sick of things that crawl on their belly, Carnavus included," Castor cursed. He didn't care much for the statue, nor its design. Perhaps a man like Carnavus would, and in fact why else would he make such a purchase if not to appreciate the design of a serpentine woman. Castor came to the base of the statue, handing the torch off to Zarrah and grabbed at the ledge underneath. He bent his legs and lifted with them as well and soon the very statue itself was lifted from the ground, cast overhead and slammed into the corner of the room. No doubt making a shit load of noise, but in the mood Castor was in, whoever they sent after them wouldn't last long.
Castor was wary at the foot of the door but after a second's worth of hesitation he slammed his foot at the center of the door, kicking it open and breaking it off the top hinge, as it hung by the bottom one. Nothing but a dim blackness on the otherside, small torches lit and hanging fifteen feet apart. The chamber was wide, but moreso it was long and it was nearly impossible to see the other side. He could not see the bottom for it was as still as glass and reflected not even the high lights of the torches.
But they couldn't afford to waste another moment as Castor jumped feet first into the blackness below.
Before Zarrah could warn him again to be careful (considering, it did not seem like stealth was Castor's expertise..) she found herself reaching out and gripping for air when he lept blindly into the darkness.
Cursing, she followed suit, boots catching her in a land, body crouching with efforts before she slowly gave rise.
The air smelled putrid here, and the sudden hissing and slithering of the darkness caught her attention most quickly as she beckoned to Castor....
"Lower your light.." and once he did, she gasped when she noticed- all around them- slippery, black snakes curled and gnarled amongst one another were in every which direction she could see. Her eyes went wide and back to his as she stilled, feeling the creeping cold chill of one beginning to slip up her bare leg....
Slapping the snake away, she drew out a dagger as it curled off of her and hiss and spat and curled back, only its eyes gleaming, to separate it from the mold of the writhing chaotic sea of serpents that littered the ground.
"We... need.. to get out of here." and she saw one snake suddenly lung for Castor's leg and lunged forward, knife cutting the snake open across it's mouth as it split into two pieces that fell aside. Her violet eyes went wide and to his.
"NOW!"
More snakes. Why didn't he see this coming? Frankly, Castor realized he wasn't nearly as surprised as he thought he was. It seemed Carnavus had more favor of phallic creatures than he suspected. Perhaps there was something more to be said about all the snakes. Panic had yet to set in, but frankly rage would do him little good here for the snakes were small, though large in number and all he could do was shake them off.
Castor didn't need to be told twice as he bolted headlong into the snakes ahead of them. One lunged for his face, clinging to a torch, seeping from holes in the wall. He managed to snatch the creature midair and crushed its skull with his bare hand. His heart now was beating fast, as it always did, as another lunged for his arm and nearly sunk its teeth into him before he ripped it off and whipped it against the black stone wall.
They seeped into the room from the walls, the floor and even holes in the ceiling and everywhere. Castor moved fast amidst the serpants, feeling two or three clinging to his pants. He saw a ledge, high above them moistened over with water to keep it too slippery for them to climb. He dashed across the long room, seeing it as the only way out even as another snake fell onto his head. He screamed in frustration tearing the animal in half and immediately lunged for the high wall, but it was at least twenty feet above them and his hands only slipped uselessly against it.
Backing away, crushing more snakes underneath his feet, he made another lunge for it, using the strength of his body to launch him higher, only barely catching the ledge with Cynwulfen. But he could feel his grip already slipping from the coldness. As he tried to hold on, he could feel a snake latching onto his exposed flesh on his back, fangs digging deep.
Zarrah's leather boots stepped more lightly, nearly dancing over the snakes as they ran, stumbling some as one snake's mouth chomped towards her leg, while another reared up it's ugly head in her path. She sliced her knife towards it, then cut one at her heel, before finding herself breathing heavily beneath Castor as the man leapt for the wall. Was he mad? But oh- it appeared as if he was making at least some head way when she saw the serpent sink it's foul teeth into his back.
Without much hesitation, and ripping off a snake curling across her own shoulder, she rushed across the seas of snakes, planted heel boots against the wall and tore up it, knife in hand as she cut the snake away from her companion than landed back onto the floor.
The snakes seemed to rear back as she crouched into a land, but soon she was surrounded by serpent's heads that all raised up at once, hissing at her and waving about, their slit eyes seeming to glow against the pale torch light far above their heads.
She narrowed her eyes, barring her own teeth as she withdrew a fan blade- pressing it out and wide and held it at her side. "I don't know if tht exit will be of much use to us!" Zarrah called, but it was only then she spotted another door way across the room. It was round and sat recessed against an equally round hallway nearly clothed in the deepest black shadows.
"There's a door! I can see one! A round one in the corner!" she shouted, though craned her neck up towards Castor just in time to watch as the ceiling above them creaked open and down dropped another flurry of black, slithering snakes.
She had nearly dropped her fan blade as the cold creatures began to rain down upon her body. She made a noise and began to run, in any direction but there, wiping furiously at her body and leaping over angered, snapping snakes, even long after they had been thrown from her body. The curling feeling still remained, as she was quick to draw her bladed fan and struck it at any snakes within her path as she began to chop her way towards the circular recces and door. Finding herself before it, she gave a start, fists pounding against the heavy metal surface.
"It won't open!"s he said, panting. "It's locked!" Kicking the few snakes away before her, she kept trying but panic was ever presenting, ever heightening her senses and paranoia as she heard a flurry of hisses as she whirled around, just as three snakes leapt towards her, mouth's ready with a bite before she cut her fan blade out- and slashes the three into six.
Gods be damned if she wasn't right! His hands, no matter their strength, slipped uselessly from the ledge and he clambored to the ground, spraining his ankle as he did so. And no matter what, the snakes kept coming. She smashed and slashed what snaked she could, but he could see that it only made more pour from the holes they slithered through.
Castor dropped to the ground and used the torch to sear and singe what snakes were getting too close. He followed Zarrah to the rounded door she found and indeed it was locked. Finally, he could do something useful. Castor backed away a little and smash his fist through the hardened wood and in fact crushed his other fist through it as well, handing the torch off to Zarrah, unleashing a desperate assault until the door was nonexistant.
"Go, Go!"
Zarrah stepped away from the door, taking the light and using it to ward off the snakes as Castor banged open the door. Once it was open, she nodded, not wasting anymore time as she rushed in, being sure not to keep too far ahead of Castor.
"Stay close!"
The passage was narrow and remained in a long, winding cylindrical path. It wasn't very tall, barely over 6 feet and despite she not being that tall in height, she crouched none the less and continued until she met a cross ways and held her breath, heart thumping rapidly in her chest as she spun around, looking into Castor's eyes.
"Which way?" she peered, left, then right, then back to him.
She kicked a nearby stone, listened, and when she heard an echo from the right, she held the torch light up between them.
"Shall we head deeper? Or trust the other direction isn't some sort of trap? With dead air.."S he hesitated. "You can never be certain."
The air was thick and even with the evening brewing, Castor was sweating from it, not just physical activity. As they passed through the hall, Castor sure to stay close behind her, castor could feel it getting hotter. He wiped his forehead, the demon steel of his hands even hot to the touch. When they stopped he caught his breath.
"Deeper," Castor said and looked down the other way. Each tunnel was barely lit and even their torch became meager in comparison. It didn't look like too many people were meant to pass down this way. "Perhaps it might better to split up again." Frankly, he didn't want to be the one to choose.
Zarrah turned to him with a frown.
"With all of these snakes around? I'd rather not." She gestured to the right. "Let's go deeper down this dark, dank hole then."
ANd she lead the way, keeping the torch before her and moving wtih caution.
After a few twists and turns, the cylindrical pathway spilled out into another open room, as tall and wide as the one with the snakes. Zarrah had to do a double take to make sure there were no piles of serpents writhing in the darkness, and when she was sure she coudl see none at first glace, she turned, with torch in hand, back to Castor.
"Well, I don't see any snakes." she said, affording him a small grin, though unbeknownst to her, a massive figure slithered in the dark, moving, creeping, inching it's way along the scents and smells Castor and Zarrah left in their way.
"Me neither," Castor breathed, but he didn't trust his eyes. A long life in the mines and the darkness taught you to listen with your body, not just your senses and though the heat made it difficult to feel any air, Castor could feel a tremor make its way slowly down his spine. Something wasn't right here, not that anything had been right thus far, but especially here...
And through the dying flicker of the torch, Castor saw behind Zarrah two large beady eyes boring their way closer to them. And with it the scaly face of the serpent so large it could swallow both of them whole without any trouble. It filled the tunnel, the shape of it obviously made for a creature like this. Castor said nothing, only reaching forward and nearly ripping Zarrah's arm off as he yanked her to run in the opposite direction.
The ground shook and dust came from the cieling as basilisk's jaws snapped shut as it nearly missed Zarrah.
So much for their not being any snakes!
Her heart was in her throat as Castor pulled her along, and she felt the hair's on the back of her neck stand on end as the mighty jaws snapped but inches behind them. Fear was like ice, and fear to her feet as her legs pumped heavily, but she felt she couldn't go any faster and that they weighed as heavy as lead.
The snake was hungry, massive, dark and large as it reared it's nasty head up, eyes blinking and pupil's lay as slits beneath a bed of a poisonous gold. It was terrifying, it's body nearly blending into the dark shadows of the room, and was it not for it's sheer size when it passed across the faded torch light, it would have been nigh impossible to see.
And the snake struck again, fangs biting, crunching at their heels, and as it moved to snap again, Zarrah drew out her blade, tossing a sharp knife into the back of it's throat. The snake tossed it's head about, and the knife went clattering across a far wall.
"We have to get out of here, NOW!" but how!? Her eyes searched frantic for something, anything when her boots caught onto something, a round, rusted latch upon the floor and she went down, knees scraping but as she looked around, uncertain as to what she hit- but curious as to the hollow noise it produced, she realized she had fallen ontop of a door welded into the floor.
Unfortunately for her-t he snake was right upon them, massive jaw open and ready to devour them whole!
Well, tan his hide if she wasn't captain obvious! Castor was well worn and running didn't help anybody for anything except to save their lives and when they had some ground, suddenly Zarrah skidded on the ground, the force of which yanked Castor back as well and the massive serpent was nearly on top of them, jaws open wide ready to swallow them whole.
Castor dropped the torch beside Zarrah as he ran back, charging at the serpent. As they were about to close on Zarrah's head, Castor latched onto the creature's snout, steel fingers digging into its scaly nose as he shoved the beast back with all his weight. It went back with a hiss and Castor beat his fists against it, bloodying the snout and smashing the scales. It hissed louder more savagely, giving ground as Castor drove it back.
He pulled away for a second to bind his fingers together in a hammer formation and thrust upward, hitting the animal's jaw from below and making it hit its head into the cieling. As soon as they were a few feet away from Zarrah, he yelled for her to open the door. And just as he turned his head back the creature already had one of his arms into its mouth, trying to tear off the left gauntlet.
Castor didn't need to tell her twice as she grasped onto the hooped knob and grunted as she thrust the heavy door open, nearly falling off her feet at the force. Turning around, black hair spilling across her face, she watched in horror as the snake latched onto one of Castor's arms.
"Castor!" Her eyes went wide as she fetched another knife from deep within her robes, took aim and threw another one at the mighty snake's nose. The serpent let out a hiss, but only seemed to crunch down tighter on Castor. Cringing, Zarrah fetched for another pair of blades and rushed the beast while it was preoccupied, diving the metal into it's skin and worked her way into a run, climbing, with some trepidation, up it's slippery, writhing slope.
As she neared it's head, she made quick work to attack at it's eyes, and it was only then the foul beast opened it's mighty jaw in anger, dropping Castor towards the world below as it bucked it's head, but Zarrah dug the knife in deeper, cold blood seeping from it's eye as it began to thrash wildly about. All she could do was hang on for dear life, that was, until the snake smashed her against the wall and she felt her grip fail and down the side of the wall she tumbled, crumpling to the ground.
The damned snake wouldn't let go of him as if its own life depended on it and maybe it did. Before he knew it Zarrah had flung herself at the creature and was stabbing its eye until blackish blood oozed from the serpent. It had let go of him and Castor had bolted for the door in the ground, but only watched in silence as the serpent finally had let go of Zarrah and had wilted in strength and determination. It receded back into its tunnel, too thick to turn around, hissing savagely.
Castor felt no need to pursue it and instead reached over and drug Zarrah's body with him, dropping her through the hatch before throwing himself down as well, sealing the cover over them. All was dark, it encased them, embraced them in its warmth. Castor could feel water sloshing around his feet and he picked up Zarrah, shaking her a little. They must be in one of the aqueducts. Here the tunnel was barely tall enough for Castor to stand in and he crouched low, pulling Zarrah into his lap as he reached down and cupped some of the fresh water running at his feet, tasting it to make sure it was good before splashing it on her face.
She was barely conscious when he scooped her up and dragged her beneath the ground, sealing them into a room of dark. When the water splashed on her face, however, she jumped up with a start, eyes going wide as she stared at Castor against the darkness.
"C-Castor!"
She blinked, looking around, trying to see, but reached her hands out- fingers touching his flesh, then face, then away from him and to the cold, dank wall. Visibility was poor, if not, nonexistent as she held her breath.
"Are we underground?" she reached a hand to touch the waters. "What is this place?"
"I think it's one of the tunnels. The one that the aqueducts file into. We should be safe in here for now. But I don't know where it leads however. It could just as well be another trap," Castor said, but he was too tired to press on right now. He took a moment to take a breath and simply held Zarrah to him, clutching her tightly, too tightly, almost enough to squeeze the breath out of her. And let her go before she suffocated.
"I'm sorry. We shouldn't waste time," Castor said as he did so and stood with a hunch. "Do you know which way to go?"
Zarrah was surprised by the sudden embrace, but felt his need and heart through it as she sighed, though that took her remaining breath out of her until he eased up. Glancing up, she tried to peer into his eyes at the darkness, only catching the faint sparkles of the whites before lifting a hand to touch his face.
"Yes, we shouldn't waste anymore time, " she agreed, kissing him softly, nearly missing his lips as she leaned into it. "Come, let's find a way out of here." She turned away, listening and then peered up at the ceiling, thinking back to the way they had come in.
Then she looked leftward.
"If I had to guess, we could follow the flow. This way might have been where we had come from. It's at least worth a shot."
"You're right, let's go," Castor led the way through the aqueduct, water sloshing through his feet. It was completely dark down here, having lost his torch in the tunnel above. He supposed he'd rather be down here in darkness than up there with light. There at least was no goddamned snake down here.
He slid along the wall, sliding along the moist stones. It seemed the water was getting higher and he now felt it just below his ankles. He kept going but his nerves were getting the better of him. "If worse comes to worse and this tunnel floods, can you swim, Zarrah?"
"Swimming in the desert?" she smirked a bit at the idea, but it was in her tone. She shook her head. "Well, if there's more water, I certainly won't drown. I've spent some time swimming in the small rivers in the desert caves." Zarrah kept close, being sure to be wary of her step. The ground was slippery, after all, and there was almost no light as they continued. They were engulfed in blackness as she pressed onward, then found her foot catching something as she gave a start and went down, barely able to catch herself against Castor.
"Er, sorry about that. I need to watch my footing." Using his shoulder for support, she leaned against him and stood, and found herself just staying there for a moment, cheek to his shoulder.
"This is a rather strange adventure we've found ourselves on."s he commented, a slight smile pressing her cheek muscle more tightly against his shoulder. "To think... all we had to over come to get here.." she touched her shoulder where the snake mark had been... "Well, for all that it's worth, I'm not surprised Carnavus has chosen snakes. Come on, I think I hear the water moving more quickly up ahead-" and she couldn't have spoken any sooner as she mis-stepped and suddenly plunged into much, much deeper water that sucked her down into it's depths. It had to have been about six feet deep, her boots catching the deeper waters quickly before she nearly swallowed the dark waters in a panic as she kicked herself up, and gasped after her face submerged and called out-"Castor!?" wondering if he had met the same fate as she...
It did sound like a silly question. Swimming in the desert. Though he would have assumed something a little more obvious like the Oasis back by the city, but as it was water most everyone used, perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea. She was resourceful that was for sure. That was until she collided into him, nearly knocking him into the water too. She was lucky he was difficult to move, gripping the wall despite the moss and slime that grew there.
He only smiled and let her step forth before him, holding on to her arm. Suddenly she vanished and plunged into the waters below them. "Zarrah?" he asked the air. Thankfully he'd stopped just before the drop. But it had been impossible to see in the darkness. He gripped the wall and when she called his name, he breathed easy.
He could barely make out her form in the water and crouched down to reach a hand out to her, feeling in the dark and finally hitting something that resembled a person. "I'm here. Are you all right?" he asked. He leaned forward a bit and found the ceiling swooped down and in front of them, arching into the pit Zarrah had fallen in. "Zarrah, I think that's the only way to go. Good thing you slipped."
Zarrah managed to keep her head above waters, staring up at him, or, for what she thought was him as she touched his arm.
"That's easy for you to say since you didn't fall." she smirked, and gave a shrug, then took a firm hold of his metal hands and said, "WHy don't you come in?" She gave a tug, hoping to set him off balance. "The water's great."
But in truth.. the water was freezing.
Castor yelped out loud as Zarrah dragged him into the waters below and he immediately surfaced, shaking water from his hear as he clung to the ledge of the aqueduct trail, water still rushing over it. "Why did you do that for?" he asked irritated and shoving Zarrah aside a little, but he couldn't help a small smile. "How long can you hold your breath? We don't know how long this tunnel goes. But I suppose waiting around doesn't help either. Ready? One, two, three!"
And with that Castor dunked himself into the pool, which truly was freezing. But at least there was nothing slithering in it.
OOC: You mean he HOPES nothing was slithering in it :U
IC:
Zarrah gave a shrug.
"You look sexy when you're all wet." she informed him, but naturally, it was a joke, even a bit of a flirt, but none could see the other in this darkness.
At his command, she nodded her head.
"I can hold it for as long as any other man,"s he jabbed, and too bad he could not see her grin and as he counted, she drew in her breath at three and submerged beneath him int he water.
Her black hair moved through the water, trialing behind her like silk- her robes, catching awkwardly as she swam at Castor's sides, touching him lightly now and again and feeling strangely comforted in the alien noises of the muffled kicks of the water displaced all around them.
She had opened her eyes, for all the good it did for her, and continued to grope and feel and swim her way through.
Her breath was becoming strained, feeling herself nearly reaching her limit and yearning for breath...
She just hoped this tunnel would find it's end soon..
lest she find hers here...
The tunnel seemed to light itself at at least the darkness hadn't permeated the water nearly as much as Castor thought it would. His lungs were hurting as they made their way through the tunnel, leaving the entrance far behind. Castor's powerful body sent him hurdling much more quickly than Zarrah, leaving her behind little by little.
Though his body yearned for air, he reached his right hand over and grabbed her hand, pulling it up against his belt and latching her hand there so that she wouldn't get left behind. Castor's arms pulled harder, stroking against the water as the tunnel turned to a bend, nearly going up.
There was a small pocket of air, he saw and immediately pulled himself up, gasping harshly, small crystals reflecting some measure of light against the water though he didn't know how or why. He clung to the cieling using the wall to hold him there and pulled Zarrah up with him. "Gods...I hope it isn't much farther. I'm sure Carnavus is already aware of our presence now," Castor rolled his eyes and spit out any water stuck in his mouth. But just when he was about to dunk down again, he felt something shifting against his legs and it certainly didn't feel like Zarrah's.
Zarrah was thankful for his guidance as he pulled her along in heavy strides. The water rushed heavily past their bodies, bubbles of air tickling along the way, and just when she thought she might burst if her lungs did not receive the oxygen they desired, he pulled her forward, and as her face broke the surface of the water, she tossed her head back in a gasp, hair slicked back against her body, mouth open and desperate.
After a few moments of bobbing at his side she slowly opened her eyes to look at him, brushing the water from her eyes.
"Yes," she frowned. "It will be a pity if he's run." She glanced up, however, entranced by the small light's that glittered and bounced from the crystals above. Then she peered over at Castor, studying his face. "You know, after this round of adventure, I might owe you another hand at helping you find that second relic." She smiled, and it reflected in her eyes, but even still there was a sense of sadness, considering the man was still very muhc a prisoner to his powerful, metal hands.
However at his sudden change of expression, her face twisted questionably.
"What's wrong?" she asked, then felt something slither delicately between her legs as her face went white.
[Remember that thing that blinked at Castor when he first crossed the aqueduct? Hello!]
Castor had no time to answer as he suddenly felt something wrap around his right leg in a slithery tentacled vice grip. He only had a second to hold his breath as he was just as abruptly yanked underneath the surface and down through the unexplored sections of the tunnel. Bubbles spewed out from his mouth as he struggled to turn and see just what it was that pulled him down.
It was difficult to make out in the darkness and certainly not with his blood coursing through his body a million miles a minute. The crystals that were embedded in the cieling of the tunnel only provided vague beams of glittering light that pierced the swishing surface of the aqueduct tunnel. As Castor turned round, trying to pull his leg loose, he saw the creature was indeed large, but small enough to pull them through the tunnel and it billowed out in a cloudy jelly body [imagine jelly fish here but like super fast] with its head littered with a dozen eyes. Between its tentacles, whose number were too many to count, was a sharp, elongated beak.
Castor was still being pulled, farther into the tunnel until it reached the center of the aqueduct channels, a massive pool, rounded and bricked like a well. The creature had leg of of his legs by then, but other tentacles shot out wrapping around his limbs. Castor resisted trying to pull away, but his lungs were burning with need for air.
OOC: Yep, he is DEFINITELY saying "hello!" XP
Also I hope this post makes sense, I Shouldn't try posting at like 10:30am when I got like 4 hours of sleep the night before hrmmmm- think it's time to go lay down for a nap XD
IC:
"Castor!?" She fruitlessly shouted, before finding herself gasping as she was torn beneath the depths of the water as well. Screaming, she took in water to her lungs, so that by the time she had been dragged all the way into the room with the terrifying beast,she was still gasping and writhing. As the beast brought her forth, she was desperate for air when she finally managed to procure a knife at her side she cut, and cut hard- the metal slicing across the soft tentacle that had encased her legs. The monster gurgled in a hiss-like roar, suddenly flailing all of it's other many legs about frantically from the pain. Zarrah was cast aside, knife slipping from her hands as it sparkled in silver and sank deep within the waters.
Zarrah too, began to sink, and had taken in too much water and began to drop, falling away from the surface of the water, as the pale light above them, eminating from the crystals, began to fade away, her world swelling into the dark.
Castor was as helpless as she, though managed to free herself. Despite having a tentacle severed, those that remained wrapped around his middle and his limbs only served to hold on tighter. Castor's lungs burned and ached for air, entire body screaming from the pain. His consciousness was beginning to fade, even as all his will fought for the light.
The creature adjusted him against itself and opened up its beak so that it might better eat him that way. At the sight of such a thing in the glittering darkness, Castor's eyes surged wide and adrenaline took hold of him. His hands reached out and grabbed the opposing tentacles that chained his arms and he squeezed them until the flesh parted underneath his grasp. The water blackened with blood, as thick as ink itself. And Castor, hands now free, grabbed hold of the beak and pulled the beast apart, ripping the mouth in half.
It gave a muffled shriek that pierced even his ears and its grip around his waist and legs loosened considerably as the creature fell limply in the water, sinking down much as Zarrah did. He turned around, seeing her form disappear into the depths below and immediately dove for her.
Castor's body protested at every turn, but his strength made him dart through the water quickly and back to the surface of the rounded room, which thankfully provided a chamber of cool, fresh air. His lungs sang as he took in air, and he held Zarrah to his chest, head to his shoulder, holding her with one arm as he swam to the ledge with another.
Castor's powerful grip tore her from the burning bowels of death, ripped her from the sleepy demise as she took in more water, but as they burst for air, her entire being trembled, froze up, before suddenly she was tearing away from him, retching out water and gasping desperately for air.
It was only after her fits of coughing gasps subsided that she looked up at Castor, tears stinging her eyes, near-death, having left her body numb and tingling, prickling back with life renewed as she stared desperately into his eyes.
"C-Castor..." her voice came hoarsely, nearly choking out from the depths of her throat. She shivered again within his arms, violet eyes still meeting to his as the overwhelming and putrid stench of death filled her nostrils. She gave a dry heave, clutching onto him as she did so, keeping her face away before melting against him in a weak, wet and tired heap.
"I.. I guess that monster, whatever it was.. is dead?" she asked after a time before going quiet again, her heart beating heavily as her breast rested to his, head nestled in the crook between his neck and shoulder as she sighed. "This is trying is it not? It seems nothing we can do is ever easy.."
Castor let her go, but remained close like an anchor when she spewed up the water that had been caught in her lungs. His throat burned with every cool, cold breath as he clung to the stone ledge. He looked up and saw that the ledge was actually large enough to stand on and when she clung to him again, he held her and hoisted them up and over the edge, laying on his side to at least catch his breath.
"Of course not," Castor answered. "Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Just look at me. Look at what I'm wearing. If I had known I was going to be wearing these things for the rest of my life, I would have never put them on. But I can't bother with bemoaning my station. All I can do is endure. That's all we can ever do."
Zarrah continued to lay against him, both of them still panting and gasping, desperate for air. When he spoke, she nodded, listening to him as she released a groaned breath, finally finding her lungs aching a little less as she took the time to look around.
"I suppose none of us can really change our fate. What happens to us happens, and all we can do is ensure." She turned to him, arching a brow and studied his face. "But it's comforting to know we're not in this mess alone." She smiled to him, then looked away, out into the black waters and sighed, wrinkling her nose.
"You know that thing you killed smells most foul."
"Thanks for the compliment," Castor said, rolling his eyes. "Now get off me. We still have a lot of ground to cover I can only imagine. I don't even know where we are! I just want to kill that bastard and be done with this place." But as much as he complained, he still had a hard time getting up himself, he was tired and he began to sofly sob, with no tears and only groaned, turning his head to the wall.
"Who am I kidding? I don't even think I can get up anymore," Castor said, finally laughing. He eventually did find the strength to sit up, but the will to press on...was hard-pressed to manifest.
Zarrah leaned against his side. She too, was weary of all of this, but what other choice did they have? They were stuck here in this sort of hell, in the bowels of another one of Carnavus's estates with seemingly no way out, and barely any light of which to see.
She sighed and just let herself melt against him, wrapping an arm around his strong chest.
"Then perhaps we should just rest a while. You killed that monster, perhaps it might be safe to just wait?"
Though she did not admit it, the sigh she released did, for it was anxious and hot as she nestled in against him. Carnavus was probably on his way out- fleeing as far away from this estate as possible while the two would rot away a few more hours in this stinky, dark, dank labyrinth.
Castor had spent enough time in the darkness below to know he never wanted to be trapped down here again. The shades of the aqueduct tunnels blended and melded together and he could have sworn he saw demons dance in it. His heart leapt up into his throat and the added weight of Zarrah over him only made it worse. He suddenly felt trapped as if something had its hand around his throat and he had difficulty breathing. He didn't want to be down here a second longer.
And showed as much when he tossed Zarrah off of him, feeling like an animal trapped in cage, hyperventilating and holding his head. "We've got to find a way out of here! Let's go. Please!" he said desperately, searching the darkness, walking around the ridge, feeling along the walls until he found an iron door.
Zarrah was taken back by his reaction, but they were strained, so she didn't let it get to her as she nodded, and followed after. Yes..
they really had spent too much time in the dark.
And thank god when they found a door. Feeling along it, Zarrah found the knob and turned it, smiling as she heard it click as she slowly pushed it open, wincing as it creaked. She also winced as torch light spilled into the room. Holding up a hand, she waited for her squinting eyes to adjust, then pulled the door open even further, poking her head outside and scouted the hall.
Dunking back in, she turned to Castor.
"It looks like the coast is clear and the best part is,"s he smirked. "No water."
The exit found had been far too easy and convenient but Zarrah was right and there seemed to be nobody and nothing there to further impede their path. Castor moved past her up out to the hallway. The torchlight was biting but it was clear that they were back into the main part of the house because it was brightly lit. The hallway was immaculate with marble walls and carved pillars holding partitions much like the ones in his other manor.
He looked down each hallway, feeling anxious and desperate and would just as easily level the place from ceiling to floor if he had his way. But there wasn't a doub that Carnavus would find someway to escape. He turned to Zarrah.
"It's time to finish this. Where would Carnavus most likely be this time of night? Does he have a great hall of some kind, some kind of throne room where he will most likely wait for us? I'm sick of this running around. You should know this place better than I do. Let's kill that son of a bitch and be done with it."
"If we haven't alerted him by this hour, he should be in his sleeping chambers, or the great hall." she pointed towards a left facing hallway.
"That way will take us back towards the bedrooms, but if we go straight ahead, the great hall resides."
Zarrah frowned, considering the other room she had been in.. she felt her heart grow cold, anxious.
Would Carnavus even still be here?
"There's the intruders!" Came a voice. "Get them!"
Zarrah turned on her heal, startled by the approach of a group of men as she bared her teeth, slid the final dagger from her robe and shot it across the room - it sinking in the first mans' throat. He cltuched onto it, hot blood spurting from his throat before he dropped like a rock to the ground.
The other two seemed hardly phased, perhaps even more angry as they roared and headed for them.
Zarrah only smirked.
"You can have the one on the left, I'll kill the man on the right,"s he told Castor, then snapped open her fan blade before her face, the metal tips glinting off the torch lit with a wicked dance, before she moved forward, light on her feet and cut the metal blades across the man's hand-
he dropped his sword, crying out in pain- but that did not stop her from slashing the thing across his face, then throat.
The man dropped like a sack of bricks, laying in a pool of his own blood.
There were few things Castor needed to be told and taking care of nuisances like these was one of them. The one that came at him was quickly made short work of. Castor never bothered with the fancy moves and wiggling around Zarrah did. It was but a second of brutality that Castor's fist plowed through the guard's helment and into his skill, after first having blocked his raised sword, which sparked with a clank against the demon steel.
He quickly grabbed Zarrah's hand and headed for the direction she indicated led to the great hall. No doubt more men would find the bodies. Carnavus must have spent a fortune on all the soldiers or mercenaries he'd hired to guard this particular palace. It was absolutely huge, the outside proving decieving, and no doubt would take dozens upon dozens of hands to protect. And that meant just more blood that needed to be shed.
But Castor was finding in this case, he had no regret to regard in this matter. These men were doing the jobs they were paid to do...but in working for a man like Carnavus, they would soon become little more than a statistic.
As they ran into the great hall, all the exits and entrance ways had been blocked. Castor let go of Zarrah's hand and watched with icy eyes, the pig man that was Carnavus sitting on an elevated chair with a table before him. He dined on succulent pig and had a glass of wine in his hands. All but one table had been destroyed and used as fortifications while the other had been partly spared and held Carnavus' midnight supper.
And behind him were those dozens upon dozens of soldiers Castor had guessed were guarding this place. Carnavus just looked up at him, daintily wiping his mouth with his napkin and giving a disappointed smile. "It took you all this time...to get this far... Tsk-tsk, but from the looks of you...you certainly don't disappoint."
Zarrah plucked her last dagger from the dead man's throat, wiping off the blood on his clothes before letting it disappear inside her robes. Then, she found herself quickly lead off by Castor as they made quick work to get to the Great Hall-
and there he was standing before them- well, sitting really, enjoying a pig.
Zarrah bared her teeth at him.
"You animal!" ANd before she knew it, she had thrown her blade across the room, the metal glittering as it spiraled towards him, only for her attempt to be thwarted as a nearby mercernary moved infront of Carnavus, shield ready. And with the shield now before Carnavus, the blade merely clanked off, making noise as it hit the floor.
Snarling, Zarrah grew blind with rage as she rushed across the room, dropping the two fan blades into her hands and readying them with her thumbs.
Then, as she neared the man, she leapt, boots dancing off the top of the shield face and using it's momentum to leap into the air, blades snapping out and ready to cut off Carnavus's head.
Carnavus stared up in horror, not expecting such a spectacle, or the woman to so boldly deflect his men-
Too bad for Zarrah, a nearby man with a bowstaff rammed it right into her gut at the last second, sending her hurtling to the floor.
Castor didn't bother with dramatics or wasting time screaming her name. He acted on instinct, on rage and tackled the man with the staff to the ground, bashing his face in with little effort. Three more men came upon him, shields ready, weapons brandished and assaulted him all at once. The one on the left bashed into him with his sheild, drawing him back and cut him hard across the chest with his blade.
Castor did scream then, and used his rage to shatter his blade when next it came down on him, then clubbed him to the side. He made short work of the second man, then the third just shook in fear and receded back into the ranks. But the other mercenaries stood strong, weapons and shields readied. Castor almost charged for them, as mad as a bull, but stopped in his tracks when Carnavus called out to him.
"Nah-ah-ah-ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you," Carnavus said, standing behind him. "I know I've made the mistake of underestimating you before. But if you take one step closer toward me, Zarrah gets it right across the throat."
Castor turned to watche another mercenary hold her own dagger to her throat, the blade sharp enough to shave with.
While Castor was taking care of the main force, 3 of the men branched to the side, knowing full well Zarrah was their primary target-
and this made it all the easier.
The first man upon her wasted no time, kicking at her face and she was seeing stars-
then he did it again, and again, steel tipped shoes mashing into her face, sides, neck- and anywhere on his body he could kick.
Zarrah had curled up instinctively by this time, and when she had had enough, she reached for him, face oozing with blood and violet eyes wide- only to be caught up suddenly by the other two me- and soon the dagger was sealed to her throat.
She was glaring daggers at the man who mocked her, making a spectacle of her as he swept his arms towards Zarrah.
Her face was bash, one eye barely able to remain open as blood seeped from her head, mouth and nose, painting almost her entire face read that it had coated down her chin and some even painted across her hands and breasts, and soem pieces of her hair stuck together in knots- knots from the slickness of her blood.
Her eyes were wild as she looked onward, blood broiling, raging mad.
"That's right, we got the girl," he said, then turned to her with a wicked laugh-
Zarrah only glared at him, and when the man got closer, she spat blood into his face.
"Kill him!" Zarrah hissed, showing off her blood stained teeth. "KILL HIM, CASTOR! KILL THEM ALL!"
Before Carnavus could stop him, Castor bolted toward the men. He was filled with savage fury, steam was practically coming out of his ears as the floor was washed with red and the air rang with screams of men in agony. Castor had suffered his wounds. He was cut and stabbed and prodded and slashed but it only served to fuel his assault.
Carnavus watched the horror that occured just before his eyes, men being ripped apart, limb from limb, head from body and Castor was like a raging beast as he set his eyes on the bastard, hunger in his eyes. He ordered more of his men to attack, as Carnavus felt his will wilt away and he vanished into a hidden chamber behind him.
"Zarrah! Zarrah get him, he's getting away!" Castor screamed as more men came, an axe raised ready to cleave his head in two.
Her throat was nearly cut again, thankfully, this time the second wound was not as deep as the first- and for a second, she briefly recalled the time with those bandits...
Her violet eyes blazed hotly, scorching across the men as Castor tore them all limb from limb-
adn this time she was not afraid, but reveled in the chaos as she stalked across it, blood exploding, gushing, raining around her in a symphony of death.
She had her eyes set on one thing, and one thing only-
Carnavus.
Death was seen in her eyes, as she spotted him amongst the crowd- but then she spotted something else, a mighty ax heading straight for Castor.
Panic over took her and she drew out her fan, tossing it across the room as it sliced into the man's wrist.
He let out a pain filled cry and dropped it, just as Castor's feet, and by the time she turned to look back over her shoulder-
Carnavus was gone.
Letting out a furious cry, Zarrah rushed across the room towards where Carnavus had once been, steeled fans ready and any man that got in her way were cut to shreds. By the time she made it, the back door was open, and a group of men riding off against the starry nights.
Baring her teeth, she took off, tearing across the desert and readying her last knife as she aimed it right at Carnavus's head-
and this time, her knife hit it's mark.
And Carnavus fell over from his horse.
Castor had seen it coming but a fan blade had taken care of the man with the ax and he howled in pain, writhing on the ground. Castor didn't need to pay anymore attention to where Zarrah went. He trusted her to take care of her end of the bargain. And amidst the bloodbath, the tide soon stemmed. Castor was exhausted from his work and his body began to show signs of wear. His wounds were bleeding and he barely had strength to stand.
He turned around and followed the trail where he saw Carnavus disappear too, holding his gut that was warm with blood. Cynwulfen dripped with it, as he limped along, making small droplets on the ground as he did so. He saw them and couldn't be sure if it was soley from the men he'd just killed or his own.
As he watched from the backdoor, he saw Zarrah far off in the distance and limped along, and saw the form of Carnavus collapsed in the sand, even from a distance away.
OOC: I Know it's a mature tagged thread but just a trigger warning about BLOOOD
Storming across the ground as vicious as the night, her steel fans glinted like silver against the glow of the moon. Deadly and beautiful, she stalked forward, eyes as wild as an animals when she approached the men-
They tried to stop her, tried to help the bleeding Carnavus to his feet so he could retreat...
BUt she was already upon them.
The first man that came at her met with a fan blade sliced hard across his face, living him crying out as she made quick work to give him the finishing blow with one sweep of the metal edge across his throat. The man fell, clutching at is throat as he garbled out blood and air and dropped to his side, eyes rolling back as his body gave the few final shakes unto death.
Then the other man was foolish enough to try, and her fanblades made quick work of him- tearing across his chest before she snapped the fan closed, all bladed teeth meeting at one, before ramming it clean into his chest.
The man's eyes went wide, face ghostly white as hot blood spilled over her hands as she dropped forward, coating her entire body with him blood.
Kickig him off, his body fell to the ground, blood pooling aroudn him which glistened in the night.
And forward she still went, slashing down man after man until the last whimpering soul had the fan blade tossed into his mouth, twisted, then she opened it- gutting out his tongue and throat from within before kicking him aside...
Then turning over, dark hair taking wind, like dark flags of war as she stood over Carnavus, violet eyes glittering with violence, malice, and the promise of death.
"Z-Z-.. Zarrah," Carnavus croaked, surprised to see her already at his side, He had dug out the nasty blade she had throw into him, luckily it landed in his shoulder, but it had rendered his sword arm nearly useless from the pain.
Clutching onto the wound as blood seeped from his finges, he attempted to stand when her boot met with his face.
He went down, face smashing ito the sand, coating his lips with his spit, blood and now grits of sand.
Baring his teeth, he turned to Zarrah wit a growl, reaching for a concealed dagger when she kicked a blow to his shoulder wound, forcing him to cry out in pain.
Her eyes narrowed, dark hair spilling over her shoulder as she looked down at his pathetic form and kicked him in the face again.
Then again and again and again before finally she took her heel and ground it into his neck, forcing him to wheeze and his eyes to bug out of his head.
"Carnavus, I have lived past death. I have lived past pleasure and pain and slavery, conquring any and all obstacles in my path for if only this one moment in my life."
She ground her heel again, hearing him choking on his own spit. Her eyes were cold with promise.
"Now i'm here to pay and you have to pay for what you have done to me, what you did to the man who had meant everything in my life." And she raised her fan blade up, and scorched it across his eyes, removing her boot just enough to listen to him scream.
She relished the moment, the garbled scream and the mess of blood and gnash of eyes and flesh that lay splayed open, permentantly blinding the man as blood seeped down his face.
A wicked curl twisted at the ends of her red lips as she leaned down, hoovering over Carnavus's face and pressed her lips to his, then bit down hard, drawing blood before slamming her fist into his mouth.
"You will die the most God awful pain there is. And you will rot like the pig you are"
Slamming a fist into his throat, she grabbed the rope that was secured to his horse and moved forward, tieing it around his throat, then around his wrists before securing the other end tot he horse.
She turned one glance over towards Castor, before slipping herself up onto the saddle, then kicked the horse and her and Carnavus were away, the man's body dragging in a bloodied mess of sand in her wake...
Dead Man's Cliffs.
A fitting end to a rapscallion like Carnavus.
After taking her fury out on him in kicks nd cuts, she left his body mostly splayed and bleeding, but alive enough. His body was already burned from the sands, his throat welted from the ride as she went to work- nailing the man's hands into a cross to leave him to rot in crucifixion when the sun would rise..
And there she stood, staring at him with eyes as violent as the devil, the insatiable madness of her revenge all too consuming as a faint gust of wind rushed past her body, carrying her dark hair into the window and with it, swelling her venomous pride.
[Short post is short, I know, but Castor can't do much being..well half-dead.]
Castor watched with fading vision as a form he only vaguely recognized as Zarrah was taking her brutal vengeance out on the man she'd spent her entire life hunting. He could only watch, his eyes unable to tear away from her in its venom. He cried and bled and...to his own surprise did not beg for his life. Castor had fallen to his knees, slumping there in the sand, holding his wounds and watched as she got on the horse.
Castor had no strength left follow her and as she vanished in the distance he collapsed in the sands, nothing more than a bloodied heap.
When she had see enough, and was well satisfied, Zarrah kicked the horse back into action and had it tearing across the sands.
Bloodied robes and hair taking to the winds, she was a mighty sight witht he silver moon capping her body in it's glow.
When she had returned, she was quick to slide off the horse, noticing Castor, a pathetic, crumpled heap.
And it was then things began to return to her-
guilt, tiredness, the pain..
but she swallowed it down, feeling too raw and hollowed of anyting to react to it as she got to her knees beside him.
"Castor?"
Was he.. was he ok?
Castor had faded in and out of consciousness as he laid there in the sands. He felt cold and hot at the same time and the evening winds swept sand across his tired bloodied form. His place was fitting, amongst the slaughtered dead, men with their faces and throats slashed across and open. His own body fared little better. His back was cut up and pierced where daggers were too quick for him to avoid. One wound narrowly avoided his lungs. But another had been lucky to slash itself across his gut. He couldn't tell if the wound was too deep, but he did know that he felt himsel weaken with every minute.
Then something slumped by his side, throwing sand everywhere. He groaned tiredly, looking up with dull blue eyes. "Zarrah?" he asked, unsure himself. He could only see a shadowy form and something draping around its head. Slowly he pushed himself over and rolled onto his back. The stars were beautiful, brighter, more vibrant than he'd ever seen in his life. "So...beautiful."
Zarrah set her jaw, lips pouting slightly as she looked down at his impotent form.
"Castor.." she moved a hand delicately across his face, worry plaguing her insides like ice. She looked around at the carnage, blood and death littered in their path.
If she had thought Castor a monster- what of herself?
Turning to him, she moved beside him.
"Castor.. Castor can you hear me?" she pressed a hand gently to him, shaking his arm and peering down into his blue eyes and noticed the way they took in the stars above.
She followed his gaze, staring up at the stars and their magnificence, feeling wretched and surprisingly hateful of herself.
"Come on, we have to get you out of here. You're.. you're bleeding," she said, eyes roaming over his wounds.
"I hear someone," Castor whispered in answer. His eyes were glued to the stars, their glare beating down on him, illuminating all but the dark form that hovered over him. She remained in shadow and his flickered in and out of focus, but never focusing on her.
"I can't move," he said. "I feel too weak." And it showed in the limpness of his limbs, his body feeling more and more cold by the second. His head ached and the blood that seeped from his form and he shivered again with the gusts of wind that swept over him. "Is...is he dead?"
Zarrah's eyes studied his form, wildly at first and unsure.
Then at his last comment, she gritted her teeth, eyes going wide.
"Castor!?" she shook him gently, then hands gently moving across his cheek, the other cupping his hand as she lifted him into her lap. "Castor!? Come on.. what's wrong? You're talking strangely..."
Did he lose too much blood?
Panicked, she looked back to her horse, contemplating dragging him onto it and taking him somewhere, anywhere that could help
But where was there a soul around to even hear her scream if she wanted? Here- all the way out in the wastelands of the desert?
"Hrmm-my...stomach hurts," Castor said after a while. And he removed his gauntleted arm to reveal the ghastly wound underneath. "Hmm-mmy b-body feels cold. It's...cold isn't it?" His shivering worsened and he looked at her through glassy eyes. They were listless and moved all about, jumping from one star to the other. He gave an audible sigh. "I'm tired, Zarrah. I think I'm going to to go sleep now."
And in the distance, a familiar shape rose up amidst the sand dunes, watching from afar. There was a narrowed glint to his eye, watching the scene. And his heart pounded in a heated fury and temptation to pull his blade from its sheathe was far too strong. The horse underneath him, antsy and restless. But they would not get any closer.
Not yet.
Zarrah's eyes went wide at the sight of all of the blood. She knew he had the other wounds on his body, but she overlooked the large one gaping from his gut.
She looked into his face, seeing the sweat, his ever moving eyes never looking at her and panicked.
Stripping over her robe, she clamped it together into a crumpled mass and pressed it against his wound, palm heavily over it in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding, and as she looked around, eyes frantic, cradling Castor in her lap- she noted a horse and rider off in the distance.
Cringing, she wasn't sure how much help a stranger could provide- but it was better than anything- and if it was danger- she'd kill them and take their pack and rush off Castor to where ever she could for help.
Rising, she tossed her hand into the air- trying to signal him down, her eyes pleading desperately, shimmering silver in the moonlight.
Castor's eyes felt heavy and drooped down. He smiled at her, face bloodied and cut as he drifted off peacefully. His heart beat slowed so much it was almost nonexistant and his body became icy, cold to the touch, numb to everything else in the outside world. He didn't say goodbye, didn't say goodnight, just laid there like corpse.
Perhaps he already was one.
The Rider paused, watching Zarrah signal him down, staying there for a good long while, silent as a statue against the stars, until he nudged his horse and disappeared from the horizon. Long moment later, soft hooves could be heard echoing through the dunes as the rider walked down from the side, slowly looming closer and closer.
He came from behind Zarrah, sitting high in the saddle. "Come with me," he said, slightly muffled due to his face wrap. "Leave him here. He won't make it."
Zarrah's eyes narrowed as she drew out a weapon, the knife seeming small and meek, but ever deadly glinting off the silver of the night as her eyes pooled and heated with tears.
"No,"she growled defensively. "No, you will help us. He is not lost, he.."
but she had felt it herself, his body turning cold and still in her grip. But she ignored the tears and ignored the man's suggestion.
"IF you are not to help us, then I will kill you and take your things."she warned, promise of death ripe and fresh from her lips. "I just need some supplies,"s he began, voice wavering. "The direction of a doctor, a-" She shook her head, trying to steel herself. "Anything would help."s he added in a dry, coarse whisper, nearly a hiss between her teeth.
"I will pay anything for the help-" and here she hesitated, her body growing stiff. "Anything." She added.
Castor could not die here, not when his journey had just begun-
not when he deserved to be free.
Radimir shifted in his saddle but was clearly unshaken by the presence of her weapon - nor her rage. She already had a chance to kill him once and had wasted it. He had no gear that would help or cure the man that lay still, clearly dead in her lap. His eyes only scowled at her and the horse grew restless and antsy once more, stepping back just a little.
"There are no doctors out here. Not for many, many miles. It will take you two days to return to any outpost to find help. He's a lost cause. He will die before he can be truly helped. You will die too. Take my hand. I'm trying to help you," Radimir said, holding out one hand to her.
[He really doesn't like Castor. He can die out there for all he cares xD]
Zarrah narrowed her eyes, hate filling her being for what the man just said.
"Then get out of my way. I won't abandon him!" she growled, swiping the knife defensively before her, but obviously not entirely a direct attack, just enough in hopes to scare the man back and away.
If he was not going to help her with Castor- she'd be on her own.
She backed away slowly, clutched the knife in hand as she approached him.
"Just get out of my way. I have an injured man to attend to."
And she made quick work to snatch back her horse, ever wary of the presence of the cloaked figure before guiding him close by, then she dropped to Castor's side, a hand caressing across his face, feeling how cold he was, then resting an ear to his chest as she listened, desperately, for any signs of life- even placing her cheek and ear lightly over his mouth-
Was he breathing?
It was so hard to tell...
Radimir was unafraid of her attacks. Desperate people made dangerous foes but he'd had enough blood shed that night. He swept off the saddle and approached her despite her state and grabbed her shoulders and gave her a fierce shake. "What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?!" he said fiercely. But he could see it plainly in her eyes that she would not leave without the wounded man.
Letting her go, he stepped back and looked down at Castor. "Why? Why are you trying so hard to save him? What is he good for?" he asked, but even he knew in his heart he couldn't let Zarrah try and carry this man by herself. He looked like he nearly weighed two hundred pounds. The most she might be able to do would be drag him through the sands, through blood and bodies.
He would help, but he needed to know why. And more importantly why his chest was beating so hard and desperately when he looked at her.
OOC: Radimir's heart is beating that way because she's not wearing very much clothes, lol
IC:
When he moved to shake her, Zarrah was numb to it, indifferent, and she would have lashed out if he tried anymore. But when he ceased, she crumpled down, wilted overtop of Castor as a few hot tears slipped from her cheeks.
"I have to save him,"s he said simply, bitterly wiping away her tears before she cast the man a vicious glare. "He saved my life more than once. And I owe him far more than that."
Moving to stand, she pulled Castor's heavy arms over her shoulder, struggling with effort to stand. "Now, either help me or get out of the way." She said, her body tense, shaking, beautiful and bloody as she wore barely a thing now after the epic battle-
for the robe that had gained her some decency before, was left in her other hand, still pressing desperately at Castor's wound.
[That's for sure! xD]
Radimir's heart nearly rattled out of his chest, as he watched her try and lift Castor up from the ground. He grit his teeth for she was beautiful and dangerous, desperate and damaged. "Stop," he commanded. "Stop!" And he moved in, pushing her away for a moment. "You'll kill him if you move him like that. You're only making it worse." Radimir grabbed Castor by the shoulder and was powerful enough to lift the heavy man.
Castor was not a giant of a man, anything but, however his size was considerable and Radimir walked over to his horse and threw the man over the saddle, carefully, and climbed up behind him. He pointed on the other horse. "Get on that horse and follow me. I know a safe place for him. Quickly before he bleeds to death."
Zarrah nearly struck the man with her blade at his actions, but fell short, realizing he was trying to help.
Her shoulders fell, appearing wilted, deflated as she sheepishly withdrew her blade. She lowered her gaze, swallowed the knot in her throat and only nodded.
"Thank you." then moved to her horse. She didn't trust this stranger with Castor, but what other choice did she have?S he was worn and ragged and coated well in sticky blood.
But she ignored that and launched herself onto the saddle, then kicked it as she prompted the horse to his side.
"I'll pay you after he lives," she told him, eyes piercing to his sharply. "Lead the way. Let's be quick."
Radimir said nothing to the offer of payment, his eyes only narrowing and he kicked the horse off toward the moon. Daylight would soon rise and he doubted Castor would survive the horror of his wounds before the sun rose. But if he could save his life now, it might be easier to kill him later. The blood-red horse was a powerful beast and pounded hard on the sands, rising high above the dunes, heading east. He was like a machine, seemingly tireless as his nostrils were worn ragged and red. Radimir could only hope Zarrah could keep up.
The cliffs could be seen in the distance and he heard Castor stir over the saddle, groaning as sand was kicked up into his face. That was good. It meant he was still alive. Radimir said something in Essyrni and the horse underneath him rode faster, nothing more than dust in his wake, a quicker charge as the cliffs suddenly spread out before them.
He knew these cliffs as well as she did and when there came a massive chasm before them, when the sand grew dry and gave way to red rock and stone, Radimir pressed his speed and leapt over the chasm in a graceful leap, holding the reins with one arm and Castor with the other. He stopped the horse, dripping with sweat and turning. "Make the jump! It's just over on the other side!" he shouted.
Horse and rider rode black and spirited throughout the night, dust kicking up beneath it's hooves. It proved difficult to keep up, but the woman was determined. But when he made the jump, she found herself in shock, but pressed the horse onward, driving it harder, faster until it too- graced it a jump, sailing across the air and landing heavily beside the other rider.
The horse was choking on the reigns as she calmed it, but ignored it's heavy, choked pants as she turned to Radimir. "Just lead the way."
Radimir did so, kicking the horse into action as it rounded between the cliffs. He was caught in the shade and slowed the horse to a halt, which he responded to in tight responses. Between the cliffs was a small, thin crevice in the stone, just enough space for a man to walk through. Radimir dismounted, leaving Castor on the saddle and procurred a torch from the saddlebags and lit the tinder with a small spark.
"Come," he said to Zarrah. "Hold this and follow." He pulled Castor off the saddle, getting blood all over his own robes and walked through the narrow crevices, leaving the horses outside. "The path is narrow, stay behind me. And keep that torch high." He walked through the darkness with ease and when the cave opened up to a high cieling there was a small camp already made. "Light the fire with the torch and keep it to the side. I'll need all the light I can get."
He set Castor on the ground and pulled the man's tattered shirt over his head and began to work on his wounds. He pulled several strange vials from his belt and procured a piece of leather in which to mix them. As he did so, he said to Zarrah, "There's some water in that skin by the white bundle. Clean his wounds." Radimir bit his lip hard as he looked over to the long bundle wrapped in white, shaped like a body, but said nothing more of it as he went to work.
Zarrah obeyed him every step of the way, feeling her heart pounding heavily within her chest and ears every step of the way. As they moved through the maze-like recess of rock, she kept close, eyes on this stranger, then to Castor. Her heart fluttered coldly. She could only pray he'd survive.
When asked to fetch the waterskin, she silently obeyed, unbinding it from the saddle, only to catch a glimpse of the body shaped bundle as she stood there.
She quickly averted her gaze, trying to make it seem like she hadn't noticed.
Did this man have a dead body on the horse!? ANd if so- Why?
She raised her eyes at Radimir as she approached.
Did this man aim to take two more corpses to match the first?
She swallowed the knot in her throat.
"Shall I use it all?" she asked, the torch flames fluttering around them in a slow, steady dance of light.
"Just enough to clean his stomach. Be thorough and do it quickly," Radimir said as he finished preparing the salve. "It will burn but just a moment. It's not like he's conscious enough to feel the pain." When his cut was cleared of any more filth and blood, Radimir took the leather piece and pressed it over his wound, rubbing it over his stomach until the salve took over.
"Lift his torso," Radimir said and procurred a roll of cloth and wrapped it around his middle. "His other wounds will heal, but this one is the most grievous. It will stop the bleeding for now. But all we can do is wait and see if he awakens."
Radimir stopped and stared at Castor's bloodied face. "He will live though. For now." Radimir felt far too hot in his face wrap and reached up and pulled it off slowly, taking his cloak off as well and laying over Castor's form.
Zarrah obeyed, each minute ticking away like some wretched clock. WHen they were done, she sat back on her heels, staring down with fret and worry straining her face.
Then from the corner of her eyes she noticed Radimir move, slowly unwrapping the binds from his head and his cloak, to then lay them over Castor's form. ANd it was then she noticed his face-
the blonde hair, the swarthy skin, the snake-like slits of his eyes.
Gasping, she instantly drew her blade.
"You're.."s he backed away, then moved forward, almost possessively over Castor.
"You're..." it was hard for her to choke out her words, blade tip pointed at him.
"Why.. why are you helping me?" She spat suddenly, bristling at the notion this man was here and-
What did he plan to do!?
Save them then kill them!?
She bared her teeth.
"Answer me or I swear to god I'll gut you like the pig I left back there, rotting in the sands." she seethed between her teeth, hands shaking as she held her blade.
[I swear Zarrah will be smother Castor to death]
"The better question is, Zarrah, who else was going to help you?" Radimir said, unimpressed. He took the water skin from her and took a long drink, water spilling over his face and rubbing his face. Radimir smiled at her leaning back by the fire, shadows shifting across his face. "An even better question is...why do you want to help this monster so? Look at him. Covered in blood, a beast of burden. He is the burden. He tore my father to pieces no doubt."
Radimir looked away and stared into the flames. "I help you now because what the moment for revenge is not yet upon us. The time will come. But now is not that time. Now put that blade away you silly girl before you hurt yourself."
Zarrah narrowed her gaze upon him, glade glinting off the light before she put it away.
"It makes no sense, if you blame us and want revenge, what point is there in helping us. YOu might as well try to kill us both now."s he challenged, remaining tense beside Castor's form as she studied the flames and shadows lapping wickedly against the snake-eyed man's skin.
He looked feral, like a beast.
She had seen similar traits in Castor- yes, but as she saw it now..
he was just a man, as desperate as she, for freedom...
and now..
Now what of her?
The events had still not caught up to her brain.
Carnavus was dead.
All she cared about now was Castor, who she watched, with a worried frown as he lay, in silent agony upon the ground.
Then her eyes slowly returned to Radimir.
"So.."s he said, slowly approaching him with a dangerous sway of her hips. "What is is that you want?"s he asked, approaching him boldly so that the pair were only but inches away, her face staring piercingly into his, though her eyes were half lidded with sultry, dangerous promise-
"I did, after all, promise you anything in exchange for your help."
And as the Lady of the Desert, she meant it. She just hoped this fool wanted body over blood-
she didn't think she could oblige if he wanted to harm Castor-
and she would not admit Castor had done the deed...
If anything-s he could lie. Say she did it- but it seemed this man appeared to somehow know Castor was responsible..
and there was much more to the man with the metal hands.
Maybe he would simply ask her to kill someone else-
though she had a feeling, there would be more to it than that if he actually took her up on any method of payment.
"Even if we are to be enemies, the desert is a dangerous place and I owe you at least something for obliging my request. After all, you saw the carnage." Her eyes sparkled boldly, almost with pride.
"And yes, we killed them all."
ANd she had to make sure this man realized that it wasn't just the 'animal' who tore those men apart, but her and her deadly blades.
Radimir only felt angered at the insinuation of paying him with her body and his whole body went up in the flame of rage but he steeled himself. Yet his eys betrayed him as they glowed at her and he was forced to look away. Apart of him couldn't resist the but the anger was stronger and he pushed her away. He knew the other man meant something to her, so much more. Radimir bit his lip and got up, walking toward the bundled body, breathing hard and clenching his fists.
She was right, why save them now only to kill them. But the truth was, he only wanted to save her. He knew the whole in his chest could only be made by someone of considerable strength. She couldn't even lift Castor without struggling. The answer to who really killed him was obvious and even if she lied, he knew she'd be wrong. He should kill them now, now that he had the chance. Though Zarrah was dangerous and beautiful...it wasn't to say there weren't other methods of killing them. The water after all was laced with just enough poison to strike the heart of one to took it to their lips directly.
Fortunately for Castor, the water itself just washed away his bloodied wound, and any venom that remained would be cleansed by the salve.
"What kind of man do you take me for? Your body has been used time and again. I can see the traces of it all over you, though you might not know it. There's nothing you could give me that worth taking, except perhaps your life. And the life of your companion. There will be time enough for that later. I want to look into his eyes when i cut him open. A defenseless opponent is not a worthy one," Radimir said, standing by the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.
Castor in his slumber still did not stir, still as a corpse. But warmth did return to his skin. Yet that most likely came from the fire that resided over him. His mind was blanked and he heard the heart beat of something dark. It resonated through him before releasing it from its cold clutch. But that was a long while waiting. Castor could feel nothing more but the cold. It was so cold, he almost could feel snow flutter down on him. There was heart beat in his ears. It wasn't his own. He heard yelling. He heard screaming. A man was chained between four horses and ripped until his limbs separated from his body. Blood painted snow. North. North.
Zarrah stared at him poisonously when he moved away. Standing fully herself, she kept her shoulders straight as her eyes narrowed upon him.
"It's a waste of your efforts. We'll be done here with the deserts once he is well. Then you will never see us again."Turning away from him, she approached Castor, kneeling beside his suffering form with a frown, a hand reaching gently to stroke his cheek. Hot tears stung her eyes.
She had always seen him as so strong..
He couldn't die here..
not like this...
Not when she promised to help him become free.
She remained at his side, ignoring Radimir and just let herself cry as she held his hand, bringing it to her own face, letting the metal palm up her face as she cried.
Then, lowering it, she kissed him softly before moving away.
There was no sense in crying over a man. All she could do now was bide her time and wait.
She took a seat near him, uncertain what to make of Radimir now before finally tossing a gaze his way, but remained silent, not daring to speak first.
The man's limbs were burned until even the bones were ash, blackened as they were. The ashes were buried deep in caverns underground. Sparkling eyes glittered from the darkness, watching as men took the limbless body and sealed it into a tomb. There was a rusted key used to lock the door and runes carved into the stone to keep it from being opened by any and all. The heart beat remained. The relich was somewhere inside.
"The tundra," Castor breathed, finally awake, sitting up. Everything was a blur for him and his eyes focused on nothing, and a pain shot through his body from his gut. "Somewhere in the tundra." He was breathing hard and rubbed his bloodied gauntlets to his head.
Zarrah's heart leaped at the sound of Castor's voice. Moving, she was instantly on her knees by his side. Her eyes strained, moving as if reading him as she drew a hand across the air before him. Her brows came together in worry.
"Castor... shhh.. calm down, you're still injured," she spoke, trying to sooth him. Really, it would do no good for him to rise, but she couldn't help but smile just a little.
If he were speaking, it meant he was alive.
"I've got to get north. It's in the tundra," Castor said, his senses coming to him. But not not yet...this was strange. How could he have had another dream about the next relic even before he had done the ritual for the last one. It was still back at Zarrah's cave. He looked at her intently, a little irritated that she was trying to comfort him.
"We need to get back to your hideout. The other relich. I left it there!" he said desperately. He turned around, hearing Radimir come out from the shadows. He turned to look at the both of them. "What are you doing here?"
"I helped you," he said, laconically. "You would have died uselessly like those other bodies in the sand." Radimir's eyes were hard, staring intently at Zarrah.
Zarrah rose, glaring at Radimir that he dare try to approach. Just because he saved them, did little to make her trust him.
"Yes," Zarrah simply hissed, eyes remaining darkly upon Radimir. "He helped us. And when you are well, we will leave, leave far away from this place. To wherever you want to go. I'm done with the desert. Nothing chains me here any longer." She sneered at Radimir then turned to Castor. "We will go when you can walk again.." she informed him, getting to one knee. "You've lost a lot of blood." And her eyes only softened slightly at the pitiable sight of this sweaty, bleeding, bloody mess of a man, her frown visible on lips and eyes.
Castor glared at her, then Radimir, feeling chained at being so coddled over as if he didn't know what he'd suffered. He needed his space; he wasn't a child. He wasn't going to hurt himself. He did get up, after some moments of imbalance but got up he did and reached for his shirt. though it was torn and in disarray, he managed to slip it over his head without tearing it further.
"I'm ready now. I need that relic," he said matter-of-factly.
Radimir watched them steadily, remaining half in shadow. Castor turned to him, but no words needed to be said as the two men looked at each other and only gave a nod. And Castor begn to walk toward the exit.
Zarrah bared her teeth, angered. Clenching her hands into steeled fists, she rushed after him, halting only when she reached infront of him, eyes going wild.
"What are you a fool!? You could have died!" she spat, venom in her words. "Whatever god awful reason you have to move on can wait. What good will moving through the desert in your condition anyways? You'd just collapse, or worse, die before we even got back to your precious relic." She was growling, positively furious as her blood broiled.
Did this man not care at all for his own well being!? DId he not realize how childish and stupid he was?
"And what does it matter to you?" Castor seethed, through grit bloodied teeth. "This is not your plight! You don't wear these goddamned things! You don't have to worry about it! What do you care?" He beyond livid and moved around her, trying to get by. The truth was, he knew the Beast that held him wouldn't let him go so easily. Zarrah couldn't understand, no matter how she tried. He might die, perhaps if he was closer but his journey was far from over and the life in him was damned only that he might retrieve all of the pieces that he needed.
Radimir stepped forth and looked to Zarrah, "Let him go," he said. "You can't stop him."
Zarrah kept her teeth bared, glaring at the back of Castor's head. When Radimir approached, she struck him hard across the face.
"Don't you tell me what I can or can not do!" her eyes were wild, as livid as the beast of a man that had simply walked passed her. Then she tore away, storming after Castor with such fury that by the time she paused before him at the front of the caven, her eyes were as fiery and wild as the torch flames light.
"You have no idea where you are even going or what you aim to do! Did you forget I made a promise to you?" she said, still seething. "I made you a promise." she growled. "You helped me, and I would accompany you. Or are you too full of yourself that you forgot? Forgot how easily you could have been dead if it weren't for me?"
and her voice snapped, harsh like a whip across the dark entry way, as her chest heaved with heated breath, eyes piercing him like twin, violet daggers full of anger and scorn.
"Stop being so foolish and thinking this is your burden alone! I chose to want to help you, as your friend," and here she hesitated, eyes still burning with rage. "And I thought as something more."
But again, perhaps she was just being stupid with him once again, and the doubt made her even allt he more venomous.
Castor said nothing to her, following the crevice of an entrance and walking back to the horses that waited outside. He was limping just a little but he wouldn't let his wounds get the better of him. Her words went on seeming deaf ears but he refused to let them slow him down or give him pause. As he'd said before in the aqueducts. All they could do was endure.
He approached the horse that she'd rode on and climbed onto the saddle and he looked at her, holding the reins with one arm and holding his gut with the other. "If you were trying to help me, you would get on this saddle and guide me back to your hideout," he said adamantly. No matter what she said, truly this was his burden alone. He needed the other relic before he could venture to the next one. It had to be absorbed into his gauntlets before the next one would even appear.
Radimir showed up behind Zarrah, eyes desperate but biting his tongue nonetheless.
"Gods damn you, Castor!" she shouted, angrily stomping her foot. This man was impossible! Why did he not see his efforts were useless at this point- and that tomorrow was just as good as today? She shook her head.
"Why can't you be reasoned with? Is it so worth your efforts that you might foolishly die if not but to wait another day? We aren't even equipped to travel, let alone in any condition to fight the blazing sun that will rise within the next few hours." She shook her head again. "And if we head back to Carnavas's encampment, if there are any survivors, we would have to face their wrath."
She jutted out her chin. "Is it really worth so much to you that you'd die so blindly? Curse you Castor, stop being a fool and get back inside! "Why risk your life? Or even mine for just one day?"
She grabbed the horse's reigns fiercely.
"And there is no way you'd get back alive. The sun will eat you, the desert all looks the same- how do you even expect to get back there if I refuse to come?"
She stared up at him, eyes strained, afraid that-
what if he would? Would he just abandon her here? In this god foresaken place?
Would everything they had... just be so easily discarded- like that?
As if it were nothing more than rain that lasted only once in the desert- than would be gone forever....
Castor only bit his lip when Radimir stepped forth and offered up a clean water skin from his saddle bags. He looked over to Castor and put it on the saddle bags. "He'll go no matter what, Zarrah," the assassin said looking at her. "It seems there is no choice to be had. I have some supplies you can take. But you'd best be off now if you're to make it." That last sentence was directed at Castor.
"The choice has already been made, Zarrah," Castor said. "Get on the horse if you wat to help. If I leave without you, it is because you have deemed it so. Not me. I want to be done with this place. Your worry is understood, but unnecessary. I will not die. Even if I don't protest it. Get in the saddle."
Zarrah felt bitter and raw.
Turning away, she gave a frustrated scream and tore the supplies from Radimir's hands with little more than a teeth, gritted 'Thanks'. Then away she went, throwing herself onto the back of the saddle after fastening the supplies tight.
She held onto him fiercely, but not without giving Radimir a hauntingly tortured gaze before they would take off into the night.
The gaze stuck with him as he watched them ride off, but not without feeling his eyes burn on their own. It hurt him to watch her leave though he didn't know why but only bit his lip as he returned to the cave. He took his father's body and took the campfire's burning tinders and spread them around his father's body. As they burned round it, Radimir knelt down before him and uttered a prayer to his serpent god, bowing and praying and bowing as the flames at his father's body. And in him burned a resolve to have his revenge. Zarrah said she would leave the desert...both of them. Fire burned in his eyes. His chances were slim. But his revenge would be had. Even if he had to follow them to the ends of the earth.
[feel free to do a time skip just to get them to the cave already]
It was a long, arduous 3 days. Zarrah had remained numb to Castor along the way, not daring to strike up any conversation as her mind reeled over the fact Carnavus was dead. Though she had cried to herself the first night the pair was alone, she steeled herself the other two, and they had made it, somehow the careless, reckless pair made it back to her secret hide way, hidden far in the depths of the golden lands of sand and sandstone.
It was a bitter victory for Zarrah, recalling the past few days events as she lead Castor back inside to her domain, and merely hung back at the door as she swept a hand out for him.
"It should be in there." she siad, the effects finally falling upon her when she realized they would be at another crossroads here-
and part of her feared he'd simply leave it at that-
and leave her here to rot away in resentment and pride.
She kept her eyes averted of his, slowly walking across her room to idly examine the remains inside her room, finding her violet stare coming across the necklace from Rassar that hung across a lonely wall.
She had done it. She hd finally killed Carnavus.
But at what costs?
The deed would never bring Rassar back alive....
Castor searched the cavern for the petrified hand that had become so precious to him, he smiled when he found it and clutched delicately in his hands as if it were a glass jewel. He tucked it by his side and approached Zarrah as his business there was done. "I got it, but I cannot move on just yet. I need to take it an altar of some kind, to absorb it into the gauntlets before I can leave this place."
He didn't expect to ask her of any kind of holy place nearby, and let the moment simmer. Though the journey had been a long one, they'd made it and his stomach had healed fairly well with the salve that Radimir had used. Castor said nothing as he approached Zarrah, looking at the ground.
He only leaned in for a moment and kissed her forehead.
At his approach, she said nothing, merely stared longingly at the necklace of her long dead love. There was a haunting sorrow in her eyes, and when he kissed her, she tensed and felt numb to it. Turning away, she did not bother to look into his eyes as she approached the necklace, removing it from the walls with a sigh. Then slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes took in her surroundings before slipping the necklace around her neck. Touching the frail metal piece in her hand, she lifted it to her lips and kissed it, closing her eyes as she knelt down in silent prayer.
It would be the last time she'd remain here in her home-
she didn't aim on coming back, even if Castor cast her away. Frankly, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do- and couldn't shake the hollow feelings she felt.
All of the destruction, the despair left in her wake...
What was it all for?
And what of Castor?
Were they always to be at ends when something so important, so grave was brought forth?
She wasn't sure if she could continue loving a man who was so reckless with his own life that it lead consequences to her own. And she began to wonder why she had fallen for him, and brushed away a hasty, hot tear that had betrayed her, slipping down her cheek.
No, Castor was no Rassar. She should not even try to compare him but....
They had their own sort of love, or so she wanted to believe it, had to...
Rising, she finally turned to him.
"This will be the last time I ever set foot here. If.. you see supplies you want, take them. I have no more use for this place, or this desert."
And with that, she simply walked away, moving over to kneel before another chesta nd throwing it open, only to find herself staring down at Rassar's clothings, and a few other things of his that had remained.
She could only recall their dream, the memory of a kiss and...
the burning promise of a new life.
Now the new life she set out for made her feel hollow, empty and bitter.
Castor looked away, to the sunlight outisde. He smiled to the sun, happy to finally be free of this wretched place. And furthermore he was glad Zarrah had finally resolved to leave as well. There was nothing for either of them here anymore and it had been a long and arduous journey, far more than Castor had anticipated. But it was over and for a moment he could rest easy.
Castor leaned against the entrance, keeping his eyes to the sun, smiling. "No, there's nothing I need to take. I'm just glad that I got it. It's almost too hard to believe such a wretched, gnarled looking thing could be such a pain."
Castor smiled to her, watching her clutch the pendant around her neck, glad she had something to hold on to.
OOC: LOL
I love that Castor is so happy and Zarrah is all EMO QUEEN
XD
But womens will be womens >>
IC:
"Well, since we didn't kill the horse, we can carry as much as it can hold." Sighing, she turned back to him, studying him at the door way. His smile only lifted her spirits temporarily, but a sense of self satisfaction was still lost to her. Sighing, she raised from the chest and turned to him.
"Rassar had a lot of supplies. If you want, you can take whatever you need. Though, there isn't much to offer. BUt this chest contains what had been his." She shrugged, then moved over towards another chest, picked at the lock, then threw it open.
Staring inside at the treasures within, she sighed again and began to dig through all of the memories of her past- taking only what would not cement her to this place.
Weapons, of course, money too, clothing.. for she had many costumes and the one she had been wearing was positively filthy, despite the small bath they had on the way over. A few water skins and blankets were then folded neatly to one side. She even found a few sacks they might be able to use.
"I'd like to clean up, pack what I can, then be out of this place." She turned to him, raising her brows before moving away.
He knew the usual spot.
if he wanted to join her- it was just as well.
But she wasn't about to wait around as she slipped off to the cold stream, stripped herself of all clothing and let her body soak after scrubbing sensual oils all over herself to rid her of the scum of travel and the sand between the cracks, her mind drifting farther and farther away into this surreal dream as she lay back, letting the oils slowly drift away from her honey-glossed skin-
and it was strange...
but in the faint sunlight that cracked inside the underground river source..
parts of her body and hair seemed to sparkle with gold.
But all she was concerned about was the single, simple idea that....
She was free.
She was free.
And there was no looking back.
He came to her then, out from behind her. His hands were cold and steely but soft and tender. They reached out for her, gently ghostly over her waist before becoming firm there. They wrapped around her as his head caressed her neck there with a gentle kiss. He didn't say anything but stayed out of her sight, moving his head to kiss the nape of her neck, then around to the otherside.
"I'm sorry, Zarrah," he whispered into her ear, a voice soft and tantalizing. "You were right. And I put myself and you in danger. I'm sorry." His lips lingered to her ear and kissed her earlobe as he whispered another apology to her.
His hands roved over her belly down to her legs then back again, holding her close to him. But the man that held her was now was not Castor though he may have looked like him. Radimir would have his revenge...no matter the cost.
OOC: And the plot thickens
Also, mature trigger warning |8*
IC:
She had been enjoying the moment alone, eyes and mind closed off to the world in a moment of solitude and away from her own duress. It was when he reached her, hands and lips so tender that she melted to his touch. ANd his words, making her heart beat inside her ears. She released a breath as his hands roamed her naked flesh, before turning to him and reached lips to mouth as she pressed. No words need be spoken, for her lips and body spoke of her need.
She needed a man now more than ever, and took whatever it was she could get, as her lips crashed hungrily against his, passion heating through her veins.
"I don't care," she whined, hungrily, lips massaging his as she breathed. "Just make love to me. Give me at least that." She panted, pleaded. "I just I need to forget, I need to just feel you."s he said, hands pressing against his hard form as she gasped and rubbed herself against him as sex met to sex. She shivered. He was hard and ready, just as she needed him to be. Even still, she lowered herself before him, shoving his sex into her mouth as she lapped and sucked on it hungrily, almost swallowing him whole until she'd hear him whimper. Then she'd tear her lips away, pushing him back into the waters, her body on top of his, mounting, needing, wanting his sex.
Once she had him pinned in the shallows, her teeth dug into her ear, hot breath whispering against him as the cool waters lapped around their bodies.
"Gods, Castor, I need you to take me now." she begged, despite her sex lapping at his hungrily, slicking it with her ready sex, she did not take him, rather she guided his hand to her hip and waited with a husky moan.
"Make me scream."
The man that was not Castor's breath hitched to everything she did to him, gasping at her every contact. Fire burned not only all over his body but deeply inside his chest, a strange mixture of love and hate at the beauty before him. There was something in being wanted, in being taken so as he was, but he knew there was more to it. He wanted her like he'd never wanted another woman before and to have her there, at each other's mercy.
Radimir groaned loudly as she swallowed him whole and he nearly lost his balance. A loud moan escaped his mouth as she sucked on him. The warmth of her mouth as she took in his length was nearly overwhelming and he almost lost control with the way her tongue massaged along his member, swirling around him and providing ample pressure with her lips. His hands held her head there and he leaned back, catching himself before his knees buckled and when she drew him to the wall, he stared at the hunger in her eyes. And he couldn't help but feel bereft when she uttered Castor's name instead of his. But he said nothing of it and guided the illusion of metal hands to her hips. He didn't care what she called him, he only knew that he loved her and wanted her and his lips came smashing possessively to hers, devouring her whole as his hips undulated hard against hers.
He was flexible and every stroke more powerful than the last, wanting to hear her pant in his ear, to hear her cry out from his motion. He turned over mid motion and pulled her up easily off the ground, crushing her to the wall, readjusting her legs to wrap tighter around him. His heart rattled against his ribcage in madness, but all he could see was red as he looked at her and kissed her hard, biting her lip with venom.
"I love you, Zarrah. I want you," he breathed in exhalation against her, thrusting hard, grinding hip to hip. "Tell me you love me. I need to know." He wanted to hear the words...even if she didn't call him by his true name.
OOC: More mature stuff :U
IC:
That's all she wanted to hear. Gods, it's all she needed as she spread her legs out ever more willingly for him as they fucked. Body to Body. Soul crashing into soul. Lips smacking to lips.
ANd it was a different sort of feel, a different sort of sensation that became her as his length hammered inside her again and again and again. And she cried, smiling as she screamed his name.
"Gods, yes. You already know I love you, you fool!" she screamed, voice ripping from her throat as she moaned and bucked along with him, despite the wall tearing at her skin. "Gods.." her eyes fluttered closed as she gripped onto him needingly, becoming lightly drunk and tingly from his venom.
"I'm just so glad you finally told me," she moaned, she whined, she smiled.
He was so wild, like an animal, and his angles so pleasing. And it was just about all she could stand. She never came this quickly before, nor desired it as needingly as she did now, but her muscles clamped tightly around his length, groaning as she asked him to pause, to cease his constant fucking as she gripped onto his hips tightly and began to shove his length deep within in one solid, gripping motion. Her finger nails were nearly tearing into his backside, never wary of his wounds or her own, only caring but the carnal desire that needed sated, and needed sated now.
ANd then, with a husky look at his eyes, her body began to rock possessively against him as she screamed out in ecstasy, moaning his name as it echoed into the cave, her sex pulsating with a heated, maddening rush around him; a soft, sensual, velvet cream. Then she shivered, falling against him in a gasp of wonderous, whimpering, moaning breaths.
And as he was cradled deep inside her, she shivered again, melting against him as her lips met his before she smiled, hair a mess over one eye. Then she kissed him again.
"Tell me again."s he panted."Tell me, show me how much you love me."
After all, it was his turn to feel the same sensation she had of him.
It was only fair both in this pair of lovers got to play at this game of love and breed.
"Take me how you always wanted to take me," she told him, smiling as she leaned in, cupping his face and drinking of his lips. Never once realizing the man she was fucking was another. Only knowing it felt like the most amazing thing in all of the world.
Radimir's throat was hoarse from cries of his own and slumped over her as he climaxed, holding her form as if it were little more than an extention of his own. He feared the magic that disguised his face would fade from the sweat and tumultuos heat that pulsated all through out him. But was relieved it hadn't when he peered down at the steel that remained encased on his hands. He only cared that he was making love to her, that had nitched herself into his mind, into his hate, into his love.
Adurim's death had been her fault as well, though she may not have been the one to deliver the killing blow. These thoughts were only brief in his mind and he pushed any the lingered, wanting to hold onto this moment with her. Radimir suckled on her neck for a moment before smiling against her. His knees finally did buckle, and he knelt there at the edge of the pool, feet in the shallow ends, still within her.
He turned his head to face her. "I felt like I've known you my whole life," he breathed, heart still trying to contain itself. "And I've only been waiting to meet you. But I'm glad I did. I love you, I know I do. Your conviction, sense of survival. We haven't known each other long...but I didn't need to know to know how I feel. Yet it only took me til now to realize it...to say it to you," he said. Though he was sore all over, he ached to have her again, body slick with her oils and sweat.
He took her again, his body over hers, slower this time, taking his time, undulating his hips. But he made sure to hold her close so that she could not see his face. His teeth sunk into her shoulder, hungry, demanding all of her all over again. His motions turned to rage and he was rough and savage, kissing her with teeth and tongue and possessioin beyond possession. And in his rage, the magic slowly began to fade, his hands going from steel to flesh, but only hoping that she'd become too lost in the sensations to notice it. Even then his hair slowly began to change back, becoming blonde instead of auburn.
But he kept his head to her shoulder, so that she couldn't see his face. He only hoped she could know that he loved her...and perhaps that might be all that mattered.
~~
Without, Castor had fallen asleep, deaf to the sounds that came from within the cave. But something startled him, small and sharp piercing his neck. He awoke with a start but was unable to speak. His vision became blurred and a five shapes appeared in the sunlight, before his vision became black once more.
OOC: Continual of mature content :U
IC:
Zarrah shivered when she felt the rush of his hot seed inside her, even gasped so satisfyingly. Then the two had fallen into the waters as she laughed so happily it echoed like music against the air.
But then he spoke, his words...
they seemed to strange to her as her heart swelled and her brows pressed together in confusion. BUt did it matter if it all made sense? And that his voice may have even sounded strange?
No, of course not, all that mattered was he and her- and that they were together, and that he was inside her- claiming her as his own.
And he turned positively savage, and she became so lost int he moment, letting her body cradle his desire as she arched up into him, giving a wanton breath as he drove in harder and harder and harder still. Her nipples were so erect, her body so slick with sweat, her hair fanning around them in liquid black streams as he took her, again and again and again. Her chest heavy, body flushed- shimmering with the faint glow of gold.
"Gods.. you're so wild.."s he told him, holding his blond hair to her shoulder. "Gods, oh Castor.." and she felt herself become swollen, as did he, and she moved her sex, moved that muscle to nurse at the burning sensation within- building it up, not feeling the changes as pure hands roamed and groped and held her body, and sweet kisses, venom tongue, sharp teeth bit into her flesh.
All she knew was that she was his in that moment, gripping his hair, bucking her hips and crying out, eyes going wide as she began to cum, and she road it out, gasping, bucking, breasts heaving and bounding about until then- in the middle of it all, her face twisted as she met her eyes to his, surprised to see the man she was still fucking, cumming heavily against had not been Castor at all...
but the strange man with snake slits for eyes-
And he was handsome but wicked and his sex so deep inside her that the confusion sent her into another whirl as she rolled her eyes back inside her head and screamed out, cumming hard than she ever had before- writhing, needing, clutching him suddenly as he'd feel her muscle spasm uncontrollable from the lust.
and then beneath him she collapsed breathing heavy, breathing wild, staring at him.
"What- why... we.." was all she could sputtered, cheeks so hot they burned, body so sensitive she almost itched for more, but in the same breath, her body curled inside, fluttering at this new sensation that-
She had just fucked the snake man. The man who sought to kill them-
Had this been his plan?
And why was it all she wanted to do was to go at it again?
The danger of the situation heated her, and he'd be able to feel it as her cheeks burned as she bared her cheeks at him.
"Wh-why are you here!?" she demanded, sitting up, but not bothering to remove his sex from her, rather, to stare at him with wild violet eyes that asked so much but did very little.
Gods.. and the sex was...
She didn't even want to begin to think of it as cold remorse shivered through her-
She had always had sex with men- but now she had only been giving herself to Castor-
but now what?
Castor had never loved her- never claimed to..
but now this-
What sort of trickery was this!?
She had wanted it, but hated him all the same as tears pierced her eyes-
She thought Castor had loved her- and here she had been duped!
Duped and loved every blissful moment of it!
"Is.. is this what you came back for?" she asked, growing defensive. "For your.. payment?"
IF so, she'd readily oblige but..
why all of the play? Why pretend to be Castor?
Castor- then her eyes went wide.
What of him!? Was he ok?
The magic ceased to be, he knew it from her reaction, but it didn't stop him from moaning against her in return as she came yet again. And upon her reaction, he knew he had been discovered and was surprised to find that she had not pulled away. But the fire in her reaction he knew she was less than pleased with the discovery. Radimir's eyes searche hers, frowning just a little as he held her fast to him.
"Zarrah, I-I..." was all he could manage amidst the questions and confusion that spurred through his mind. But his expression turned all the more determined. "Payment? No...no... I-I didn't want payment. I would never accept this kind of payment. I wanted you! I-I still do. I love you."
Radimir moved his hands to her face and tried to kiss her, but knew the ruse was up. His eyes burned with a venom of their own. He held her face hard in his hands, his jaw clenching, trying to contain the fury burning inside. "I want to make you mine... But in the end, somebody will pay. I just hope it won't be you," he said. "I didn't lie. My feelings are true. But there will be blood."
And with that he kissed her hard and wrapped his arms tightly around her and when his lips had their fill, he crashed his head hard enough into hers, to knock her out cold.
Zarrah tried to pull away, she had tried to protest it but-
"What- what are you talking about?" Was he insane? but then she grew angry. So many men fell in love with her. Her body, a tool, a work of pure pleasure and bliss to all of men's senses-
And then he snuffed her out again, kisses forcing her breath to well inside as she tried to push him angrily away, only to gasp when he did- then to fall into darkness into the cold, cavern stream.
Her body lay against his, the soft ends of her hair floating lightly upon the water's surface-
Radimir pulled away from her after much reluctance and cleaned himself of their sex. He surprised himself as he bathed, he actually felt bad about what he'd done. Well, not so much in what he'd done but how he'd gone about it, and regretted washing the scent of her away from him. He dried himself and dressed before moving to find something more suitable for her to wear as well, something simple and easy to put on, and scooped her body up into his arms.
"I'm sorry, Zarrah," he said, biting his lip. "But honor demands blood. But if I can spare yours, I will." He took her then from the cave. His men were already waiting for him outside with the cart and within seconds they vanished into the desert.
Hours passed before Castor awoke. He couldn't feel or move his body but he was very much alive. Darkness took his sight as he lay upon the stone slab. He looked all around him, nothing but darkness until a lone torch was lit at the center of the room. His arms and legs were bound with thick powerful chains. "Zarrah?" he asked, but the echo told him he was the only one in the room. And most likely the only one that could hear him.
And similar to Castor, Zarrah would find herself awakened alone and in the dark.
When Zarrah awoke, her head was throbbing as well as her body and when she tried to move, she was surprised when she felt the tight metal around her wrists and ankles. She tried to move, all the good it did her as she fell back down in a frustrated heap. Peering this way and that, she tried to make sense of where she was, but all she could tell was she was in some room very dark, and the rock bed they had laid her upon was hard. She shifted again, the long, thin black material of her falling off one leg to expose her golden, tanned thigh. That's when she peered down. Her gown appeared like midnight, clothed loosely around her body where it hung like drapes from one shoulder to the next, and the second piece hanging look from the tops of her hips, where it was composed of two slits- one piece of dress it he front, now bunched between her legs, the other folding beneath her in a long cascade.
She also wore a thin, black veil across her mouth- and was curious as to why she was dressed in such ornaments whens he heard a noise-
a soft hiss and grew still.
Her eyes peered intot he darkness again after it went quiet.
She lifted her head.
"Is .. is somebody there?"
But nothing.
Silence.
Torches grew alit at the question and a strange woman garbed in a scaled, revealing robe approached her, with two others in her likeness following behind her. They stood at the wall, their hoods down. "I am Kavari," she said. "The Master has decreed that you are to be prepared for proper assessment." The woman held in her hand a tray filled with jewels and paints and placed the tray on a stool beside her.
She took a dagger from the tray, a sleek blade of silver and proceeded to cut open the belly part of her gown revealing her stomach to the all in the room. "Be still, please. This will only take but a moment," Kavari explained before she took out a small stencil and began to draw symbols upon her belly.
In Castor's chamber, it was Radimir that stood before him though he wore a hood that concealed most of his face except perhaps his lower jaw. he looked down at Castor with a great deal of disdain. "Do you know why you're here?"
Castor was silent for a while. "You're going to kill me."
"Not so easily," Radimir explained slowly. "Blood was taken from this Order. Sacred blood. And the only way to cleanse that wound is to pay with blood. And that blood will be yours, as payment for the blood you have taken. You cannot move, there is not use in fighting it. You will be prepared for the ritual."
"Ritual?"
"To be fed to the god Na'gazhok. Blood for blood."
"Where is Zarrah?" Castor demanded suddenly feeling panicked.
"Don't worry about her. She will be safe. For now."
"If you hurt her I swear I'll..."
"Rip my heart out of my chest?"
"What?"
"I know it was you, Castor. I know it was you. But don't fear. I will try to make this as quick and painless as possible."
When the torches came, her eyes burned at the sensation as she squinted, barely making out the forms before her. Then when her vision restored, she blinked and stared at the hooded women. Her eyes narrowed as they neared her and she fought against the chains.
"What are you doing!?" she demanded, arms and limbs fighting furiously. "What is this place? Where's Castor? Where's that foul snake man, Radu? Where's-" and it was here they gestured for her to be silent as they drew a blade across her belly, ripping open her garb.
She was panicked for a moment, but her heart fluttered in relief to realized she had not been cut.
but then she winced as the cold paint was worked at, coating her body before the rest of her clothing was parted aside, and her entire body was decorated in the decadent scales of their patron goddess- all the way up to her lips-
and it was only after the incense that burned lulled her did she stop fighting and made their task easy-
as she fell away into a stupor, eyes unable to focus- world going to blurs of wicked shadows and grey.
Whens he was done, her body was limply clothed in the former dress- and from head to toe, she was covered in ornate scales and decorations of their serpent deity. The woman Kavari smiled at the presentation.
"She is beautiful." she murmur. "I can see why Radimir loves her." She stared at the woman fondly, caressing her soft black hair before turning to the other women. "Now, snuff out the incense and let us be on with this." She smirked and turned back to Zarrah. "The ritual can finally begin."
Stone slid upon stone as the room began to shift, much like the ruins of the temple that held the wretched gnarled relic. The servants all stood on the side of Zarrah, Kavari in the middle as she smiled and kept her eyes ahead. The wall she looked at parted, gears moving it aside. The torches shifted themselves and the room began to move foward, or at least the panel that held the stone slab did.
The same happened in Castor's room, Radimir stood with two other men still beside him. And as the panels slid outward, in glowing torchlight amidst the darkness, they were taken out to an open chamber, wide and broad with no apparent light beyond a large center pedestal. And upon that pedestal was a large serpent, so massive it took on the size of three hundred men. It had four arms underneath a broad cobra-hood. And the jeweled eyes glowed in hunger, flashing red, then green.
"This is the sanctuary," Radimir explained, stepping away as the panel moved, balancing on it expertly. "One of them anyway. And the god you see before you is the god of all serpents, all vipers. Her hunger must be sated for she is the devourer of all things. And you will be those things she so eagerly hungers for."
"Prepare the serpents," Radimir said, when the panels reached the center pedestal. He stepped off of it and stood before the massive statue, looking up at it, staring it in the eyes.
Before the stone slabs, were large buckets of snakes. Kavari and one of the male acolytes each procured these buckets and grabbed the largest snake that was coiled inside. They stared into the eyes of the creature as each was poised erect, ready to strike. They mesmerized the animals before placing them between the legs of each of the sacrifices. The serpents would determine who was the worthier of the two.
But in the end, Radimir thought, it didn't matter which would bleed. The statue's eyes glowed brighter in hunger.
OOC: IT's the hour of.. SPECIAL POSTS
and this one is slightly mature~
IC:
Zarrah watched as the room changed and transformed, though was still cast in wicked shadows. After the place settled, the noises echoing harshly across the dark, she peered over, gasping to notice Castor faired the same as she- both strapped to heavy stone slab beds.
Gritting her teeth, she tried to call out to him.
"Castor!" But to no avail, as she watched in horror as cloaked figures presented wicker baskets that hissed wickedly in the dark.
Zarrah's eyes went went the moment she felt the pile of cold serpents drop upon her body, slither across her nearly naked form as snakes swept between the valleys of her breasts, slid across her erecting nipples and curled around the skin of her thighs.
Her cheeks flared hot, then cold as she shivered as the snakes moved all around her, a thriving form of dark, cold creatures with tickling tongues, coming alive against the wicked torch flames that barely illuminated them as they crawled up her skin, up her body as one curled across her face.
Panicked, she didn't know what to do- and grew tense the moment she felt one between her skirts and press light at the sensitive area between her legs. SHivering, she released her breath, just as another nasty critter crawled and moved across her face.
Shit! What were they supposed to do!?
And before she knew it, a snake rose up before her face, hissing and snapping at the air, baring it's fangs at her, while another three rose up and did the same, all glaring at her with glowing, yellow eyes. And she was powerless beneath their gaze...
Yes.. holy shit..
what were they supposed to do!?
OOC: omgerrrrrrd, snaaaaaakes
"Zarrah?" Castor asked, only able to turn his head to her. He could see her quite plainly in the dark even through the dim lighting of the torches that surrounded the panels that had slid upon iron rails over a bleak empty chasm below. But his attention suddenly became more focused on the serpentine idol that had had been erected on the large pedestal at the center. The eyes flickered between red and orange and yellow.
"Master," Kavari said to Radimir. "Something is wrong. The snakes. They cannot decide."
"Then Na'gazhok must have his fill first," Radimir replied. "The man first. The woman second. Pull the chains."
"Yes, Master," Kavari bowed her head before going behind the pedestal and activating a switch. Something clicked inside the stone slabs that held them. Castor could see the binds holding him suddenly begin to move from their bearings as stone shifted open and the chains were released from the stone. Though shackles remained around his ankles, Castor's limp form was suddenly pulled up from the slab, hanging on a rail that slid him forth, hidden gears silently cranking, as the pulled him toward the statue. Castor couldn't feel his body...except for the flesh on his back. His shirt was torn away from him, snakes falling to the ground. And the same was done for Zarrah.
His shirt was torn from his back, revealing the massive scar he held there, an X embedded into him, almost branded. Radimir was taken aback by the amount of damage the man had already suffered. Better had he paid with his life for that suffering, he thought. Radimir pulled the whip from underneath his robe, tossing the hood from his head and the sinister, eager whirl of the whip as he tested its tenacity before letting it loose. He made sure to attach the barb at the end. He would make sure Castor could feel every lash as it ground into his flesh.
And then he let loose, right, then left, pausing between each as Castor's scream echoed throughout the entire chamber. It was blood curdling, enough to wake the dead.
Zarrah watched in horror as Castor's body quickly ran with blood, her skin paling as her stomach lurched from seeing him in so much pain. she gritted her teeth, flinching at every crack of the whip before she began to cry out for his mercy-
"STOP IT! STOP HARMING HIM! STOP IT! YOU'll KILL HIM!" She roared, frantically straining against her chains. "YOU ANIMAL! LET HIM GO! STOP THIS MADNESS NOW!!!"
At Zarrah's interference, Radimir suddenly turned his vengeance upon her. Here she was again, trying to save a man that deserved to die, that deserved to have the life ripped out of him much in the same way his own father's had been. He wanted to whip the flesh off of Castor's back. Castor's face was already riddled with so much sweat and tears from the pain, he whimpered like a dog as he hung from the rails.
Radimir turned to Zarrah, eyes desperate, pleading, but nothing short of enraged as he brought the whip swirling around his head and moved to lash her back as well. His jaw hurt from being clenched so hard. But the punishment had only yet to be begin.
"You beg for his life. He's the real monster. He's the animal. He's the beast. You fight for him, why? WHY? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" he shouted, not giving her a moment's rest to answer as he whipped her back harder, before turning back to Castor, whose large body trembled at the sound of the whip whirling yet again.
And it dug, flailing flesh until it was shredded and torn.
When the whip took to her, she cried out, sound piercing the air-
and then again and again he struck, pain bursting from her body was welts bleed across her body, rivering it down in silent, slick streams-
but it was Castor who looked worse for wear, his entire body lacerated and appearing nothing but red.
She turned to him, sobbing, clenching her teeth.
"YOU!" she cried, finding the strength again, despite the strain in her throat and jaw. "YOU'RE THE REAL MONSTER! THE REAL ANIMAL!" and she struggled again, more violently and viciously than before. "LET US GO OR I SWEAR TO YOU I'LL KILL YOU IN MY NEXT LIFE!"
Radimir did stop, but not because Zarrah had requested it. Her venom was understandable but threats went on deaf ears. He turned to the statue presented the whip before it. Radimir sighed before speaking to Zarrah, though he did not face her. "I suppose the same could be said of all men," Radimir said. "But we do what we have to do because as mortals...what other choice do we have? We are but maggots crawling on this world's face, insects called the human race." He bowed his head in both shame and reverence.
His hands wrapped around the slick leather braid and wrung it out into the offering altar below. The amount of blood on it was thick and deep, nearly filling the entire 'bowl'. The statue's eyes fluctuated again from red or orange, then glowed a deep, deep red, satisfied with blood drawn from both. Torches were pulled from two stands and laced across the backs of both Castor and Zarrah to cauterize the wounds and stop most of the bleeding before their bodies were shifted and turned to face each other.
The largest of the serpents stayed near the panels and slithered closer, then each reached up and wrapped around both Castor's and Zarrah's legs respectively, wrapping around their bodies.
"The decision will now be made," Radimir said. But as he watched he was tense as the serpent that coiled around Zarrah reached her to look at her face to face. It's eyes glittered the choice clear. But both snakes were ready. The first one struck Castor, biting him deep on the shoulder and he cried yet again, a fresh scream different than being struck by the whip. It let its fangs go and fell from his body, the gaping wound apparent.
As the second one lunged for Zarrah's face, Radimir's eyes went wide filled with horror. But in a lightning flash, he launched the whip out at the serpent, striking the animal with such precision and velocity that the lash severed the head of the serpent and it fell dead to the ground before. The acolytes gasped around him, but it was Kavari that stepped forward, grabbing his arm with venom, horrified at what he'd done.
"What are you doing!?" she cried.
Radimir pulled away. "Let him be satisfied with one!" Sweat rolled down his face, as it was splattered with blood, but his eyes were hot with tears. He blinked them away and looked at the both of them, almost helpless and manic. "There's blood enough in one! If he get's angered, so be it."
"Master, you know not what you do!"
"Neither do you," Radimir said, when he suddenly heard a chain snap and he turned to watch Castor freeing his bound feet, feeling coming back to his body, already his veins turning black with venom. But in moments of desperation a man might be capable of just about anything.
And for some reason, Radimir smiled.
Zarrah glared daggers at Radimir as he went on with his ceremony, seeming to ignore her as she growled at him. Yes, loathing and hate filled her eyes so hotly, tears began to prickle and waver her vision. But she said nothing, since all of her hate would go on def ears as the ceremony continued and snakes brought forth, a slithering motion of a great, large black one curling up her leg, then slithering slowly, back and forth up her body were it poised, tongue flickering before it opened it's mighty fangs. Her eyes went wide iwth fear, and she heard, with alarm, Castor's scream.
"Castor!" she said, but then gasped as the other snake, the one hovering just above her face, moved in to strike- only to be split in half by the quick crack of a whip. Her eyes went wide, then turned over towards Radimir and growled at him, shaking against the chains that confined her as she screamed hatefully towards him-
and then she heard something snap, her eyes darting to-
"C-Castor!?" were the drugs wearing off? He had seemed to be lulled before- and she knew what strength he possessed- was he coming around?
"CASTOR!"s he cried, hoping to rouse him as bitter hot tears fell down her face. She struggled forward, body taunt against the chains as she cried his name again, "CASTOR!!! IF you're in there, or even the demon that haunts you, kill them, kill them all!"S he cried, her voice terrible and wicked and desperate and dark-
Even if she was calling out help to the devil inside, she was still damned- and she wanted Radimir to suffer that same damnation.
Castor had broken his chains, at least the ones around his feet. The acolytes knew not what to do. Only Radimir stood, arms slipping the robe off his body, letting it pool to the floor as he watched, waited for the man to break the rest of his bonds. Even if he succeeded in breaking them - which from the look so if it, it was an absolute certainty - his blood still coursed with poison that was slowly but surely eating away at him. This was not a 3-day venom. It would act quickly if he did not.
"Call the others," Radimir said, pulling his sword from its sheathe and grinning as Castor regained his senses, finally breaking free and dropping into a heap on the ground. He was woozy, blood rushing to his limbs. And he looked at Radimir with burning eyes. "What...what have you done to me?" he coughed, kneeling on the ground.
"Given you the same courtesy you gave my father," Radimir answered, unafraid. Perhaps foolishly so.
"Let-let...Zarrah go. You can have me. Just let her go."
Radimir paused and turned to look at her as she hung. He turned back. "I-I didn't want to hurt her. But as a man you understand taht there are times when you cannot question the duty set before you. All you can do is complete it. I will let her go. But not now."
Castor's face was red as poison coursed through him but he fought to stand anyway and lunged at Radimir, who dodged it easily, and watched Castor clumsily fall to the ground. "The only antidote is fire," Radimir said softly and kept his distance. "Cleansing by fire."
Castor got to his feet just as five acolytes returned in addition to the five that were there, having ran up the stone steps that curled around the pedestal to the darkness below, weapons readied in hand. They surrounded him, Castor woozy still. But Radimir knew...sensed that something terrible was going to happen. And the only regret he had was that he could not tell his men that their god had already abandoned them. And that destruction would come in the form of this man in the steel gauntlets. In fact, to speed it along, Radimir walked behind the statue and unlocked another switched that released Zarrah of her bonds.
He could not stop the fall of his Order, so he may as well enjoy it.
Zarrah continued to struggle uselessly against her bonds, struggling with such anger and rage and desperation, that when the bonds were suddenly freed- she released such a noise that it pierced the air with haunting beauty. The woman crumpled hard at her knees, her limbs tingling and numb as she flinched, baring her teeth.
But then she slowly raised her head- slowly realized the chaos was about to swallow them-
and was first to make her move.
Tearing across the ground with a ferocity only seen by animals, and this woman so torn and worn by desperation, that she cared not she had no powers of strength of her own, no weapons about her for her defense as she threw herself at the first man, dodging swift his sickle-like weapon that swung high over her head, as she kicked heavily at his gut, then arm, twisting her her own arm around his weapon one as he began to stumble, catching him in mid fall before her elbow connected to his shoulder, forcing his arm to stiffen from the blow as his weapon clattered to the floor...
and just as the two men surrounding her were about to join in to attack, she hefted up the man, tossing him at the two that approached to slow their progression as she drew up the crooked weapon and held it forward, poised and ready- eyes burning, promising death.
Castor took two men at once, crashing their heads together, his senses coming quicker to him. He moved toward the altar, remembering the relic as the chaos began. Two men dead, two more down, and a hundred more coming. Castor only vaguel registered Zarrah fighting as she gained a weapon into her hads.
He moved toward the altar, men flailing at him. He ripped one in half and set his body upon the offering bowl where his blood had been wrung out in. He attempted to begin the ritual, pulling out the gnarled hand when he dropped it suddenly, Kavari holding a spear and lunging at him with it. Castor held the spear in his iron grip and yanked it from the woman with ease before flipping it around and throwing it through her. It peirced into her heart and she dropped dead on the ground.
"Zarrah," Castor screamed. "Get out of here!"
He took three more men, smashing his fists into their ribs and through their bodies and launching them over the ledge. He looked around, searching for Radimir and seeing the man heading toward the steps that led down on the pedestal. "Zarrah! Get him!"
Her blade cleaved through several men, blade dripping hot and red. And she only abandoned it when she found a more suitable sword, short and wicked, and a spear- that of which she grabbed at the very moment Castor shouted to her to get going - and then a breath later- commanded her to make chase.
Following his gaze, her eyes narrowed dangerously upon him as she readied the spear and hurled it towards him, it sinking sharply into the few steps before him before clattered down the stone path-
and without hesitation and adrenaline rushing inside her ears like a drum, she rushed forward after the man with a vengeance, readying her blade to slice the viper man to pieces. It didn't take long for her to catch up, as she leaped down from above onto the stairs behind him in a tumbling spin, then landed in a crouch, blade ready as she stared him down, lips curling back in a snarl.
"How do you want to die?" she asked him, stalking forward with bold, lethal intent, blade ready and itching for blood.
Radimir knew she would make chase; it's what he would have done as well. Radimir turned to look at her when she held her weapon out to him, ready to pierce into him. He had one foot raised on a step higher and another on a lower step. Though he had his weapon out, his eyes were unafraid and he held the falcata at a low point. He actually smiled at her, but it was a lost, hopeless smile and he took a step down.
"Like a proper warrior," Radimir said honestly. He looked her squarely in the eyes. "But before you do, answer me this. Why did you kill Carnavus? What did he take from you that was worth taking his life?"
Though he was no longer afraid of her, Radimir kept his distance, eyes boring into her with an unshakable intensity.
"What does it matter to you what he took from me?" she snarled, approaching fast, sword ready. "All that matters is you tried to kill us, and I'm going to make good on that promise of death, you damnable man! You should have killed us when you had the choice, now you've set me over the edge and I'll never forgive you for deceiving me," she hissed, dark eyes blazing. "I am not a woman to be toyed with any longer! I am not some woman to be made a fool! Now taste my blade, you wretched man, while I gut you like the pig you are!" Her eyes narrowed, chilling like death. "You are no better than that damned man Carnavus."
Blinded by her hate, she struck out at him- aiming to cut him hard, across the chest. And to her- she had twisted Radimir into Carnavus, and would stop at nothing to slay him.
The empty heart, the broken torment, the deception, the sex...
All of it amounted to nothing but the fiery desire to kill...
The poison of revenge.
"It matters," Radimir said calmly, remaining so despite the clear and present danger right in front of him. When she swooped in for the attack, he easily parried diverting her blow away from him and countering by dropping a leg just below her a knee and shoved her over, taking three more steps away from her. But he made no move to assault, focusing more on defense even if she came closer to him. Still his eyes were intense, filled with the fire of anger and vengeance and love and hate as he stared at this woman.
"Just answer the question. What did he take from you that was worth avenging?"
"What?" Her eyes went wide as she was deflected, and took a moment to balance herself as she growled, baring her teeth at him and tightened her grip upon her sword.
"What do you care anyways?" she growled more deeply, swinging at him again, a heavy swipe towards his face. "It's not like your kind could understand."
Radimir dodged the swipe to his face, having stepped a little perilously over the edge. He stepped closer to the pedestal and smacked her sword away with a vicious swipe of his own blade, sparks flying and igniting the stone around them.
He kept his blade up. "I am not Carnavus," Radimir said sternly. "I am not his kind, though your fear may tell you that. I want to know because it is important. Much can be said of a warrior in their stance, in their gaze, the way they dance with the blade. You may think you are clever in hiding yourself but I can tell that something was taken from you. What was it?"
"Stop toying with me as if you give a damn," she growled, smacking her sword against his with an angry thrust. "And I can give you the simple version-" she said scornfully, then made a quick motion, dropping her sword then aiming to kick him high ad heavy on the chest- "He took away my life."
OOC: OH- double meanings!
GET IT!?
He killed her, whcih turned her into the vengeful monster, and ALSO took her lover- which was HER life, her hope at hte time...
GET IT!?
D:
*flails like a fish*
[He gets it!]
The simple version was all he needed and his eyes softened, though his defenses did not as he stepped further away down the steps. The entire enclave shook with the fury that rang above and broken stone dropped down into the chasm below as the statue was becoming maimed and destroyed.
Radimir braced himself to the wall and looked her squarely in the eye. "So he took someone you loved. A husband... A lover. I see the confirmation in your fury. You loved him very much, so deeply you'd kill in his name. So don't you see? We aren't that different. I loved my father. And he was taken from me. The only way I could have put it right was to unleash the scourge. Blood for blood. And that blood has been paid. I understand, Zarrah, though you refuse to believe it. I care because I understand. You would have done anything to have Carnavus' head on pike, to have every limb of him severed and torn and burned to the bone. I would have done anything to avenge my father. But what's done is done. We cannot escape our past, and now everything I've ever known is falling down around me.
"You intend to kill me for what I've done to you and your friend. But what then of your revenge? What if someone should come and punish you for what you felt was just and right, to give him the same sensation of pain you felt!? There's nothing I can do to change what will happen here now and what has happened. Even if you kill me."
Zarrah's eyes widened when he figured it out, and she became more spiteful that it was so obvious. Growling, she lunged and lunged, again and again, sword smacking off his weapon as she tried to cut him.
"DO NOT PRETEND TO UNDERSTAND! THAT SORT OF LOVE IS DIFFERENT! IT WAS THAT LOVE THAT MADE ME FREE!" she roared, slashing again, so angrily and hurriedly across his face, that her sword was a mere blur of silver rage. "It's that LOVE that made me a woman, not another wife whore!" And she attempted to cut at his face again, wanting to see nothing of his wicked handsomeness, that of which she even dare admitted looked good- for now, it was only a painful remembrance of how he tricked her, took advantage of her, and said it was love-
Love... love,.......... Castor-
Castor..... what had become of him? She only chanced one glance over her shoulder, barely enough to steal any sort of look, before tears claimed her eyes in a hot fury, and she tried to strike Radimir hard again.
DAMN HIM!
"But love and pain become one and the same when a life of importance is snatched from you! And in that we are one!" he said sternly. "Don't think that I cannot understand you. But it is only you who are blind to one who feels that passion burning in his heart...for you."
Her moves were becoming all the more furied as she cried out to him. And the enclave shook all the more, the statue pummeling to the ground. But he kept his eyes on her, easily allowing Vidain to dance around her blade, but continued to give ground, remaining balanced on the steps. He shifted and dodged, though her edge came dangerously close at times. But soon he closed the distance and wrapped his arms around hers to keep her from swinging further. Anger roared in his gaze.
"I didn't mean to trick you. I know what I did was wrong. But answer me honestly, would you have even kissed me if I hadn't come to you as another? If I could have done it another way, a better way, I would have. I don't expect you to love me back. Under the circumstances only a fool would wonder why you wouldn't. I'm sorry for that. But that doesn't mean my feelings for you are any less than what they are."
The place shook once again as the stairs began to crack behind Zarrah and a chunk of stone fell away, leaving an insurmountable gap between them and the altar. And when the air smelled of fire, Radimir instinctively took her to him, shielding her against the wall.
----
Castor found time to pick up the relic once more, dropping it into the blood of the altar. It sunk in, absorbing the life there in, but before Castor could begin the words, three more men piled ontop of him beating him savagely. Castor tossed them off with a powerful clubbing of his fist, throwing more off the ledge and into the chasm below. He turned savage, his anger giving him the strength he so desparately needed.
And as he fought them, one-on-one, two-on-one, ten-on-one, Castor knew the faster his heart raced so did the poison course through his blood. He crushed and pounded and smashed and shredded, but as his anger pushed him on, the poison was beginning to slow him down. He needed to perform the ritual before it was too late. And he rushed to the altar and bowed before the offering bowl, prying it from its base and setting it before him. He placed Cynwulfen on either side of the relic and said the words and he could feel the palms of his hands grow hot and the fire inside suddenly come without.
As more acolytes suddenly surrounded him, an inferno burst from his body as the relic became absorbed into Cynwulfen. He dug his hands into the blood and drank from it. Then pulled the bowl up to his mouth and downed the rest. His mind was lost then and he became possessed with the power of the gauntlets.
The glowing eyes of the statue ceased to be, the altar had been tainted and cracked from within, stone shattering and smashing. Castor leapt for the exit, feeling stronger, revived, the poison burned from his blood and the men that surrounded him vaporized into ash.
"Don't try to pin anything on me!" Zarrah growled deeply, speaking through her teeth as her lips curled back in a sneer. But soon she found herself suddenly within his arms, his eyes staring fiercely into hers as the two remained perched together, trapped on the lower half of the winding, stone stairs. So much fire and hate was brewing in her eyes, lips ready to spit out a retort-
a retort that never seemed like it would come.
She found herself frozen at his words, her entire body heating-
but then something happened, their world suddenly heated, as Radimir suddenly pulled her away, pinning her protectively against the wall.
And her heart was in her throat, eyes wide, body frozen-
and all she could hear was that heavy pounding of heart- and the terrible fire that roared from Castor's body as it vaporized all men around him- not even leaving behind pitiable ash.
Castor's was driven, would destroy anything or anyone that came across his path. He was seeing red all over and it seemed that fume was billowing up from his body. He moved across the altar, through the dust of the men and completely leveled the altar in a decisive strike of his fist, flaming stone flying everywhere and falling just beside Radimir as he held her.
He pounded the ground, destroyed the slabs and Radimir could feel the tremors that quaked through the stone steps as he did so and he could feel the steps beneath them threaten to give way. He pulled Zarrah further down to sturdier steps before letting her go and bounding down a further distance. Radimir turned to her, looking at her imploringly.
"He's going to level the place to the ground. You need to get out of here! The only way is down. Come with me, I'll see that you get to safety!" It was a longshot and he doubted she would trust him after all he did, but it was worth a try. He kept their distance and felt the stairs temble further.
Castor bounded for the stairs, leaping down opposite the gap that separated them, lingering on the other side, seeing nothing more than two targets before him.
Zarrah could hear the chaos from the beast above- knowing, with an icy feeling in her heart, that the being tearing the place apart, was the very man she loved. When Radimir pulled away, she changed a glance back at Castor, staring at his form from across the way, with worry, look concern and fear in her eyes-
What had happened?
What had he become?
Have the gauntlets got the best of him.
She hesitated, taking a few steps Radimir's way, but could not quite cement herself to her escape-
Bt what if Castor needed her help?
She flinched at the idea-
and also shivered, the same feeling came as a pang wihtin her gut-
that Radimir was right- and if they didn't turn tail and run soon... they might not make it out alive.
Radimir only waited for her for a few seconds longer before vanishing down the steps. "Follow me!" he said and quickly turned and opened the door that was hidden by the side of the pedestal. It barely budged, rubble blocking the way but he shoved it open. Behind them he could hear Castor having made the jump between the sections of stairs and was already bounding after them.
Radimir, forcing the door open and running through a torchlit tunnel. He snatched one from the rack and ran through it. It was squat with a sandstone trail moving through out the pedestal. He made a right down a corridor and hit a spiral staircase, moving quickly, like a ghost. And the enclave continued to tremble with the force of Castor's rage and the path behind them crumbled and cut off. He bashed through the stone, roaring.
Radimir could only hope they could make it to the exit in time. Radimir kept up a quickened pace as he came to the landing of the steps and walked through a long stone bridge that extended out across the chasm. He paused for a moment, looking far far up at the destroyed statue of his god and the smoke that billowed out. This was the destiny of his order. Without the Serpent Lord to commune with thier god...he had abandoned them. Or set to destroy them. And their arrogance would be their undoing.
All Radimir could do was survive and turned to run across the bridge, the torch nothing more than a beacon in the darkness of the chasm. And Castor was behind them smashing everything to dust. Whatever acolytes were trapped between them and him were pulverized and bludged with no mercy.
Zarrah had no other choice but to follow- the world crumbling behind them as she ran. Fear gripped her, as did the weight of concern. Yes, she feared for her life, but also worried for Castor's soul-
what had become of him- yes, he was capable of doing terrible things but this!?
This was intense and made her heart drum throughout her entire being as she kept up behind the Viper Lord as they rushed their way toward safety....
or at least the safest place they could be- which was anywhere inside the temple. Pausing at the foot of the bridge, she turned around, gaping at the sight of the thing as it appeared to become obliterated, crumbling into nothing but fire and dust.
Feeling no one behind him, he turned around and ran back fo Zarrah. "Zarrah, we have to get out of here? Come on! This place is falling apart!" Radimir stood by her side and only brushed against her arm. He could understand why she was worried for this man, though he could spend the rest of his life hating his guts. And he was a force of pure destruction headed their way. Even the bridge would not hold him back if it was broken and if they didn't get out of here now, they would have no way out as well.
"Please, Zarrah."
Gritting her teeth, Zarrah finally tore her eyes away from the destruction; and the hurt, desperation and confusion was evident in her eyes.
But she did not argue.
She merely obeyed.
"Let... Let's go," And she waited for him to lead so she could follow.
OOC: Sorry if it's short D: you can post them getting out of their if you want, unless you want to make it more complicated XP
She couldn't hide her pain there. He'd quickly come to learn she was quite a tumultuous woman and perhaps she was passionate in her own right, but her emotion nearly always showed through the windows of her eyes.
Radimir grabbed her by the hand and led her across the bridge. A boulder came falling from the stone ceiling and smashed through the bridge just in time and as Radimir looked back he could see Castor on the other side, fuming. And he watched with some horror as the man crouched down and within a few seconds of absorbing power into his legs he jumped off the ground and crossed the edge of the bridge.
"Come on!" And he dragged Zarrah after him. They ran through several meandering tunnels, entwining together and it seemed all too confusing but Radimir knew the way. But stone suddenly smashed and Castor's fist broke through it as he lunged for them but narrowly missed. He was demon-faced and wicked as he smiled like the devil and climbed to his feet.
Radimir bounded up a flight of stairs and hit a switch that sent a stone wall rolling in behind them, but even he knew that wouldn't last for long. But even buying perhaps a few seconds would help them get out alive.
[Just a few more posts. I imagine the temple or whatever is really big with a lot of hidden traps and stuff but I think after the destruction of the statue maybe that triggered like some self-destruct mode for the entire sanctuary. ALSO! Feel free to throw in some epic Indiana Jones stuff in there!]
OOC: Sounds good to me XD
I just shouldn't be posting now as I'm half asleep, but I woke up to let my dog out and my brain started going off on a chapter for my book, so I dragged myself out of bed to write it, so I'm picking at that and posting here I guess, instead of being smart and going back to bed 8D
IC:
Castor's face was terrifying, a twisted mix of evil and chaos as she felt her heart fly into her chest as the pair ran. She could almost no longer feel her legs as Radimir drew her close and set into motion a moving wall that sealed between them and the raging beast, but Zarrah did not resist, holdin gonto Radimir's hands with a sweaty, white knuckled grip.
She could hear Castor behind them- pounding at the wall, cracking it, shaking the entire ground as she stumbled forth, catching herself onto Radimir as rocks cracked, hissed and broke down from the ceiling above.
It was only with her body pressed to his that she gave a start, eyes going up to witness as a piece of the ceiling came crashing down- and without thinking, she pushed herself into Radimir, pushing the pair snuggly up against a wall as the rocks fell down- one scraping at her back, but the rest all missing them as their world swelled into dust.
But at least they were alive.
For now....
She knocked the breath out of him - literally and figuratively - as she smashed them to the wall to avoide a falling pile of rocks crumbling from the ceiling. Radimir held her tightly to him and when the way cleared, he let her go and took her by the arm and led her through the corridor. The exit seemed so far away. It would take some effort but he had a feeling a shorter exit that would get them out faster.
His own legs were burning with the fury and it seemed there was no way to stop Castor from pursuing them. He seemed like a machine fueled with fury and would continue to charge at them no matter what. Up another set of stairs they went as more rubble came falling from all sides around them. A loud crash behind them told Radimir that Castor had already broken through the stone barrier.
Ahead of them was a massively long tunnel. As they ran through, Radimir stopped suddenly, remembering a pit fall there, falling to the ground and sliding along the dirt, stopping just before the edge. He got up. It was too long to jump alone without a running start. He pulled out that vicious whip and held Zarrah to him, only nodding to her to jump with him. His feet left dust from the edge and that whip flew out, striking out and wrapping around a torch rack, which loosened from the wall and only broke just as they made it to the otherside. He held onto the wall and put his whip back at his side, leaning against the wall and peering over the spiked trap that resided in the middle. The exit wasn't too far ahead if they could get through the next flaming traps.
"Are you okay?" he asked with trying concern, but couldn't afford to waste too much time on a response. His heart was pounding with a devastating fear but they were close, oh so close! Even as the dust rose as the destruction of the sanctuary.
[xD noted. but you are stubborn so...good luck on the chapter!]
OOC: I think this novel only needs 11 chapters to go *_*
If I write on without editing, I could get this manuscript done in a few weeks (before the month's end!) so.. exciting times!
IC:
The ledge dropped down into a black pit of nothingness, and she felt her heart swell within her breast. Turning to Radimir, she had little choice but to join him, clutching onto him tightly as he swung them out and together to the other side. Her heart was racing, tickling up through her breast and arms before settling to a tingle within her legs.
Radimir was helping to save her life-
After all that had happened, was happening-
It confused her greatly, but she hadn't much time to dwell on it, only ignored the flutter he gave to her heart as she nodded at his concern.
"Yes, let's just move on. Lead the way."
Radimir led the way down the expansive tunnel. Castor was too close for comfort and as he passed a certain stone, his foot landing on it hard, he activated the flaming bursts that poured from the walls in a fenced formation. "Shit," he cursed. There was space enough below to leap through, but it must be timed and angled just right. "Go first. Jump through between the flames. There are three to pass through, I know you can do it! You kicked my ass back at the manor. Use the same kind of motion!"
Radimir turned around and saw the looming form of Castor getting far too clsoe for comfort.
Zarrah's eyes went wide with the flames. But then upon hearing Castor behind her, she panicked and turned to Radimir and her eyes widened even more at his request.
"You want me to do what?"
Too bad she knew the man was not crazy, and knew it was the only option that had-
Turning, she studied the flames with only a moment's hesitation, before leaping forward, swift, steady and tense, pausing where she should, holding her breath, counting, before scramblign forward to do it again- three more times, but soon she was outside of the heat and her body narrowly escaping the final flames as she stumbled forward, dropping forward as she panted, shaking her head at still having her life- or , at least coming out without a burn....
Turning around, she turned to see how Radimir faired, her heart pounding in her ears and throat.
Radimir removed his cloak, knowing it would do little more than catch flame and set it so before launching it out at the hall, in hopes that the billowing flame would help keep Castor at bay as he charged down the hall. Radimir took a step back before getting a running start and tumbling between the first two flames, rolling then, tumbling through the second one. His arm was singed a little but it was enough to only make him wary of the third and final one. There was not enough space for a run and could only hope for the best as he made the final tumble and landed rudely on the other side.
He climbed his tired, screaming feet and stood up. The exit was just ahead as he led the way again, bounding up a large wide ramp until they reached a wooden ladder. It was old and rotted but would help them climb the rest of the way. Radimir quickly climbed up, feeling the wood crack under his weight until it led up to a trap door. Through the trap door, carefully hidden between dry brush and sandstone, opened up to the mouth of a cave hidden deep in the badlands. Radimir helped her through and dropped at the mouth of the cave, exhaustion finally getting the best of him.
The ground underneath gave a massive quake as rocks and boulders fell upon the exit and dust billowed up around them. The sand underneath them began to give way as the entire enclave collapsed, bringing the ground falling still underneath them. He quickly climbed to his feet yet again, his body cramping at the exertion and tackled Zarrah to the ground, pulling her away to the suddenly groundless cave. And behind them was a pit of blackness, Castor buried somewhere underneath.
OOC: Ugh, I should not be posting.. but I am 8D
I hope I understood the last post correctly- the ground collapsed in on itself, but the two made it out ok (well, THOSE two, poor Castor was left behind XD )
IC:
Her heart was racing, body racked with sweat and heat as she turned around, poised before the chaos that fell before them- eyes only able to take in the endless black.
It was still night, but day was breaking over the horizon in small, bloody streaks across faint clouds. And with all the swells and throws of emotions about her- Zarrah could not think, barely rememebring to breath as her heart crushed as heavily as the temple had fallen, dropping to her knees as her eyes welled up with tears-
Castor..
Castor... He had still been inside.
And if anything- what could survive such a catastrophe? as she felt herself choke suddenly and gave way to sobs.
Castor-
Castor....
He was probably dead.
Radimir had never seen such a monster before in all his life. But something told him that look he saw on the man's face was not his own. But then perhaps it was. It was a demon, something dark and raw and powerful and nothing more than destructive. Radimir could only watch helplessly as Zarrah cried, her tears streaming down her beautiful face, glinting with the reflective rays of the bloody sun.
He found no words to say, only that his heart swelled with sorrow to see her this way. He knew perhaps she would only hurt him, punch him and kill him then, but he crawled beside her, body aching and sore beyond all explanation and knelt to her side. He took her into a light embrace and just held her there.
And though he did not voice it, something told him that Castor would find his own way out. Such a beast, in all its own terrible power, could not be killed so easily.
OOC: Short post is short-
also I just realized Zarrah was like- not really clothed much since that ceremony 8D
IC:
Only under the breath of light was it revealed, in blood cherry, the nearly naked, painted and bloodied form of Zarrah. The black, sheer dress she had worn was tattered, not hiding any shame of her beautiful body as he held her.
And she hated him, felt a sickening twist wrench in the midst of her belly-
but she could do nothing, her entire being in exhaustion and morning as she fell away, pressing her forehead to the sands and continued to simply cry.
Then after the remorse subsided into something more gross, more lame did she lift her head- tears only stinging in remnants of her eyes as she stared down at the black pits of destruction, violet eyes haunting, like a ghost's.
"If you're going to kill me,"s he hissed in a coarse whisper, after a time. "You'd better do it quick."
For what man could not want his revenge after all of that? Not only had her lover destroyed his entire temple. but it was almost as if he had crushed a way of life in the pitiable sands. She also had no reason to care to live anymore-
All that she had fought for- all the reasons that she had lived-
None of it gave her satisfaction- and the one being that did, turned into a beast and was buried, most likely killed in a nameless tomb in the sands.
Yet, unfortunately for her...
even if Radimir did want to kill her- the sick, chilling itch of death would only be short lived-
for if she were to die, she had one change to rise again.
Her words resonated with him him, echoed in his mind as he pulled away from her, kneeling in the sands, hands softly placed on his thighs. He was silent for a long time before pulling his knees up into a crouch. His heart was still heavy. Everything he'd known had been gone in the blink of an eye. His entire world gone. Father dead, no brothers, no sisters other than those in the enclave, no children or wife or friend to call his own. He should kill her, but when he looked at her, his heart aching at he state, he knew in the end it would achieve nothing. He'd had his revenge and in the end it hadn't saved this sanctuary, only served to anger his god and destroy it.
"I'm not going to kill you," he told Zarrah. There was some bitterness in his voice but he stood and stepped away from her, lingering in the background. "Though I know there is little I can do to convince you from killing me." He turned around and moved to leave and he heard something shift behind him as he did so and paused, hearing a loud, sudden cry from the dirt.
Castor roard as his gauntlets dug into the ground, as his hands pried over the edge and hauled himself up with some effort. He crouched there on all four, staring up at them with tired eyes, breathing hard, saying nothing and not moving.
Hot tears had slipped onto the sands at his denial of her death.
THough even she knew it would prove nothing, as a vacant, hollowedness clenched within her breast. It was only after she saw something burst through the sands, the very man she was just mourning for appear before them, crawling, desperate, sooted in grit as he remained, breathing and unmoving in the bloody sun of the morning.
All Zarrah could do was stare at him, eyes wide, body shaking yet before she knew it, she was on her feet- staring over at him across the way, hope filling her heart, but fear also gripping it fierce.
Castor's body was trembling, though for reasons he did not know. He was covered in scratched and sand and blood and bruises but he managed to stand, checking his balance before becoming fully erect. He said nothing to Zarrah, his expression only sorrowful. But he'd achieved what he'd needed here. The altar served its purpose and though he was tired and mostly unscathed, he walked toward Radimir.
Radimir pulled out his sword and looked at Castor with daggers in his eyes, but the man paid no attention to him. Castor was just exhausted and only walked passed him too.
As Castor approached, Zarrah felt her heart raise in fear and hope, both the burning and cooling sensations tearing her apart from the inside and twisting into a tight, untangable knot. But when he walked past, and kept walking- Zarrah only blinked, feeling her heart deflate, her body turned weak before she turned, eyes following after him as she spoke only his name-
"Castor?"
Castor had hoped she would say nothing and when she spoke his name, his face cringed and looked down. Radimir kept his distance, staying to the side at the mouth of the cave, sheathing his sword. Castor paused only for a brief moment, didn't look back. He couldn't look back. She couldn't understand. He was hurting all over. The rage only momentarily left him and he felt cold and shaken from it, as he always did when the demon touched him.
But he said nothing, and could only keep walking. If he turned back, he could never walk forward.
She noticed him pause-
her heart stung back to life, fluttering quickly within her breast-
He had registered his name-
but then he kept walking.
Her face wrinkled, teeth bared.
"CASTOR!" she shouted after him, voice echoing angrily around them-
Was he just going to ignore her? Was he just going to walk away?
What had happened to him? He wasn't dead,but before- what had happened to him?
Did he think he could just walk away without giving her any answers!?
That bastard!
Snarling, she rushed after him, and when she approached, she grabbed onto one metal hand and pulled him towards her, hoping to catch his gaze.
"I thought you were dead."
Castor heard her approach and braced himself, but he kept walking. He looked straight ahead, looking grim and refused to meet her eyes when she tugged on his arm. He scowled and shot his arm out at her, smacking her away and pulling back. He glared at her with fire. "Leave me be woman," was all he said before continuing back down his set path.
Zarrah only stared at him, shocked and stung by his actions and words. But after he started to walk away, she bared her teeth at him, hands tightening into fists.
"Why? Do you even know where you are going?" she growled. "Why is it that you always turn your back to me? What's wrong with you!? So I saw you tear apart that temple? So what!?" Her eyes narrowed angrily at him. "Do you think that makes you some monster?" She rushed after him, grabbing his metal hand again. "Don't you think for a moment I wasn't worried about you Castor- what.. what happened in there!? Are you just going to walk off into the desert without so much as an explanation?"
"I know where I'm going. And I don't care what you saw in the temple," Castor said blankly. He yanked his arm away with as much venom and kept his distance from her. His eyes were swollen, puffed and red as he looked at her. "There's nothing to explain. I've got to go. I've wasted enough time in this dreadful place." He kept walking away from her.
Radimir stalked to her side and looked at her. "Leave him be," he said.
Zarrah watched as Castor simply tried to walk away again, then as Radimir approached she growled.
"So is that it? You' just have to go?"
She tore after him again, this time storming infront of him and stopping in his tracks, staring him with fire in her eyes.
"So is that all it will be? You simply aim to walk away from this, from this place.. from me?"
Castor faced her fury with fire of his own and glowered at her. "Get out of my way!" he bellowed, positively shaking the earth underneath him. "There's nothing to remain here for! What did you think that I would stick around? What do you mean walk away from you? I was never with you. There's nothing more to explain. I've done what I've come here to do and you set it upon yourself to help me do it. Get away from me Zarrah of I'll bury you in the dirt. You've done your part and now we're through."
Castor moved around her and wouldn't look behind him.
Zarrah gave a start.
His words stung, and he might as well have hit her with the force of those loaded words. In fact, she would have preferred that. She was used to dealing with that form of pain-
This...
this was just cruel.
Scowling after him, she stomped a single foot and shouted.
"You damnable man! How dare you act like that. Like you're too good to even acknowledge me or what we have! If you want to walk away just because you can't care for anything but yourself then just do it! Fine! But the freedom you seek is no better than that damn demon you feed! And you'll die as cruel and alone as the world you make! No better off free than a when you were a prisoner- as miserable and alone as you'll ever be!"
and if she could hurl a weapon at his heart she would-
why did he have to act this way- why did he always have to push her back and pretend he didn't care-
she had seen him capable of so much-
why did he always refuse her help!?
Well damn him if she'd be his toy any longer! Damn him and everyone else in this world!
and with those words, she merely stormed off in any direction but his-
She was done with him, done wit this desert, and done with men, done with love-
all it brought her in the end was an emptiness, to hate.. to vengeance... and to a prison she could not shake.
He could not let her see that it did hurt him to walk away. But he kept walking toward the horizon of the rising sun. He knew in the end no matter how he felt toward anyone, his quest would come first and foremost. He couldn't let her follow him, didn't need her hanging onto him. He'd helped her become free of her own chains, but there was nothing she could do help him free his. Only he could do that. And he knew with every relic he found, it brought him closer to his demon master.
Her words were deaf on him and he pressed on, walking toward the horizon until he vanished in the distance. Radimir was left watching Zarrah run off. He could care less as to where Castor ran off to, but knew the pain that Zarrah's was feeling vicariously became his pain, to see her in such a state. He didn't know where she was going, but her tracks were not difficult to follow.
"Thorian," he said, whistling for his horse, the bloody animal alighting with the traces of dawn. He quickly mounted and bounded off in her direction. Despite all the running they'd done in escaping the temple, she still managed to get quite far. He'd fair shair of tracking in the desert and followed her footsteps, calling her name along the way.
Zarrah only had a vague idea where she was going, and frankly didn't care. It would be a long road, and if she were lucky, the sun would kill her before she'd reach the oasis. And with little clothing to cover her, if she would survive, the sun would blister and scar her skin forever.
The sun had barely begun to rise but the heat was evident, and her body was already gold from it's sweat. She didn't care.
She just kept walking, and walking at a steady, solid pace; quick and fast and unrelenting.
When she heard her name- she ignored it, but merely pressed on, her body indifferent to anything in the world around her but her crumbling and shattered heart.
Thorian chuffed as he could make out a figure in the distance. Radimir felt some hope swelled in his chest, though it was bleak at best. Still he kicked the horse into motion and he flew across the sands until the distance between them was shortened. She was close enough, but already it was evident the sun was doing its damage all ready.
Thorian walked beside her, hot and sweaty but kept up with her. "Zarrah," Radimir said softly. "Zarrah, where are you going?"
Ignoring him, Zarrah pressed onward. SHe didn't care to answer, nor did she care for the man who asked, and continued, her black hair and meager, sheer black dress flowing behind her as she went, leaving a trail of small foot prints in the sand. She wished Radimir would go away, but had an inkling after what had happened- this nuisance wouldn't just simply go away. So she kept her scowl pointed forward and simply continued to walk.
He kept beside her, knowing it was beyond a longshot to get her to answer him. Radimir knew his presence was also unwelcome, but he couldn't just let her walk away, no matter if she beat him nearly to death. Thorian kept pace with her. Radimir looked down at her and pulled a fresh water skin from his saddle bags before sliding off and following after her, Thorian following by his side.
He drank first, the heat strong and thick and the air difficult to breath. Radimir patted her shoulder, offering the water to her. "Drink," he said simply.
She shrugged his hand away violently, and merely continued to walk forward.
She didn't want to drink. She didn't want to do anything but walk...
[I don't know why I'm Loling at her L_L... But I am]
Radimir expected just as much, but he couldn't help but close the waterskin and toss it at her, the sack hitting her squarely in the head. Damn her, he kept up beside her and wrenched her arm toward him, not taking no for answer, plucking the waterskin from the ground and shoving it toward her chest. "Drink, damn you."
OOC: Loling and wearing loller-skates 8D
IC:
The waterskin to the head nearly knocked her over, only because it was not expected. Turning around, she bared her teeth at him then flinched back when the thing was shoved into her arms. She scowled down at it, then over at him, eyes narrowing.
"I don't need your sympathy," she said, shoving it right back at him, so it'd hit him hard across the chest.
Her blow managed to knock some wind out of him, but he wouldn't be thwarted so easily. His face turned grim and he turned back to her. "I wouldn't deign to give sympathy at a time like this," Radimir said plainly. He shoved it back to her and turned held her arm fast. "It's not sympathy it's practicality. Common sense. You're sweating buckets. Now drink!"
Zarrah stared back at him, rage eminent in the depths of her eyes, but she also looked tired, defeated.
So she pushed the waterskin away again-
"I don't care,"s he said simply, and walked away.
"Then I care," Radimir said. "If I wanted you dead, a more satisfactory death would come at the edge of a knife. But if I have to drag you by your hands and feet to get you to safety I will because it is morally right. But no edge of sympathy or reason can make you see the light. You'll drink this water, even if it kills you."
He chased after her and tackled her to the ground and forced his body hard over hers.
Surprised, Zarrah looked at him from where she was pinned at the ground and bared her teeth, but didn't bother to fight him.
"It will do you no good to try. Charity will not warrant you any respect with me. I'm through with caring and I'm tired with all of this."
When her eyes met to his, she had to look away, feeling the slight pang of tears in her eyes as the memory of what happened began to wash through her-
Inside the cavern, in the stream-
she had thought he loved her-
what a fool..
what a fool she had been. She had been tricked, and it only took that trick for her to realize She had bee nothing to him and she had made love to him like he had-
she had given him everything of her being-
and now her heart was withered away, broken inside herself as she suddenly began to sob.
"Please.. just let me go." ANd she knew it was pathetic, she even sounded pathetic and weak, s she had resorted to groveling. She couldn't even look at Radimir.
"I don't want this anymore."
And she most certainly did not want him.
Indeed it was pathetic and weak, to be sure. But even Radimir couldn't look down at her like this. She had nothing left to lose and he could see the pain evident in her eyes. He refused to leave her side however, refused even if she didn't want him there, even if she spurned and scorned and beat and burned him with all the hate and fury she was capable of. He loved her, she inspired something in him he never knew was there, too blinded by honor, by arrogance.
He only looked down at her, understanding her sorrow. But his answer was short and clear. "I will let you go, but only if you drink the water. I'm not trying to give you pity. I'm helping you whether or not you want me to. Drink."
Zarrah looked at him angrily, but then turned away, the moment deflated as tears still pierced her eyes.
Then she yanked the damn waterskin from his clutches and drank it, coughing against the first boughts of water on her parched throat and gagged slightly, before drinking down a little bit more, water dribbling down her face before she gasped, breathing a bit heavily as her chest heaved well and ripe beneath the sheer black dress before she handed it bac k to him and lamely thanked him for the water before keeping her eyes away, remained nestled, cheek resting against the hot sands as she didn't even bother to move, even as her skin was turning red and itced from the sun, and the sands burned it with equal unrest-
she merely layed their, hair splayed around her, still exotic and pretty...
and a chaotic, destroyed internal mess.
Radimir took the waterskin back and just as he promised he got off of her. But not before reaching down and removing his own dry tunic from his body and handing it over to her. "To protect you from the sun," he said. "Please take it. If you don't want it anymore, burn it when you get to some shade, it doesn't matter."
He took the water skin and took another drink for himself.
Zarrah laid there for a long moment, staring at the tunic then back up at him, before slowly raising to a seated position. SHe would have been content to lay there, frying int he sun until exhaustion and heat overwhelmed her and rotted her brains-
but now that she had an audience, she itched. So, she simply obliged, pulling on the tunic but feeling to weak and pathetic to rise from where she sat on the ground.
Radimir was incapable of pity. But perhaps for Zarrah he could make that exception. He approached her with caution, and knelt beside her wilted form. He didn't bother asking her and took her to him without her permission. He put an arm around her waist and another underneath her knees and pulled her up from the ground, careful with her before heading to Thorian. The horse was restless and eager to get underway. He pulled her legs up over the saddle first before putting a foot in the stirrup and seating himself, holding her lightly against him before clicking his tongue and sending the horse trotting down the path she'd been headed for.
[She would be draped kind of side-saddled over the horse so he can ride with one arm and support her with the other.]
Zarrah tensed when Radimir suddenly scooped her up, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't what she wanted.
As much despair as she was going through, as much heart ache-
the idea of freedom, of Rassar allowed her to just wilt away, to be carried off by Radimir as she simply leaned against him.
The victory was in no way a success, and the woman grew bitter and resentful the closer they headed towards the town- drawing ever closer towards the oasis where she had Castor had parted ways many weeks ago...
When she had thought to leave him for good-
now what of it?
Just a hollow memory- a fragment of time passed... best left to be forgot.
Thorian pressed on in a silent walk as the oasis came closer and closer into view. Walking distant paths, viewing pieces of the past with nothing more than regret. Radimir said nothing to her, nothing needed to be said really. The oasis was still a blurry, fluttering image in the distance even as they came closer to it. Radimir didn't look at her, only looked straight ahead. But his arm held her a little tighter to him and he placed his chain upon her head, an awkward half-hug if anything. Even if it was a wasted effort.
Zarrah felt him lean against her and tensed. Then shivered, recalling the last time she was in her cave and felt a knot tighten within her gut-
and a chill wash over her-
Radimir not only had taken the last night she could have had with Castor, but began to feebly blame him for everything that had come. The death, the destruction, the growing, vile hatred poisoning her veins, until she suddenly found her fiery strength again, and struck out against him, shoving him with such a force off the horse that Thorian reared up suddenly-
She tried to tackle the reigns but the beast would have none of it, and suddenly Zarrah was thrown from the horse- and soon eating sand.
Growling, she was off the grounds and after him, attempting to throw a heavy kick at his gut, then face.
He hadn't quite expected being thrown from the horse as he was and the action alone surprised Thorian enough to make him rear up and throw her off as well. And when he saw her coming toward him he swooped to his feet and was ready for her, her kick stricking the thick reinforced leather of his belt. He narrowly dodged the blow to his face as he twisted. In the same momentum, he spun backwards and drop kicked her, and rolled forward to drop an ax-kick into her face. "What are you doing!?" he bellowed, his own blood filled with fire.
"I could ask you the same question!" She spat.
"You hardly know me, you tricked me into sleeping with you back in the caves, and then you tried sacrificing me to your God."S he sneered, venom showing in her eyes. "I might not care much for my destiny right now, but I sure as hell am not going to trust that with you."
But there was little she could do, merely laying in the sands now, his foot leaving a sting on her face as her breasts heaved before she gave another frustrated yell, rushing towards him, aiming to tackle him and make for any weapon on his body she could- hands feeling and gripping around his whip as she attempted to yank it from his belt.
He would pay.
OOC: My characters like to be difficult XD also sorry for the original typos XD sometimes I cna't read D:
Radimir gave an audible -oof- when she tackled him to the ground, trying to reach for his whip. It was tied securely to his belt and needed more than a desperate yank to pull it from its bearings. Radimir slipped a leg to her stomach and pushed her off him. Radimir climbed to his feet, breathing hard, but the fight not yet beaten out of him.
"I saved you from being sacrificed!" Radimir said with venom. "I'm trying to help you now. And I will even if you try to kill me in return. But you and that bastard took my father's life! I couldn't let that go unpunished! Revenge is bitter sweet...but I couldn't let you die. I couldn't watch you get poisoned. I'm sorry for what happened in the caves... But I love you. I do. I want to make up for what I've done."
Zarrah was pushed away as she stumbled, but was quick to right herself on her feet as she glared over at Radimir, fists ready. At his words, she felt her blood heat."Revenge is bitter sweet. But so is love. You're wasting your time. Love is a pathetic, weak emotion, one I'll never feel again. If you want to make up for what you've done, then stay the hell away from me." And with that, she spun around and began to stalk across the desert towards the Oasis.
"I'm afraid that is not an option," Radimir said, watching her leave. "I'll still help you. Protect you. Be the shadow at your back." He walked back to Thorian and mounted, nudging the horse to catch up to her. He walked behind her slowly, keeping some distance between them, but would continue to follow. To the very ends of the earth if need be.
Zarrah was seething. She was FURIOUS, and it only helped make her sandals press all the more harder into the sands as she stalked forward, shoulders lean, knuckles white and black hair trailing behind her. She couldn't believe the man was still following her, and his lame excuse to be her shadow.
She didn't want a shadow.
She just wanted to disappear from the sun.
As they near the oasis, she noted the laundry ladies hard at work, and found herself hesitating as she walked- recalling a certain memory as tears stung at her eyes. Grimacing, she blinked them back and continued on ward and through, ignoring the laundry ladies at first as she settled herself against a patch of clear water on the other side, but it didn't take long for hte ladies to notice as they giggled and noticed the handsome horse.. and rider.
Zarrah could only hope Radimir would stay away- and the laundry ladies would ignore her-
but of course, knowing her luck, neither would oblige her simmering, silent request.
Of course he didn't stay away, he couldn't. And Thorian neighed happily at the sight of some fresh water. He nudged his head back for Radimir to get off and he did so, lingering behind, watching Zarrah quietly. He saw the laundry ladies as they smiled and giggled amongst themselves but was too far away to hear anything more than that. Thorian passed in front him him and ducked his head into the watering hole and drank happily.
Radimir bowed his head at the ladies, smiling kindly to them. They gasped a little and clucked like chickens as they spoke and only cast him curious sidelong glances before approaching Zarrah.
Zarrah was hardly in the mood for the laundry ladies giggles as they approached, leering Radimir, batting their long lashes before turning to Zarrah and clucking around her like hens.
"So whose the man?"
"Ain't he tall and handsome?"
"He'd be a good fit for you."
"Yeah, your both so tall!"
"And you know what they say about tall men..."
"I don't know, I like the other one you left for us."
"Yeah, didn't he have a sweet ass and face."
"But look how proper this one seems."
"Though look at his eyes."
"Yes, they are awfully strange."
"But what do yo expect? The lady of the desert would only attract the most exotic of men as her escort." and the women all laughed and at Zarrah's silence, they realized-
"Say- don't be mad t us now for teasing. Say.. iis he your love?"
And that's when she finally turned to them, having finished washing off her facea nd hair nad havinga drink that she glared.
"No, he is not." she narrowed her gaze over at Radimir. "In fact, he's an insect that won't leave me away. A locust. A plague."
The women all exchanged curious glances, then leaned toward Radimir, clucking their tongues at him lewdly.
Zarrah simply walked away, tearing off the tunic and discarding it away, leaving herself onyl to wear the skimpy black dress from before and revealing the whip wounds raw on her back, the redness of her burning skin, and the remnants of the snake scale pattern on her skin.
At the sight of the wounds, the women gasped and rushed around her- making quite a fuss.
Radimir couldn't hear what they were saying but he could tell from their frantic motions and the way they talked to Zarrah and the glances they gave him, that their discussion was about him. He only watched them from a safe distance. Thorian on the other hand gave him a look as if getting in on the action too. He turned his head up and gave a taunting whinny before turning his head to the grass and the fruit hanging from the local brush, eating vigorously.
When Zarrah bared her wounds to the laundry ladies, Radimir's expression softened and he turned his head down but his eyes looked up and watched her. If anything he should have been the one groveling at her feet. He came a little closer, wandering toward Thorian's saddle bags and plucking something from it. A small green vial and handed it over to one of the laundry ladies. "This will help with the cleaning," he said simply before moving toward a spot in the shade of a tree. He dropped to his knees in the sand, closing his eyes for a moment, meditating and listening.
But mostly listening.
Zarrah cast Radimir a poisonous look, but allowed the laundry ladies to attend to her- striping off her clothes with little modesty as the black dress laid crumpled against her ass as she sat beside th waters, back to Radimir as the women flocked around her, casting mean glances Radimir's way after Zarrah informed them they were from him- but she didn't get into it.
After they dressed her wounds, she turned around, thanked them ad began to fix her dress.
It was then the ladies clucked their tongues again and soon, Zarrah was swathed in a long piece of fabric, her beauty nearly hidden beneath it, but the shape of her form shining through- after all, she held a pretty stance, and knew how to through her hips, keep her shoulders back, breasts out and...
well even in mere clothe, she looked damn good.
Either way, the laundry ladies went about hteir business, and Zarrah found herself suddenly offering to help - if for only having some form of diversion as she took up a laundry basket, placed it on her head and didn't bother to give Radimir the time of day as she took up the rear of their caravan, the women all in song as they made their way back towards town.
He didn't need their glances to feel ashamed for what he'd done. But at the time, he couldn't have been sure he would have done any differently, but he knew he couldn't go back in time to change anything. His father would still be dead, and the life he'd known his whole existence had crumbled to dust before his very eyes. He hadn't done much to help others in his existence. Life was harsh and short and miserable in the desert and there were few that cared to help anyone that wasn't themselves.
Thorian watched as the laundry ladies left, song and wicker baskets in tow, and turned his head to look at Radimir. His heart was heavy as was his head and he knew Zarrah didn't much care to have him around. Still, what choice did he have? So he mounted the great massive beast and trotted after them, the city looming closer.
As they entered, the town was bustling with activity. It was as if the catastrophe on the other side of the desert hadn't reached this area yet, and it was difficult, almost, for Zarrah to remain solemn. She helped the laundry ladies for a time, then with a graceful bow, made her exit, stealing only one glance back towards the man and horse.
She moved out into the street, knowing full well he'd follow-
but she wondered how well could he follow?
After all, Zarrah was quick and resourceful, and soon wove herself deftly through the crowd, keeping her clothe wrapped tight around her. Eventually she'd linger near women dressed like herself, and at other times, rush through hoards of animated people bustling to become lost in their midst- and it wasn't until she was sure she might have lost him that she paused in an alley way to catch her breath and removed the clothe hood from her head.
Radimir dismounted as soon as they were in the city walls. Yes, indeed Zarrah was quick and resourceful. She easily blended into the crowds well and it was easy to loose sight of her from standing as he tried to weave through them. But it was far easier to watch from an aerial view. He disappeared into an alley way between two vendors and ran for the wall, leaping up and bounding from one side to the other until he backflipped and landed on the roof. He turned to the ledge and took a moment to spot her, following her as she easily weaved through people in an attempt to lose him.
He actually smiled, she was good, he'd grant her that. But he spotted her make her way into an alley, one just below him as he bounded on to another rooftop. He was surprised to hear another voice and perked up a little at the sound of it. But that was quickly replaced with a growing sense of alarm.
A man coming the opposite way through the alley, armed and obviously dangerous, with three others behind him. He approached Zarrah after seeing her face and suddenly wrenched her by the arm to face him. "Say doesn't your visage look familiar?" he said, then smiled suddenly. "I remember a woman looking very much like you. There's a pretty price on your head. Wanted dead or alive, for murder."
Zarrah had been so focused on dodging Radimir in the crowd, she had all but forgotten she herself, was a wanted criminal in this city- and has been for a very long time.
WHen the man apprehended her- she was shocked, and cursed beneath her breath when she reached for weapons that were not there. She tried to pull away, baring her teeth when the man yanked her closer.
"Yes, I do believe this one is her-"
and before he knew it, she bashed her face clean off his head, leaving his nose a bloody mess.
Crying out- he tossed Zarrah roughly at his friend-
"Subdue her! Gag her up! We're taking this one alive!"
Zarrah tried to wriggle her way free, bucking he rhead back and smashing it against her detainer, and then smashed a foot into the one that approached, narrowing avoiding his sword before she took off down the alley- the men in hot pursuit.
And it didn't take her long to realize-
she had just run into a dead end.
Gasping, she tensed, gripped her hands into tight fists and turned around, glaring at the men as they approached-
two with bleeding faces, and the other- well, the other was just plain ugly.
And they all had swords.
"Well, well, well, if we were to doubt your bounty before, we're hardly doubting it now. Let's try to keep her alive boys." and he winked at Zarrah, this man, gruff with a big chin and long, black hair, obviously the leader. "If we keep her alive, maybe she can show us a few tricks before we need to take her back."
Zarrah's eyes narrowed at the comment.
"Don't you know the rumors?"
"The rumors?" the men all laughed. "Sure, that you're a good fuck." One said, swinging a sword at her and as she tried to dodge, she was captured up again, but this time, the men were more prepared, slamming her face up against the wall as they tore away her clothe to reveal- with a whistle, the scant black dress he wore beneath. Lifting up the thin fabric of her skirts with his sword, the hairy leader admired it.
And he whistled again.
"Well men, isn't this our lucky day?"
Radimir watched with horror as the men chased her down the alleyway. He didn't need signposts to tell him what they intended was going to happen next. He followed the action along the rooftop and leapt between buildings when suddenly she came to a dead end and they pinned her to the wall. The guards admired her, tore away her dress and laughted hungrily amongst themselves.
Radimir's eyes widened and he didn't need to be told twice before he reached for his whip. The guard that held her down was busy trying to open up his crotch and when he pulled out his length, as meager as it was, something silver flew like an insect through the air. The blade was fast and struck true as the large hair man screamed in horror at his member that had been slashed in half, but a small throwing knife that had zipped through the air with expert precision. His men were horrified and gasped in shock.
Yet their hesitation was all the time he needed before the air cracked yet again, this time with a brown whip that lunged out from the rooftops and wrapped itself around the neck of the large man. He choked when he was abruptly yanked off the ground, Radimir pulling with all his might. He pulled him hard enough to hear a snap, signifying the man had his neck broken.
Radimir vaulted himself over the ledge, somersaulting in the air to land on the opposite building's ridge. He drew a dagger, thin and finite, from his chest and tossed it to Zarrah. "Catch!" he exclaimed before he dropped down and took on two guards that rounded on him at the same time, the last one trying to hold back Zarrah.
He pulled out Vidain, and dodged a slash to his shoulder and blocked another to his abdomen, steels flashing. He spun and ducked low, tripping the one to his left and driving his sword through his stomach. He dropped like a fly. The other guard cut at his arm, narrowly missing his neck. Radimir saw the opening and moved in, using his sword as a distraction. The man tried to block two feignts but when his fingers were exposed, Radimir abruptly sliced them off, digits flying into the air. A quick footplant to the chest, sent the guard stumbling back into Zarrah.
Being rescued wasn't what she expected- but glared only momentarily as her stalker went about rescueing her.
And then gave her a knife-
how ironic...
But when the last man was nearly down and began to back up her way- he'd feel the cold blade sink into his back as his eyes widened from the pain-
She could feel the hot blood on her fingers, then moved around, arms groping around his neck, then finding it, and slicing it true-
and the man collapsed, leaving Zarrah, with half a dress on an dblood coating half her arm and stickying her fingers, staring venomously at the man who helped save her life.
Her fingers itched to kill him- but she made no move, merely stared at him with dark, violet eyes brewing with the darkness of life.
Radimir knew giving her a knife was a not the brightest idea. She'd said time and again how she promised him death. But he did not fear it. Even if she did kill him...what good would it do her. He certainly hadn't expected to have to save her. Of course he didn't have to...but what would he be if he watched her get violated, no doubt each one having their turn.
"Murder huh?" Radimir said, looking at the blood on the blade in her hand. "I can see why." He rolled his whip up back to his side and clicked it into its clasp. "Well, don't just stand there. Up! To the roof tops. They won't find you there." He crouched low and bound his hands together for her to put her foot up so that he could vault her up to the short roof beside them.
OOC: 40 pages :D
and of course it's a 'special post' D:
Zarrah grit her teeth, her hand gripping the blade so tight that it hurt. But she couldn't do it- and rather, took Radimir's advice and used him to help hoist her up onto the roof tops. she didn't wait to see if or when he'd join her, rather, she took a moment to observe the red blood on her hand, and the blood staining the blade that hse held before letting the knife drop to the ground while she dropped to her knees, suddenly feeling overwhelmed that she was nearly in tears-
though it was hard to tell if she was sobbing, or just shaking-
but no matter what she did, she realized...
her horrible past.. all of the death she had caused...
It was always haunt her. It would always be there-
and could never be erased.
[ Yay! And, ohhh, Zarrah's having a Lady Macbeth "Out Damn Spot!" moment. But anyway! 40 PAGES!]
He had to take a few steps back before he could run up the side just a little, hands gripping the edge and pulling himself over. He landed in a crouch behind Zarrah and noticed her kneeling on the ground, the knife beside her. He saw her form shake with sobs. Of all times...now was not the time for this. But what could he do?
Radimir crept toward her and knelt beside her. He stared at the bloodied dagger. He remembered when he'd killed his first target. It was difficult and took a toll on him, and to cope with all the contracts he'd taken since, was a hard thing to bear but one he took in strides. You had to force yourself to think of such men as nothing more than animals, beasts for the slaughter. He could only imagine the amount of men she'd killed in her lifetime. And if he'd known just how many lifetimes she'd lived, all the things she'd done...
"Zarrah, what is the matter?" he asked, taking his chances, even with the proximity of the knife. "We have to get out of the city, before they realize what we've done. Here..." He produced a small cloth from his belt, rolled up and dry, and gently took a hand in his, wiping off the evident blood there.
OOC: LOL I guess she sort of is XD
I loved that scene >.>
but at least she ACTUALLY has blood on her hand and isn't imagining it 8D
IC:
As Radimir came forth to help her- she was suddenly snapped back into reality.
Yanking her hand away angrily, she bared her teeth at him, lips curling back as she warned him, "Don't touch me." And the pointed blade at him promised it could drop with his blood if he wasn't careful, but she didn't press the issue, simply walked away from him, blade in hand- and hand still half covered in blood.
OOC: Special post but I woke up with such a head ache- ugh *goes to take something*
"Then shape up you foolish woman. Focus on the matter at hand instead of wasting time feeling sorry for yourself. It is your own fault that you set your fate this way. And now you're too stubborn to accept help when it's right in front of you. I don't care if you don't want me around. Sometimes you just have to deal with it! I can get you out of the desert, though I'm sure you can more than manage yourself. My order may be crumbling, but I still have connections all over this continent. You'll be hunted for the rest of your life if you don't learn to listen to reason. Please, Zarrah, let me help you," Radimir said, braving the dagger.
Zarrah's eyes narrowed at his words as she spun around, pressing the blade tip against his chest.
"And if I refuse your help?" she asked darkly, only pressing it enough to let him know that yes, the blade was real, and yes it was his. "I didn't ask for it. I don't want it, and I damn well don't want your pity."
"I've faced death time and again," Radimir said softly, braving the blade. He willfully pressed his chest closer to it and stared her in the eyes. "I offer my help and you would kill the only man in the entire desert who would give himself to you so that you might survive. I don't fear the wrath of your blade. I know I deserve it, after all that's happened. But what's in the past is in the past. All we can do is survive. I want to help you because I have taken much life in my time...as I can see so have you. It's time to give back life, rather than take."
OOC: Omg..
am I horrible or what-?
CLEARLY he wants to give back life by making babies with Zarrah *snickers*
IC:
Zarrah wasn't impressed he did not fear death, and even felt the sting of his words-
she had thought Castor had cared, and now that he brought it up again, claiming to be the only one, she did dare to press the knife in a little more- perhaps only enought o draw just the tiniest bit of blood from the prick of a wound.
"Then you are foolish," she seethed, then drew away, letting the knife drop to the floor. She didn't want his mercy,a nd he could keep his damn weapon. She had heard enough, and make quick work to leap onto the next roof top with ease, not even caring to look back.
[xD Yes, you are horrible. Of course that's NOT what he meant, but I didn't realize it COULD mean that until I already posted. I'm thinking, "Why did I write that!?"]
"Perhaps I am. But even the blind can be noble," Radimir mouthed to her in confirmation, watching the blade drop to the ground with a silver gleaming clank. It was a beautiful piece, that shone like a piece of the moon even in the sun. He reached down and wiped the blade clean tucked it back into a hidden slot on his breastplate. He turned and watched her leap onto the next rooftop. Of course he would follow her.
He couldn't help but wonder. How had she ended up with that terror of a man with iron hands? He'd made it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with her and she listened. The pain was apparent, he'd watched it all first hand. It was clear that perhaps he'd said something similar to her...and rescinded upon it. It was easy to pretend to care when there was something to be gained from another. It was easy to care no longer when that thing had been achieved.
OOC: Hey- YOU typed it 8D
IC:
Zarrah felt her anger rising as she leaped from roof top to roof top, the man still following, like the shadow he promised. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She was sick of men- sick of this place, and the last thing she wanted was some sick individual who believed he loved her.
He didn't even know who she was...
and then she thought backto Castor, almost thinking she saw him amongst the crowd.
Her heart fluttered at the thought- but when the man turned- his face...
it was not him...
and the light in her eyes faded, and they returned to grim violet as she stalked forward across the flat, sandstone rooftop and moved onward, simply jumping to the next roof where she could.
Radimir was a ghost at her side. He was wary on the rooftops, even in the broad daylight. There was something unsettling in the air even as they went on. He listened to the buzzing of the people down below. Uniformed guards moved through the crowds, backtracking the way they came. They were yelling amongst themselves and entire market buzzed with frantic words.
People made way for several guards, looking around, and noticed something moving on the rooftops. A pair of guards pointed up, and two archers appeared beside them, notching arrows onto their bows and raised them high. They had Zarrah in their sights and let them fly. Radimir acted fast, tackling Zarrah to the ground, only hoping that the arrows missed her.
She was being reckless, and doing it on purpose. She was set forth on a path of self destruction and he might have known it; but she also wasn't stupid..
She heard the guards down below, ignored them as her lungs burned as she raced across-
then the shadows of the arrows rained over head and she turned with some alarm as one sunk into her shoulder just as Radimir tackled her out of the way- the other arrows narrowly missing them as she let out a gasp, and a grunt and turned to see the arrow sticking out of her shoulder- and the blood.
Without much thought, she pushed Radimir aside and gripped the arrow, broke it in half and tossed the loose end aside, then she grabbed it from the back, holding just above the point and felt her hot blood on the other end as she gripped it- and tore the wicked thing ou tfrom her shoulder in one great scream.
THe pain was immense, and more blood spilled from her shoulders as she angrily tossed the arrow aside. Clutching onto her wound, she pushed herself to the feet, and began to stalk off towards the other end of the roof top, only to find more arrows sailing over head.
Radimir was in part horrified by her recklessness, but he couldn't let her be crucified by her own actions. If she was going to let herself die in the line of fire for nothing at all, fine, but in this moment, while he could help it. She would survive. He'd drag her out of the desert even if it killed her again and again and again.
As the arrows flew at her, Radimir pulled out his whip and launched it at her. It wrapped around her ankle and he yanked it back, dragging her across the ground. He threw himself on top of her and struck her hard on the head, hoping to knock her out. And did so repeatedly in case the first blow didn't do the trick.
Radimir attacking her was not expected as she was suddenly flat on her face on the ground, then being dragged across the sandstone.
Gritting her teeth, she turned around just in time to see him upon her- barely getting a chance to glare at him.....
then darkness as the blow to the head stunned her- and the second, knocked her out completely.
OOC: Lol yeah just keeping hitting her to make sure she's unconscious 8D
<3
When he was sure he was out, the hail of arrows finally came down on him. He shielded himself over her, feeling the arrows strike the ground around him. He felt one graze his arm and he grit his teeth before feeling it was safe enough to stand. He pulled Zarrah's limp body up with him, throwing her over his shoulder as he bounded from rooftop to rooftop, dodging more arrows, feeling one burry itself into his shoulder.
Radimir moved fast, leaping. He headed for an alleyway, the gap too far to jump. He backed away, seeing ladders come up as men bounded up them trying to capture their prize. Seven men made it to the roof, but Radimir braved the jump nonetheless, throwing out his whip to catch on to an outpost swinging to the otherside.
He made it safely, wiggling the whip to bring it back to him. He held it securely in one hand while he turned and bounded down to a balcony just below, dashing inside as guards tried to quickly cut off any method of escape.
"You will not get away so easily!" the guards yelled, and as they were about to draw their weapons, they were in awe as the man simply leaped to the nearest building, whip in tow as the pair made it to another roof.
And then the men were angry.
Pointing their fingers, they shouted.
"AFTER THEM!" and gestured to the men below as poles and spears were tossed up to the men on the rooftops, and soon, they were sailing across and in hot pursuit of the man bogged down with the weight of the wanted woman.
Radimir doged and moved where he could as the men dropped down to the balcony, hot on his tail. He could only hope that Zarrah wouldn't wake up in the middle of all this. The last thing he needed was to have to fight her in addition to all the guards that wanted their blood. He headed for the stairs, moving around but already he could hear more men coming up through the floors below, their weapons were brandished they were shouting up at him.
"Surrender! You're surrounded!"
Radimir, headed for another corridor, as he saw them bursting through the windows. Sweat beaded down his forehead he felt them close in on them. He brandished Vidain, holding it out, as the noose got tighter and tighter. And when they corner them in the back room, Radimir fought viciously, throwing out daggers and knives that pierced men's throats and cut and slashed limbs and necks and steel clashed steel, he air ringing hot with savage glory.
But he didn't see someone come out from behind him, and slammed something hard against his head. He was knocked down then and dropped Zarrah beside him. He could only groan as he twisted around to try and see who struck him, only to have the weapon struck down upon him again, blackening his vision.
When she awoke, there was only a sliver of silver light cracking in through the dark, dank cell; and the sound of a single, drip, drip, dripping of water.
And her body was sore, she could barely open her eyes, and knew quite well what sort of vile things had been done to her by the pain she felt...
and as she breathed, her lips cracked and bleed, as drool frothed from her mouth before she coughed out spittle and blood.
Her body was clammy in sweat, and the air smelled most foul that she feared she might wretched from where she was hung, chains cuffed around her wrists, pressings limbs together, arms over her head as she dangled from the middle of the ceiling on chains.
At the sound of her moving, it alerted the guards, and she cold only make out the muffled voices and scurrying of shadows on the other side of the bared, wooden doors.
"Yes, that's right." She heard one man say.
"We've got her. We've finally got her."
"The Lady of the Desert. And she will hang at dawn."
Radimir awoke in similar conditions. There were no glamorous tales woven of the wonderful comforts of the city dungeons, located deep beneath in cold sandstone halls just beneath the town guard barracks. The room he awoke in was very dark and were it not for the sound of other chains moving, shifting, he might have thought he was alone.
He didn't make a noise however. Radimir was chained to the ceiling as well, legs limp and hanging, toes just barely able to reach the floor. He might have thought these guard's chain and brace arrangements would have been more thought out. He had to admit their crude design was more than sturdy, however.
His eyes adjusted easily to the darkness, snake venom making the adjustment a little easier as he saw Zarrah through it. His own body had fared a little worse than hers as he'd been the one resisting and he felt sore and cold all over. Looking across to Zarrah he "Psst!" at her, hoping to get her attention...though most likely she would have none of it. "Zarrah," Radimir whispered. "We'll escape soon enough."
At the sound of a hiss, her body tensed, a chill rushing across her skin as her chains jingled as they became taunt. Then she heard his voice, and at first, was elated to hear someone else int he darkness, but realizing who's voice it was, she went crestfallen before flaring to rage.
She moved tightly against her binds, making a grunting noise before collapsing against panted breaths and gritting her teeth. At this words, his frugal, silly words of escape, she felt even more spiteful.
"Spare your breath. We're not going anywhere. We'll hang in the morning."
At this, Radimir actually laughed at her, "I've no plans of dying here. I'd rather die by your hands than the hangman's block. No glory in dying the death of an urchin and bastard. They couldn't hold me long even if they tried." He swung his legs up, using the momentum and his flexibility to pull them up and around the chain. It was thick rusted and old and was bound to fall apart within ten years, but of course they didn't have ten years to wait.
Radimir tugged on the chain's bearings from the ceiling but it did not budge, only faint particles of dust fell. His legs fall back and he looked around them. There was little light here, not even a window but he could hear those faint droplets of water. It must mean there was a sewer or an aqueduct somewhere, or maybe just a hole where they dumped the bodies of prisoners that died of their wounds.
He hung there for a moment, needing some time to think. But he looked to Zarrah, eyes a bit forlorn. "Why would you resign to such a fate?" he couldn't help but ask
Zarrah remained, hanging limply in her chains as she had before. She couldn't feel either of her limbs, and when she tried to move her fingers, they prickled in pain.
She then thought over his words, long nad hard-
and no matter how she looked at it.. it...
"It doesn't matter."
For her, this was just another wasted life- she would be reborn at least once after this-
but was this really worth it? Worth the death and aggregation?
She did not know......
And the truth was,
She did not care.
She felt hollow and as empty as before, but at least for now- she had a direction, and with her heart smashed and pulverized into oblivion, she felt so vacant that even the noose did not phase her. She did not even know why she could have loved a man like Castor- and still did- her body ached of it still...
but perhaps tehy had been so alike, and she so invested in his hope, to see him free...
That it hurt now that he would so easily abandon her-
He had promised! Or rather- she had told him so! She would help him! To the ends of the earth.
GOD DAMN HIM!
GOD DAMN CASTOR!
GOD DAMN HIM, AND HER, for... for loving him so stupidly.
Yes...
she felt that pathetic that she was ok with this form of death.
Radimir was not satisfied with that answer. His hands still had some feeling to them, wrists wiggling in their bindings as he hung their the iron digging into flesh. He could see the conflict on Zarrah's visage as she hung there in the dark, violet eyes shifting listlessly. His own eyes were glazed over. He took in her form, still beautiful even in chains, but he knew then he would love no part of her more than her eyes and how they looked as they glittered in darkness.
"It does matter," he said softly. "If you plan to let yourself go on to your death, the least you might do is divulge the matters on your mind. Why? Why not live again...for yourself?"
"I gave up living for myself long ago," she sneered, though even she knew that was partially true.
As much as the woman was of legend was known to kill cruel men in the sands, part of her also worked as a shadow, helping the poor, the enslaved...
she had a few petty allies, none that could save her now, but it was enough to stir a feeling within her.
Even still, she simply frowned.
"And I'd rather go to my grave in silence," she informed him, icily, seeming to simply resign herself to her fate as the stirrings of men outside her cell vaguely caught her attentions- but she paid no mind to their voices, as it seemed they were opening the door beside them- and set to work with hot whips, lashing at a man who was screaming bloody murder in the closed cell beside.
"Wouldn't we all," Radimir agreed, and he too listened as the prisoner wailed, unable to stand the pain of the whiplash. It wasn't easy to ignore and Radimir knew never to ignore such things. "Tell that to him. He'd love to die in silence." Radimir looked her over again, wrists still wiggling until he felt the iron digging into his skin tighter and tighter.
"As long as you're alive, hope is never lost. I know if I was anyone else you would talk to me. You would tell me why you would die so easily. But I tell you, I know it's not lost. Please tell me why you would let yourself die in such futility. That fury I saw in your eyes...that was truth. This defeat. it seems little more than an effort to hide something more."
Zarrah hated him for trying to dissect her. He didn't even know her- why pretend to feel he cared? Why couldn't she just wallow in her own regrets? Her own self hate?
Growling, she tried to repress a remark, but.. then sighing, she wilted even more than she had before and let her head remain limply to her side.
She could not bring herself to say the words, though she felt them as softly, quietly, she began to sob.
"I just feel so wretched,"s he finally professed, words whispered in a hush between controlled sobs. She blinked back the tears, trying to calm herself. "I had loved him, but he left me so easily, so easy to forget what we had.."
and a hot tear spilled down her cheek.
"I had loved him. I wanted to help him, to watch him get that freedom he deserved, to free him from those bonds that made him an animal."
then she sprung forward suddenly, roaring and bucking against her chains before crying otu and collapsing back to where she hung against the iron shackles from the ceiling, hair draped over her face.
"But now I've become nothing more than a pathetic shell as he cast me aside, as if I were worthless. And so that is how I feel. And that is what I am. And it is who I shall become."
Worthless.
Hollow.
Void.
He would be lying if he thought that her words did not inspire anger in him, but it wasn't directed at ehr. Only at the man that had left her bereft. How could such a being throw away such a jewel, such a treasure unless he was really an animal after all. And he didn't deserve her. It was easy to see how a woman like Zarrah could be frustrated with having feelings for a man who had only used her for his own ends. And he could see the scars of those that had time and time again.
And the rage mellowed just slightly upon her last words. And it was his turn to become enraged and frustrated at her emptiness. "If he could not see the worth you truly have inside, then it is he who is nothing more than a shell. A beast walking in skin, playing that he's a man. Perhaps he was lost already. He doesn't deserve you. He didn't deserve your trust, your love, your loyalty."
He kept his mouth shut for a time, wincing as the brace broke skin and his blood seeped over it. But it would only serve to corrode and bite the metal as the venom in his blood seeped into it, burning it, sizzling it.
Radimir looked back to her, he bit his lip. "Zarrah, I can help you if you let me. I know you don't want me to, but I can! I have an idea. But first you must agree to let me help you," Radimir said.
For a long while, Zarrah stared out, violet eyes empty to the world. At his words, she took them in as one would take in air, not noticing any affect-
until the last words he spoke and something sparkled, came to life, just a simple jewel of color-
but still she said nothing, and after a time, she shifted, as if to glance his way, but she could barely see him through her ragged, black hair.
"How?" she smiled sadly, lips twitching with fret. "You try to speak of any hope in this, but we are well sealed to our fate." Though she was curious as she stared at him. "What are you planning?" Did he.. was there a possible way to escape? The idea brought life back to her as she looked aroun, craning her neck and studying the cell.
The metal burned and seethed in protest, bubbling at his blood coated more and more. It was draining him a little, but it was much more minute than being tortured to death. He did the same for both of his wrists and the smell of burning metal. Radimir smiled though his wounds stung.
"You should be satisfied that I am bleeding now. Though I doubt you'd be more satisfied than me. At this very moment by blood is poisoned, acidic to certain materials and is burning through the iron clamps that are holding me. As soon as I am free, I'll grant your request and give you my blood. And for once it will serve you a purpose." Radimir could feel the braces were halfway through. Just a few more minutes.
"I can help you find Castor. I have connections beyond the borders of the desert. My order is fragmented, broken, dying at best. But I still know people in high places I've taken contracts from. And even ones in low places who might be able to help us track him down."
Zarrah's curiosity stirred. His blood? Interesting.. she knew only a little about his order, those of the Viper. And the idea was a nice distraction in the gloom.
But then her face fell, and she shied her eyes away from him, resting her cheek against her raised arm. If he could see her, he'd notice how she'd visibly blanched.
So many emotions stirred over it- but it begged one question.
"Why? Why would you help me find him?"
And the bigger question still- would she want to hunt him down?
A part of her heart crashed and reveled at the very idea, tickling her body with such sensations that they almost could no tbe contained within her mortal chest- fluttering away like butterflies outside of her body and bubbling away as despair fell over her, and her eyes went dark and clouded again.
Even if she were to go after him- then what?
Would she even get her answers? She felt herself prickle over the idea as she moved restlessly in her chains.
Answers..
Gods.. yes that was all she desired...
That.. and just to be loved.
Why was it that she had seen it- wanted it- but he denied it for her for so long?
He had saved her life so many times, at the expense of his own-
if he was really so infatuated with his own freedom..
Shouldn't he have left her for dead all of those times?
The snake mark, the poison bite from the snake, when they were in the temple and he cried out- begging for her freedom but for them to take his own-
her eyes sparkled in hot tears at the memory-
No, he loved her. For what else could that mean?
And the way they had made love.. By the Gods! No many could touch him on that- she was his and he was hers-
and she didn't care if Castor did not know his true self- for she could feel it from him, feed it to him- and forever to be his.
She wanted his freedom as desperately as he did. She simply drew back her tears, tried to swallow down her sobs as she turned back to Radimir- eyes pierced, glossed...
"What do you want me to do?"
Determination had returned. They were going to get out of this place alive.
The answer was far too easy, and he couldn't help but give a grin of his own, one that she most likely will not be able to see in the darkness. But no matter, Radimir almost said the words again, the ones that apparently meant nothing to her, but held back. Still smiling, instead he answered, "Because I care for you. And I wish to see that you find the answers that you seek."
He said nothing more than that when at long last the blood had seeped through his left brace and with a tug on it, the iron gave a creak and finally a snap. Then the second one broke and Radimir fell in a heap on the stone ground. Free at last. While the wounds were still fresh, Radimir strode over to Zarrah.
He moved behind her, not answering just yet. He gave a jump and grabbed onto the chain that held her. It rattled and swayed with the added weight and he held on with one hand while the other moved his cut wrist over her iron braces. "Be mindful of your wrist, this could sting just a little." And coated one then the other until the iron too began to sizzle and smoke.
"Give it a few minutes," Radimir said before dropping down to the ground. He cleaned his hands on his pants, then held his wrists as the bleeding began to subside. "First I'll need to get my gear back. No doub this dungeon somewhere has a chest or a room filled with confiscated items. And I'm sure you'll find contraband within suited more to yourself. I think we can escape through a sewer of some kind. Listen to that dripping water. It means we must be close to a means of water, possibly a canal dug to flush water from the oasis into the city. Makes it readily available. Should be able to make our exit through there. Of course...using yourself as a distraction would be more than helpful."
Zarrah visibly cringed at his profession of feelings towards her-
Too many fools fell in love with her. She felt little more for Radimir but pity, for it was a love unrequited. So she was a good fuck, looked good, tasted good, was delicious as sin...
She was still a woman who wasn't for sale.
Castor was one of the lucky few men in the world (Rassar aside, considering her first true love is now dead), that were able to captivate her heart and hold it fast. The memories still burned her, even to her nose as she refused to reply to Radimir's claims.
Then, when he grabbed onto her shackles, she stared into his eyes only momentarily, a husky glow of emotions stirring within. But she heard the blood, smelled the melting and when it began to give, she gasped, feeling the chains snap as she crumpled, nearly useless towards the dirt floor.
Radimir helped her up, despite his wounds and reached down to tear strips of cloth from his pants afterward, and wrapped them around his wrists, to stave off the stinging at least before heading toward the door, crouching.
"Call in the guard, I'll knock him out when he opens the door. Maybe you need help...or maybe you want to help him with something. I'm sure I don't need to instruct you further, Lady of the Desert," he said, poised and ready.
The familiar sting returned to her limbs as she rubbed at the small spot his blood had burned on her flesh. Rising, she looked around, studying the room and was silent as she stalked towards the door, though at Radimir's comment she cast a glare back at him.
"We're in a prison," she hissed. "As much as I'm sure you'd love to see my powers at work, they'll have to wait for another time." Flipping her dark hair off from her shoulder, her eyes returned towards the celldoor as she peered down the hall, hands gripping the bars as she studied this way, then that. Unfortunately for them, the guards were still preoccupied.
"There must be some way to get their attention," she continued, ass up in the air as she remained hunched over, still studying, mind tickling, trying to formulate a plan-
and sadly, it seemed almost as if his plan might be the most effective, but for now, she held her tongue, not wanting to oblige him yet as the whipping continued in the next room.
He couldn't help a grin but he said nothing in response. He only crawled closer as the man's screams still echoed down the hall. As she grabbed on to the bars, turning herself here and there, her rear came colliding into his face, knocking him back. He got up from the floor dusting himself off. "Watch it, there!" he growled frustratedly.
He stood up and came beside her, looking through the bars. He grabbed one of the wrought iron bars and pulled on it. When it didn't budge like he expected, he moved on to the next on. He pulled on it again, then pushed it and it gave a slight groan, wiggling inside the thick wood. Radimir pulled it again, after wiggling it some more and eventually it came loose, the last one on the end.
"What the hell was that!?" a guard said, and the cracking of the whipe stopped momentarily.
"I dunno! Go check!"
The guard grumbled and bootsteps echoed down the hall to investigate the noise. "There," Radimir whispered. "Now you don't have to show off your assets." And moved back to his former position.
Zarrah let out a soft noise when her ass collided with Radimir. Then her eyes narrowed at him, and she watched, observed him slightly at what he was doing. It seemed foolish, until it worked. Blinking, she tensed herself, not exactly ready for the guards as she glared over at Radimir, then rushed back to her chains-
No.. perhaps his method made some sense as she pretended to be in chains.
The guard peered in, one ugly eye, framed in dual scars peered through the bars with a snort-
It was hard to see inside, the light was dim.
"What are you two doing in there?" the guard growled.
Zarrah only raised her chin, a coy grin gracing her lips.
"Waiting or you," she said, and slowly dropped her arms, tot he guards dismay and let her clothing drop to the floor.
She just hoped Radimir was smart enough to remain hidden in the shadows- for when the main was to enter..
he'd better do something about it. She wasn't exactly equipped to fight a man of his size. He was huge and well..
if the man DID have his way with her, she had to wonder if she'd be able to walk after such an affair.
The man only stared, however, then grinned as he saw her naked- not thinking over how she could have escaped from her bonds as he fussed at the keys and opened the door.
"I always do get a little excited after I whip a man," the gruff man stated, his chin strong an dpowerful and covered in hair, his body, rippling with muscles and tall; and the whip he carried- slick and red with blood.
Honestly, Radimir had to admit that he didn't actually believe the idea would work. Unless these guards were more hard up than he gave them credit for, but at ugly and as nasty as they looked, most likely they were. He held his breath when the guard came to the cell door, not even thinking twice about the missing wrought iron bar from the small window, as his eyes were glued to Zarrah's naked body.
For a moment, even Radimir found himself distracted but when the man opened the door and actually entered, though he was only partway, his focus turned back and he stepped further into the shadows, his snake-like eyes leering at them, the pipe ready in hand.
The man smiled at Zarrah, making lewd gestures with his mouth and tongue as he finally stepped into the room. One moment, not yet. His large body stepped closer to Zarrah, he was almost close enough to reach out and touch her. And it was that moment when Radimir leapt up onto the guard's back, wrapping the pipe in front of his throat and holding on for dear life as the man's face suddenly blanched and he stepped back, trying to toss Radimir's smaller form off. He backed up into the wall, smashing him between his sweaty back and the sandstone, but Radimir's grip held true.
He tightened it, moving the pipe up above his adam's apple until it cut off his oxygen entirely. He choked some more until his struggles gradually weakened and he ended on his knees on the floor. Radimir held the man's head against his chest, standing behind him. He raised the iron pipe high above his head before slamming it hard against the guard's throat. The guard gagged for a while, before growing limp against him, dead.
"Get his keys," Radimir whispered, dropping to sit beside him, breathing hard and trying to catch his breath, but climbed to his feet nonetheless, reaching for that whip. It wasn't his, but it would make a suitable substitute until he could get his gear back.
Zarrah remained back as Radimir went at the man with the pipe, choking out his life. SHe flinched when the man was slammed to the wall, but he kept at it, and eventually the man was brought dow and went cold with death. Slipping on her dress, she moved forward, scooping up the keys as she adjusted her robes, loosely tieing it into place.
"Let's be quick," she said and hesitated, peering outside their cell before hearing the man next door scream-
"Ulrick, what the hell is taking you so damn long-"
and she froze, hearing his boot tracks head their way.
As soon as he stepped outside, he was taken back and Zarrah wasted no time slamming her foot into his face. He was kicked against the wall and she moved forward, slamming her fist to his throat, but the man was quick to fight back as Zarrah gasped, and felt his own, warm strong calloused hands clenching away her breath.
Radimir slipped instinctively back into the shadows at the sound of the approaching guard's voice, holding his breath yet again. Only part of his vision could see through the door, but before he could do anything, Zarrah flew out of the room and launched an attack on the guard. He appeared into the doorway, watching as the guard suddenly reversed the tables and had his hand around her throat.
Radimir stepped foward and launched the whip at him, the bloodied braided leather, wrapping it around his own neck, tightening the vice. Surprised, the guard made a noise, letting go of Zarrah and turning to see just who else was behind him. When he did, Radimir slammed the iron pipe hard across his face.
Zarrah rubbed at her neck when she had become free, eyeing Radimir's handy work before letting her violet eyes slip back to him.
"Thanks."
Then she slipped down the hall, silent as a ghost, moving as natural as the shadows. By the time they had made it down the hall, she used the key to open the doorway at the end, then pushing it open, she found them confronted with two doors on either side, then a staircase before them. Looking around, she looked back to the keys and began to pick through them.
"One of these rooms might have our gear." and selecting the one to the left, she slipped in a key and with a CHCK- it unlocked.
The door opened with a groan and she peered into the darkness, finding not much of anythin gbut a desk, some papers and a small chest to one side.
She tossed the keys to Radimir. "I'll check this room, you look at the other." Then she disappeared within, seeing what she could find.
Radimir nodded to her and he went to the closed door opposite the staircase. He opened it hesitantly as the rusted handle was old and tired like an elderly man trying to be forced out of his ways. The door was incredibly heavy and when he finally pushed it aside Radimir stood back, as he opened the door to the torture chamber.
The man they'd been whipping repeatedly was sprawled over an iron slab, unconscious or dead from his wounds. He didn't stir even with the groaning of the heavy door. Radimir made a sound and stepped away. "No, this doesn't look like our gear," he muttered and turned to Zarrah. "What did you find?"
When Radimir would turn around, he'd come face to face with a fist..
JUST KIDDING.
I mean a bra, a scant, leather bra, gleaming in the pale light as Zarrah held it bewteen pinched fingers.
"I found some interesting clothes." she said, then lowered it with a huff, before tossing him a sack.
"I think I found a few useful items in there. The rest of the items are as useless as this bra." she said, then casually tossed it at his head.
Radimir caught the undergarment before it made contact with his face and he disgustedly threw it on the floor. "What's wrong with you?" he asked before dropping the sack down on the floor and tearing it open, dropping the pipe next to him. He smiled as he peered inside and found his leather wrapped armored belt and chest protector. Without a word he peeled off the cotton sack of a shirt they'd given him and threw it on the floor before attaching the belt around his waist and buckling the straps snugly and doing the same for the chest piece. "Could you just belt the straps on the back please?" Radimir asked as held the chest piece against him, throwing the leather straps over his shoulders.
When that was done he he knelt down and poured out the rest of the contents of the bag. He found his sword, wrapped in leather and his whip as well, and among them an assortment of variously sized daggers and their respective belts. Radimir took his own gear and strapped them to his body, looking over to her then across into the room. He stepped around her and found a solid pair of boots in there, tall leather and sturdier than what he was wearing now, nothing more than clothwraps. He took them off and immediately slippd his feet inside. The fit like a charm, and he buckled them around his calves, pulling a few more assorted items he thought would prove useful. A leather bracer with a slot for a hidden blade and even a pair of knuckled gloves.
Zarrah had already hidden a few blades away within her dress, though felt slightly naked without her signature fan blades- something she would have to do without for a time, as they were resting somewhere, hundreds of feet now beneath the sands in the temple ruins.
But desperate times called for desperate measures, and she should be thankful to be alive. She peered over at Radimir, studying him silently before moving past his side and towards the steps.
"Well, there's only one way to go." he said, and gestured with her chin for him to follow, and silently she made her way up the stairs.
She heard a noise at the top, holding her breath, she watched the shadow of guard loom near. He paused to talk to his companion, both were now positioned to the left. She felt herself begin to sweat, but held back, keeping herself pressed against the wall and signalling for Radimir to stay silent. Then, when the other man moved away, she slipped up behind the water and slit his throat-
however, it alerted the other guard, but in one fluid motion, she sank another blade clean into that mans' throat.
"Come on!" she barked to Radimir, as she rushed down the hall.
Radimir followed quickly and quietly behind her, having pulled out a small dagger he'd had hidden in his sword belt that they thankfully hadn't found. It was thin, almost needle-like, and was indeed little more than a shadow at her back. But it was the shadow's turn to watch as she made short work of the men that were occupied in the hallway.
There was a small amazement there but none that held him long before he bounded after her. Even in the thick leather boots he wore, his feet were soft in each landing, nothing more than as if air was passing through the sandstone dungeon. He followed after her, until they passed by a door that had familiar sounds coming through it. That sound of running water.
"Zarrah, stop!" Radimir whispered harshly and signalled for her to follow him. But then he realized it wasn't the door that contained the noises, it was a heavy iron panel underneath them. He dug the small dagger around the edge of it, and crouched beside it before using the blade as a lever to open it up.
"Help me push this aside, then you go down first!"
Zarrah paused, tossing her head over her shoulder, her hair moving in secondary motion. Then she noticed what he was fussing about and came near to him, crouching at his side and helped him, fingers gripping into the panel and soon it was removed.
She could smell the water- it was most foul. Definitely sewage as she made a face and looked over at Radimir.
"I'd almost want to fight my way out of here. Though if blood shed was lessened by a romp through the sewers..." and she said no more, playing off one of her smiles before disappearing into the world below.
When she went in first, Radimir only smirked and followed suit, coming down in a splash. Thankfully he'd found those thick leather boots and that the foul water was only ankle deep. He didn't mind the sewer as it was an easier route to follow than trying to fight through the entire city's worth of guards, even going through a wall.
"Zarrah, I think it's this way. It's flowing out to the east. Come on," he said. The tunnel was dark and dank and the smells came all around them. But the path was linear. Just maybe a few hundred yards, maybe less and they would be out of the prisons. At least if everything went off without a hitch.
The sewers were nasty, water thick with unimaginable forms of waste frothing around their legs as they pressed through. Unfortunately for Zarrah, her shoes were less equipped than Radimir's, and the sneer on her face was just as unhappy as the sensation of her own shoes flooding with the grimey waters. The stench was the worst of all, only second to the feel (or perhaps even the sight of it, but at least she could close her eyes if she did not wish to see it any longer). For there was feces, bones, broken bits of this and that, and cruel sludge in various forms of colors swirled and bubbled and foaming at the top of the waters surface like a putrid crust. And everytime she stepped through the muk, it cut into a new smell. She had since ripped part of her black dress and had the clothe wrapped snug around her mouth and nose- a lame way to keep herself from retching. But the pair had little choice.
Zarrah followed Radimir's directions, and the passage remained true, taken them to an eventual oasis of scum and filth and pestilence. There were people here just as vile as the waters, living with boils growing and near bursting in puss and blood all over their bodies, and heavy swarms of flies made certain places near deafening. But one thing was certain-
there appeared to be no guards here, nor vagabonds who would think to even pester a pair of travelings coming from the mouth of the sewer. But strangers in their form were, however, rare, and enough to come some attention as the few people that called this paradise their home looked up and stared at the pair with silent but interested eyes.
Zarrah kept on walking, clean out of the sludgey oasis and shiver.
"Remind me to burn this clothing after we find more suitable things to wear." then she added, making a face. "And a place for a nice, hot bath."
Turning around, she stared, shielding her eyes from the sun and the city they had just left behind.
Fate was cruel really- she had just walked through the bowels of hell, a hell compromised of the most foulest things in all of the desert-
but she supposed there was one thing to be said.
That she was alive. Peering over at Radimir, she began to study the people around them who were acting like rats, scouring for whatever they could find to eat that washed up from the sewers. And the idea made Zarrah grit her teeth as she turned away.
"I'd say perhaps we could ask these people for help, but perhaps we should just get as far away from this place as possible."
Really, it was most foul.
"I'll give you the match," Radimir said, agreeing with her. He'd be glad for a change of clothes of his own. But for now they'd just have to endure. And get out of the city alive.
Indeed it wasn't exactly the ideal place to make one's haven, but for these people, perhaps it was enough. They were a sad sight, and in a state amongst themselves looking at the pair that were wading through these foul waters as if they might seek to hurt them or take from them the only bit of a sanctuary they might ever have. Not everybody could choose their paradise.
Radimir didn't exactly like it down here and he could very well wonder why these people would remain in such a nasty place. There were many questions to be had about the state of these people, just who were they, how did they end up here, why did they end up here. But for now Radimir just wanted to get through.
There was a landing nearby, and Radimir hauled himself up on the cold, semi-slick ledge. He held a hand out for Zarrah to help her up as well. These sewers could just as well go on forever as far as he knew, winding and twisting their way until they reached whatever reservoir they dropped into. No doubt filled with even more bad smells and filth.
He hadn't seen the old woman sitting in the corner, half hidden in shadow, and the revealed half showed her face covered in leprosy. She groaned a little and looked at Zarrah, pointing a finger to the tunnel that turned north. "That is the way out," she said in a tired, high-pitched voice.
Radimir turned to her, looking at her for a good long moment. He hadn't expected any of them to go out of their way to help them. "Thank you," he said nodding.
"But you can't open it, I'm afraid."
"Why? Why would it be locked?"
"To keep us down here," the old woman answered and turned her eyes away, looking down. "We're sick, disease-ridden. The guards forced us down here to live like rats...on the rats. But even they fare better than we do."
Radimir stopped then and looked at Zarrah, then back to the old woman. "How long have you been down here?"
"Me...about ten years or so. But the others, some have all their lives. I don't think they've ever seen the daylight. My sister died of rabies three days ago, Coga beat her dead before she could hurt anybody else."
Radimir felt his stomach unsettled at the thought. But more so because of the sheer cruelty that they'd endure at being forced to live in such filth. And it didn't take long for the decision to come to mind. He glanced to Zarrah. "We can't leave these people down here. We have to help them."
The woman started her when she spoke, and her hands itched over her weapons, but then, she had to remind herself...
These people are not my enemies. They are only ill.
And when the women went on with her story, she felt somewhat ashamed that Radimir was the first to conclude to save them. She would have thought the same initially, but since the whole incident at the temple.. she could only think about how pathetic her life was and to be done with this place and only sought out a means to an end.
Tightening her lips, she nodded and steeled off her selfish disgrace.
"Yes." she agreed, eyes lifting to Radimir's. "It is the least we can do. Let's check out this exit." and she gestured for Radimir to follow, but not before bowing her head politely to the old woman.
"We'll see if we can't find something, or someway to open it." Then she turned to Radimir, seeing if he were to follow.
He smiled at her when they finally came into agreement on something. Something beyond the both of them. Radimir felt a jolt in his gut but ignored it and moved toward the direction the old woman pointed. The tunnel was smaller, narrower and rounded. He crouched low, stalking through it quietly, having plucked a torch from the rack and lit their way through the narrow thing.
Then it stopped abruptly and opened up to an extremely high chamber and the torchlight glowed about them to reveal a high ladder that took a person maybe twice his height to reach. He frowned at the prospect. No wonder these poor people couldn't get out. They couldn't even reach the ladder. Radimir dropped the torch, placing it beside the opening and stepped toward it.
He gestured toward Zarrah to help him. "Maybe if you climb on me you can reach the top of it. I'll find a way to follow. Here, take the whipe and knot it to the bottom rung. I can use it to climb."
As they moved to the end of the hall, she held her breath as she craned her neck up to stare at the wall before them. Then her eyes went to the ladder and she frowned.
Turning to Radimir, she nodded then moved forward, eyeing the distance as she tied the rope loosely at her side.
"I'm ready," she said, her eyes meeting to his. "Help me up."
OOC: THAT'S WHAT YOU GET! SHORT POST DX FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
He handed off the whip to her, and moved behind her, before crouching down and putting his head between her knees. He stood, putting her on his shoulders and shifted himself around to gain some balance and moved toward the ladder. He faced the wall and held her legs until she had her own balance. "Try to stand on my shoulders. You might reach it then!"
[Why? D8]
OOC: Two words!
IC:
It was awkward to say the least. She had to trust this man keeping his balance, and also keeping his head- Not many men would hesitate to have the Lady of the Desert's thighs wrapped around their neck. But as they drew nearer towards the ladder, she pushed up, using his shoulders and the wall to climb up so that her feet now rested on his shoulders. And she did it steady and slow, her hands out to keep herself steady before she craned her neck up, eyeing the exact location of the ladder.
Then she stretched up on the balls of her feet.- straining then on her tip toes, but it was just out of reach.
gritting her teeth, she gave him just one warning-
"I'm going to jump for it-" then she took off, feet kicking hard off his shoulders as she leaped into the air. She swiftly secured her hands on the bottom rung, only to find it was slick with grime as she let out a noise and fell, crashing ontop of Radimir into a jumble of legs and pain below.
OOC: MILK ... SHAKE DX
Also Radimir is totally enjoying this XP If you say other wise YOU ARE A LIAR
[Green is not a pretty color on you |:]
Radimir kept his balance all the while she climbed on him, breathing intermittenly and holding it where he needed to. It took a little while but she was finally standing on his shoulders. He held her legs there. They were close, perhaps little more than a foot away. But when she decided to jump, Radimir's face visibly blanched despite the swarthiness of his skin and when she did jump, he could do nothing to stop her.
For a moment, he thought she was actually going to make it. It felt like time had slowed down as she reached for the last rung, only to have her hand slip and she came falling down upon him. Radimir didn't have much time to brace himself. His arms reached around her and he caught her, but the force did not save him from losing his own balance and he fell back hard on the ground, her weight knocking the wind out of him.
He gasped a little, his head throbbing as he saw white and he had to lay there for a while. But after that while, when his senses came to him, Radimir was grinning and let out a roaring laugh, despite his throbbing head. He looked at her with sheer amusement. "It could have been worse."
OOC: UGH!? A GREEN SHAKE!?
Also PHSH
GREEN is totally my color XP
like Scarlet O'Hara, it brings out my pretty green eyes *bats them*
and also, for some reason, turns my blonde hair red 8D (in different lights and against different colors my hair changes lol) anyways, right.. RP
but yeah I'd totally be like Scarlet O;Hara going 'OMG I LOOK FABULOUS IN GREEN" and would totally flaunt my bonnets 8D
which.. kind of sounds dirty loooool
IC:
Zarrah's heart was in her throat, and found her limbs naturally going around Radimir's neck as she peered at him, cringing from the fall only then to be surprised when he laughed.
Blinking, she looked at him like he was crazy.
"Well of course it could be but.."s he winced, feeling her leg having had twisted some in the fall. THen she looked up, glaring almost, at the ladder before sighing.
"There was some grime on the last rung."she said bitterly. "I'll have to be careful the next time."
and without a second thought, she stood up, climbing and well, sort of pushing out of Radimir's arms as she brushed herself off.
"But the way," she commented idly, hoping she hadn't noticed the subtle blush on her face. "You smell like sewer."
[xD Lol! Okay. I was talking about the ENVY of milkshakes, but cool nonetheless!]
Radimir got up, rubbing his head from the fall and the laughter finally left him. He rolled his eyes at her comment. "Thanks," he said, with some irritation. "So do you." He looked up at the ladder again, studying it and taking the grime into mind this time. "All right, I have another idea," he said after a moment. "Turn around, let's try again. This time, however, use the whip and toss it out. Hold on to it good and tight. Don't stand just yet."
He moved behind her once more and did the same thing, sitting her on his shoulders and holding her firmly by her knees. Radimir poised himself before the ladder. "All right," he grunted, trying to get a view out from between her legs. He readjusted her a little. "Okay, hold the whip firmly. Not tight, or you'll lose your balance. Concentrate on the rung, preferably the second or the third. Feel the whip, wave it around a little more until you get a hang of the weight of it. All right, give it a few practice cracks, concentrate on a spot and swing it out then quickly retract your arm before it arcs too far forward. It will break the air, striking it hard.
"All right, those were good. Okay. Focus on the rung. When your ready strike the iron. It should wrap around and when it does pull it tight. You should be able to use it to climb up. I'll be here in case you fall. You're lighter than me. This should work."
OOC: You never know! It could have been a shamrock shake, lol.
but yeah- your GREEN of ENVY is lost on me XP
IC:
They were at it again, Zarrah on his shoulders, this time, whip in hand. She listened to his commands, studied the rungs, then finally, let the whip crack, the ends slapping around and tightening securely at the third to last rung.
"I got it!" she exclaimed, giving it a tug. "I'm going to climb up. Wait here."
Not that he could go anywhere....
And with a grunt and strained muscles, she began to pull herself up, testing the ladder for any more sludge as she cringed.
"Ugh, this ladder is coated in it. The entire thing." she gritted her teeth. "We'll.. we'll have to clean it off or we'll never be able to use it-"
and without a second thought, she tore at her dress, grunting along the way before a large piece came fluttering free, leaving her with barely anything to cover her legs as she moved forward, crumpling the fabric thickly in hand and began to work at wiping off as much gunk on the rungs as she could..
And slowly, ever so slowly, she had herself secure on it and looked back to him.
"Come on and climb up," she said, setting upt he whip so that it would dangle down just enough within his reach.
If she continued to tear that flimsy excuse of a dress, she'd have nothing left. Yes, they'd have to get better garb as soon as they were out of here. The smell was becoming all too overwhelming. He looked up to the whip, illuminated vagely by the torchlight that flickered.
He jumped but couldn't reach it. It was still a little to high up. Radimir backed up a few steps before bolting toward the wall and putting a boot up against it and rebounded off, grabbing on to the handle that dangled in front of him and swung from the momentum, but he didn't let go. When he stopped swinging, he did climb, muscle for muscle until he reached the rung. It creaked in protest of his weight, but he grabbed on to it securely and proceeded to climb up behind her.
Though, he had to admit, it was difficult not to look up. "Just start climbing. We'll worry about the gate when we get to it."
Zarrah didn't need to be told twice as she continued to climb upwards ad onwards, being careful and warning Radimir where there was slippery spots along the way- though one tricky spot even had her slipping. But thankfully she had only managed to knock herself down a few feet, landing precariously close so that when she grabbed the set of bars, she found herself face to face with Radimir.
His eyes were.. always so strange, but she couldn't help but stare at them before she blushed nd looked way.
"Er.. that rung is also slippery." she commented before tossing her head backt o remove her dark hair from her shoulders before she climbed off of him and took back at the lead. And soon the pair would reach the top as Zarrah frowned and examined what was ebfore them.
OOC: Sorry to stop there, I'm tired ;_; I didn't feel like describing the next part XP
It was a tiring climb, and after all they had been through, Radimir was taking it slow, going up a few rungs at time and making sure to note which ones were the most slippery when she pointed them out to him. His eyes went wide and his voice caught in his throat when she slipped and came down to his level, and couldn't find anything to say when she met his gaze, except, "Are you all right?"
When they finally got to the top, there was a small landing before them. He climbed up after her, still leaning toward the wall as even the footing was still slippery and the ledge wasn't very wide. He felt along it, hands grazing slime and made a face at the contact. "It's got to be - HERE!" Grinning wide, he felt the gate at last and turned to look inside. Daylight was just on the other side. "Gods, it's right there!"
He felt for the gate and pushed, then pulled finding it was indeed locked. Radimir became enraged at the idea. So close, the exit was right there! And it failed to budge. He backed away a little and cried out as he lauched a leg at the bolt that held it shut. He had to brace himself lest he slip and fall down the hundred feet it took to climb up the damn ladder in the first place. He kicked again and again, more and more frustrated each time until the gate began to give way. "Come on, don't just stand there. We can break this damn thing!"
[Tis okay. I went to bed too. Sleep is good! And so are milkshakes! D:]
OOC: Posh! You *would* say milkshakes are good!
Ribs are also good-
and I was just about to settle in and read 'Gone with the Wind' when my dearest friend is typign to me at the same time she'll be making ribs tomorrow so instead of telling her I'm reading 'Gone with the Wind' I type 'Gone with the Ribs'...
ANd then I hurt myself by laughing.
I still hurt XD
ANyways I put off this post long enough for today >.> *has at it*
IC:
Zarrah's face fell when she realized it was lock. After all of that damn trouble..
she chewed on the inside of her mouth irritably. What did they expect? They had been told it was locked.
Examining it, it seemed there wasn't even a way to pick it from the inside-
then she jumped, just as Radimir slammed a boot into the door.
Her eyes went wide, thinking he was insane, but his persistance seemed to pay off...
and part of her couldn't help but wish Castor was here...
The man was a human bull; he could have had that thing open in mere seconds...
Castor....
She felt her blood tingle, turn cold, then hot again with rage.
Closing her hands into fists, she slammed her boot into the door, her kicking matching to his. One heavy one after another- again and again until- she gasped, nearly falling over, but she caught his arm as the heavy door gave-
It wheezed really as the wretched rays of sunlight suddenly tore down upon them, blinding them as the door smashed into the ground. Blinking, Zarrah craned her neck, holding her breath as she stared out towards the sweet smells of freedom-
Which was quite obviously better than the smells of sewage.
[Didn't you know? Gone with the Ribs is the sequel! Scarlett makes Rhett a rack o' lamb in order to get him back.]
When the door finally gave way, Radimir grinned but held tightly on to Zarrah when she nearly fell back. He looked out to the sunlight and reluctantly released her and was eager to get out, but he couldn't bear to leave these people behind. "Go on through, I'll be right behind you," he said. "We'll find some way to get these people out. There's more supplies up there."
[SHORT! Kind of brain dead, sorry! ><]
OOC: Scarlet can cook!? D:
IC:
Moving through the open door, she was overwhelmed by the brightness of the day. The desert sun was always merciless, but this time, she was ok with it bringing tears to her eyes and nearly blinding her. She kept her eyes shielded as she moved, examining the area when she realized, with a start, they were several hundred feet off of the ground. It was a dizzying affect, but it seemed the sewers almost ran parallel with a bridge, then pittered off beneath the ground where the sands consumed all.
She wasn't sure what she was looking for as she released a breath, but then something caught her eye- another ladder. A way down.
She approached it, examining it as she bent over and noticed it went nearly to the ground, not all the way, but close enough- like the other ladder.
If they wanted to procure freedom for the others, it seemed this might be the only, safest way.. or..
she turned, sweeping her black hair away from her face.
They group could travel to the other end of the stone path where it eventually became more shallow and the few that could jump off could.. but...
She had seen the condition of those people, accomplishing this sort of thing was a feat in itself. Turning back to Radimir, she examined him a moment, taken back, slightly by the way he looked. He could be handsome, she supposed, had his eyes not seemed so... ghastly strange. Not that it mattered. Having a good looking 'companion' was really nothing to her.. she had had men of all sorts before..
and suddenly, she felt her heart ache again. Castor...
how could she have been so foolish?
Even still, she loved him and wasn't sure if she could find the strength enough not to...
In a sad way, she understood him and why he would abandon her. After all, she had tried, on many occasions, to do the same.........
She stared off towards the horizon, wondering where he might be before finally addressing the current problem at hand-
She needed to stop being so selfish. Those people needed help.
"The ladder over there.." she pointed with a sweeping motion of her hand. "If we can somehow get those down below out here, they could crawl down this way.."
though part of her face fell as she began to realize- if they did get them out- what was stopping the people who put them there from chasing them out of hte city again? Well, it was a risk they would have to take.
[I know! Shocked me too!]
After Radimir's vision came into focus, shifting from the dank darkness of the world below, he soon noticed the way down before Zarrah had pointed it out to him. She was right and all he could think about was how these people could suffer so long down there without anyone bothering to help them. Perhaps they didn't know they were there...perhaps they did and just didn't care. It was easy to ignore such a thing when it wasn't visible in your day to day life. Out of sight really was out of mind.
Radimir could have become angry at the thought. But it was a short-lived anger. And he was forced to swallow it down.
Nodding to Zarrah, he headed for the ladder. As he climbed down, beside it was another ladder made of wood. It was a rickety looking thing but it was long enough to reach from the ledge to the bottom, and better yet, without the risk of slipping from the sticky grime of the iron ladder that came down the shaft. "There!" he said pointing. Radimir jumped the rest of the way down, landing in a roll and pulling the fallen ladder from the sand. "Help me pull it up!"
Radimir placed the ladder up to the ledge and climbed back up. "This will help them get up in the first place. I'll go down and start making sure they get up here. When they're up...then we'll worry about th guards. They shouldn't be allowed to do this to people... I've had enough of suffering to last a lifetime. Let's go."
When they were at the top, Radimir pulled the ladder up and through the gate. It was difficult to turn it around, making sure that it didn't slip on the slime below. Radimir approached the main ladder, turning to climb down, but before he did so, he looked at Zarrah and peered her as she stood as a silhouette in the light. "Thank you," he said, "For helping me do this."
He climbed down and began to collect as many people as he could, many of which had trouble walking. They were coralled into the exit chamber, murmuring amongst themselves, confused, unsure of what was going on. The old woman that spoke them was the first to go up the wooden ladder, then switched to the iron one beside it. Radimir stood at the bottom, helping each one climb up carefully. As she found the strength to climb, eventually she came to the top, a hand appearing at the top ledge. And as she did so, pulling herself up, she cried out, tears coming to her eyes as she saw daylight for the first time in years.
At his thanks, Zarrah gave a genuine smile in return, her eyes warming.
"You do not need to thank me. I would have helped if I was thinking on others besides myself."
After all, it seemed not everyone paid attention to the rumors that the Lady of the Desert did any good. Most focused on the ridiculous and only slightly true stories that she slept with me for coin. Which, ironically, was true (for the most part) and the death (which normally came to those deserving, or those foolish enough to walk across her path....)
It was almost as if the women never had freed a slave or defended any of the poor-
No, no. Men would remember her for the scandalous woman in the desert.
It was tedious work now. They had to help one person at a time, and it seemed both Radimir and Zarrah would have to help each of the weakened individuals climb. None were quite fit enough, so, for the majority of the day, each one was guided with care, up the ladders, across the way, then outside into freedom. Most did not know what to do with themselves, but were so happy they were crying. ANd by the end of it all, Zarrah was smiling too, happy to have helped, and only feeling slightly guilty over the fact she had wanted to leave them behind, if not but to pursue Castor Bain all the quicker. But this... this was something that reminded her why things were worth fighting for, and she could have cried with them had she still not felt so hollow and wretched and broken inside.
Radimir collected as many of the sick sewer-dwellers as he could; even his whip had been collected. The last of them were guided up and through the long ladder up. The last one was a child, sickly and pale, but otherwise did not show signs of obvious disease. Some were cleaner than the others, but all were close to death, and would have been closer still had they remained down here any longer. Radimir pulled the girl up into his arms, the tiny thing confused, but knowing her mother was waiting for her up top.
She clung around his neck, legs around his waist as he climbed up. "Here's the last one, Zarrah," Radimir said. The wooden ladder had just about had it but luckily they were close to the top. At long last he reached the ledge and just when he pulled himself up, her mother waiting on the side, the ladder did slip and crashed at the bottom, splintering everywhere. Radimir held the child in his arms, eyes lingering to the dim darkness below, but returned the girls safely to her mother.
"Gods that was close," he said, but got to his feet and turned outside. The day was nearly gone, but already the guards were getting riled up at the survivors that were pouring into the streets.
Zarrah watched sadly, quietly as the child hung to Radimir. In a faint flash of a vision, she wished the man would find peace and a wife. Despite what he had done to her and at the temple, a man who treated a child so sweetly and risked his neck out for people so sickly couldn't be so bad. She, on the other hand, could only lament that she'd never be married and never have kids. It was just the way of things, and things of which she had come to accept.
Though her thoughts were pulled when she heard some commotion from the guards and her dark eyes moved towards them and she tensed.
"Those guards better not dare try anything.."s he growled, but restrained herself for now. But then thinking it over, she glanced over at Radimir.
"Perhaps we can.. at least silence them for a while?" she suggested with a smirk. "What better things do we have to do anyways?"
For a second time, Radimir grinned at her and nodded. It was high time they got out of this damnable city. And gave these guards a run for their own money. There was no reason to let these bastards put these poor people back into those sewers. And if the streets had to swarm with their blood so be it.
"That's the best plan I've heard all day. Let's go give them something to get riled about!" He tore out his sword and pulled out a dagger he had from his belt, leaping down from the precipice.
At his smile, her own broadened more smugly as she withdrew a dagger, twirling it idly at her side. Then following after him, the pair made it down the alley way and silently towards the noises where the guards began to make a fuss.
"Hey- YOU! The invalids!" there was some fuss over the grotesque, and then more hollering to alert other guards. Zarrah cringed.
"He'll have all of the guards here before we can shut him up." but she had her own way of silencing him as she took her dagger, took swift aim, then sailed it across the air. The thing twirled in a silver fury before sinking into the man's neck. He made a noise, gripped at his throat before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went down.
The other two guards at his side spun around as Zarrah rushed there way.
"Come on, let's clear the way." She readied her blade, not about to flinch in the kill when she halted inher tracks, blade ready to sink across a man's face when she noticed the child, the little girl-
and it was too late-
The guard had already seen Zarrah and had she not second guessed her move, second guessed the killing blow, she could have averted it-
but the man was ready, and the strike went true and Zarrah fell, collapsing and grasping at the warm blood that bubbled from her side.
Radimir followed after her with the fleetness of the wind and the silence of the shadow he'd sworn to become for her. She didn't need one of course, he knew she was more than capable of killing on her own. Radimir had his own blades in hand, already close behind her, but it was she who'd delivered the first killing blow. The guard was astonished to find the dagger embedded into his throat and fell back in a puddle of his own blood.
Radimir made short work of the guard that came rushing his way, recognizing him as the one he'd bashed on the back of the head earlier. "You're mine!" he cried through grit teeth. Radimir ducked below his sword cut and swerved around to cut the man's shoulder down then delivered the dagger from his other hand into the center of his collarbones, in the soft hollow between them. The man choked on his own blood before falling to his knees.
He pulled the blade away and kicked the body on the ground. He turned then to find Zarrah's eyes captured on the child he'd pulled from the gutter and beside her was the blade of the second guard closing in on her side. Time moved swiftly and slowly, liquid in motion, as Radimir caught her for a moment before she fell to the ground.
Radimir dropped her a little, rising to the guard as he advanced. Radimir threw the blade out at him, which the guard dodged. But that wasn't his final move just yet as he ran forth and clashed steel to steel. He spun and slammed the sword hard down upon his head, breaking his guard and the blade of the falcata cut into his skull, splitting it vertically in two.
He plucked up the dagger, rushing to Zarrah's side. "Get up! Zarrah, get up! C'mon the guards are coming!" He put a hand to her bleeding side and held it strongly there, putting as much pressure as he could to stop the bleeding. He ripped off one of the coats of from one of the fallen guards and used it bind it around Zarrah's waist, sealing her wounds for the time being. "Zarrah! Get up or we'll never get to Castor! You'll not die today!" he said, hoping to rouse her energy, her will, her anger, anything!
Zarrah turned her eyes to Radimir, a smirk growing wickedly across her lips.
"Don't think anyone can kill me that easily," she said, still smiling through a wince at the pain as she held the jacket pressed heavily against her wound. "And if anyone should know that, it ought to be you." Turning away, she frowned, noticing they were causing a much bigger stir. She swore beneath her breath, then turned to the lepers.
"ALl of you! Find a place to hide for a while! We'll take care of the guards! GO!" Then she turned to Radimir, nodding to him before slipping out another knife from beneath her clothes. "Come on, let's handle the rest of these guards."
And she held on fierce to the clothe while stalking off, seemingly unphased by it as the flare of death lit up her violet eyes-
and the guards were coming- many more of them, but thankfully not an entire army as she flicked out her weapon and lashed down the two foolish men who thought to take her-
After all, she wasn't completely helpless. A wound was a wound,but she was still the lady of the desert...
Blood and death often went hand in hand and when it came to one who knew its business, it would certainly be the two of them. One who'd made a living from the gushing fountain that seeped life from a mortal man, and another who used it as a means of survival, and at long last revenge. Perhaps they would make a cunning pair, for the duration of their travel in the least. And, indeed, if anyone ought to know how dangerous this black-haired beauty was, it would be Radimir.
He only grinned at her words and nodded. Again he moved quickly as the invalids that crawled up from the darkness were scattering into alleys and into any kind of cover they could find, some losing others they'd clung to in the sewers below. But for the moment, they could not be fussed over. For if the guards weren't taken care of their lives would only be cut down to pieces.
Radimir rushed at a pair of guards that were coming at them from the left. There were just enough to take some time to put down, but if they didn't hurry and cull as many as they could from the ranks, these people would only be forced into a worse than what had already been given to them. Radimir dodged low and stepped back when a guard struck out against the piece protecting his chest, sparks flying out at the contact. He swooped his sword upward and feigned with its edge, slashing with the left and stuck the dagger inbetween his ribs, crushing the blade into his heart. He choked on his own blood for a moment before dropping to the ground.
Radimir rushed forward at the second. He was unprepared for the sudden attack and stumbled backwards as he was on him, slamming the butt of his sword into his skull, cracking it within one powerful blow. But just to make sure, he strucked the dagger across his throat. Radimir turned for a moment and saw archers standing across the street on a roof above them.
Radimir climbed to his feet and dashed at her. "Zarrah look out!"
Zarrah had been parrying with a more seasoned guard, this one obviously a veteran from the grey hair in his hair and beard. Her daggers kept clanking off the heavy iron of his sword in sharp, quick sparks. But both were unrelenting, and it wasn't until the man finally backed Zarrah up into a corner that she heard Radimir's calls and turned to him, just in time to narrowly miss the man's blade connect across her face. Then she tumbled away, noticed the archers and tried to think up a more cunning plan.
Then she turned back towards the larger guard and goaded him on with lewd gestures, just as the archers were taking aim- and taking aim on her like she had planned, and when she noticed from the corner of her eyes that they had let loose the arrows, she made quick word to tumble, parry, then slip behind the larger guard- using his body as a shield and a moment later, she heard his breath come out of him as about four arrows sunk into his large belly while Zarrah stood in his shadows, completely unharmed. Then the man fell over,a nd Zarrah dashed into a nearby, narrow street, eyes searching for something, for anything. God damn archers....
Perhaps they'd have to merely find a way to vanish. It would be impossible to down them all. Her eyes then searched desperately back to Radimir.
"Come on! This way!"
Radimir hid behind a wicker basket when the arrows let loose, but stared with wide eyes when they sunk into the larger guard's potbelly. He slumped to the ground and just before Zarrah turned to look at him, Radimir had crawled from his hiding spot and drew the dagger from his hand and launched it out at one of the archers. The blade dug deep into his heart, burying itself deep in his chest and send him falling. But suddenly an arrow found its way into his shoulder and Radimir yelped, rolling away and pulling another thin dart-like blade from his belt, launching it at the archer with expert aim, the blade digging into his throat.
More arrows sung in the air as he got up then and dashed after Zarrah, following her lead. He forced the pain from his mind in meditative breaths as they rounded the next corner. More guards were dashing down the street. By then people had cleared them from the commotion, hiding in their houses, shutting doors, shutting windows.
Ten men stood before them, heavily armored and heavily armed, but Radimir was more than read to face them as he pulled more blades from his belt and with a whispering of an ancient curse, turned the blades into snakes as he launched them at the guards, two of which landed on their targets and buried their fangs into their necks. The guards began their charge.
Zarrah was surprised when the snakes went flying and almost stumbled to a halt, but she kept running, turning a glance back towards Radimir, then back down the alley. She would have shivered at the idea of snakes but... perhaps she should know her accomplice better. After all, he was from a cult of vipers. Moving forward, Zarrah readied two thin blades in hand, not deterred by the much heavier weapons that came out her as she easily dodged the first heavy spear that swung at her, using the momentum to grab onto it and launch herself up and over, planting a kick on the guards face, knocking off his helmet in a noisy clatter-
Though even int he disarray, as she came to a graceful land beside him, the man was quick to turn- grabbing her by the arm and throwing her up against the wall, his spear blade at her throat.
"You're going to rot int he dungeon for this!"
Her eyes narrow. She could be swift at moving too as she sunk a kick into the man's balls.
His eyes went buggered before he suddenly slumped to the ground- and not wasting another moment, she yanked out his spear and twirled it around, and bashed it offensively at the other guard's spear that was aiming clean for her, then spun it around fast, hard and eventually swept the guard off his feet- but didn't kill him, only smashed his helmet down with the blunt end of the spear, rendering him unconscious.
Then with a quick turn of her head, she tried to spot how Radimir was fairing when more arrows began to whiz over head, and all Zarrah could do was find herself twisting the spear before her and trying to bat the god damn arrows away.
The two guards were downed from the snake bites the venom coursing through their veins, making their skin blackened from the poisoned. When they yanked them away, doing so in vain, the serpents only clattered as they transformed back to daggers on the ground, and the light of life faded from their eyes.
Using that distraction, Radimir leapt toward a pair of guards, parrying their spears, sparks flying as he moved with a great deal of dexterity. He almost seemed not even to be tired or deterred as he slashed them both open from stem to stern. His own body was slashed and cut, prodded by their spear points, but other wise would survive his wounds.
But as more arrows flew through the sky, he felt one graze his arm. He turned to face the archer, holding his wound. Then at that moment an other arrow buried itself deep into his back and he cried out, falling to his knees as another guard rushed at him, blade high.
Zarrah spun at her heal, spear gutting into the man who paused in midlife just over Radimir before his eyes began to sparkle, then fade, as he went still to death.
Zarrah kicked the man off the end of her spear and looked down to Radimir. She flinched. He was injured. Grabbing his hand, she yanked him to his feet.
"Come on!" she barked, dragging him along as she rushed down a street. She could hear the clattering of guards over head- the archers, and the calling of a few more guards down the way they were running. She paused, cursed herself and turned around, finding a nearby building and deciding they hadn't much choice, she kicked the door open and dragged Radimir inside.
It was then she spotted a family inside and froze, her own body lingering with some flecks of blood, but Radimir was worse for wear, two arrows prodding out of his flesh and blood oozing onto the floor.
She grimaced as the family flinched back.
"Please, we only mean to pass," Zarrah began, then noticed as one of the women rose. It was one of the laundry ladies.
"here, you may both hide in here. We will not tell them you are here when they come. Quick, to the cellar. The both of you."
Zarrah turned her gaze to Radimir, trying to smile as she lead him towards the wooden door in the floor. Th ewoman flipped it open and gestured-
"Quick, get down there before hte guards find you!"
And Zarrah nodded, thanking the woman before slipping down below with Radimir in her arms.
Once below, she draped him across her lap and held him close, held her breath and simply listened, craning her neck to hear if the guards saw them enter and would follow....
Radimir's head was whirling with the pain, the wounds taking their toll as the guard was cut down at last and Zarrah had come to his aid. His legs wobbled beneath him but were otherwise sturdy enough to keep him from tumbling toward his face. He nodded to her as they made their escape toward the cellar, stubmling down the steps, holding on to the wooden railing.
He fell on his shoulder, the arrow digging deeper and he seethed, gritting his teeth and nearly smashing them with the force of his jaws. Radimir held onto to Zarrah, bleeding out as he was, but he managed to find enough strength to sit up, listening as she was. The footsteps of guards echoed down the street, shouting, yelling for them. But then silence followed, broken by nothing more than the sounds of their breaths.
After several moments, Radimir let out a sigh and couldn't reach his arrow wound. "Please..." he begged Zarrah. "Rip them out."
Zarrah released her breath when she heard the guards had not followed. THen her eyes went to Radimir, finding his shining in the dark. She bristled at his claim, but steeled her eyes and nodded. Breaking the end of the arrow, she hissed as his blood burned her, but ignored it for now. SHe could deal with his blood later. The arrows had to get out and a little burn here or there was nothing.
So she snapped both arrows, and with caution, she held him stiff, looking him in the eyes and nodded before yanking one out. She would wait for him to calm, then moved to the second one and did the same.
Hissing when his blood would hit her,s he threw the arrows aside ad tired to wipe off his blood from her hands. Then she turned to him and craned her neck, listening again carefully to the world above.
Radimir laid on his side, breathing hard when the arrows had been removed. Though one of them had been fairly benign, the one that struck his back stung and throbbed, slowly bleeding. Radimir knew he had to remain calm lest he bleed out all over this woman's cellar floor. He didn't know her, didn't think he could trust her, but he was in little position to protest at the moment.
He saw the woman lingering in the shadows, opening the cellar trapdoor after a while when the silence pressed on. He held his breath, almost certain she'd let the guards in. It would have been the perfect trap after all. But she came down with a waterskin instead and a plate of food. The laundry lady held a smile on her face, looking down at Radimir for a moment before kneeling down, setting the supplies down for the moment. She looked over at Radimir again. "I have some bandages and some salve to help with the bleeding. One moment," she whispered.
Radimir's blood was dripping all over her wall, steaming a little, but he leaned forth away from it before reaching for the water, taking a long drink of it and spilling some of it all over his face and hair, then handed it off to Zarrah. "How long do we stay down here?" he wondered.
Zarrah's eyes went to the woman's as she tended to Radimir. Then she looked back to him.
"If Ezna let's us, we should rest here the night." she informed Radimir. "The guards seem tricked off our trail and won't think twice to start breaking into houses. Then, perhaps when the moon is the highest, we ought to slip out." She smiled a little then turned to the woman.
"Ezna, how would you feel about having two criminals stay in your house?"
Ezna smiled.
"I would be delighted, so long as you both don't stay up all night and wake the baby. The whole world knows about your reputation, miss."
Zarrah blushed a bit.
"You don't have to worry about that."
And then Ezna looked towards Zarrah and sighed.
"And you're bleeding too!" the woman scolded, but Zarrah only seeme dto shrug as she looked down at her side.
"It will heal."
"Yes," Ezna began with a sniff. "Because I will have to patch you up again." and then the woman was laughing. "Zarrah, what did you do this time anyway?"
Zarrah smirked and shook her head.
"Saving the lepers."
Ezna gave a start, but then was shaking her head and muttering in another tongue.
"Of course you would do something like that. First it's the flea infested slaves, then the abused children and now the lepers. And to think, you kill men for fun."
Zarrah smiled a bit fondly at this, albeit even a little sadly before turning away.
"Such is the way of a woman of the desert."
"You mean," Ezna put in. "The lady of the desert." And then she turned to Radimir after shaking her head with a tsk. "And what about you? What is your sorry story, man with snake eyes?"
"Indeed you don't," Radimir whispered, amused by the idea of sleeping with Zarrah, as ironic as the thought was. The moment he'd had her, he relished it - and certainly there were certain aspects of it that could have gone off better as it were - it was something he wouldn't regret. After all it may never happen again.
Radimir was busy nursing his wounds and cleaning them with what water he'd managed to cup in his hands, all the while listening to the conversation between Zarrah and the laundry lady she'd called Ezna. Radimir glanced up now and then, watching Zarrah and Ezna's exchanges, how well they knew each other. It seemed Zarrah had done more than wander the desert with that brute of a man she was desperate to find again.
Kill men for fun? He knew she was a murderer, dangerous as well, and good with a blade. She had no qualms about spilling the blood of these worthless guards. But he had to be honest for as long as he'd lived in the desert her legends had failed to reach his ears. It wasn't difficult, however, that she'd made quite a reputation for herself. One that she clearly used to her advantage...and one that was just was easily used against her.
The very thought made him frown however, realizing then how easy it was for a man to look upon a woman such as she and see nothing more than a night's pleasure. And Radimir realized then how Zarrah saw him as no different than the rest of those men. Perhaps in another situation, she wouldn't be wrong. But he knew there had to be something more to it than that. He'd felt lust, knew it's fire as it burned in his loins. But what he saw in Zarrah's eyes that moment...something was different.
Radimir shook his head from the thought and looked up when the conversation suddenly turned to him. He peered into her eyes, unsure if she was serious, but it seemed she was. And what was there to keep from her?
"My name is Radimir," he said. "I am a son of the desert, I've lived here my whole life. But I know I don't look like a saint. Because I'm not. I'm an assassin, blood for pay, blood for sacrifice. One of those 'viper' people...don't know if you've heard of them. I am the son of the leader of that clan. But now he is dead...my father was killed... But it's over now. I'm here to help Zarrah...any way I can, to make up for the blood that I've spilled. But I suppose nothing really could wash my hands clean of it. I helped Zarrah free those lepers. It was her idea in the first place. And I thank you...for helping us."
Ezna lifted her head, drinking in his story with a slow nod.
"Ah, I see." Her eyes turned to Zarrah with a coy grin. "The lady knows how to catch them. Men who follow after lepers."S he winked.
Zarrah couldn't help but smile. Those ladies were really something, but always helped in a pinch.
But at the thought, Radimir gave her all the credit, she was about to protest, but left it at that, eyes reading him a moment.
"There is no need to thank me. Zarrah saved my husband. For it, I owe her my life."S he grinned over at Radimir. "But please, do not worry yourself. I am at your disposal until you slip out in the night." Ezna then turned to Zarrah wearing her same coy grin. "Will you be needing a bath to clean up for after the night?"
Zarrah raised her brows at the question- really it was not appropriate to think she and Radimir would- but then she realized.. she wondered if it was for their wounds and their smell. She had to laugh.
"A bath would be lovely. I'm sure we smell as wretched as the sewers."
Ezna's eyes studied her, twinkling. "Something like that."S he looked over at Radimir. "What about you snake boy? You want to bath too, ya? You both smell worse than pig piss." she said, moving to stand by the steps as she pinched her nose. "But you be good people. I can share the clean waters. Just give me time."
"Thank you, Ezna," Radimir said again, nodding to her, turning his head down. But it immediately shot back up when she mentioned a bath. He laughed a little and smiled, nodding to the woman. "Yes, of course! A bath sounds good to me. How about you Zarrah? Don't answer that, never mind," he said, and managed to stand despite his wooziness.
He clutched the walls and motioned for Ezna to go on up the stairs. "Though I guess you'll be bringing the water's down here then. We haven't got anywhere else to go anyway." He moved away from Zarrah, sitting on a crate and trying to work at taking off his armor, the studded gloves were the first to go. He managed to reach behind and undo the buckle, letting the leather straps slip away and dropping it to the floor.
"Um, you can go on first," Radimir insisted. "I'll take mine after." He kept his eyes averted, remembering how he tricked her.
Zarrah studied Radimir briefly before moving after to follow Ezna.
"Here, let me help-" but the woman clucked her tongue at her and shooed Zarrah back down the stairs.
"YOu are injured," Ezna pressed. "Wait here. My husband will bring down the pail and waters. I will fetch the soap and some towels." Then, stealing one glance over to Radimir, she disappeared, leaving Zarrah to stand there awkwardly as the pair remained in silence until her husband came. He was silently, mostly, simply nodding to them before turning to his wife, hugging her and kissing her briefly before filling the pail with waters and as his wife handed over the soap and towels.
"We will clean this up in the morning. You two wash up for now." Then Ezna whispered a prayer, "May the sun's grace be with you." and she and her husband nodded and bowed away.
Staring over at the waters, she hesitated, knowing full well Radimir wanted her to go first before slipping off her clothing and letting it drop casually to the floor. It didn't matte rif he saw anything anyway, he had... seen and had more of his fair share of her to begin with and with that awkward notion, she slipped into the small pail, knowing it might be somewhat difficult for Radimir to fit into when the time came, but...
That was not her's to be concerned.
She kept silent, lathered up her body and soap, even scrubbed it thoroughly into her hair so much that she feared her scalp might bleed and her skin might crack from how muhc of the lard she was using. Then using the perfumed oils Ezna had been so kidn to offer, she slipped out o fthe tub and began to rub them against her body, slowly, sensually before realizing she should hurry up, and that Radimir had been in silence all of this time.
DRaping a towel around her body, she hugged it close to her chest and finally turned over her shoulder to the man, then stepped and turned fully around to face him.
"If you want, I can see about getting you fresh waters. Her husband, I hear him up there, he is still awake."s he said, her eyes steadily on his, but if he'd turn to her, she'd look away. She still felt...
awkward, her loins burning fiercely in recolletion of what had happened, and her heart gripping and her throat burning in a simmering rage.
She also could not shake off the fact the love he professed had been so real, yet so surreal...
and she had believed it had been another man,.. he had been another man-
yet Radimir said it was real.
it was too bizarre, and it still did not sit well with her, sitting like a heavy rock in the pit of her belly.
He watched the interaction between Ezna and her husband with a cold distance, the sight of it almost too foreign to comprehend. They were husband and wife obviously, but it seemed strange to see, as if he were little more than outside of a wall, peering through in a private moment in the life of an ordinary family; a convoluted voyeurism. Perhaps it seemed strange because he'd never had his mother present in his life, never saw his father show affection for his anybody. Not even he, his own son.
Radimir shook the thought from his mind for this was hardly the place or time for such. And was thankful at last when the water, soap and towels were delivered, so that least they could get on with this. Radimir saw that Zarrah was undressing, going first as he'd asked, and turned his back to her, to keep his eyes averted. Of course, it didn't matter. He'd already seen her in her most intimate of moments.
But he couldn't keep his eyes averted for long. Radimir's head turned slightly, looking at her, watching as the water poured down her gleaming flesh. Even in the darkness, it wasn't hard to make out her curves, her roundness of breasts as the small light seeped from the lanterns that clung to the walls. She was beautiful, truly beautiful, and while Radimir had had plenty of beautiful women, there was something striking in Zarrah's form, something unnamed. And if he should find that name, it would be gone forever.
Radimir quickly turned his head away when she finished and covered herself with a drying cloth. He stood and looked at her, his eyes solemn but warm, languid even like heat rising off of scorching desert sands. But he turned them away toward the small tub that had been provided. "No, don't bother," Radimir said, smiling. "I can get it."
Though he was wounded, he managed to shuffle toward the stairs and stepped up them, slowly pushing the door ajar and found the husband walking across the hall. He asked for a little more water and when it was provided to him, he took it back down stairs, two pails worth and cleaned out the tub before pour it in for himself.
He undressed with his back turned to her, the snake tattoo reveale on his back, even through the blood that seeped from his wounds. He had a powerful build, lean and strong, athletic for one who'd made their life in the desert and riddled with the remnants of snake bites along the inside of his elbows and his wrists. But they were well-healed over and only visible upon closer inspection. Radimir slipped into the water and indeed found he was a little to big for it. He laughed at the prospect, but slipped a leg out to make more room as he began to bathe.
He scrubbed everywhere, careful with his wounds, but one in his back was starting to irritate him. He turned over to Zarrah, knowing she was probably busy with dressing. "Zarrah," he said, sighing, knowing he was probably asking too much. "If you look at the belt of my armor, on the left side is a hidden pouch, lift up the lining and you'll find a small needle and thread for wounds. If you have any skill in the subject, I need you to sew this wound on my back closed. I would do it myself if I could reach it. Though I've managed to clean it as best I could. If it's too much trouble, I...I understand."
Zarrah had taken the time to finish drying herself while Radimir moved off to collect more water. She let him be on his own, reveling in the small amount of time he left her to herself as she reflected on her own self pity over all that had occurred. Thinking, sadly, over Castor, the temple, the trickery, the sex, the lepers, the rescue....
When he returned, she found herself studying him in silence as he bathed. Her eyes traveled across his back, over the muscles glistening in the faint light afforded to them and how it capped across his skin like gold. He was handsome, had a nice body, though it was.. different than Castor's, not quite as strong but bearing the weight of it's own strenghth and the swarthy color of the desert. The her eyes slid over the tattoo permanently painted into his flesh. A snake... She recalled the snake on her own body, the wicked, vial thing that had moved, aiming to sink it's poisonous curse into her heart. And how Castor had been so worried, so set on seeing she would not die...
SHe clutched at her chest and the pain that was there. Castor! That foolish man.
She was thankful when Radimir spoke- though it jarred her at first, it kept her mind from thinking too much about the man with the metal hands. However, at his request, she stiffened. Something.. was strange about this scenario. He and her bathing, the wounds, the close intimacy...
She had obliged him, naturally, slipping thin thread through thin needle, then being careful when pressing his flesh together as she began to stitch him up. But part of her could not help comparing this moment to the very intimate, the very real moment she had Castor had shared not that long ago. WHen he was sweet on her, offered a kiss,a nd soon that turned into so much more. Her heart burned for him, hurt for him as her violet eyes sparkled darkly with tears.
But she said nothing, just kept prodding the needle through Radimir's flesh, gently pulling it in and out and then through again, the flesh coming together, slowly, tightly with each stitch.
While the wound was not very large, it's precarious positioning made it just a little more than uncomfortable and as it was nearly square between his shoulder blades, it was easy to see how difficult it was to stitch it together himself. Radimir actually didn't expect her to oblige him. Without stitches, it would still heal, but would take much longer with the skin that had been torn from the arrow extraction.
He was silent and winced only a little with a grunt of discomfort when she first stuck the needle into him. He remained still while she worked, feeling the stitches pulled tighter. Radimir's cheeks burned with a tinge of shame at the situation, though he could not construe just why he was in the first place. He was in no way ashamed of his body, perhaps only in the thought he was completely vulnerable before her as she sewed him up. He felt bare withouth his armor, without some covering aside from the water clouded with grime and muck.
As she stitched him up, Radimir grunted a little a he felt the stitches being pulled a little tighter, tight enough to make him react in pain. "Ouch! Hey..." Radimir turned to look over his shoulder, seeing her violet eyes almost glassy in the dim lighting. "Is...is something the matter?"
At his question, her eyes turned to him while she pulled the needle through with a snap. The thread broke. Cursing beneath her breath, she looked back to the wound. He was just about stitched up. She supposed that would have to do. Keeping her eyes averted, she worked at cleaning off the needle before moving away in silence. She didn't want to talk about it. Least of all, to him.
Radimir knew the silent treatment when it was thrown his way. He could tell she was frustrated, and certainly wanted little to do with him. He felt awkward, and his face burned all the more. She moved away and he got out of the pail, drying himself off with the dry cloth. Radimir wrapped and knotted the towel around his waist and reached for his gear to wipe and clean off the grime that had collected from wading through the sewer. He sat down on a crate beside the bathwater, in long silence before looking at her. "You know...it's really not good to hold it in like that. It only builds up," Radimir said, knowing she knew what he was talking about. "You seem to have a hard time talking about things. Was it..something personal?"
Zarrah's eyes pierced him from the darkness. But she said nothing.
There was nothing to be shared or spoken to a man like him- and now, staring down at her grimy clothes, she ignored them and moved over towards the steps.
"I'll see if I can't get us some clean clothes."
ANd before he might be foolish enough to think to stop her, she was up the steps nad conversing in soft words to Ezna.
A moment later, Ezna returned, eyes glittering as she took in Radmir's form in the dark, obviously appreciating him and giving Zarrah a knowing look. But Zarrah's steel gaze was impenetrable and she merely took the clothing with a bit of thanks. Then Ezna, looking at the pair, back and forth for a time, had to smirk as she placed her hands on her hips and moved away.
"Just don't you two stay up all night making loud noises, ya? There's fruit also in the kitchen." And she laughed, good naturedly and saw herself out from the cramped basement and up back to her husband, where Zarrah could hear htem conversing at gentle words, even kissing before the pair went to tend to the baby for the night.
Zarrah's eyes flickered over to Radimir for the moment, then away, moving across to the other side as she let her towel drop carelessly and began to slip into a violet dress.
Violet..
Ezna always knew Zarrah looked like a Goddess in violet.
Radimir grew irritated by the failure of a proper response, not that he expected her to give one right away. But even a rebuff would have suited him just fine. He scrubbed away at his boots angrily until the grime was gone, then it was on to the gloves, scrubbing every stud until the dirt and crud went away. Sooner or later she was going to have to learn to trust him, he thought angrily. Though he was more than sure she'd pick later rather than sooner.
When she came in with Ezna with the left over clothing, he nodded her head to her in thanks and got up to find the clothes where they'd been left on the railing. Radimir brushed a hand through his slick wet hair, brushing it back and out of his face. He came back to his seat and let the clothes by his side as he busied himself with cleaning the leather of his armor.
He looked up at her as he watched her change. "You know you're going to have to trust me sometime soon, Zarrah," Radimir said. "How do you expect us to find that bastard if you refuse to even talk to me? I'm only trying to help you." He continued to scrub at the leather, scraping off the dirt. If only he could scrape off the tension just as easily.
Zarrah worked at pinning up her wet, dark hair from her shoulders, lest it soak her garment before she got some sleep. But she wasn't sure how well she'd sleep. At least not with Radimir seeming to hound her with his eyes. And that pesky prodding.
"I don't think me divulging how I feel at this moment will help us find him." she told him coldly, her violet eyes only sweeping away from him and across the basement before she sighed. Sadly, as much as she was looking for an excuse to get out from talking to Radimir, there wasn't nothing to even tag her interest in the small confines of that basement, so giving him the cold shoulder was more awkward than anything. but she was adamant, and stubborn as all hell, and so her violet eyes would not even bother to look at him again as she fussed over the dress, ensuring that it lay properly over her form before she took a seat on the floor.
"We should try to get some shut eye."She said, brushing some nearby cobwebs away before she slunk down into the darkness and closed her eyes, arms folded across her chest.
Radimir finished cleaning off his gear, every last bit of it and throwing the towel in the water, frustrated and fuming with rage. He stood up and changed quickly in the darkness, slipping in the soft clean, cotton pants and equipping his armor over his torso shortly followed by the shirt. He looked at her with daggers. "It's not in divulging how you feel. It's the fact that you don't trust me," he spat. "You don't even trust me enough to tell me what's wrong. How can we work together, get out of this damned desert when you can't even do that. All I've done so far is try to help you!"
Radimir kicked the pail, spilling water onto the floor a little. But he sat down on the crate once more. "If that's the way you're going to act, I can see why he left you behind in the first place."
Her eyes opened and burned at him through the darkness. He was being impossible, but so was she. And it pissed her off. His words struck her deep, so when she moved to rise, stalking across the slow distance in the basement, her hand struck hard across his face, slapping him with as much force a she could.
"You don't know the half of what I've been through!" she growled, breath hot, cheeks glowing, eyes sparkling in the dark. "And don't you ever talk to me like you do or like you care!"
Radimir's jaw clenched hard, teeth grit and took the full force of her slap. His head only budged but a few inches before it whirled back to look at her with firey eyes. His cheek, however, still throbbed with the sting of it. "I would know if you told me. If you trusted me with it! Because you don't know how I feel either. Because you're scared to face the fact that somebody does care. That that someone wants to help you. But you're too blind to see the forest for the trees." He said nothing more when his arms suddenly burst around her, holding her in a powerful vice. He may have been no Castor, but his grip was strong. His lips kissed her hungrily, sensually, passionately for a good long moment.
OOC: Music I'm listening to 8D
Make it Right (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjZPmQ0GSUk) - Alter Bridge
Also, I sense a trend with Zarrah and any potential lovers >.>;
IC:
She bristled and grew hotter and hotter, angrier and angrier each time he spoke. Hadn't she already told him she didn't want that!? Hadn't she told him she did not want his help!? It was him who followed her without permission!
She moved forward, as if to strike him again when he was upon her, arms around her suddenly in a powerful embrace. Shock hit her first. She nearly fell over but his arms held her fierce. Then his lips, his kiss shooting her heart into her throat as heat and thrills electrifying throughout her body, forcing all of her breath to swell in the back of her throat. She was forced to moan, forced to melt beneath the soft, sensual kisses of his lips, her mind devoid of oxygen, devoid momentarily of reason. And she kissed back, angrily at first, fiercely, hungrily before her face wrinkled and she pulled away, yanking her arm free before she struck him again, slapping him hard against his already burning cheek.
"You bastard! HOW DARE YOU!!!" she roared. "I already told you I didn't ask for your help! How dare you try to hold it again me!" she growled, baring her teeth while sharp tears pierced her violet eyes. "Don't you dare try to use that against me! I told you I didn't care if I had died! I told you I never wanted your help, your friendship or even this pathetic excuse of feelings you have for me! Feelings that will never be requited! EVER!Now, let go of me Radimir!" she hissed, struggling within his grasp. "I didn't ask for this, and I certainly didn't ask for you! If you have to know, I'll say it! And I'll say it again, Gods help me!" She stomped her foot. "I love Castor. I love him! And I don't love you! You'll always be the man that took that last moment from me, that kicked me when I was down, that filled me with the hope on the one time I thought he'd finally realize, he'd finally come to know-- and you.. it was you! You god damn bastard! And I'll never have that moment or another memory of him again!" SHe tore away from him, black hair falling over her face as she fell against the wall, sobbing.
[Cool song! xD And if it's the same trend I'm sensing, then no wonder she doesn't want to open up. Look where it got her with Castor.]
Radimir's entire body, within and without was scorched with the intensity of all the stars compounding into one, burning him until it seared that heat into his soul, branding him like a slave. He didn't expect her to kiss him back, in all honesty; he half expected her to knee him hard in the groin and shove him away upon first contact. But when she did kiss him back, hungry and fiercely, it brought more confusion that resolution. She could just as easily been made lost to the sensations, let her guard down for one moment. And he knew that was all it had been when the slap came burning across his cheek.
This time his head did move and he let her as she fought against him, radiating in heat and rage. Radimir could have just as easily hurt her then, made her wither and wilt in pain, but he only steeled himself, eyes shimmering with venom and carefully concealed pain. She confessed her feelings for the monster that tried to kill her, both of them, that killed his father. More ape than man.
Radimir sighed, but gave her a kind grin anyway, reaching up to rub his cheek. "I had figured as much. It's wasn't difficult to come to such a conclusion, Zarrah. I'm a fool who loves you, but I'm neither blind nor stupid." Radimir brushed a hand through his wavy hair and moving by her anyway, despite her words and tears. "But you know I took nothing from you, Zarrah. That moment you think was stolen, never existed. All of that was me, all of me, the kiss, the form, the caresses. The disguise was the only way you'd ever let me near you. I didn't want you for payment, for money, for anything...only you. In fact, you took from me and never gave. What did Castor ask of you? To help him achieve something? Always asking, and you ready to give if only he would turn to you and confess something you could only hope was there, but never knew for sure. Perhaps he even offered to help you in return. But in the mind of such a man, you two were even, and he no longer had need of you."
Radimir frowned and turned his head down, shaking his head. "Zarrah, indeed I am foolish to love you. A woman's heart is her own, and her love to give, and any man deserving of it is makes so because she deems it. And one who throws it away like garbage, isn't worth the air he breaths. It is against my better judgment to decide to help you find him. But if I do it for you. Because I wish to see you made free. Of all the chains that bind you. And since you believe me one such chain, when this is over, I'll take my leave of you if that is your pleasure. I'm sorry, Zarrah. That is all I can do."
OOC: I luvres that song
She felt horrible and angry that this man brought her to another pathetic fit of tears. And she hated all of the words he spoke to her, swallowing her up into more despair and selfworthlessness. And the bitterness rotted into her gut as she turned to him, hot tears sparkling within her eyes. Then she grit her teeth through a sob and shouted out in a fit of rage, socking a fist clean into his face.
"I am free!" she roared. "Don't you talk to me like I don't know what I am! I killed Carnavus, the only bonds that ever shackled me! You- what are you!?"Her eyes glared at him, sparkling madly "Just Some man who follows me, watching me bleed, feeding off my weaknesses like the snake you worship." She spat at him. "Just stay away from me. In the morning, we're splitting ways. I no longer want to see you near me ever again or I swear to God I'll cut your tongue out to keep you from ever speaking to me." Her eyes sparkled with a feral promised. She was not a woman to be trifled with, especially a woman with so broken a heart.
Radimir crawled away from her, wanting to grab a blade and tear into her. He only looked at her with glinting eyes. But he smirked nonetheless. "Whatever you lead yourself to believe, Zarrah. Though perhaps tonight would prove more fruitful. Darkness does cover better than day. I suppose this is good bye then. And so goes your chance of find Castor again."
Radimir got up and brushed himself off, fixing his clothing and bowing her. "It was a pleasure, lady of the desert. Farewell." And he stalked up the steps to the cellar door.
Zarrah was hoping to feel relief when the man simply walked out of her life, but soon found herself panicking. Dropping to her knees, she just watched as he left, her vision clouding up with tears.
It was for the best.
It was for the best.
She kept telling herself, but found her own heart aching, hot tears slipping down her face as she curled up onto the floor in a pathetic heap and cried. And she cried so much that she shook, and soon the shaking from tears turned into shaking with rage as she roared out and kicked over the bucket of water, spilling all of the grimy, sudsy remains onto the basement floor before scrambling into the darkness to get her own few supplies- realizing she had none; only to be frozen by the sudden cries of the baby.
Her tantrum had awoken the child.
And while she heard Ezna go to her baby, she slipped out into the night, disappearing silently into the streets feeling wretched and hollow and angry and incomplete.
DAMN, RADIMIR! Damn him for making her feel so worthless! Damn him for making her realize how much she hated to be alone, how, being with Castor for so long, made her yearn for the one thing she had lost.
Was she really a fool? Could she really not see the bigger picture?
Did Castor really use her?
No!
No, no, no, no!
Racing into the darkness, she slipped up onto the rooftops, a cool, dessert breeze catching into her hair and carrying it in wicked black pieces against the light of the silver moon that hung high at her back.
She had to clear her mind of everything. She had to rid herself with all connections to her past life.
She was the Lady of the Desert no more-
She was free..
But why was it that she found herself standing at the edge of the roof top?
At the edge of the building, with dark, starry eyes like the night?
Why was it that she yearned for his touch? And that all he wanted to do was walk away?
Radimir was swift and quiet, making his way to the corral where he'd left Thorian, but he knew by now the massive beast had most likely broken out or found some way to separate himself from the rest of the herd. His spirit was the heart of fire, unbroken save for his rider and he was waiting for Radimir at the gates.
The streets were quiet and the guards were between patrols, busy cleaning up the bloodbath they'd left in the streets. At least the lepers were free. Radimir had checked the gate of the sewer and found that it had been sealed shut but otherwise no one else had been put through it. He'd seen a few of them cowering in the streets but they were smart and clung to the darkness and alleyways where they instinctively knew nobody would care to look.
Radimir had taken to the rooftops, mind wandering, wondering what he'd set to do now. He felt a longing, to be free of this desert. Though there were many of his people's temples, most of them were old and derelict, and the last one had been destroyed. What more was keeping him here? Nothing at all. His father was dead, his order was shattered, his heart burned and ached for the woman that would never love him. But what more was there to do but to live on.
He'd been sitting at the edge of a building, near the gates, but got up and walked across, toward the gates. He sent out a thin, high-pitched whistle that took to the air like a nightbird. At it he heard a new a few seconds later and heard the faint sound of a horse on the other side of the city wall. Radimir made for the boundary.
He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, a shadow against the moonlight and jumped for the edge of the wall from the nearest building. The cool desert air was a caress against his skin, a solemn farewell. He stood on the wall for a moment, peering out to the slumbering city in its faint lighting. He saw that Thorian was below him, eager for him to get into the saddle. And without a second though he jumped down into it, nudging the horse to start walking off to the cliffs, to the north. Away from this dreadful place.
What was there left to do? There was no longer time to waste, and the desert had already been tainted with her presence that it seemed to form a permanent scar.
And she felt so angry and hollow at the same time- a rage so natural like fire...
Fire.
Her lips twitched as she smiled.
Why did she not think of this before?
There was only one thing left, she deduced, to rid herself of the god damn past.
Let it all burn.
Slipping across the city at night without a noise, she crept into his manor, ignorant of any of the fat, useless wives of the dead Carnavus that would still be lurking about as she kicked over pots after pots of hot oil, soaking the floors in his bed chambers, on the curtains where she had once made love with him- where he had taken the child and made her a woman.
Burn. It was all set to flames, the fire burning brighter, higher, stretching upwards towards the sky as hot, flaming hands that scorched.
The place was soon in a panic, screams tearing through the place as the fire moved swiftly from room after room as Zarrah held on fast and diligent to the torch flame. She had to make certain ti would all burn- it would all be destroyed, even if it meant taking herself with it and to become the flame, become the smolder, become the ash.
From afar, the fire would peak into the night's sky, and the smoke would hang heavy and dark as screams would resound out, and the sense of urgency ever present; all the while Zarrah's plans to set to flame would move deeper and deeper within until she herself was standing in a room so hot that on all sides of her there was nothing but flames.
Radimir had not ridden far from the city when the smell fo singed stone and embers clouded his nostrils and he furrowed his brow, turning about in his saddle as he watched the night sky torched with an orange glow. He was near the hills, but close enough to see to see the flame lick and lash the stars with their fury and hunger. His heart leapt into his throat and only one thought sunk into his mind.
Zarrah!
She would burn the entire city to the ground! Perhaps she didn't care for herself, but she would take with it, the lepers they saved, the laundry women. Even with an oasis so close, it would take hours before the fire would be squelched. And by the time they even managed to put out one building, the fire would have taken out another and turned the entire place to ash.
Radimir yanked Thorian's reins, the horse rearing up and neighing loudly in the air before turning around and bolting with lightning speed back to the city. People had not quite been made aware of the current predicament, but already screams pierced the air as much as the fires did and those shrieks came from the building deep at the heart of the city. Radimir crashed through the closed gates, his face covered in his headwrap and rode fast and hard to the building.
"Stop!" a guard called out, not recognizing him. He was the first on the scene, but Radimir pressed hard on Thorian's side and the massive horse knew better than to stop. "Don't go in!" the guard persisted. "It's too dangerous! UGHF!" He was knocked back with the force of Thorian's shoulder, throan to the ground as Radimir pressed past him. Flames smashed glass and burst through it, but he would not be deterred.
Radimir rode around the burning manor and leapt over the rosebush wall and into the courtyard, around him were the smouldering bodies of dead guards and others who hadn't made it out. Thorian smashed through the back door and rode through, ducking where the horse was quite tall on his own to make it through door ways. Radimir searched for her through the smoke and flames that the great beast beneath him was swift to avoid.
They came down a partitioned corridor, large double doors with smoke billowing up out from between the cracks. It was the only part of the house he'd yet to check. Thorian bolted for the door and reared up, kicking both hooves into the wood and bashing it apart. Through the fire, Radimir could see the familiar shape of Zarrah lingering through the smoke. He didn't call out to her. But between her and him was a wall of fire. The horse backed up and eventually ran forth and braved the fire, leaping over it.
Once inside, Radimir rode over to Zarrah and snatched her up by the arm, face covered, looking like a phantom through the smoke and fire. He pulled her up into the saddle in front of him, even if she resisted. He was silent, a monument that only pressed the beast to crash back down the corridor, but stopped short when the ceiling gave and crashed in front of them. Thorian shrieked and turned back to the room, leaping back over the fire and turning around and around as the pillars squealed in protest, but could do nothing to support the weight of the ceiling.
They had to hurry lest they be crushed and burned to death. Radimir spotted another door across the fire and pressed Thorian to go for it. The horse obeyed, sweating and bald where the fires singed away hair. The horse broke open the doors and bolted down the hall. The main exit was near as the building was crashing down behind them, walls crumbling to the ground. Thorian leapt over bodies that laid scorched on the ground and shattered remains.
Thorian at last bashed open the front doors that had opened to the grand hall, which now lay in ruins all over, when the last ounce of firey rage took the building and caved the entire thing down. He leapt out into the streets and bolted for the gates as by now the whole city had finally awakened, and all that could be done was to get people out.
But even as they were corralled out of the gates, unable to contain the fire, Radimir headed back to the direction which he came, holding Zarrah against him, riding off into the hills.
OOC: HRNNGH
Such an epic scene and I'm afraid to reply lest my fail brain ruin it D:
but I guess I'm posting anyway!
on a side note, I've been listening to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA53WK1eBBE) awesome song
IC:
Through the heat of the fog, a figure came, riding across the flames on a horse. She hadn't expected it, hadn't wanted it but in the same instance, she did. A noise erupted from her throat, breath catching away as she was pulled off of the ground and onto the horse and within his arms, within his strong protection. She should have fought it, she should have bled, she should have let herself die in those flames...
But even she knew she'd rise in the same place, like a phoenix, reborn to another day.
ANd as the fire and chaos spilled around them, she found herself clinging to the final, tattered remains of hope and security.
Curse him. Curse this man. Why did it have to be him?
But she said nothing, just lay helpless and pathetic against him as she let him carry her away like the fierceness of a storm, and a thundering sensation of what she had done sunk into her chest. She didn't want to think on the consequences of her actions, but they came at an inopportune time. And her mind was already in a haze from the fire, her mind broken by so much of this life...
So her tears fell down like rain.
[Your post wasn't filled with fail! D: It was coo'! And that song's coo' too!]
The orange glow carefully vanished behind the height of the hills as Radimir trotted north on the horse. Thorian was a powerful beast, strong and fast, capable of both speed and distance, but as far as they'd gone from the city, his nostrils were red from the dust and breathing hard, his heart pounding heavy against his ribs. The horse walked on a little ways longer, and the great moon appeared overhead, in glorious fullness that opened up to them.
Radimir looked up at it, Thorian pausing at the crest of a hill that opened up to a valley down below. he looked up at the moon and reached up with a free hand to pull down the mouth-covering of his headwrap and smiled at it. Never had he seen something so beautiful in his life. It spoke of new explorations, new beginnings, new endings, away from the bleak winds and harsh sun of this wretched and forgotten place.
They needed a place to camp for the night when at last Thorian stopped and refused to take another step. "He's tired," Radimir said at last for the first time in what seemed like hours and got off the horse, helping Zarrah on the way down. He grabbed the reins of the horse, relieved to have them off his back, and lead them to a small concave inlet, carved into the cliffside. Radimir took the saddle off of the horse and set it and the gear strapped to it to the side on the floor. He sat down on the floor, pulling out some object for Thorian to get a drink out and something for him to nibble on on the side.
Radimir looked up to Zarrah, giving her a hard look, confused, like a parent that found a child that had made a terrible mess after they had told them not to. He clenched his jaw, clearly upset with what she'd done and managed to find his tongue. "You could have killed all those people," he said at last. "The ones we saved, and your friends. Is that what you were trying to do?"
Zarrah had remained silent, even as Radimir helped her from the horse. She had avoided his gaze. She didn't need to see his face to know how he was glaring at her, so when he spoke, she simply turned away, drawing her arms across her chest, hands to her shoulders and gritted her teeth. She almost shivered.
"I'm already aware I'm a fool," she hissed. She really didn't need to hear it from him, even if it was warranted. But what more could be said? She didn't want to talk about it, she didn't want to talk with him, but in the same breath she wanted company, she wanted strength-
and the only person who seemed to give a damn was this snake-worshiper who raped her and tried to have her killed. "You should have just left me there." But immediately felt foolish after she said it. So she went silent, refusing to turn or look at him, keeping her back both to him and the moon. Then, after a moment, she sighed and lowered her head. "But thank you for not."
The Gods seemed to want to toy with her- perhaps that was to be her fate- for electing to join in a promise, in a curse with a demon for another chance.. for three tries for revenge...
Recalling back to that fateful night, she found her eyes stinging with tears as she turned, not to Radimir, but to the city, watching, as the distant orange light from the fire cast within the shimmering depths of her violet eyes. THe fire hung on every tear, hugged at the softness of her face while the darkness still threatened to bury her within it-
but wer eit not for the whiteness of the moon's glow or the fire from afar, she might have faded away, could have slipped away forever from sight.
But there she stood, crying and staring at the flames she had been taking fun-
to a world flaming away... and cast way to goodbyes.
"Take me away from this place." she said suddenly before turning to him, wind catching through her hair. "I don't want to be in this desert any longer. Take me North. Take me South. I don't care. I dont' want to see the fire. I don't want to feel the heat. I don't want to walk through these sands any more."
Yes, he should have left her there. Good sense told him that she should have burned for the consequences of her own actions. He'd hurt her and helped her and it only brought him loneliness and misery. She help kill his father, destroy his home, and left him with nothing...less than that. Better he wise up now and leave her to her own devices than let her destroy whatever was left of him. Perhaps that was why Castor left her. Radimir was angry and questioned the feelings that burned within him. How could he know it was love if he never even felt it before? He didn't know any other word for it. Lust he knew, well and good, but this was different... But he didn't know then why he would waste his time with a woman who refused to have anything to do with him. Indeed, better he leave her now...
Then why was it that he couldn't even entertain the thought of doing so? Not for long anyway. Radimir sighed and shook his head, still irritated, even as she spoke to him. He looked up at her and glared yet again. But he had to admit, she looked beautiful even in his anger.
He sighed again, nodding his head to the horse that ate happily. "Thorian is tired and needs his rest. The same goes for me. Dawn will rise soon and we still have many miles to go before we'll be free of these cliffs. This hill drops down into the valley below and goes out to a watery basin. But that's as far north as I've gone. Besides, what's your hurry anyway? You wanted to go on your own, so go then."
At his words, her face softened in undeniable sadness, ever evident by the haunting glow of the moon. Then slowly, it hardened, as bitterness burned inside her as she turned away and hung her head low, dejectedly.
"As you wish."
She only paused for one brief moment, to draw in a breath, then began to walk away.
Radimir sat there, watching her walk away, only shrugging. He was too tired to fight her, too tired to care. She could go on her own, that's what she wanted after all. He laid back on the ground in the shade of the inlet, watching the moon from above.
But the horse made a noise, chuffing and looking up from his grains for a moment. Thorian glared at Radimir then to Zarrah. He was tired, but just as easily irritated. Moving away from his food, Thorian quietly turned around and stalked after Zarrah. When he was near he reached his nose out and nudged her back then wiggled his big horse lips against her hair, making a noise to come back, looking at her with big brown eyes that shimmered in the moonlight.
OOC: STALKER HORSE DX
like horse like rider, eh? XD *nudges*
IC:
Zarrah gave a start, turning to see...
Radimir's horse!?
She could have had a heart attack, clutching her hand to her chest, she looked down at the hrose, then back at the rider, glaring, then back to his steed.
Though the horse.. what..
what was his problem anyways?
Studying the horses gentle face, she stroked a hand over it's face, and frowned, noticing the singes in it's fur. She drew the horse against her suddenly, embracing him and running her fingers comfortingly through it's hair as she began to hum, her voice soft and sweet and gentle against the silver light of the moon.
She was humming a sad song- about lovers lost and dead in the night.
"And before the morning come,
hand to hand they'd understand,
lives sifting to the sands,
buried under dunes
life lost, love gained
only tears heard by the moon.
and life would be gone
those lovers rotting under the desert sun.""
She song the last verse softly, the words barely carrying into the air, like the faint sparkle of the distant stars. But she felt like singing, and only singing the last verse, so when the song ended, she closed her eyes and continued to stroke the horse in silence before finding herself humming it again.
"By moon and star,
They fell so very far,
Away.
Facing the sands,
Hope in hand
Braving the break of day"
Radimir felt the words come to him, knowing that song, having heard it before, somewhere sometime in his youth. He sang deeply, powerfully. Mouthing the words softly at first, repeating after her just shortly before he sang that first verse. He smiled, staring at the stars.
Thorian grunted a little and nuzzled his nose into her face, wiggling it around, coaxing her to return.
"Two lovers they were
Escaping the hurt
From all that held them in binds
But how would they've known
Was it written in stone
That love came with blood as its price."
His voice rang out softly, only then daring to look out at her, plainly present in the moonlight. Thorian moved his head over her shoulder, taking her into an armless hug.
OOC: As short as this post was, for some reason it had a million typos (might still..)
T_T
Also, I shivered too XD nice play off my other post *applauds*
now.. sorry for a poopy reply >>;
IC:
Her humming grew quieter as he began to sing. It sent a thrill through her and shivers to her skin to hear him sing, and sing with her. Then, feeling the horse coax her into some sort of understanding.
Then towards the end, she seemed to know, seemed to understand and turned shyly towards Radimir, hair moving away from her violet eyes as she continued to hum, eyes locked to his.
She wasn't going to go to him, but remained at the horses side, leaning against the beast's powerful neck before repeating part of the last verse again.
"And before the morning come,
hand to hand they'd understand,
lives sifting to the sands,
buried under dunes...."
[LOL! xD I never check for typos. You should just leave them in like I do! Makes it more entertaining. And thank you, it was hard to write something that matched xD especially with scrambled egg brains L_L]
Radimir sat up and looked at her, smiling crookedly. He looked away just slightly, blushing when she sang again just part of that final verse. How did she learn to sing so beautifully? And why now of all moments?
"Life lost, love gained
only tears heard by the moon.
and life would be gone
those lovers rotting under the desert sun"
He finished off her last verse, chuckling lightheartedly before standing up, dusting himself off from the ground. He bent down to reach something from the saddle and clutched it in his hand. Radimir walked over to Thorian, who chuffed arrogantly and glared at his rider at his approach, but other wise did not protest it.
Radimir held out a brush and slowly wiped it over Thorian's back, avoiding the singed the wounds. Radimir looked at her briefly, sighing as he did so. Then met her eyes again. "I'll take you North, but we'll make it a lot farther, if you'll oblige me some rest. You should too. Help yourself to rations and water, and the bedroll if you'd like," he said as he brushed the horse.
OOC: Yeah, scrambled egg brains either work for or against one's cause for writing. Like, I went to bed TOO late last night that I had a hard time falling asleep thinking about all sorts of fun ways to describe things for stories and yeah.. STOOPID BRAINS
and now time for a sleepy-mcbrain post before I head out for the evening 8D
IC:
Like a phantom, like a ghost, she felt something stirring inside her when their eyes met. Then the icy chill followed this sensation, rippling across her skin and beneath it, fluttering within. She swallowed the knot in her throat and smiled tiredly at him before looking away.
"I could not eat. And I am fine to sleep in the sands." She ran her fingers gently along the beasts long neck, it's fur warm and soft beneath her fingers as she stood on one side of the horse, he on the other. She avoided his eyes for a moment before turning to him again, studying him beneath the moon light in silence, winds picking up her dark hair as her eyes watched the way his blonde locks moved and lapped against his face, shadows striking and caressing against the moonlight that glowed like silver across his skin. She didn't know what to make of this man, or how he could claim to love her, but one thing was certain. They both had similar terrible fates of worlds being broken away, and perhaps through it, she could find a friend.
[Been listening to this! (http://youtu.be/K-44L9oGTnI)]
Radimir quietly brushed the horse, Thorian's skin visibly shivered in comfort and chills as he did so. It was quite therapeutic, not mention it gave him something to do in the midst of the silence between him and Zarrah. Radimir ran the brush along the horse's back, giving him much needed relief where he'd carried them from the danger of the fires. He looked up at her when she answered and gave a nod.
"As you wish," Radimir answered with a small smile. "Come then." He offered a hand to her, but had a feeling she wasn't going to take it and smiled sheepishly before gesturing and to the inlet where the rest of his gear resided. He moved toward it, patting Thorian as he walked by.
OOC: I"m sorry, I dunno why that song made me giggle 8D
ok.. trying to post @_@
IC:
Zarrah stared at him a moment, but gave a sheepish smile of her own as she nodded.
There was nothing to be said, a weight still hanging over them, as if a dam was waiting to spill over as she stepped carefully around the horse and followed behind. Yes, silent she would remain, eyes going to the stars a moment, finding some comfort in their expanse and the feeling of being so small in comparison, so insignificant..
After all, when we are all long gone, bones nothing but dust, the stars will still there, the heavens glittering, eternal, timeless- they would be forever, and humans never the wiser.
She hung back at the entrance, waiting quietly for Radimir to tend to his own items, her own eyes scanning the area for a comfortable place to sleep.
[Good! It's a fun song! GIGGLE! GIGGLE LIKE A LITTLE MUNCHKIN! D8<]
Radimir was aware of the air still heavy between them. Of course there was still too much to tension, and perhaps words would only rile it up. Radimir went down to his gear and pulled out a pillow, a small rounded roll little more than anything else and it down for him. "Maybe you don't mind the sands, but I hope you don't protest to a pillow," he tried to say, feeling shy and awkward but laying down on the bedroll he'd spread out that she'd refused. He reached over and pushed the rolled pillow out to her. He had a spare blanket and covered himself, keeping his back turned to her as if he was going to go to sleep. But even as much as he needed it, it wouldn't come. He just stared at the stone wall, with a small grin on his face.
OOC: I also giggled at the end of your post..
Oh, Radimir 8D
I can see his grin- FABULOUS lol
IC:
Zarrah stared at him for a time, finding a place on the opposing wall of the small inlet that cut into the craggy rocks. The sands were always soft, and were still warm from the heat of the day, and comforting, soothing on her skin. When the pillow was offered, she smiled slightly, despite herself and accepted it.
"Thanks." she replied softly, then turned away from him and laid her head upon the bed roll but lay awake, thinking about everything that had come.
From the sewers, to the rescue, to the guards attacking, to Ezna taking them in, to the bath, the kiss..
She tensed, feeling herself aroused by it as she bit her teeth into her lower lip.
She knew the man was attracted to her- but why did he think it was love?
A pity..
the sex they had... it had been rather good.
She needed to stop thinking about it. She was confused, after all..
But damn, it had been a good fuck, and if she weren't so hard pressed and pining for Castor, she would have welcomed the chance to have sex right then. It came with her territory, after all, and she had grown accustomed to it and was somewhat addicted to her scandalous actions. She'd have to watch herself... lest she ever give Radimir the wrong impression if they were ever to bed again.
Love.. always made things so complicated. It...
with Castor, things had been different. She didn't want it, but wanted it all the same-
and now.. it was almost that, but more of a pathetic, whimpering need.
Though right now, she almost didn't care and wished, no..dreamed he might come to her- and hated herself for wanting it.
What was wrong with her? She buried her face into her pillow, sighing.
She needed Castor's strong body now more than ever, and contemplated just asking Radimir for sex-
But she wasn't that cruel and figured her bodies desires could be ignored for one night, perhaps even more.
OOC: lol
Radimir gave a final breathless sigh, and closed his eyes at long last. The exhaustion of the day's events has finally done him in and when he thought sleep wouldn't come, it did at last, taking him dreamless and quiet, nothing but the wind ringing in his ears and the soft breathing of the horse that too had laid down to rest.
But his eyes opened, not more than an hour later. And perhaps she was asleep, perhaps not. The wind had grown chillier then and huddled more. She couldn't have been very warm in that dress, nothing more with it. Radimir gave a yawn, throwing the blanket off him, his eyes still heavy with sleep and he got up a little, looking over at Zarrah and placing the blanket over her shoulders to keep her somewhat warm at least before returning to the bedroll to lay back down.
"Goodniirrrrrt," he whispered softly before closing his eyes again.
Zarrah had just about drifted off into slumber, her body trembling, skin rippling with a chill. But then the soft blanket was rested over her and her eyes opened. She tensed, feeling the weight of the blanket and the warmth still held into it from Radimir. Shivering, she nestled into it and smiled dreamily at his sleepy voice.
After a time, she rolled over from where she lay and simply watched him lay.
Would he not be cold? she had to wonder, but said nothing, watching him, her eyes tracing over the shadows that masked his form as her mind drifted away to endless, listless thoughts.
Somebody was watching him, his body tensed at the thought. But he was deep into sleep and would not have been aware of Zarrah's listless eyes. His breathing hitched and he was breathing a little harder, a little faster. The chill in the air caressed him like a ghostly touch...but it was something more than the wind.
"Traitor...Bastard son," the voice whispered in his head. And before his mind's eye came a misty figure, a man with chains that slithered like serpents around his body and they hissed and twisted around him, choking the man and baring their fangs. The man was paled with black veins on half of his face, the other was burned and chipped away. He was hideous and beastly, grizzled as the chains dug further into his skin. The snake around his neck hissed at him and shortly before lunging at him.
After a time of watching him, she realized he must be having a dream. Curious, she continued to watch the way he breathed, the way his body would tense and twitch and shiver. It was only then she would shiver, realizing, or remembering how chilly the night could become in the desert, she abandoned her pride and when he'd awaken tomorrow, he'd find her sleeping at his side, facing away and both beneaht the blanket. Back to back.
Even with the blanket to cover him, it did little to stop his shivering. Radimir huddled into it, trying to hold the images at bay, trying to make sense of the grotesque phantom that faded in and out of his dreams. The man tormented him and little of what he said made any sense. After the hours of evening bleed into early morning dawn, Radimir finally awoke with a start. The air was still quite chill, and his body was covered in sweat.
What was that all about?! Radimir wiped his forehead and felt a weight against his back. He turned around and found Zarrah beside him. He sighed and took the blanket off, the sun rising overhead. "Good morning," he said. Though his mind still lingered on the phantom man, he was just as curious as to why Zarrah would put herself at his side.
Zarrah heard him awake, but didn't bother getting up. She had barely slept lat night and if she could, she wanted to continue sleeping. So when he spoke, she merely made a noise of irritation, wrinkling her nose before burying her face into the pillow, black hair a mess about her face, hiding it from view.
OOC: I know it's short but it amused me ok!? DX deal with it
If there was any time to get up, now would be a good one. They could get far enough before the sun was at its height and make their journey between the shades of the cliffs and caverns of the valleys.
"Hey," Radimir said, getting up. He nudged her and got up himself. "Wake up, Zarrah, it's time to go. We've got to get moving before the sun gets to its height. I know there's a river down a little ways to the west, we'll have fresh water then."
"C'mon, get up," he said, nudging her shoulder as he knelt at her side.
Zarrah pressed her face into the pillow, body stretching beneath the blanket as she let out a noise.
Turning, she peered at him through a mess of hair.
"I suppose you're right." She gave a tired sigh and sat up, blanket falling off her shoulders as she raked a hand through her dark hair, glancing around as she yawned and wiped the sleep from her eyes.
The sun had just began to rise, it's temperature barely warming the air from the chill of the night. But she knew that wouldn't last. Shivering, because her skin was still recovering from the burns from the sun the few days prior from their trek in the desert, she rubbed at the skin that was now flaking off of her body. At least she was lucky, her skin was naturally a golden, dark tan and the burns would probably only deepen it. Turning, she peered over at Radimir, then to his horse before rising with a stretch, then picking upt he blanket and handing it over to him.
"Here," she said, her hand awkwardly brushing over his as she gave it to him. "Is there anything I can do to help us pack up the camp?"
Things were still quite awkward and tense between them. He could tell by the way they exchanged glances and spoke, but Radimir chose to ignore it. It was a long way out of the desert, a long way through the valley. He would treat her as if nothing had ever happened, as if they were total strangers. For in many ways they were, and perhaps it would stay that way, perhaps they would become friends.
Radimir was glad he didn't have to bother her further to get her to awaken and when she got up, he was hard-pressed to ignore her skin and the beauty of it. But it was a short-lived appreciation, and he smiled at her as he took the blanket from her. "You can brush Thorian while I finish packing the rest of the gear, give him some water too. We'll head for the river." He nodded to her and got up himself, bundling up the blanket and attaching them to the saddle.
As he did so, he grabbed some rations, dried spiced jerky and took several bites of it before offering a piece to Zarrah. "You need to eat some time."
OOC: Oh yeah, make HER brush the horse. That jerk face!
----
Zarrah nodded, humbly obliging as she began to brush the beast. She listened to what else he said with idle interest and when he approached, she turned to him and blinked. THen peered down at the food. She was about to refuse, but knew that was foolish. So humbly, she accepted.
"Thanks," and stood there a moment awkwardly before deciding to abandon her brushing to eat the offered food. Might as well not be rude.
OOC: LIKE SOME PPL WHO THROW OTHER PPL IN DUMPSTERS DX
[ONLY WHEN THOSE PEOPLE THROW TRASH ON OTHER PEOPLE'S HEADS!]
Radimir took the saddle when it was ready and threw the coverlet first over Thorian's back to keep from getting sores and then threw the saddle over it. He directed Zarrah to help him tie the saddle around his big belly and gave the horse a nibble of his own food, which he ate heartily. When they were ready to go, Radimir allowed Zarrah to get on first before climbing up after her and taking the reins and nudging the great horse for them to be off.
They made it down the hill, down a gradually lowering rock ramp it seemed that stemmed down into the valley below. It was dry and dank filled with drybrush and small moving reptiles that liked to bake in the sun. At the coming of Thorian's massive hooves, they scurried for shelter and safety underneath the dirt. The earth felt much softer here than it had on the hill, a little less stone and a little more sand, and Radimir could only hope the damn sand worms would avoid the rock altogether. But they could only be so lucky.
After moments of deep silence, Radimir glanced at Zarrah, before giving her a smile. "So you've never been out of the desert before?" he asked, trying to make light conversation. "I would have thought someone like you would have been well-traveled. But I've been wrong about a lot of things before."
[Not sure if I should put Radimir in the front or in the back on the horse, so I left it open for you to decide. It doesn't matter, so you're free to say what you like]
OOC: If she wanted to be mean, she'd sit infront of him. You know, slow rocking rhythm of the horse and woman nestled against a man's.....
and yeah, since things are awkward, she would make herself be at the back!
---
Zarrah leaned into Radimir as the two journied forth. They had been quiet for a time, but then when Radimir spoke up, she went quiet a moment and raised her brows.
"No, I have been outside of the desert," she confirmed, smiling just a little and adjusted her hold around Radimir's waste with a small sigh.
"I've been to almost all parts of the deserts, but never really out of the desert. I heard there are jungles and great forests in the countries all around us. It would be interesting to see them. Ad snow. Snow intrigues me. I hear it's like sand, but it comes from the sky and is bitter cold."
SHe perked up at the thought and tilted her head to him.
"What about you? Have you traveled?"
[xD i was NOT thinking of THAT! I just didn't want to be presumptuous! You and your stinky gutterbrain!]
Radimir laughed and pondered on her words. He'd never seen snow before. But he did hear there were places where it fluttered down in abundance. Stories of people slowly freezing to death, too cold to rot, too cold for even animals to chew through the flesh to get to the sweet marrow at the bones inside. Too cold to live. He visibly shuttered at the thought, but he supposed there would be lots of things they would see during their journey. Castor could be anywhere...therew as no telling if he was even on the same continent anymore. But he would make no mention of that. They had a long road ahead of them, best to start small.
"I've been to a few places beyond the desert, but never for long. I always returned quickly, using routes that differed from these. Contracts that take you all over the world if you're good enough. It's...it's not a bad life. But I suppose there are few things such a trade would be good for. Have you always wanted to travel? I hear there's a whole country, somewhere up north, where magic is completely forbidden and anyone who's caught doing magic is branded a mage and a complete outcast from society."
OOC: There is only one person here who is stinky.
Y
O
U
YOU!
XP
-----------
Zarrah listened to what he said. Yes, she had heard all of these things before and she contemplated over it.
"Well, it's a good thing I don't posses any magic," she said with a smirk, leaning against Radimir some as she spoke. "But I always wanted to leave the desert. I always wanted to get away. The desert is beautiful but, it will always be the place where I was never free. And even when I was I.." she let the words fade off her tongue, realizing, she was not talking to Castor, and also that she hadn't divulged much about herself. She pressed her lips together in thought, carefulyl calculating a reply.
"I had a husband once. A cruel man. And I was married young. For barely a few silvers so my parents could eat. We were poor."
Pausing, she thought it over again and shrugged.
"I almost found freedom from this place once." She closed her lips, sitll not sure how to go on with it, so she didn't.
Radimir listened as she went on, nodding when he needed to but not daring to interrupt. He couldn't have imagined what her life before had been, but he'd gathered somethings in their breif interactions together. Zarrah was a secretive one, stubborn at that; that much was easy to tell. And when she mentioned being married once, almost finding freedom.
She'd mentioned something like it before, back in the temple when she was hellbent on spilling his blood. "Carnavus," he breathed. That must have been her husband, the one he'd watched being drug off into the sands. His voice barely above a whisper. But she might just as well have heard him since he wasn't a million miles away.
But just then, the ground began to shake, and Radimir's heart fell into his guts as the sands sank into cracks below. Thorian neighed sharply and moved away as the ground began to split and as the rumble worsened, the sandworm thrust its ugly head and screeched out into the burning dawn.
"Good gods, no rest even for one second!" Radimir cursed harshly and didn't need a second through before smashing his feet into Thorian's sides and the horse bolted down the valley, the ground breaking behind them.
Zarrah stiffened at the name she heard Radimir whisper, noticeably tightening her grip around him, but not even a second later, she was squeezing him even harder. The scream from the sandworm was enough to make all hair stand on end as she gripped onto Radimir, eyes unable to tear away from the terror of the beast's mouth and before she knew it, the horse was off and away, her heart leaping into her throat as she leaned into Radimir, holding him fierce, long dark hair tickling behind them in the wind.
She could hear the worm moving fast, it's body swimming swiftly through the sands as it broke the sands around them and seemed to be gaining. She was at a loss as what to do- her knives were feeble and this sandworm looked huge, so she did all that she could- and just held on for dear life and prayed Thorian could see them through.
Thorian didn't need to be told twice before his hooves pounded off toward the valley. He'd been rested, had his water, had his food, had all the motivation he needed to run as the sand worm weaved and bobbed through the sands, tearing through the soft stone below. Radimir's grip was sweaty through his gloves. He'd taken time before all this to cut off the leather that covered his fingers. But he was glad he'd done so as they helped him hold on to the reins as the horse made its way through the valley at breakneck speed.
The sand worm was gaining on them, slowly but surely, breaking sands and stone. The ground was becoming far too soft for Thorian to keep up. Radimir looked up to the top as the hill rose up to a cliffside. The slant was harsh and would be hard climb, but he knew Thorian could do it. It was do or die after all. Radimir turned the horse, who neighed wildly, and pounded the ground as he began to rise up on the hill that fenced the low valley they'd been running on.
"ZARRAH!" Radimir cried, knowing the sand worm wouldn't let up, no matter how high they were. "Beside you is a saddlebag, reach inside and find a flask. It's poison, strong venom from the Majurabi Serpent. I want you to open that damn thing and aim right. When I turn around, you're going to throw the whole thing right into that fucker's mouth! Are you ready?"
Zarrah worked swift, black hair in her face, in her teeth as one hand gripped onto Radimir tightly the other hand groping through the saddle bag. Feeling the glass, her hands latched onto it and she withdrew, heart going into her throat as she sat up, watching in horror as the beast suddenly lunged out of ground, sand seeping off it's form and exploding into the air and it's mouth opened wide.
She was almost too scared to recall what she needed to do- barely able to unscrew the lid with her sweaty fingers and the horse moving, thundering across the sands. She hadn't realized they had turned around, facing the beast until it was nearly upon them. Gritting her teeth and with a sharp furrow of her brow, she launched the flask right into the beasts gaping mouth, her body extending nearly clean off the saddle as she let out a noise, reaching desperately for Radimir's arm, lest she fall prey to the great sandworm who 's mouth was still open wide, ready to devour them whole.
He only hoped she got all of that in time. The ground wouldn't stop breaking with the force of the great worms coursing through the sands. Radimir held onto the horse for dear life as before he knew it, he rounded Thorian about, the great beast neighing loudly, and launching his forehooves into the air before slamming the ground again, actually running toward the worm.
Out of the corner of his eye, Radimir could see the glinting form of the flask sailing through the air and landing squarely in its target, a hole in one. They were too close for comfort and Thorian was trying to stay on his feet. He'd managed to do so just as Radimir felt Zarrah slipping from the saddle. He lunged a hand out, holding her and pushing her back behind him. Thorian tried to keep his balance in the sands, but in the midst of that, the horse could feel his riders slipping from the saddle.
Radimir summoned enough strength to hold onto to Zarrah and keep himself in the saddle, pulling them both up, feeling his whole body straining, Thorian climbing the ridge up and away from the mouth of the sandworm. The beast flailed and made a sickened screech, as if in pain, the poison burning through its intenstines.
Zarrah clutched on desperately to Radimir and for a second, it felt as it they might both slip away, but then she felt strength through him and found herself being pulled forward, strong and hard and the pair were both on the saddle and away the horse went, storming away towards the cliffs.
She clung to Radimir fiercely afraid to look back, but when she did, she watched as the Sandworm writhed in pain,it screaming out before burying itself back within the sand.
When all went quiet, she sighed, wilting against Radimir and almost felt like crying. They could have died..
That was too close to comfort. Burying her face into his back she whispered, "I think it's dead." though it was hard to tell if it would reach his ears. They were going so fast and the wind from their speed was whipping harshly between them.
Thorian was too afraid to stop, not until they were miles away from the dreadful sandworm. At least they made it up top to the ledge of hardstone and would be safe from any more words...for now. Radimir's heart was beating a thousand miles a minute as he whipped the horse around, the horse sweating and breathing hard when the form of the screaming sand worm had vinished behind more cliffs.
"Gods!" Radimir cried out at last. "Now that was exhilarating... But not something I'd like to repeat." He was grinning, smiling like a young boy and turned a little to look at Zarrah. "You've got excellent aim. My nose knows that well enough when you cracked me one in the face. Good." He smiled again before turning Thorian around back to where they were headed and letting the horse walk off. "I'm just glad you're all right," he said, feeling the adrenaline slow their flow.
OOC: 47 pages and she is still in the desert 8D
Zarrah couldn't help but smirk at Radimir's outburst. It was charming, though he was acting like a child who had just gotten away with stealing the last cookie from the table. She gave a laugh at this through her nose, smiling at him warmly.
"I suppose we could make a commendable team," she said with light humor when he complimented her on her aim. "It also helps that I've had years practice of throwing knives at men's throats." The last part was a bit of a warning, though even still, it was a bit of a tease, especially int he way her body pressed closely to his and the way her lips had been so close to his ear when she spoke.
But she had to. Other wise, how else could they converse?
She smirked at how near she was before pulling away, letting his shoulder grow cold a moment as she peered around them. "We should let the horse rest. He was the real hero here." She pointed over towards a cliff side. "Over on that ridge. It can provide us all shade from the afternoon sun and we can wait out the heat and let our bodies all calm down after that experience. I don't know about you, but I think my heart was about ready to beat clean out of my chest." She wrinkled her nose some. "Sand worms.. another reason to leave this place." Her violet eyes went out towards where the Sandworm had vanished, wondering how awful choking on that venom would make it's death.
Death..
she shivered at the memory of it.
It was something all living creatures would have to face one time or another.
But she would have to face it three times before her own final rest.
"Indeed he is," Radimir said, agreeing with her. Thorian threw his head back proudly and did a little prance before he stopped when they finally got the ridge. The shade was significantly cooler and the hours that passed, the sun rising to its noon peak, brought a good amount of sweat to Radimir's brow. For now they could rest, at least have some food and water.
At last they could rest when Thorian pawed the ground and waited for them to get off. Radimir slipped off, throwing his leg over the horse's neck and dropped to the ground, then came back to help Zarrah off as well. He held her by the waist for a moment. He cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped away, turning to the shade, leading the horse into it. Pulling out some water, he tossed a skin to Zarrah and motioned for her to wait here. "Just a moment," he said. "I've got to piss."
Zarrah caught the water skin and went to take a drink, but paused when he mentioned relieving himself.
She drew the water skin away from her lips.
"You didn't piss in this did you?" she said, smirking. "I'd rather not drink a man's piss." but then she waved off her joke, moving away to give him some privacy as she walked over to the horse and began to stroke the animal's long neck gently.
Helping herself to some water, she let her mind drift through the events that brought her together with Radimir. She began to wonder, had she not fallen so hard for Castor, yearned for him even now, could she ever love a man like Radimir? This man, who risked his life for her, but also tried to kill her for his own cause..
a man who got to play hero with her..
who made love to her..
who actually said he cared.
Castor said it.
Once.
Was it twice?
The memories were jaded. She begna to question herself of what was and what had been.
God damn that man! God damn Castor to hell! Why couldn't he just admit. She had to believe he was worried for her, scared that he would harm her. ANd she wouldn't lie. She was afraid to.
Becuase she knew he could.
She had seen the ghost in his eyes, the demon.
Castor had every intention to tear her limb from limb inside that temple and had that not gotten out alive...
Even still.
Love had no consequence. Love could move mountains.
Castor..
Even if he didn't love her, she had to help him. The man had suffered so much..
and he had helped her. She at least owed him that.
That, and to know the truth.
Radimir stared at her when she asked him what she did. Almost too stunned to believe. Really!? Did she think so little of him!? Well, that was a given, but to urinate in the waterskin? Radimir said nothing to it, only laughed and turned back away from her to relieve himself. He walked off to the side, arounding the ridge and disappearing around the corner, lingering a bit into the light, before dropping his trousers slightly to relieve himself.
He sighed, relaxing. And when he was done, pulled his pants back up and turned behind him, looking at the grand landscape that spread out, how far they would have to go before they were free of this place, of this land of emptiness and death and all that that entailed. He couldn't know what lay beyond these cliffs, these dry badlands. They had many miles to go before he could even reach his first contact. He could only hope they made it there in one piece.
Radimir leaned against the stone wall of the cliff beside him. But as he did so, he felt something move, something click. And before he knew it, he vanished like a ghost through the wall, yelling out as he felt the solidness give way.
Zarrah heard a cry and looked up from where she had been staring.
"Radimir?"
His horse moved uneasily, it's hooves pawing the ground and it's head moving anxiously. Zarrah tried to sooth the beast a little, but grew worried when Radimir didn't respond. How long did it take to piss? Or.. did some misfortune befall him?
Frowning, she moved across the way, calling his name again.
"Radimir?" she pressed against the rock, looking this way and that- doing a double take here and there, but Radimir was no where to be seen.
"RADIMIR!?" her voice grew louder, her foot steps more panicked as she groped at a nearby wall of rock when-
CLICK
And she quickly found herself falling into the darkness, face smashing into Radimir.
He didn't know where he'd fallen, except that it was now in complete darkness. And just when he found strength enough to stand, something slammed into him hard. He fell down onto the ground with a loud cry and felt his face scrape against the rock. He turned around and pulled out a dagger, but relaxed when his vision recognized Zarrah's form in the dark. He reached out a hand to her, accidentally caressing over her breast but eventually making it to her shoulder and then her hand. "Oh, Zarrah, it's you," Radimir replied. "You nearly broke my neck! Again!" He sighed.
"I don't know what the hell that was about. I don't even know where we are. Here hold on a minute." Radimir searched around his waist and found a small igniting stick. People up north called it a match. And ground it against the wall, the match igniting into a bright, almost frightening burst of flame. It illuminated the short hallway they'd fallen into, and only briefly out into the much broader chamber in which it led.
OOC: Of course he'd get a cheap feel in the dark
Also the comment about the match made me lol
-----
Zarrah wasn't sure what was going on or what happened, but she heard the distinctive drawing of arms and would have reached for her own when she caught a ghostly glimpse of Radimir's face.
And when he touched her, she tensed, feeling a thrill go through her.
She didn't know why, but it felt intoxicating to be touched by him in the dark. If even by mistake.
Then at his words, she released her held breath and had to smile.
"Hopefully we can figure this out."
And then he struck the match and the world bled into view, one small chamber at a time. Zarrah frowned. "It seems this place was meant to be used to keep some sort of secret. It's man made, unless mother nature decided it wanted to create magic doors." she folded her arms over her chest, studying the room before glancing down the narrow corridor. THen she turned to Radimir.
"It doesn't seem like we can get out the way we had fallen in. I suppose we should press on?"
Indeed, the chamber appeared to be man-made, and the pathetic light of the match wasn't enough to even give a glimmer as to what the chamber truly held. It only provided a peek into a much larger, darker world. Radimir nodded to her assertion, stalking forth, watching where he stepped. To the side of him, there was a webb-covered torch, hanging on a rack. It smelled of oil, but hadn't been lit in who knew how long.
The match was low and stung his fingers as he lit the torch, the cloth taking flame eagerly. He pulled it from the rack and held it high above his head as he lead the way. The entire chamber, as cavernous as it was, was circular and he went down the right side of it coming down the steps. The torch proved to be a much better source of light than the dinky match, and revealed to them as they walked down, that the hall in fact was a library, shelves heavy with old tomes and scrolls, some locked but most opened.
"Good gods, who could have known this was down here the whole time?" Radimir said, more than obvious. "What could be hidden in these ancient texts...?"
Zarrah's dark eyes took in the room. It smelled ancient and old, the air stale and hung heavy with dust. Cobwebs blanketed the scrolls and books in criss-crossing layers, making the shelves appear ghostly and white. Her eyes narrowed, trying to see through the webbing to the treasure behind, but even to her, who was educated just enough by her former husband, could not pick up any of the remnants of writing carved into the books or were exposed on broken crisp sleeves of a scroll. She also noticed there were a few lamp wells and gestured to them for Radimir to light.
"We might as well take a look around." she said. "Though it's odd, something like this would exist all the way out here."
OOC: I was thinking the place could look almost untouched until they light up the place? Then maybe it can be revealed someone was there recently? or something.. yeah..
not sure entirely where you wanted to go with this so hope this post works 8D
[That's fine! I didn't have a particular direction, so that works just as well]
Radimir responded to her gestures and lit the oil wells, but still held the torch in hand. The fires roared up after decades, perhaps even centuries of disuse. After he lit the four of them at the center of the library, flickers of flaming oil trickled down from the center of the lamps, lighing small trails that traveled to other lamps hidden in the darkness, lighting them until the entire chamber was revealed, the fire between the cracks dried as the oil did, making it safe to travel between the lamps. Radimir then set he torch aside of a wall hanging before turning back to Zarrah.
"Well, I'm sure you know the stories," he began, looking around, walking between the massive stone shelves that held the tomes. "Places buried beneath the dunes, entire civilizations swallowed whole by the sands. Temples and tombs...places of hidden and forbidden knowledge. " His breath was taken from him by the sheer enormity of the texts here, and he was almost afraid to lay a hand on anything lest it crumble beneath his touch.
He walked to the nearest shelf, hand ghosting over the cobwebs before being brave enough to pull it away, wiping his hands off in disgust, pulling out a full scroll that was delicate even to blow the dust off of. He unfurled it with care, looking over it by lamplight, reading the text, or trying to anyhow. The words were impinted with a faded ink and difficult to read, but written in a language that resembled ancient Essyrni. Thankfully, many of the holy texts of his own faith were preserved in the same language and it wasn't too difficult to decipher what lay therein.
"Let he, who walks these...hallowed halls...know that he is not alone. For he has stumbled..in..into a sacred place, protected by the spirits sworn in death. The...knowledge - I think - here may be borrowed but not stolen lest...he too be taken in this place wrought of blood and bone..."
Zarrah's hand struck out, latching on fiercely to Radimir's wrist, an action so sudden that the spiders flinched back into their nesting holes.
"Radimir, don't," she began, her eyes wide with uncertainty and fear. "How do we know none of these contain any ancient spells?" Her lips sagged at the thought, but thne she realized...
"But you can read them?" Her interest quickly changed as she mulled over the words he spoke. Her face twisted as she thought. "Well, I've already seen my share of secrets in this desert. I'm not sure if I want to see anymore." she admitted, moving away from him and frowning down at another open faced book. This one had a thick layer of dust over it. Instinctively, she smoothed a hand across it. The dust was gritty.
But when she looked down at the page, she could't help but recall the symbol as her heart hitched into her throat-
the statues from the room Castor and she had found..
the one wiht the relic..
It was the symbol of the woman-
of the sacrifice.
And the expression on her face appeared as if she had seen a ghost.
"This one!" she pointed a sharp finger to the page. "What does this one say?" she asked, turning back to Radimir, violet eyes glittering beneaht the temple flames.
OOC: by the way, liked the description in your last post XD a neat idea to light up the room, literally.
[Cool, thanks!]
Radimir gave Zarrah a funny look at her insistence to read a specific text. There was something in her expression that gave a sour knot in his stomach; obviously it was something she recognized. And he could only guess what that would portend for him. But he obliged her by moving closer.
The paper was remarkably frail and with his hands roughened he had to be gentle with it, as if little more than the grace of a feather. He leaned over it, leveling it eye to eye before sucking in a great breath of air and blowing it out, dust flying off toward the bookshelf and clearing the page better than his hands. He carefully cleaned it off and saw the symbols below.
"Hm...interesting," Radimir commented. "This...cult seems familiar. I remember reading of them in my own people's texts. But they called themselves Azira-Nagi. They are from the south...um. This text seems different than the other one. It's like Ancient Essyrni, but mixed with their own tongue... Hm, it says here: 'And the witch-woman whore...shall....lay prostrated on the altar... the dagger drawing upon her blood.' Um...something about burning it to open the gates of hell... 'And with the pieces demon-borne...so shall come the darkness of M'hal...Mahnum.'... There's more but it is quite chipped and faded."
Radimir turned and gave Zarrah a quizzical look. "Why did you ask me to read this? What do you recognize about this?"
Zarrah's face fell, her heart catching to her throat at the words.
She wasn't sure what it all meant, but she had a bad feeling about it all the same. Turning to Radimir, she frowned.
"When I was with Castor, we were chasing after some relic and found ourselves in a hidden temple that was once buried the sands." She lowered her head, closing her eyes almost at the memory. Then she pointed to the symbol.
"There were statues all aligned in one room. I remember seeing this one."
The image, of course, had been burned inside her mind. She turned to Radimir.
"So there is a story behind this? Perhaps.. something more about what he was searching for." Her eyes looked sadly upon Radimir, the knowledge only brought to her attention now that the very man she sought to chase, had fallen in love with... she knew hardly anything about.
But she wasn't one to press into his secrets... though he had pressed into hers. And it had made her feel so vulnerable to fall prey to him.
"Does it say anything else?" she had to know, curiosity was burning through her like a flame.
Radimir picked the book up with care, not even leaving a trace of his fingers on the dust covered table. The binding was just about to burst from its iron rings, which were brittle and nothing but rust. He held it closer to the light, delicately turning the page until it revealed the next one, which was not so dust covered at all, but so moth-eaten it was nearly impossible to read.
" It says: 'The bringer of the darkness...shall...hold in his hands...the strength of a thousand beasts...and becomes.....beast himself. He shall be...the opener of the portal to hell...that will...devour...souls...for ages to come."
Radimir squinted his eyes, trying to understand it, but no doubt it must have been related to those guantlets Castor held on his arms. he turned the brittle page, again and again, until he found something legible. "Wolf's Teeth...as they are called," he read on, "shall never be ruled by any man...but many men have long held them in their grasp. Tyrants, warlords, reaching to the bestial heart of all men. But in the years of bountiless weilding, they leave their wielder...vanishing for days...sometimes centuries at a time. Only when...they choose their...weilder...is force of their full power unleashed. But woe be to the holder of the Wolf's Teeth...for they are the hands of the demon that would devour the world."
Radimir shook his head. "So, Castor is holding these... 'Wolf's Teeth'...and he must collect - what did you call them, relics? - That means he has to find... these pieces and put them together. But if he does...he will unleash their true maker upon the world." He was afraid to read further into the text, not wanting to know what lay therein.
Zarrah held her breath as he continued reading, her head going dizzy as she grew still from lack of breath. At his claims, she finally released it, feeling her skin growing hot and her veins burning cold.
"No.. there has to be more about it. Someway to actually free himself from this. Read on. What else does it say?" she pressed, voice leaving no room for argument.
She didn't want to believe it. Couldn't believe it.
There had to be a way to save him- his freedom couldn't simply mean to release some ancient beast, some ancient devil..
But if it did...
She paled to think of the consequence.
Castor...
Radimir did as he was asked but found nothing, the next growing more and more indistinguishable. "Firey death....rivers of blood, typical. Uh...terror demons crawling....mouths.....uh, Zarrah, there's nothing here. I can't find a word on how he might be freed. He was chosen to wear those gauntlets. Perhaps the only thing he can do is pull through," Radimir said, knowing it was not the answer he wanted to hear, but what more wast here to do. The book already began to fall apart in his hands as he tried to set it back on the table. The pages were fragmenting to dust.
Zarrah's eyes were turbulent her heart beating desperately, body beginning to heat and sweat.
"No.. NO!" she shouted, shaking her head. She wouldn't believe him. "There's got to be more, something!" and when the pages began to crumble she reached out for them, but halted, just inches away from contact, only to feel some of the remnants of dust against her hands.
Her eyes began to swell with hot tears as she stomped a foot angrily, hands clenching into fists.
"There's got to be more! There's got to be answers! This room is full of old scrolls! One of them might hold a key!" and frantically she began to search, shaky fingersmoving across a scroll- though it began to break beneath her touch. She let out a noise, a whimper of frustration as she let out a scream.
"SOMETHING MUST BE HERE!" she turned to Radimir, tears already glossing her eyes. "Don't just stand there! Help me!"
Radimir felt her anger and backed away from it, watching her as she grew ever frustrated, trying to find the answers she was becoming so desperate to find. He didn't know whether to help her or to stop her. He knew that even if he did and found nothing, she'd only grow more angrier in nothing more than impotence. "Zarrah," he begged. "Calm down please."
He watched her and drew near again, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Zarrah...we could be here for years searching for the answer you want, and it would bring us no closer to finding Castor than we are now. At least we learned something more about those things on his hands."
Zarrah shook her head, quickly growing angry at him and she pulled her shoulder away from him, moving a hand as if to strike, but failing, sobbing angrily towards him as she spat, "NO! We have to look! We can't just give up without even trying! SOmething has got to be in here- something- some artifact, another book!" She was in hysterics now, feeling her heart breaking over the fate of the man with the iron fists. She tried to grab scroll after scrolling, throwing them at Radimir. "Read this! Tell me what it says!" She commanded, she begged, face still hot with anger.
Radimir frowned a her and flared up when she threw the scrolls at him, most of them disintegrating when they made contact with his face. He backed away and let the slam to the floor. He knelt down and picked one up, a small one that was in the best condition and dusted it off as if it were a jewel. Unfurling it, he began to read. "The musician then dances along with the snake...entrancing it in a dangerous hypnosis... Many believe the...snake is the one enthralled by the human...but it could just as easily that the man is...enthralled by the snake... This kind of dance is celebrated in many small villages...and is used as a part of birthing rites...and funerals...and sometimes it is even performed in front of...royalty..." He looked up at her, knowing it was impossible to look through everything here. The library was massive, it would take literally decades to search through it all.
Zarrah shook her head at him and gave him more scrolls.
"No, that's not it. Keep reading. There's got to be something. Something more.." She forced them into his hands, her own shaking fiercely as she held onto them, almost unable to let go. "Just read.. let's just keep reading. We have to. We have to if we're going to find the answers. And we will. There's-" and she heard her voice breaking and she released her grip on the scrolls she held and backed away, tears finally rolling down her face.
Radimir's own frustrated hands crumpled the scrolls that she shoved into his hands. He bit his lip, wanting to knock some sense into her, shake her - something! - that would make her realize the futility of this effort. He saw the desperation in her eyes, how she loved this man, how she wanted to help him, and it only made his own heart burn with the sincerity he saw there. Such a feeling so lost in this world, it hurt to watch it all break away for nothing. Radimir dropped the scrolls as she backed away. He moved closer to her, putting hands on her shoulders, holding her firmly. "Hey, listen to me," Radimir said. "It'll be all right! We'll find him, we'll find him! We'll find the answers we need. I told you I'd help you, and that's what I'm going to do."
Zarrah's breath caught within her throat the moment Radimir caught onto her shoulders. Tears burned within her eyes as they met to his, her body trembling.
ANd despite what she wanted to say, despite wanting to believe him, to believe there was hope-
she knew this was all they could hope to find..
She knew the man she had fallen in love with was doomed.
ANd he would never touch her with his hands. He would never feel her skin with his touch-
and for all she knew, they'd never see him again.
So despite herself, she found herself only in tears and sobs as she choked on her own breath.
"No.." she said, legs going weak as she finally collapsed onto the ground before him.
"We're too late. It's all too late." she sobbed.
Castor was already cursed- and now she'd have to make a decision to help the demon, or to kill it.
But could she really make such a choice? Perhaps it was best to ignore him..
but even still, she clutched at the rotting hope inside her and prayed silently, that there might be a way.
As much as he wanted her to believe him, Radimir too knew that their chances at finding him alone were slim to none. They had a better chance of finding sand worm babies to sell on the market. He didn't want to tell her that they had no chance of saving him. How could they possible help someone who was determined not to be helped? Why didn't she understand this? But Radimir said nothing of the kind.
And when she fell, he came to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up against him, looking her dead in the eye with determination. "Stop this! You be strong! Be strong because tears won't help either of us. They won't help him! Zarrah! You listen to me! I saw my entire life just break away before my eyes, I knew it couldn't be helped, but I did not cry! I've got to be strong. It's the only chance we'll have if we're going to find him!"
As Radimir dropped to her level and held her close, she merely gritted her teeth at his words. SHe felt a swell inside her breast, a cold flutter. He was right, but so many things could do wrong and were working against them.
"It's just not fair," she sobbed, trying to brush away the tears. "He just wants freedom- and to think, we just found proof he will never have that." Her eyes kept to his before she turned shamefully away. "There is nothing I can do to help him, yet you still want to help me on my foolish errand." She opened her eyes again, peering back at him, trying to read what emotions might lay beneath the soft, peculiar slits of his snake eyes as a hand went to his cheek.
"Perhaps you are more foolish than me." She smiled sadly at that. "And far stronger."
Radimir watched her in silence, ruddy eyes softening, observant to the emotions that lay so apparent in her vivid violet eyes. They were so beautiful, even in their pain and Radimir just waited for her to push him away, to strike him hard across the face and tell him to leave her alone. He wouldn't have held it against her. In the same position, he would have done the same.
He said nothing as she spoke, grinning just a little at that last bit. "I think I've proven that enough, following you the way I did, like a dog on a scent," he laughed and smiled at her, turning wry. "Even if we can't save him...we'll find him. We'll know then." He bit his lip for a moment, looking away, knowing it would be foolish. But he couldn't think about it for much longer before he leaned in and softly stole a kiss, lingering for just a quick but warm second before pulling away.
"C'mon," he said, standing up and offering a helping hand. "We still have to find our way out of this place."
She was thankful for his words and felt comforted by them and her lips turned into more genuine of a smile. But when he leaned in, stealing another kiss from her, she found herself unflinching, merely numbed by it while natural emotions stirred within her, just briefly with a burn. Afterwards, she simply stared at him, pressing her lips more firmly together and gave a nod.
Taking his hand, she rose at his side and turned away, numb to her emotions as her eyes swept across the room.
She couldn't help but feel the need ot want to look- to still try in this place when she noticed something and took a hesitant step forward.
Yes. there was definitely something.
She moved swiftly across the room, swiping more cowbwebs away and brushing some out from her hair. But there itwas, some folded, crisp, brittle piece of paper.
and as she pulled it out, her eyes went wide...
She thought it looked familiar..
It looked similar to that damn map.
It was apart of the map- the missing pieces.
And perhaps there might be hope for him yet.
Her lips parted as she turned around to Radimir.
"This map.." she began, slowly shaking her head before her lips curled into a trembling smile. "Castor had found another piece of it. This must be one of the same. I recognize the symbols." she moved closer to him, holding it delicately, carefully against the light as she leaned in closely to his side, just so that he'd be able to smell the desert heat on her, and her exotic smells and feel the softness of he rlong black hair as it tickled across his shoulder.
"Can you read anything on it? It has some of those ancient symbols- and look here..."
She pointed to a white mass but did not touch it.
"Snow." Her eyes met to his the moment she said it and a thrill rushed through her. Yes! THis was exactly what she had hoped to find!
Brushin a cobweb away from her hair and off of her finger tips, she smiled widely and couldn't help but laugh.
Hope.
Hope it felt so good. Yes.. she needed to find this. She needed to fidn the strength.
Now all that was left was a possible solution. Who knows Perhaps it was up North....
where the world was as white as clouds and as cold, perhaps colder, then the desert nights.
Radimir stood back as she moved across the ancient library and waited as she produced a paper from the shelf. It was thin and torn, folded over again and again and even rolled a few times this way and that, but still quite intact. He peered at it intently as she opened it up to him, her soft hair caressing his shoulder as she did so.
But his eyes remained glued on the map, holding the side of it with one hand as she pointed the snow out in the white puff on the page. It could have meant anything of course, but it being a map, what else could it have been but snow? Radimir gave a grin and saw the peculiar symbols on it.
"No," he answered finally. "I'm afraid I can't. I don't recognize them." He gave a sigh, frowning in much contrast her to joviality. But he grinned soon after. "But...I think I know somebody who knows somebody who can read it. It helps to have friends in high places after all." His smirk grew and he handed the map back to her, delicately folding it.
"C'mon we've found what we needed. Let's get the hell out of here!" Radimir turned around, going ahead from the way they came and stepped on something that set the entire place into motion. But there was no grinding of stone, no shifting of rock. What he stepped on ignited a large, peculiar glyph at the center of the room. It burned like blue fire and Radimir stepped away from it, pulling Zarrah with him as smaller symbols ignited around it until it completed a full circle.
There was tired, exhausted moaning that resonated through the chamber, echoing from around them and under them. He felt the ground rumble just a bit until it calmed, but Radimir's years in the desert hadn't produced naivety. He immediately pulled out his falcata, and pressed his back to Zarrah's. "Remember...that paper I read earlier? Looks like these spirits have come to collect. I hope you like dead people."
Zarrah bristled, then felt her skin and heart chill at the moan. She braced herself out of fear,a nd pressed her back closely against Radimir's.
Tucking the map away, her fingers itched for her knives.
"What do you mean dead people?" And then she noticed shadows slowly marching, moaning their way. The hair on her body stood on end, hands whipping out her blades as the metal's kissed shine from the burning lamps and felt herself begin to sweat, heart begin to pound.
"I don't like the sound of that.."s he said, gritting her teeth as her eyes kept upon the moving shadows..
and then a smell..
Gods it smelled...
It smelled like rotting flesh.
Her sweaty hands clenched upon the knives, when suddenly there was a crack up above.
Looking up, she noticed, for the first time, the skeletal remains incased behind layers of thick cobwebs and dust pressed into the walls in a wide expansive hive.
Her breath went to her throat at the very moment a skeleton came screeching down upon them, knocking Zarrah to the floor and roaring in her face.
Here come the undead.
With a roar, Zarrah slammed a foot clean into it's rib cage, which was harder to do than she thought, knocking it away as it's body clattered to the ground and she gave another swift kick to it's head, knocking it off. But her victory seemed short lived, as ten more skeletal men fell from the ceiling..
just as the moaning from deeper within became more clear.
"God, it's a whole army of bones!" Zarrah shouted, stepping back and parrying a skeletal sword strike with a quick criss crossing shield of her knives. "How the hell are we supposed to fight them!? They're already dead!" She cried, barely managing to dodge out of hte way as the skeleton tried slicing off her head.
When the dead finally came falling down upon them, literally, Radimir found little time for answers. He ducked and rolled out of the way of a headstrike that would have taken his head clean off his shoulders. He struck upward and drove his sword up through the ribcage of the skeleton, blade slashing through bone. But the blow only knocked it back just a bit. Still, it left an opening for Radimir to come around with a kicked to the sternum, breaking apart the bones that tired to hold together.
Though the skeletons were no longer living, they screeched loudly, menacingly and it sent a chill down his spine in fear. He couldn't let that break his concentration however. Even as he tried to stay close to Zarrah, when ten more fell form the ceiling, Radimir was swift with his blade, flying at five of them, steel striking to boneblade, snapping where it wasn't strong enough, lopping off heads and arms where there might have been flesh.
"Smash them to bits!" he cried out to Zarrah, just as he smashed his boot into another skeleton. One managed to smash its blade into the side of his head, the flat end of it knocking him to the ground. Radimir was dizzy but he rolled around and out of the way of the blade trying to stab into him. He drop kicked the skeletal legs and crushed his blade against the head, lopping it off and smashing the heel of his boot into the skull when he stood.
"This way!" he called again to Zarrah, running down the hall of the oil lamps, between the large stone bookcases as more skeletons fell from the ceiling. But it wasn't just that they had to worry about, falling debris from above came crashing down, knocking the bookcases off their bearings and smashing them into each other, knocking them over as they nearly crushed Radimir and Zarrah. He ran through a pair that thankfully smashed into each other to keep from collapsing entirely to the ground, making for the small gap, sliding along the floor.
A skeleton blocked the exit and Radimir ran his sword through him, but it was caught between the ribs. Immediately his other hand yanked his whip out and lashed it out at its head, smacking it off with a loud crack, and launched it out at two other skeletons that tried to come from the sides. He pulled his sword out and climbed to his feet. He saw as stone sarcophoguses were smashed open and there appeared three larger corpses, taller more imposing than the skeletons, standing guard at the exit of the opposite hallway. Their eyes alit with blue fire.
Zarrah was doing all in her power she could do keep the other five skeletons at bay. Her knives were weak in comparison to the weapon Radimir carried, but worked well enough to parry off a few reaching bones. But then the pair was off and running, the place around them tumbling into chaos. But it seemed an exit was in view. Thank the Gods! They could escape, but her foot steps began to slow as her eyes fell upon the blue lit flames set within the ghouls skulls. She felt her blood turn cold, her sweaty hands clenching onto her blades.
These men were different. They were dressed in heavy robes, some armor, rusting helmits with red plumes..
and well, were still somewhat juicy. The commander n the center, the one with a bit more finesse to his dress, took one step forward with a curved blade raised and his jaw set firm, dropping open as he roared, sending a rock of unseen power throughout the room.
As scared as she was, she was pissed, too. These god damn ghouls were keeping her from their only chance at freedom. She'd be damned if she'd let them stand in her way. Stepping forward, she screamed right back at him and went to charge, just as the skeleton commanded the other two to move in, and soon her knives were colliding away against the heavier blade of the commander while the other two began to circle around Radimir and eyed him up, plotting ways to cut him down to size before moving in themselves, striking quick.
Great, while she was busy with just one, Radimir had two of those massive bone-breakers to worry about. They circled around him. The skeletons seemed to momentarily stop their assault in the face of these greater beasts, and almost seemed to be cheering from the sidelines, raising their weapons and screeching as they watched this final battle.
To the left of him, one ghoul came down with his blade, nearly cleaving Radimir in two. He dodged within seconds, the blade cutting off a sleeve of his shirt. But he spun around them, determined not to let them surround him as he whipped the whip around him and struck low, wrapping it around the ghouls ankles and yanking hard on it. The momentum was enough to yank it off its feet. But he still had the other to worry about as it rained its curved blade down on his head, his sword raising to meet it steel for steel.
Zarrah arched herself back, knives scraping down the length of the great ghoul's sword. She used the forced to kick herself away, barely knocking the beast back a few steps from it's place. Baring her teeth, she she moved forward to attack before it would get a chance to get the upper hand, twirling her blades about before slapping them back and forth against his sword, forcing the ghoul back a few more steps. But then he swung heavily forward, causing her back and then again. Zarrah dodged this way then that, then just as he was cleaving forward in a mighty swing, she tumbled behind him and kicked heavily at his backside, sending the ghoul stumbling forward-
only he didn't fall as she snatched onto his decaying old cape and yanked the ghoul back to her, slamming her knife clean into it's back- her body pressed against the cape, which was the only thing keeping her bdoy from touching the one of decay.
And his smell was overwhelming. She wanted to wretch, but when she tried to free her knife, the ghoul turned his head at such an angle that hte blue glowing sockets of his bore into her as he turned around, snatching boney fingers around her throat and lifting her up off the ground.
Gasping for breath, she dropped her blades ad clung onto the hand that held her up off the ground, legs lightly kicking as her eyes rolled back, desperate for breath. His grip was crushing, and she thought for sure she was going to black out-
but found a surge of strength within her- and kicked a heavy blow to the creature's chest.
It was enough of a force that the creature released her, and Zarrah fell down heavily to the ground, gasping for breath.
And it was then she turned to notice Radimir and his pair of ghouls heading her way, and without hesitation, she drew up her weapons, twisting about as she rose to her feet and sliced at one of the creatures back side with menacing grace-
lacerating at it's leathery, decaying flesh before slamming a fist into it's head, sending it rattling ff of it's body.
She only spared one glance over to Radimir, before a sword suddenly swung, at her face-
she barely had the chance to dodge, blade cutting into her dark hair and kissing lightly in a hissed scrape across her cheek.
And then he was swinging at her again, and she barely had the chance to pair her swords together, crossing htem again to stop his next series of blows, but she found herself back up against the wall-
and the ghoul had her again, but this time when he snatched her by the throat, he drew her forward suddenly, and kissed her with his ghoulish lips.
With one down, its head rolling on the floor, Radimir kicked it down just to be sure and it laid still on the ground. He leapt forth and kicked the other one in the chest as he came lurching toward him. But it caught him around his boot and lifted him high in the air. He gripped on Vidain, as the corpse turned about just slightly to slam him hard on the ground, the force of which he knew would break his neck.
Radimir's head lurched and grew dizzy from suddenly being turned upside down. And just before he slammed him down on the floor, Radimir slashed his blade through the arm the held him, consequently dropping him to the floor. The creature growled and roared at his dismembered arm, that wiggled and swayed as Radimir pried it from his ankle.
He charged forth, slashing right just as its curved sword came up, sparking as they met. Radimir parried and spun around, dug his sword deep inbetween its ribs. Had it been a living enemy, this would have been a killing blow. But it only made the corpse angrier as it batted him away like a fly when he tried to pull his blade out. Radimir flew several feet, sliding along the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He almost didn't have any time to catch his breath as he watched the one armed corpse stalk toward him.
Radimir desperately tried to reach for the whip that was just inches from his hand, his head was spinning and his lungs trying to suck in air again. He shuffled, fingers digging into the ground as the creature came closer to him, nearly standing over him. He moved slightly, muscles straining as they finally wrapped around the handle of the whip. The creature raised its blade high, coming down to slam it upon his waist. Radimir was quick and swung the whip hard, the tendril wrapping around its legs, pulling it off its feet.
Its sword clanked on the ground and he scrambled to his knees, throwing himself at the sword as he snatched it from the ground. He scrambled toward the creature, squealing and screeching to free itself from the whip. But before it could resist, he slammed the blade down on its head, severing it from its body. It writhed for a moment but ceased. Radimir yanked his sword from its ribs.
He turned to see Zarrah, pinned to the wall by the largest of the corpse-beasts, his regalia glinting in the lamplight. Radimir stood, his heart bounding in his chest, and when it pressed its nasty ghoulish mouth to hers, his eyes went wide in anger. He dashed forth, his heart smashing to be free of the confines of his ribs and when he was close enough, he leapt into the air, holding his sword in both hands and crushed it down through the brittle rusted iron of its helmet. The force of the blow was so strong, so driven that it sliced down from the crown of the skull through nearly its entire face, his blade stopping mere centimeters from driving into Zarrah's face who remained still so close.
The great ghoul paused for a moment, unsure of what happened, its blue eyes glowing for a few brief seconds before growing dim, its face grim and ragged as it fell with its skull split open. Radimir drew his blade away and snatched Zarrah by the arm. "RUN!" he commanded, still angry, and yanked her with him as he ran, the legion of skeletons screeching out and pouring in from behind them.
Zarrah was stunned, her eyes going crossed as the blade stuck out from within the ghoul's skull. She would have fainted had she been a weaker woman, but instead, she remained wilted against the wall, life barely registering within her eyes as a soft glow of blue light flickered off her lips, and began to swirl within the depths of her eyes.
As Radimir began to drag her away, she gripped onto his arm suddenly and bit into it hard.
Then her hands moved out, reaching for his throat as she began to growl like a feral animal, her eye burning blue like the possessed ghouls that once were, and her teeth ran red with his blood.
OOC: OM NOM NOM NOM
[D8 AHHH!]
Radimir cried out as Zarrah bit into his arm, and the skeletal assault halted for a second as they realized the soul of their master still existed in the woman. Radimir tore his arm away from her, opened and bleeding even by her teeth. He looked at her angrily, desperately and with some confusion, but it was plain to see that she was not herself. Radimir knocked a fist hard into her face, studded knuckles burrowing into her flesh.
"ZARRAH, DON'T DO THIS! NOT NOW! PLEASE!" He grabbed her up by her shoulders and dragged her down the hallway, holding her at a firm distance to keep her from sinking her teeth into him further. Radimir took his whip and shoved the handle into her mouth as bite guard, holding it with a hand he pried from her arm. He shoved her toward an oil well and took the torch he had beside it.
"ZARRAH! WAKE UP!" he cried out as he shoved the torch into her arm. The skeletons crying out in horror.
Zarrah roared out angrily, trying to tear him apart with her bare hands. But then he was dragging her away, and he angrily fought him until he had her pinned against the wall, the end of his whip shoved between her teeth as her arm was suddenly doused in flames.
She let out a scream, teeth biting heavily into the whip as the flame inside her eye seemed to dance. For a brief moment, it almost appeared as if Zarrah had come back, but the she slumped forward, and the light, appearing extinguished in her eyes, but then suddenly they lit up again as she tried to reach for him again, roaring through the whip as her teeth mashed into it.
"Masar'am. Maduk-madal. Masar'am maduk-madal!" Radimir said fiercely, under his breath as he blessed the torch in his hand as the burning had yet to work. He dropped it for a moment, continuing to murmer the words until the fire began to change color, transforming into an emerald green as it burned hotly, sparking in metallic embers.
As he kept chanting them he smashed the whip handle in her mouth still, while his other hand reached down and plucked a dagger from his belt. He placed it between her breasts and sliced down it until her shirt was opened. Then he grabbed the torch again and shoved it toward her heart.
"Masar'am. Maduk-madal! Be REBORN AGAIN IN FIRE!"
Her eyes were a burning fury, madness becoming her, rage overtaking all of her senses, but the moment the enchanted flames came at her again- she roared out in pain and agony- blue light zapping out from her chest in a quick and thunderous burst.
And just as quickly as the blue fire left her, she wilted away, body too weak and exhausted for her to move as she crumpled into a heap upon the floor.
The blue flame roared across the air and vanished in a faint light over the army of skeletons that had been holding back in animation. But the moment the last soul was snuffed out, they began to roar back to life, jaws chattering as they began after the pair again.
When at last the possession left her, Radimir threw the torch out at the skeletons, the enchanted fire seeming to ignite a few of them as they exploded into a pile of bones. Radimir plucked Zarrah up and over his shoulder with one arm as he held the recoiled whip in the other, holding her legs as he ran. Radimir ran through the hallway, the legion of skeletons close on his tail.
As he did so, he found the hallway opened up to three chambers, one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead, with a large stone spiral staircase that coiled up and up and up. He went straight for the stairs, dashing up the stairs as the bones were coming in closer, one nearly slashing through his legs. He leapt up to avoid it, taking no time to counter. There was no time. The others stumbled over the skeleton, crushing it to a heap of bones.
Radimir bounded up the stairs, leaping two and three at a time. As it rounded up and up, his heart fell in his stomach as he found that there was a massive gap between them and the exit above. The glint of the desert sun bled through the top. It was so close. As the skeletons crashed into the wall, all trying to climb up at once, Radimir dashed up the remaining steps, braving the gap, launching his whip out at anything it would clamp on to. Perhaps he lucked out, as he felt the whip grow taught and swung him safely to the other side.
He collapsed on the ground and unfurled the whip, not waiting for their pursuers to find a way across the gap as he got up and cradled Zarrah between both arms. "Stay with me, Zarrah," he begged, his heart pounding a hundred miles a minute. "We're almost out of here!" He ran up the remaining steps, finding the exit above to be a hole approximately ten feet above his head. Wooden supports were strewn across it, rotted, but it was their only chance. Radimir launched the whip up above him until it wrapped around tight enough. "Zarrah! You've got to hold on to me! HOLD ON!" He adjusted her in his tired arms hoping she would try to hold onto his neck, try hang on as he began to scale the whip.
Zarrah felt so tired, so weak. But his voice seemed to break her from her spell, as he'd feel her arms clench around his neck tight, face burying into his neck. And as he began to scale them upwards, she peered back only once to watch as the skeletons attempted to pursue.
They were so close, yet so far-
and ti was only then she caught the sight of an ugly ghoulish archer.
There was still one left!
And it was almost too late, the beast had the arrow already into the air.
And Zarrah did the only thing she could think of doing-
to throw her body infront of the arrow- and it rocked her, slamming through her form and piercing out the other side as she made a noise, nearly losing her grip on Radimir.
Her breath caught within her throat, the pain almost unbearable.
Sputtering on her breaths she commanded Radimir-
"K-keep climbing! G-get us out of here!" All the while her warm blood began to spill down his back, not realizing, that hte head of the arrow had been launchhd so powerfully it not only struck her, but the tip of it ahd sunk into him.
Radimir cried out when the arrow too had pierced into him, but he did as she commanded and kept climbing. They were near the top, even as the wooden support began to creak. Radimir reached the top and pulled them over the support, unfurling the whip as the light leaked and blinded all around him. He leapt from the top, finally out of the way of danger, for now at least.
He whistled loudly, calling for Thorian, who had heard it. And within minutes he was nearby. Radimir felt the arrow move out of him, his back stinging and bloody, as he turned and cradled Zarrah in his lap. Radimir snapped the arrow from the back and threw it aside before turning her over and yanking out what remained from the otherside. It was crudely made, ancient, but could very well be poisoned.
He carried her to the horse and once again threw her over the saddle before climbing on himself, riding away to a safer location, Thorian beating the ground in fear and desperation. The screams of the dead echoing below.
As they neared the top, she had to smile, never thinking the scorching desert heat could feel so good. But she quickly found herself pulled from her little moment of reverie when the arrow was suddenly snatched out from her body. She let out a yell, unable to hold it back as she sobbed momentarily before collapsing against his arms.
She clutched onto her bleeding wound with what strength she had left, pained tears rolling hotly down her cheeks as she quickly became feverish from the blood and sun.
The world seemed to melt around her, her mind in a peculiar state as adrenaline rushed through her, her mind hazy, racing-
And all she could think about was the sticky hot blood that kept seeping between her hands and clutching onto Radimir's hand with her other for dear life as she was held within his lap.
Radimir rode hard down the cliff, heading west toward the river. They were closer than he expected and it was their only chance to get away from the unbearable heat. Thorian was fast and it seemed he kenw the way himself and before he knew it the river was already in sight, dark, rushing, with some moist flora growing around the banks of it.
The sun was just about unbearable as Radimir rode the horse down to the banks of the river, pulling Thorian to a harsh halt just as they reached the edge of it. Radimir too was bleeding and the wound on his arm throbbed and ached where she'd bitten in to him. He cradled Zarrah in his tired arms, his throat dry, parched, sweat making his blonde hair plaster to his face as he walked the rest of the way to a large piece of shade made by a large cliff-face, an inlet underneath it providing a great deal of coolness in the midst of the scorching desert heat.
"Thorian, come!" he commanded the horse, who followed and waited beside him. Radimir got up and pulled the bundled blanket from the saddle after setting her on the ground, then returned to set it underneath her head. He stripped her of her top, pulling it over her head as he knelt beside her. He pulled out a waterskin as well. "It's all right, Zarrah. You'll be all right, here, drink!" He opened it for her and carefully tried to pour water into her mouth. When she'd had her fill, he used the water to clean her wound, moving her carefully, then reaching for the last of his salve.
"How do you feel, Zarrah? Dizzy? Lightheaded?"
Moving across the desert hills had seemed like a dream. The horse's hooves echoing at a distance, despite being just beneath her. Only the heat seemed relevant, or was the only thing she could feel and by hte time they were in the shade, beside the small river; her lips were chapped, her skin was scalding to the touch, and her eyes appeared a lot duller in color.
She heard his words, but at first couldn't answer. But slowly, she smiled and nodded at the three visions of Radimir that leaned over her.
"Yes, all of those things." she told him, as if happy, her mind casting delicate hot white spots before her vision. She closed her eyes a moment, licking her lips before recalling how her hand ws still gripping her wound. It hurt, her hand was now cramped against it as she visibly winced as another dizzying spell washed across her and she almost passed out, almost fell into the whiteness before suddenly prodding two fingers into her own wound as she cried out in pain, forcing herself back into this reality.
She was afraid to pass out. Afraid to die for the second time. And she was trembling, shaking and sweating.
"The.. the river." she coughed, staring over at it, her bangs plastered to her forehead as she furrowed it. "I.. I'm too hot.. I need.." she found herself needin got pause a moment, nausea becoming her. "I need to cool off. THe water.."
Yes, of course, the river! Radimir nodded to her, but before doing so, he reached down and stripped her of the rest of her clothing, leaving the remains of her gear behind and carrying her once again, this time to the river. Radimir waded through the water until it was waist high, ignoring his own wounds. He muttered prayers as he did so. Words he couldn't even be sure would be answered, but he tried nonetheless.
He carried her into the water and dropped her low enough, the water glistening over her skin, between her burn wounds and sending her blood down the river. "Please, stay awake," he begged. "please! Drink the water! It's clean!"
Zarrah felt the water and sighed, thankful for it's coolness and through it, found herself gathering some strength as blood and sweat were carried away into the waters. She closed her eyes, dipping her head back so that her dark hair fanned out intot he waters behind her. Then slowly, ever so slowly, she held a breath and dipped her head back, dunking her entire head into the cool waters.
And it felt amazing, relieving instantly the burning sting about her face. She almost didn't want to resurface, but she did, chokingly as she sputtered out some water. Then she moved just enough to take some into her hands and drank it before melting back into Radimir's arms, head sinking into his chest as she sighed.
"Oh, Radimir.." she began to shake. "Th-thank you." she said, finding just enough strenght to lift her head, violet eyes meeting to his.
Radimir's eyes were tired and swollen with tears and he smiled at her when she addressed him. His hand came up and braced her face, holding it softly. "You're all right! That's all that matters," Radimir said, holding her up to him, hugging her fiercely as if she were made of nothing more than air and would float away. "Shall I take you back to the shade? Rest for a moment...that bite was awfully savage. I'll clean and stitch your wounds as well." He cradled her again, letting her dunk once more before carrying her back to the shade.
Zarrah was just thankful for all he was doing for her. She felt so weak, and even too weak to feel sorry for herself. No, she would not feel sorry. She had taken the arrow on purpose. Radimir hadn't deserved it. He was trying to help. Trying to help her find a demon.
Her eyes slowly opened from where she lay in the shade, violet eyes tracing ove rhis form as the palm branches fluttered shadows all around them. Her hand moved, gently, fingers tracing across his face, his nose.. his cheek.. across his brows, moving some sweat slicked hair aside, then down his cheek against, a thumb across his lips, then touching his chin before her eyes met to his.
She wished in this moment she could love him. She wished all the world she could show a man who actually loved her she cared.
But her heart still burned for Castor.
She still thought passionately to him- wanted to help him, save him.
BUt what of this man before her? Willing to risk all for nothing?
Or was that the plan? To help her so she'd slowly fall in love and forget the caged animal they were chasing?
She smiled weakly at the thought.
"You know you're very handsome,"she admitted. "Though there's something about you eyes.." she smirked, albeit weakly. "I bet there's a story behind them." She wanted to hear it as her eyes hung low and tired, shivering lightly against the gentle flutter of the breeze.
He'd moved away from her to remove the saddle from the horse, and allowed him to roam freely for a moment before kneeling beside Zarrah once again. Radimir was busy tying to fix the thread into the eye of the needle, which had been cleaned in a small flask of whisky he carried on him, tucked away into one of the saddle bags. Thorian busied himself with leaning into the river, lowering his head to take a drink and dunking his head in a few times to cool himself before prancing into the river entirely.
He paused when she weakly reached up to touch his face however, freezing, waiting, and certainly more confused than he'd been in his life. Radimir was silent the entire time, from the softness of her thumb across his lip, to the way she caressed his cheek. A hand reached up and held her softly by the wrist, still staring at her in silence. But he slowly set it by her side, having fixed the needle and knotting it just so.
"My eyes?" he said, speaking as nothing. "My eyes are my father's eyes...my face is my mother's or so I've been told. My clan holds sacred the Blood of the Serpent. It is more figurative than literal. But when you give your life in reverence and devotion to my god, he becomes apart of you. Some followers have a more...reptilian appearance because they are much closer, having patches of scales growing on their faces. My eyes appear in such a way because my father was quite devoted to our god. He had to be, he was Lord Viper. I suppose some of that devotion passed down to me. But I know when to accept my fate, unlike him."
His eyes stared at Zarrah for a moment, piercing in to her. But after a moment he began to carefully stitch her wounds together. His own could wait, since the one on his side was quite hard to reach. "My mother was a slave girl. He'd saved her from a that life after he killed her master. I don't suppose it was love at first sight. My father seduced her a few times and I'd heard stories of him keeping her prisoner for three days before she agreed to marry him. It was not a formal ceremony. They never are for my kind. I suppose she loved him, for a while at least. But the life in my Order was not the life for her, and she left shortly after I was born. I don't know what her fate was. Whether she died in the desert, or perhaps yet lives. But she was beautiful, that I do know."
By the time he'd finished talking, he'd sewn her up, keeping the stitches tight and concise, hands expertly knotting it and leaning down to cut it with his teeth. Radimir prepared the needle again in the whisky, but not before taking a long drink himself. His face burned red, though it was hard to tell underneath his tan. He began to sew himself up after her, puling his shirt over his head, sitting beside her. "Why do you ask?" he wondered, as he did so.
Zarrah had all but closed her eyes, listening contentedly to the story, flinching only when the needle would proud her flesh, repressing the urge to shiver. The story was a nice distraction. And it was also nice to know something about someone who just saved her life. Castor....
Her eyes opened a little more as she studied him.
"Thank you." she said, forcing herself to sit up a little, though sighing exhaustedly as she did.
"Here, let me help you. It's the least I can do for you telling me your story." She held out a hand expectantly. "The story was a nice diversion while you sewed me shut." she admired the stitch work before looking back to him. "And thank you, for also telling it to me. I know I don't deserve any of this you are doing for me. But I am grateful. Perhaps I'll find a way to pay you back someday. BUt for now, I can at least help stitch up that wound so it can heal faster and not infect."
Radmiir was hesistant at first since the thread was already inside of him, but she was right. He couldn't sew the wound that well from this angle and it would only reopen and infect. So he scooted closer to her, turning his back to her and giving her the needle, it a little awkwardly. He sighed, knowing there could be no real way she could pay him back.
"It's not a debt," Radimir insisted. "I do this because I want to. I suppose after all I've taken from you, I'm the one who should be repaying you. I do this...because...I care for you." He said it again, letting his head hang low and keeping his face out of her view. Of course, since it was something he was sure she'd never get used to hearing.
Zarrah stared at his back for a good long moment after drawing in one long pull through his skin with the thread. She studied the back of his head in silence, eyes wavering as she tried to read through him before lowering her head to focus on stitching up the wound.
"And I do this because I care," she admitted, in a softer voice, fingers gentle around his wound as she worked on it. "It's hard to find friends in this world. It's strange. Despite a lot of hatred for you, I'm finding that hate slowly fading away."
Radimir's face cringed as the needle went through him. He didn't make a noise, but it was uncomfortable all the same. But perhaps only because of what they were talking about. It was not a comfortable subject, and certainly not for one pining for another that did not and would not love them back.
At her admission, he softened just a bit, concerned this wasn't just some kind of ploy. But the more he thought about it, the more she had a point. It was hard not to care about the partner you were travelling with. It set in more confusion than gave answers. She'd made it quite clear there was no chance, and perhaps they were still enemies. He supposed, however, it wouldn't be good to put more thought into it than necessary. Friends meant friends, just that and nothing more.
"Fading?" he said softly, turning his head to look at her. "I suppose it would only be natural if we are to travel together, that we should learn to tolerate one another, at least until we part ways." He bit his lip at the thought. "But thank you...it means a lot."
OOC: Quick post since I randomly woke up this morning after 4 hours of sleep T_T *heads back to bed* hopefully this post makes sense XD
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Zarrah kept at stitching up his flesh. His wound was much smaller than hers, so it wouldn't take long. She nodded at his words, but realized he couldn't see her face and tucked back some of her hair away before clearing her throat.
"I suppose you're right, though I think I could do more than tolerate your presence."s he smile a bit at that thought, pulling the last few stitches through slowly, carefully before gently adding the salve. "After all, your past life is about as worthless on my own, and I'm not entirely foolish. A purely evil man, even one who tried to kill me, wouldn't risk his own hide for a bunch of lepers who might die soon anyways, to give them a chance at freedom and-" here she paused, placing lightly a hand to his shoulder. "Helping a woman, even if her own ideals are selfish and rude against you." She kept her gaze against his head, wondering what he might be thinking as she held a breath, but went on. "I suppose I can't claim to be any better at my choice in love. I'm sorry, Radimir. But please realize, even if... whatever the answer may be from Castor, once we find him, I..." She frowned, thinking over her words carefully. "I don't think I could handle being in love with a man again."
After all, she had lost so much for love. It would be far better to just kill off that aspect, that dream in her life all together if the result was what she expected, and a bitter cold feeling knotted within her belly, hot tears rising to her eyes. Swallowing back the knot in her throat, she slowly moved to rise.
"Perhaps we should rest here. Shall I help get us some supplies? We ought to eat, then when the sun begins to set, we can start traveling again." Pausing, she looked down at her dress. It was worse for wear. Perhaps she could repair it as they rested, but she suddenly felt too exhausted and depressed to care.
[It makes sense! xD Don't worry]
Radimir was taken aback by her words and for some reason, stung by them. But in no personal fashion that made him feel as if he wanted to lash out at her. It only made him sad, his mind reeled at the thought of never loving again, of never feeling, of letting yourself become nothing more than a cold gray husk, a shell that once contained a soul, never to be revived. He looked at Zarrah with wild eyes at her suggestion, her resignation.
Radimir reached out and grabbed her hand, clutching it warmly against his. "I understand Zarrah," he said nodding. "Your heart is yours to do with as you please... But I can't imagine a life without that fire, it's no life at all. I know you'll never love me, but, perhaps, that doesn't matter..." he said, leaning in and kissing her cheek softly. "Just let me love you."
Zarrah had expected he might act something like this, but not exactly in this fashion. And she felt awkward for it, tensing at his words, and then, even more so at the kiss to her cheek. She found herself instinctively turning her face away, but did not attempt to remove herself from where she knelt beside him as she closed her eyes.
"Please, Radimir... don't." She opened her eyes and turned back to him. "You ask me to give you permission to let you torment yourself through our journey. But your heart is not mine to command. Why would you ask my permission?" Though she already believed she knew the answer.
OOC: More sleepy time post XD *goes to bed like a zombie*
[Why would you wake up between sleeping just to post!? xD]
Radimir retracted his head, but not his hand, and he gripped hers a little tighter. He had to laugh at her statement, just a little and actually smiled at her. "I think I've been torturing myself long before you came into my life, Zarrah. There's a lot we don't know about each other, but much I'd like to learn if you gave me a chance, but I suppose there's nothing I can do to change your mind."
He let go of her hand with some reluctance, though he kissed the back of her hand. "I don't know why I would ask honestly. But you can't blame me for trying. You rest here. We've come along way and when night falls again we'll travel. I'll see what i can do for your dress as well. Cover yourself with a blanket in the meantime. I'll get us something to eat." He got up and patted her shoulder as he walked away, going to the trees. But he didn't bother to whisper when he said aloud, "I suppose you'd prefer the touch of cold metal, versus the real touch of a man."
(well I went to bed at 730am, got up at 1230pm since that's when my friend was leaving, was going to go back to bed but I ended up staying up because I got a phone call which snagged me an interview for tomorrow morning, went to lay down for a nap at 4pm- got up at 710pm.. lol
D:
So yeah, I didn't wake up to pot XP I had to be up
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Zarrah smiled at his statement about his life before her, but the smile quickly fell as he continued to speak and had completely vanished when he mentioned the metal hands. The words stung her as bitterness curled in the pit of her belly. She fell silent, keeping her eyes averted from him.
At least the man with the metal hands had a heart, had cared for her, wanted to feel for her. She shivered at the intimate memories the pair had shared. Though it was cold to the touch, something had been exciting about it, something about the way of him feeling her in other ways. SHe also burned from other memories, when she tried to sacrifice herself and he had gotten so upset..
If Castor truly had hated her, he would have just let her fall and had been rid of her then. She knew more about him than he let on, and it was spoken in the silence they had shared, and of course, in his actions.
Even if the man could not admit it, she did. After all, she began to realize she might have done the same thing if she was in his shoes. Push away those you care. He knew he was becoming a violent monster. He just wanted freedom. And he never meant to hurt her along the way.
Yes, it would be far too easy for her to die on such a quest. She wasn't stupid. But she held a few cards up her sleeve. But if Castor knew... would it even make a difference? Wrapping the blanket around herself, she stared upwards, her mind drifting off, wondering what had become of the man with the metal hands and would he ever truly be free? Or, would his freedom really come at a price?
[Lol! Right, right! Well, good luck on your interview! And lulz...you didn't wake up to pot.
Totally Radimir: Lost Years: "Stalker" (http://youtu.be/uU_6R_W9dmM) So chill]
If it left her stung in bitterness, it had been said in bitterness. Radimir burned in a strange mixture of emotions as he walked away. Anger, jealousy, impotence, perhaps even a hopelessness that broiled inside of him. It was a losing battle, a lost cause, he knew, but much in the way she felt about the man called Castor, he couldn't help in the way he felt. He could only accept it as the way of things. He was pushing a boulder uphill, straining with all his might and knew that at any moment it would come rolling down on him again, crushing him...perhaps even kill him.
He couldn't know what they'd shared, and perhaps he'd never know. But from what he'd saw, he had an unsettling feeling that any future encounter they'd have with Castor if they happened to find him would only be worse, perhaps even cost Zarrah her life. Why was she so determined to find him? Why did that bastard have to leave her in such confusion? Radimir couldn't help but think the man had used her. Had led her on to get what he wanted before it was time to move on yet again. And why not?
It was easy to use those who were hungry for love in return. But whatever it was that drove Castor, he wanted that more than. It was easy to abandon when all there was to be gained had been gained. And in the hearts of men, that one aspect usually remained the same. No doubt Castor's journey would take him to many places, a slave to the power of the gauntlets that encased his hands. He would meet many people, and always walk alone, no matter the bonds between them.
Radimir could find nothing more to say, knowing nothing could change her mind, could change her heart. She would forever pine for a man who could never touch her, never feel her the way he ought to. And here a man with hands that hungered for her, which could caress her, which could feel her wholly and passionately. But perhaps that was what she hungered for. And she would never see the forest for the trees.
He grabbed his whip and pulled it up and around the tree, noticing the fruit hanging from the top. He placed one foot on the trunk and another using the strong braid of the whip to counter his own weight as he slowly but surely scaled the tree. Sweat dripped from his brow as he climbed, his palms nearly slipping through the leather but his grip remained strong as he wrapped his arms around a the trunk and knocked down a few pieces of fresh fruit, red with dabbles of yellow in it to show its ripeness as it fell to the ground. His grip loosened just a bit and he felt himself slip before falling six feet into the hard ground. He'd hit his head hard and was in and out of consciousness, as his whole body was racked in pain.
Thorian neighed with a start as he turned around, finding his rider laying still on the ground.
(DARN YOU 'S' KEY DX *shakes fist*
And of course Radimir would have some 80's music XP
that's so LION of you 8D )
*ALSO WE JUST MADE 50 PAGES, WOO!*
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Dropping her blanket at the noise, Zarrah threw her blanket aside and was already on her feet and rushing in his direction, a knife pulled and ready when she was taken back to see him laying painfully on the ground. Her eyes quickly darted around, but after seeing the fruit, the whip... the tree , she began to more realistically deduce what had happened and was quickly crouched at his side.
"Radimir!?" her voice was frantic, as panic had gripped her heart. "Radimir, say something, get up!"s he pressed, shaking his body lightly, the more harshly as fear continued to hold her like a vice grip. A fall like that, even a short one, could do heavy damage on the brain. "Radimir!" she smacked at his face. "Wake.. UP!'s he pressed, grabbing onto his torso and holding it, shaking it, then staring down into his face. She quickly leaned her head against his chest, listening for a heart beat while her black hair pillowed across his frame.
Then she lifted her head up again, leaning in more closely to his face to listen for breathing.
Radimir had to be ok.. he had to. What a foolish way to go! Falling from a tree!
"Radimir.."
He had to be ok. It would be cruel and unfair to leave her so alone, especially after a conversation like that.
[It's awesome okay! D:< And it just came to me...seemed to fit his mood. Pfft...blaming your S key...LOW!]
His eyes were half-lidded, partly open, as color and light flashed across his vision in confusing patterns, that he couldn't be sure if he were alive or dead. He was breathing, just lightly enough to maintain a low, but steady and soft heartbeat. He was vaguely aware that somebody was touching him. There was some pressure on his chest, but it could just as easily have been caused by the fall. Radimir fought to regain consciousness, though his head throbbed and pounded ceaselessly, somebody knocking on every crevice of his skull with a chisel, trying to split it open.
"Ughh," he managed to groan, opening his eyes just a little more as Zarrah's face came a little more into focus, but just enough to be blurry, and slowly sensation was crawling through his limbs. He tried to move them, but doing so only brought on a fierce dizzy spell. At last his face began to throb along with his head, but it was gradually fading.
"Uhhh..." he managed, "why....did.....ugh, you slap me?"
Zarrah's brows raised, body tensing as the man stirred. She leaned over him, cradling him still as he groaned and began speaking, finally opening his eyes to her. He seemed disorient, but at least he was ok. Smiling, he brushed his blonde hair out of his face, removing some sweat there as she did so.
"Would you prefer I punch you? You were unconscious. I think you fell," she looked up at the tree, then down to the fruit scattered across the ground. "How do you feel?"
OOC: Short posts are short
Radimir laughed a little and immediately regretted doing so afterward, wincing and sucking in air sharply through his teeth as he did so. His head punished him enough for such an overzealous action. But at least blood was gradually becoming awakened and he could feel his limbs more and no longer felt as dizzy trying to move anymore.
He slowly brought a hand up to his face. "Like I made contact with the ground," he answered plainly, smiling. "I think a punch would have killed me...gods... I think my face might as well get a permanent bruise for all the smacks you've given me today and yesterday. I think....it was six." He laughed again and carefully tried to get up, but felt his head spin violently once more. "Some...some water would be nice."
"And you probably deserved all of them," she added simply with a smirk. She studied him as he tried to move. "Take it easy." Then at his request for water, she simply nodded. "Wait here." She smirked, knowing he probably couldn't do much more than that anyways as she lifted herself up and moved over to Thorian and grabbed a waterskin from one of the pouches on his side. Returning to Radimir's side, she was on her knees again and offering out the water.
"Here, take this but drink it slow. If you hit your head, you may want to lay off eating for a time. I've known people who got violently ill after such acts. So it might be wise not to fuel your system if the illness consumes you, too."
Then, sitting back, she brushed her hair away from her facea nd had to ask," So what were you doing anyways?" though she knew the answer, she still wanted to hear it from him.
"I'm sure I did..." Radimir breathed as she went back to get some water. It was about time when she returned to his side. He nodded weakly at her chiding and carefully poured some into his mouth, drinking slowly, letting the water spill out around his mouth, down his chin and around his whole face, pretty much.
He pulled it away from him at last and closed it up. He looked up at her with glazed eyes, mad and annoyed at the same time. "You just want to how stupid I was," he said, rolling his eyes. "I was...trying to get some of that food that was hanging from the tree. So I climbed up it. It was going good until I decided I wanted to come down. I.....I guess I slipped and grabbed onto the trunk... slipped again... Next thing I know I'm on the ground. Go on, laugh now. I know that was stupid."
Radimir sighed and finally manage to sit up, with some difficult and held his stomach as if he felt he was about to wretch.
Zarrah gave a smug smile and lightly shook her head.
Listening to his story, her smile only grew, but she only shook her head a second time as she took the waterskin and set it aside.
"I won't judge you. I've done more foolish things myself." Though the sparkle in her eyes began to fade as she studied him and quickly became concerned. "Hey, take it easy. You look pale." she gently placed a hand to his shoulder, then one to his forehead. Though his head was hot with sweat, it would be hard to tell if he had a fever. She frowned and kept her eyes to his.
"Perhaps we need to get you into the shade to rest up. That is, after you become well enough to stand. There's no reason to rush. Then we can eat those fruits later." She gave him a softer smile, her eyes admiring his face. He had distinctively different features than Castor.
Where Castor had been short and stalky with muscles all over, Radimir was lithe and tall with well toned muscle and a longer face, longer hair. His skin was also much darker, but hardly anyone from the desert had pale skin. And if you did, it would soon end up red.
Though his eyes were strange, that had not been her focus while she studied him, not until she gently touched his cheek to seek them out, eyes moving as if reading a book.
"Look at me so I can check your eyes." She requested. She assumed, despite their snake like appearance, she might be able to tell if he would fall prey to a spell as most often did in these circumstances.
Radimir felt awkward under her scrutiny, but he supposed it was just as well, since he couldn't move too much himself. He held his stomach, still feeling quite raw and nearly wretched again, coughing up a dry heave, but stopped himself. It wasn't like he'd eaten anything that would come up anyway. He gave Zarrah an exhausted grin. He didn't feel feverish. But then again, he was sweaty and hot all over so it would be difficult to tell anyway.
He found it strange when she asked to look into his eyes. But Radimir obliged her all the same and raised his head to meet hers. His eyes were tired, not having gotten a good night's sleep in a long while. The crimson swirled in the browning, ringing it in a dull, reddish hue. His eyes locked on hers. "What do you see?" he asked, the throbbing slowly dissipating.
Zarrah's eyes kept to his as she studied him with a frown, though it quickly warmed into a gentle smile.
"Well, they're not clouded." Her eyes sparkled a little. " And it seems you can see well enough, so I think you'll live." Her grin went more smug as she eyed him up. "Do you think you'd be able to move if I helped get you back to the shade? Or do you think you need to rest some more and find your legs again?"
"I can feel my legs quite fine, but I don't think I can move without assistance. Just take my arm if you can, please," Radimir asked as he motioned for her to hold his side. He leaned against her and stood up after a few failed attempts, holding her close to him until he could mostly support himself. His head beat and protested trying to stop from spinning and he closed them tight, limping to the shade weakly but once they were there, he dropped down to his knees and held his head, in an attempt to hold off the throbbing.
Zarrah remained steadfast, keeping at his side and remaining as his crutch. She worried for him, seeing the way he was in pain, she offered the water skin again.
"Here, drink some more. But remember to drink it slow," she insisted, sighing as she turned back to the tree. Shaking her head, she had to smile about it, laughing even. "All of this pain for some fruit..." and again she chuckled, trying her best to suppress it.
She couldn't help it. It was kind of funny.. despite being at his expense!
Radimir took the water with some small thanks and drank heartily, his head slowly coming to a soft whirl until his vision stilled and he looked over to her with a confused expression, especially when she started to laugh. He knew it was at him, but it was too easy to corner her with it.
"What?" he asked, grinning just a little. "You haven't gotten that out of your system yet? C'mon then, let it out! C'mon, don't be shy! You know it's funny have the big bad assassin be knocked down a notch by falling out of a tree!"
She honestly didn't need any more fuel to laugh at him, but then he had to claim himself as some big, bad assassin and she just lost it. Shaking her head, she grinned with her teeth and batted her eyes prettily at him.
"I don't know. I don't see any big, bad assassin here. Just some man with snake eyes. And even that can be seen as comical. A man falling from a tree for fruit..." She chuckled again. "OK. it is a little funny because of your profession and well.." She turned away, laughing through her nose but said no more, but her eyes still glittered with mirth.
Radimir held his head just a little, grinning as he watched her laugh her head off. It was a nice change of pace even if it was at his expense. Radimir shook his head and as she went on, Radimir couldn't help but laugh to and soon his stomach was hurting from all the laughter. He was able to move much better now and even more so without the dizzy spells. He leaned over Zarrah and smiled. But not before long when he leaned in and kissed her momentarily, softly before pulling away.
He looked down at his hands. "An assassin...killed by a tree."
The laughter, the kiss, the moment, it was all perfect and it was her turn to fall under a dizzy spell. Had confusion not tightened a knot within the pit of her belly, she would have found herself acting upon a reply, but instead, her eyes hung hungrily and questionably upon his, the sparkle of mirth being replaced by the sparkle of lust and need. She could not deny that, being a woman, she liked the idea of being wanted, being needed, and while most men's affections for her were only surface deep, the more she traveled with Radimir, her connection and fondness for him only grew. But her bonds to Castor remained as strong and stubborn as the metal on his hands.
Her violet eyes searched worriedly within the depths of Radimir's eyes before her worry melted away by is words. SHe smiled and breathed a sigh through her nose. She turned away and grinned smugly, the mirth returning to her eyes.
"It might be a fitting end?" she said, slowly rising as she began to step away. "Let me fetch those fruits."S he said. "So at least your efforts wont go in vain."
Smiling back to him, she turned around, black hair trailing behind her as she fetched up the fruits he had procured that lay carelessly about ont he ground. Gathering them in her skirts, she returned to him and set them down beside him and offered one to him with a grin.
"Care to take the first bite?"
Radimir paused and nodded to her as she went off, smiling to himself, more at the spur of the gaiety of the moment before closing his eyes and letting himself lay back on the ground as his senses came back to him, at long last relaxing after all that spinning and banging everywhere. He breathed quietly, relaxing when she finally came back to him, bearing the fruit he'd suffered so in retreiving.
He took the offered fruit and smelled it in his hands. It was fresh, ripe, eager to be plucked and he took the first bite, the tough hide difficult to get through at first but he sank his teeth in deeper and the sweet juices burst through his mouth and he gave an audible moan at the taste. It was so nice to finally eat something that wasn't dried jerky.
"This is delicious," he said through a mouthful, juices dripping all down his chin.
Zarrah smiled and picked a fruit up herself, examining it before sinking her teeth into the hard skin. Once she bit past the surface, juice began to dribble down her own chin and fill her mouth with the sweet, tart taste of the fruit's pulp. She licked at her lips and sucked at the juices on her fingers, but continued to eat the fruit while observing him with a smirk.
"I suppose it's why some call them heaven's fruit," she commented, taking another bite that dribbled down her chin and neck that she idly brushed away with a hand. SHe'd be sticky and probably smell like fruit and sweat and sands. Not that she cared. The fruit was as it were, and the taste put her in heaven.
He wiped it away too, licking his hand as he ate his. But more so were his eyes gravitated to how she ate her own fruit and he watched her through half-lidded eyes, somewhat mesmerized by the motion until he found the juice slicking down his own arm. He quickly licked it away and bit into the fruit. He reached a hand up and pried some fruit in between his fingers and cast a glance over at Zarrah, grinning just a little before he flung it at her face, laughing out loud.
OOC: ANd somehow this thread turns into a FOOD FIGHT 8D
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She wouldn't lie. She liked the way Radimir was eyeing her. Perhaps it was cruel for her to support such actions, but she gave him a bit of a show anyways, letting her tongue curl against the fruit and even moan into it when more juice dribbled down her chin as she sunk her teeth back into it.
But then the fruit hit her in the face and she reared back, seemingly repulsed before picking it up and smashing it against his face.
Laughing, she informed him, "No one ever said I played fair.." before she drew the fruit down his face and stared at him, admiring her work and how juice now coated his nose, his cheeks, his mouth his chin and was dribbling off it from there.
They were only a few feet apart as she leaned forward, wiping some of the juice off his chin and pressing that finger inside her mouth.
"You also shouldn't waste such fine foods." she chastised playfully, and sunk her teeth back into her own fruit as if she hadn't just smashed his own into his face.
"Gods!" Radimir cried out, when she shoved the fruit into his face. He was laughing uncontrollably and he rolled back, laughing, legs in the air as he crushed the fruit in his hand and blew out of his nostrils hard, getting the pulp out of there. He snorted a little and wiped his face with his hand and shoved the crushed fruit into her face, smearing it all over her face and neck and pushing against her a little.
"Two can play at this game!" he roared and ripped the peeling to bits, chucking it at her and laughing all the while. He grabbed up the mushed pulp mixed with sand and smeared it across her chest, making a juicy mud ball and throwing it at her.
Zarrah hadn't (entirely) expected him to retaliate as she flinched back, fruit smearing all over her face. She shook her head, wiping some juice off her cheek near her eye as she stared at him, keeping the other eye closed as she bared her teeth, but had to grin, laughing a bit.
"We're not children, Radimir!" though they were certainly acting like it as she used her hands to shield herself from the barrage of fruit chunks he tossed at her.
"Hey, cut that out!" But he wasn't, and she wasn't about to let this man simply show her up, so she lunged forward, pinning him tot he ground beneath her and took her own fruit and began to smear it all over his face, even his eyebrows, his forehead, his cheeks, his chin, keeping him pressed down fiercely, even if he struggled before suddenly drawing the thing over his chest, squeezing the remaining juice out of it so the pulpy bits nd juices splattered across his clothes, then opened up his pants and shoved the fruit in there, before smashing her hand over his crotch and grinned.
"Well, at least now you can enjoy the fruits of your labor," she told him smartly, tucking her hair back behind her ears as she gave a smug grin, chin held high and she moved to raise herself off of his body, kicking the remaining fruit away from him in a single motion of her foot.
She had won anyways. He couldn't top that.
Radimir couldn't stop laughing and his limbs were weak from all the laughter when she pinned him down and smeared fruit all over him, even his pants and he laughed harder, his face turning almost purple from the force of it all. He rolled over and pulled the peeling out his pants. Oh she thought they were done, did she!? Radimir got up on his knees and lunged himself at her, wrapping his arms around her legs and pulling them up and around his hips as he pinned her to the ground, leaning over her.
He was slowly but surely recovering from the force of his laughter and readjusted himself so that he was sitting on her waist. He smiled down at her, mouth wide in humor. "I waste nothing," he said, leaning down and licking the slickness and sucking the pulp that lingered on her neck. "Not even the juices."
His retaliation couldn't have come at a better time. If he wanted her at his mercy, he completely succeeded at having her melt away and bend to his whim. She was startled at first, and happily surprised when the man tackled her to the ground and was upon her, body between her legs and pressing her down in a compromising, albeit, a less than appropriate position. But that made it all the more intoxicating, especially after the mental rush and feelings exuding from her from their little fruit fiasco.
She had lost her breath in the fall, eyes staring back at him as they laughed, but when his tongue began to work at her neck, she shivered, eyes fluttering closed as she placed a hand behind his head and released a breathy moan. It felt too good and right to fight back, her body electrifying at his touch as she responded to his licks with a few ones of her own, her tongue and lips finding the soft juices on his face as her legs instinctively squeezed around his body and kept him in a vice above her.
"It would be a shame to waste it," She said, breathily against his skin.
Radimir gave a soft moan to her attention, blood rushing everywhere, even below as he pinned her to the ground. He leaned down further, licking at the juice and sand that he'd caked there at her collarbone. He spat it out to the side, chuckling as he chewed bits of sand and laughed a little. "I forgot about the sand," he murmured, chuckling against her lips. He turned his attention to her cheeks, licking away the juices at her cheek. His hips rolled sensually, grinding against hers though cloth remained between them, she'd feel him rigid against her.
His mouth sought hers, his lips sucking at the pulp that remained on hers, tasting her and she tasted sweet. "Nothing so precious should go to waste," he murmured, eyes opening and seeking hers for a second before devouring her with his mouth.
"You can't live in the desert without eating a little sand," she pressed, voice going breathy as her hand clung into his mess of blonde hair, which she gripped harder the moment he tried to make love to he through their clothes. Her eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, thighs squeezing him even tighter as she moaned softly beneath his attentions. At his words, she felt her entire body heat, her heart melting, even as it ached, a soft echo telling her to stop as her eyes opened, husky and hungry as they looked back at him. But she would say nothing against or for the voices inside her head, heart beating fast, fluttering beneath his gaze as he spoke before he crashed his lips back into hers. The fight was over. She was his, if even for the moment, as she hungrily kissed him back, hips hitching, pressing, rolling against his as she used both hands now to grip at his hair, tear at his clothes as her lips were moving, biting, kissing, suckling hungrily claiming at his.
Radimir groaned breathlessly, his head beating with sweat even in the shade as she bit and sucked hungril at his lips. He pressed her with the same passion, fire for fire. Radimir was quickly running out of air, but didn't dare tear his mouth away for fear that he would never claim it again and breathed hard through his nose as he at her alive, tongue gliding along hers, massaging against hers, licking at the sweetness from the fruit that lingered there. His hand slid down low and cupped her thigh that gripped him so tightly he could have cried at the pressure. Nails raked against her skin and he cupped the back of her knee just so before reaching underneath her, moving his hips out of the way just a bit to caress between her legs, feeling along her pleasure centers, teasing her.
Her chest was aching for breath, but his kisses were unyielding. Forced to breath through her nose, Zarrah whimpered and moaned against his kisses, against his tongue as her hands raked through his hair and down his back side. She could smell him now, taste him- and it was intoxicating. The world smelled of desert, but her world smelled of man and tasted of tongue and fruit.
And as things grew more intimate, she gasped against his lips, finally breathing through her mouth after inhaling and tasting all that his mouth had to offer as she felt his hands moved down between her legs. She wore just a thin slip of fabric there that the skirts were no longer hiding, but they were already soaking through, her body hot and wet with need, so his fingers would be able to feel her fire burning and the softness, the wet willingness of her sex. She could do nothing but yield to his touch, her legs, once so tightly clenching around his body, easily relaxed beneath his touch, inviting everything and anything that he had to offer. She was in a sweet surrender, and falling for him fast.
His body was growing heated in frustration. Oh, how he wanted her, needed her, longed for her. But he didn't dare sate himself just yet, wanting to feel her, wanting to give her the pleasure he doubted other lovers focused on. But he couldn't stop the shiver that passed through all of him when he felt her warmth below. His hand slipped underneath the cloth, feeling her softness before slipping inside of her, massaging her, coaxing the cloth out of the way. Fire spread everywhere and he didn't know how much longer he could resist, but did so at his own expense, breathing softly against her chest, face rubbing against the dried sand that remained. He paused for a moment, his other hand working to shift his pants down below his hips, enough to give some relief, before continuing his attention on her. He turned to face her yet again, breath to breath. "Now?" he whispered.
Zarrah's entire body was in a fever. She arched her body beneath his touch, letting his fingers dip in deeper within her body until they were consumed within her soft, hot flesh. She bared her teeth, gritting them tightly as her chest heaved with each needing breath. She felt so many feelings pool and burn between her legs that she desired more and rocked her hips against his hand as he worked against her. Her flesh was too sensitive, she couldn't resist, and when he asked if he could now, her eyes opened as she stared at him through heavy lips and clenched teeth, hair strewn wildly across her face. And all she could do was nod.
It was all he needed before long and at last he removed his hand from the softness of her flesh and replaced it with the eagerness of his body, thrusting hard inside of her and coaxing her thighs to bind tightly to his, shoving him deeper inside her as he rolled his hips and rocked them, clutching her possessively to his form, kissing her neck, licking at the sweat that dripped down there. He moaned and breathed hard against her. His pace was slow at first but quickly became almost maddening. He could only breath her name, his heart pounding and wanting to break out of his chest.
OOC: Mature stuff a foot! (though it's been a mature thread for a while, but you know what I mean!)
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The moment his fingers left her body, she let out a whimpered moan, only to be replaced by a sudden gasp as she arched back in ecstasy, unable to contain herself as her sex burned and throbbed wildly about as he entered her, consuming his hard sex within her. She needed his sex so bad and was quickly panting along with him as he rammed into her, breasts bouncing slowly at first, but then more lively as his pace quickened. He wasn't the only one moving as she writhed beneath him, moaning and groaning and gripping onto him tightly with all of her limbs as her hands explored the muscles and sweat of his back, lips met his his, hair entangling, tongues wrestling, bodies matching need for need. She would arch her hips this way and that, letting him feel her at all sorts of angles before growing frustrated, needing to feel her climax as she over came him, wrestling him tot he ground so he was on his back side and she overtop of him as she moved, his sex so deep inside her that she could feel every inch of it. Her inner muscle tightened, her hips were moving wildly as she clung onto his hair and then the other hand to his shoulder and road him like a stallion, panting and moving and grinding with need, until it was unbearable and she arched her head back, chest thrusting forward as she began to ride him as hard as she could, slamming his length in deep within her body until she screamed out in ecstasy.
Radimir was quite surprised when she overcame him, fighting him for dominance, but the sensationw as thrilling and when she finally conquered him below, he could barely take the force of her hunger, her need as he trembled underneath her. His fingernails gripped into her thighs, holding her hips steadily as she took him, his head arching back and his hips rolling with hers. Radimir held onto her all that much harder when at last she screamed out in ecstasy and it was just about all he could take before he to cried out, spilling out within her. He was breathing hard when at last his hands slowly leg go of his grip on her. His haid laid back, sweat glistening over them, dirt clinging to them where they'd laid. Radimir was so tired, worn, he didn't know how he managed but he sat up and wrapped his arms around her, brushing his hands up to her face, clinging to her in exhaustion. After all, he couldn't have predicted in a million years that it would happen again, that they'd have each other at their mercy. But this time he hadn't disguised himself, hadn't worn the guise of a man she truly burned for. But did that make any difference...?
Zarrah was breathing heavy, finding herself at peace. But the moment was short lived, and she felt herself tense suddenly when Radimir's arms wrapped around her and in that instance, her heart sunk into her chest and a chill curdled within her belly. She frowned, realizing only after the fact what she had done, and her heart fluttered briefly. She felt so terrible, so wretched, so confused. Here was this man, loving on her, and she... what was she to him? It wasn't like they hadn't before but... SHe knew this time was different. This time she let him. This time she wanted it.
She wanted him.
Zarrah turned away from him suddenly, closing her eyes tight.
Castor...
She couldn't help but feel she betrayed him as she pulled away from him with a sudden noise, a sudden desperation as she scrambled away, still panting, breathing and bathed in his sex.
But she didn't make it far, crumpling onto the ground as she let out another noise of frustration and wrapped her arms around herself and trembling, not knowing what else to do with herself after the fact. She did not deserve Radimir's affections, nor did she deserve to use him like that. She continued to avoid his gaze, turning her shoulder to him.
"Radimir, don't.."
she cringed.
why did it have to be him? Why couldn't it have been some random stranger on the street?
Those she was used to.
This feeling, this confusion towards him...
She was not.
Radimir half expected her to pull away from him, leaving him smothered in the remains of sex, sweat and sand. He was a mess and slipped his trousers off his legs, boots as well and crawled beside her. She was beside herself, clearly frustrated, confused and didn't know what to make of what they'd just done. After all, she'd made it clear many times that she didn't love him... But then that left him just as confused. Why did she let him? It had clearly been a conscious decision. However, Radimir knew better than to bring it up. There would be other times to discuss it.
"Zarrah," he said, sitting beside her. "Stop this. Just stop... Listen to me... I know what you're thinking...what you're feeling right now and it's okay. Don't...don't think of it as making love, because I know you don't love me. You know as well as I do that we both needed that. We both have been through much, been under a great deal of strain. We both needed each other just then, perhaps that was all it was. We need to keep a level head if we're going to survive this journey. Understand? It's all right, Zarrah."
Zarrah kept her back to him, even when he would try to get near, she'd instinctively shrug him away and keep her head down cast. Though the words he spoke were exactly what she wanted to hear, she couldn't entirely believe them, even though she wanted to. As much as she wanted to deny it, she was attracted to Radimir and had wanted him in that moment. She wanted to make love.
If things had been different...
She frowned even more. If things had been different, could she have made Castor actually love her? And where in the world was he? If it weren't for him, she might still be a prisoner here. They would both have died. Part of her knew the man was protecting her, or at least, she wanted to believe it. Even still, she'd rather have him admit to that so they could both move on. Even if he cared enough to let her go- she had to know if she was used or if there was something, because a part of her heart was still attached to him; and a part of her being yearned to set the metal hand man free.
Turning to Radimir, she simply stared at him frustratedly.
"I wanted it, Radimir. It was as simple as that,"s he growled, then raised herself off the ground to gather the nearby water skin and used just a small handful to start washing off the sticky fruit remains and sex, pausing as she recalled that moment where she had become to weak.
It was a beautiful moment. She frowned again. Too bad she couldn't love him.
Her words stung him, though it was the truth. Radimir said nothing and kept his eyes at the ground. He nodded to her when she moved away and he got up and gathered his own clothes. He moved toward the river and began to clean himself, washing off the remains of their sex and the pulp of fruit and the tiny pebbles of sand into the river. He wished he could wash it all away, wash everything that had happened. He wished it didn't happen...and yet a part of him was glad it did. Radimir cleaned his clothes and walked back to the shade where he'd settled his gear.
He wrapped himself in a dry blanket, letting his clothes dry in the remains of the hot sun, laying it on the saddle strew on the side. Thorian chuffed and stalked toward one of the discarded fruits and plucked it freshly from the ground before eating it for himself. He whinnied happily, lingering by the river.
On the ground beside him, Radimir noticed the map she'd carefully folded and stored away in the remains of her dress. It had fallen out when he'd taken it off of her to dip her in the river. He carefully plucked it from the ground and unfolded it on the ground before him. Among the discarded fruit that she'd kicked he plucked a fresh one from the ground beside him and took a bite out of it studying it for a long moment, particularly the glob of white present on the map. "So, do you remember where he said he was going?" Radimir said, trying to calculate just how long it would take to get out of this damn desert.
Zarrah had remained away from Radimir, her mind still mulling over just what had happened. How could she have been so weak? So stupid.
Not that it could be changed now. She had already conscented to it- and knew the consequences would grow worse over time. Though Radimir said he understood, if he loved her.. how could he? She could not so easily forgive a fool. But she was weak, and she needed him. And perhaps she needed him more than she let on.
She had clothed herself back in the blanket, wrapping it around her body as a make shift dress. She remained beside the horse, not feeling comfortable enough to move nearer to her companion's side. She still felt weird after all.
At his words to draw her back to the map, seh felt guilty again and lowered her gaze down tot he sands.
"He said north."
She paused, eyes reading the air.
"Very, very far north."
Radimir pushed it in the back of his mind. He was determined to put it behind them, to move on and to focus on the task at hand. It was the only way he'd be able to get through the night, through their journey without chastising himself for his own brashness. He knew he'd gotten enough of that already, and there would be times a plenty later. But for now, he just wanted things to be comfortable around them, for things to whatever normal they were.
"Then the tundra is as north as north can be," Radimir said, studying the frail map in his hands. "He didn't say the same of the place did he? I do recall him speaking of snow, so this place up here with all the white must be it." Radimir sighed and ate his food again and took a drink of the discarded water skin.
"The river goes north into the Sehra Plains, I assume, flowing down from a mountain I can only assume. We'll rest here for the moment. Best get some sleep while we can. And move on by night fall."
Zarrah studied Radimir. It was clear he wanted to forget the awkwardness, but it was still there. Yet, she couldn't help but feel sad that, despite her feelings for Castor, she had slipped up. She had a lot to think about, but perhaps she had a long time to think about them. Turning her attention to the map, she shook her head.
"No names, just a direction," she told him, staring down at the white coloring on the map- the symbol of snow.
While Radimir ate, Zarrah could not. Her stomach was twisting into too many knots. She would have to sort this out soon enough, but she was thankful Radimir did not press the issue. Brushing her hair out of her face, she looked up towards him.
"Then I suppose we have a game plan." she smiled. "We'll follow the river as far as we can go, then keep heading North."
To keep moving meant there was hope, there was a future, there was a direction.
Heading North would take them one step closer to the answers she sought.
Castor.. where ever he was, she hoped he was ok and had to wonder if he would ever think of her- or if it was as Radimir stated- she was used and now carelessly discarded. He had gotten his relic and now what? He needed more.
It was already decided she would help him, despite knowing the monster it could give birth to- she had to at least help him try to obtain his freedom. She too, would have used someone like Castor had had she been in his shoes-
for freedom was priceless, and for Castor..
she feared it might not ever come.
But she was going to damn well try
Radimir nodded to her observation. Indeed, now it was good to finally have a plan and at least now they could get out of this godsforsaken place. He grinned a little and gently folded the map back into its familiar creases and handed it back to her. "You keep that in a safe place...and I'll fix your dress. I'm sorry I had to tear it off you, but you would have died if I didn't." He shrugged nonchalantly and fixed the towel around him while he got out his sewing supplies and pulled the remnants of her top into his lap and began to fix them.
As much as his own stomach had grown cold and bereft, he kept a straight face and focused on the task at hand. He didn't need to say anything and perhaps it was best if they didn't after what just happened. Radimir fixed the cut along the chest, giving it a nice tug before cutting it with his teeth and fixing whatever small tears were in the fabric as well.
"You should sleep," he motioned to the bedroll. "I'll keep first watch." He finally finished her dress and folded it gently to the side.
Zarrah watched as Radimir went to work on her dress. She did not protest, but remained silent as she hugged the slight bit of clothe she was using to keep herself modest before stepping away. The bit of water she had used to clean herself was not enough, and she was having a hard time sleeping.
"I can't sleep. I'm going to get cleaned up better in the river, then dress," she grumbled. She was still groggy, and wiped at some of the sleep on her eyes before picking up her dress and resting it against the river bank, where it was somewhat hidden in the reeds.
Then slipping out of her blanket wrap, she dropped it against the reeds as well, then stepped out into the river slowly until her body sunk away into the soft, cool waters and she lay her head back, letting herself sigh as her body relaxed against the current.
He couldn't help himself as he watched her undress. It was only natural, but he said nothing of it when she at last settled into the water. He laid back and stared up at the stone inlet that provided them the ample shade from the final rays of the scorching sun. It would be a long day tomorrow and he'd need all the rest he could get. But he couldn't sleep, even as he tossed and turned.
He sat up and decided to pull his clothes in from the sun and dressed in them then sat down once more. He couldn't understand her, watching Zarrah linger in the water once more. Why she was so determined to help a man who clearly didn't want to be helped? If it was a vow, that was one thing, but to love such a man... But he supposed they were all nothing more than fools.
He thought back to the first time they'd made love, when he so easily conned her into giving herself to him. It had been so different, so wild, she'd been so eager to please the man she'd thought was Castor. But he didn't know she'd been so eager. He supposed at the moment he didn't care, he was too absorbed in her, in wanting her, in feeling her. He only cared for revenge then. There was no room for anything else. And when he'd held them both captive, Radimir remembered something he'd found that had slipped from her body when she was unconscious. It was an unusual pendant and one he'd held onto for safe keeping.
He pulled it out now, having it hidden in one of the small, inconspicuous compartments on his armor, and held it gently in his hands. He wondered if who it belonged to...and why she had kept it. But perhaps it was obvious that it was somebody she was close to. Perhaps it was a bit presumptuous, but he knew he would lose it if he kept it anywhere else. So Radimir slipped it over his head and tucked the pendant against his chest. And still saying nothing to Zarrah, he only leaned back and tried to sleep once more.
For most of the evening, Zarrah kept to herself, hardly sleeping and taking a position in the shade. She dozed off here or there, but hadn't fully committed herself to sleep. Her brain was still at war with her heart, and despite her attempts to ignore it, from time to time, she'd stare over at Radimir and study him in silence. It wasn't until the moon began to rise that Zarrah stood up and stretched out her limbs, then gestured to Radimir.
"If you're awake, we should pack up the camp and head out. The moon has already begun to rise and we've wasted much time here. We ought to move-" and then she paused in mid-sentence, eyes going wide as she caught sight of a familiar necklace around his neck. "..on.."
Blinking, she took a step back. It was Rassar's necklace. The braided leather and metal charm that hung off of it was something she'd never forget. Then anger irrationally over took her as she lunged forward, grabbing Radimir by his clothes and gripping them fiercely as she got into his face.
"Where did you get that necklace!?" she shouted. She was fuming. Then, shoving him back, she demanded, getting right into his face, "Take it off, now! That does not belong to you! It's mine! And it's all I have left from-" her face fell at the words, breath hitching as sharp tears stung at her eyes. "Just give it back before I strangle you with it." she warned through a growl. She would have snatched it from him, but she feared with all of her anger, she knew she'd snap the cord.
He'd been sleeping, quite soundly when he felt something jump on him suddenly. Instinctively, Radimir's hand reached for his blade, a small dagger tucked into his wrist but his eyes went wide when he saw that it was Zarrah standing over him, at first he didn't know what she was saying. Something about a necklace but it only registered when his eyes lingered down to his neck. He pushed her away from him, saying nothing as he got to his feet, putting the dagger away.
He looked at her warily before reaching up to clutch at the small charm on the braided rope. He had his hands around his neck as if he were just about to give it back but hesitated for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I thought it was important to you, so I kept it in a safe place. You lost it...I didn't mean to-" His eyes were down cast, but he at last took it off and handed it back to her.
He looked into her eyes, watching her thoughtfully. "Who did it belong to?" he asked, softly.
Zarrah's fury only subsided momentarily when Radimir hung his head. He looked like a puppy she had just kicked as she felt the guilt twist within her gut. But she was relieved the moment she necklace was given to her, and instinctively hugged it against herself. Peering down at the drape of leather, to the charm, she found herself frowning before lifting her eyes up to look at Radimir, gentle tears beginning to form.
"It belonged to a man who was my only good memory,"s he frowned and looked away, back down to her hand that held the necklace. Perhaps her only good memory. It was hard for her to even fathom in that moment if her time with Castor could have counted towards anything as pivotal as the way she had felt for Rassar. He was her pillar, her life, her driving force, her freedom. He was everything to her.
But in the man he was still just a man. And he could bleed.
Carnavus..
She felt her hand shaking around the necklace before she turned her body from him.
"Carnavus had killed him. It's why I had to extract my revenge. I should have died, too. But fate is cruel that way." She frowned, opening her hand and stared down at the metal, before lifting it up and securing it around her neck.
Clinging to it again, she turned to Radimir, but did not look at him, only at the sand by his feet.
"Thank you for keeping it. You could have left it in the dust."
It was a little awkward, but he understood then why she'd gotten so upset. It was starting to make more sense now, the way she'd reacted, why she couldn't even look at him. He'd tampered with something personal and he knew if she had something of his that was similar, he would react in much the same way. There wasn't any reason to blame her.
He actually smiled at the reminisce, though it was a bad memory. He reached up and put a hand on her shoulder. "The important thing is that you survived. When we often plead for death, it's only because we've lost the vision at how important and how beautiful life can be. So few people get second chances to live again. And those that do, often waste them." He squeezed her shoulder once and gave her a warm smile before walking away to the saddle on the floor, bundling up his supplies, refilling waterskins and putting them away into the bags, even the fruit that he'd knocked from the tree.
He brushed Thorian and fed him and put the saddle on right after the coverlet, strapping the contraption around his belly before mounting on the powerful beast. And held out a hand for Zarrah to climb on behind him.
Zarrah raised her eyes to meet with his. She visibly cringed, gritting her teeth about having second chances at life.
He had no idea how right he was.
Except she'd have more than one...
She let it go at that, simply nodding and not knowing what else to say as she clung onto the charm a moment before silently helping Radmir pack up camp, than accepting his hand as she slipped onto the saddle behind him, wrapping her arms around him and, after a time, resting her face against his back.
He smelled like every man ought to, but there was a unique and different scent about him. Perhaps it was because of what he was that lent to his own scent, his own musk...
even still, it calmed her to feel the warmth of his strong body beneath her, and the rocking motion of the horse lulled her into contentment.
It was in that moment she thought someday she might love him-
As with Rassar, her heart had eventually come back. Too bad it had fallen for Castor. But perhaps it was destiny, perhaps this was the way of things. Perhaps she had cursed herself with extra chances at life to help that man she so desperately wanted to love.
But here she found herself with a companion who also loved her.
And things were just weird.
She knew not what to say, so for a good part of the journey, she just clung onto him and rested into him and remained as silent as the night.
They rode on in silence for the longest time, and Radimir didn't mind it at all. It was better that way, nobody had to say anything that would upset or spark the other and Zarrah could rest at last after the stress of the day before. Radimir focused on the path ahead of them, following the river that flowed south from the north.
Thorian did not go quickly, walking at a steady pace and would occasionally stop for water before pressing on again. He was happy, at last to have a different companion than just hanging around Radimir all the time and would chuff occasionally to his rider as a show of good taste, tossing his head back proudly as he pranced along.
"Just walk," Radimir said, rolling his eyes.
Thorian neighed lightly and glared back at Radimir. Then before he knew it the horse turned his head back and nipped Radimir hard in the thigh.
Radimir cried out and cursed loudly. "YOU GODDAMNED BEAST! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?'
Thorian only snickered its horsey laugh and trotted on again.
Zarrah smiled. The horse's sudden outburst amused her greatly as she leaned into Radimir, chuckling against his neck.
"Maybe your horse wants some rest?" she said, but from the looks of it, it seemed the horse wanted to play- or give it's rider a hard time. "Maybe it's not used to all of this extra weight you're carrying around now." She shuffled a bit within the saddle and gently petted the horses fur upon it's rear.
"We;ve traveled for a time. It might be fair to let him rest. Carrying us too can't be easy on an animal." She smirked.
Radimir glared at the horse, and he knew that he knew he was watching him as the horse turned his head just a little and gave him doeful honey brown eyes before turning ahead again. Radimir sighed and looked back at Zarrah. "Perhaps you're right. We can keep walking still, anyhow."
But he knew for a fact that Thorian was only teasing him for his choice in such a scantily clad companion. Even in the dress, Zarrah was hardly modest. Still, Radimir got off the horse and helped Zarrah get down as well, holding her close to him for a time before awkwardly stepping away from her and grabbing the reins from one side, walking alongside Thorian.
"You know, I never got to ask you. But I'll understand if you don't want to answer. What was his name? The man who that necklace belonged to?"
Zarrah had been combing her hand through her long dark hair when he asked the question and paused. Blinking, she lowered her gaze and peered down at the necklace before holding the charm between two fingers. She didn't answer at first, but after a time, she opened her lips and replied, "Rassar." She smiled warmly at his memory before turning to Radimir. "He was my first love." Her smile became weaker before she turned away. "It seems I'm not fated to hold onto those I love for very long. He.." she hesitated, drawing in a breath before continuing. There was no point in holding back everything from him. They were leaving the desert anyways and had a long ways to travel.
"I had met him in the bazaar. And he had used the worst phrase ever in attempts to woo me. ANd naturally.. "she smiled fondly. "He didn't care that I was married. Forbidden."s he turned to Radimir, studying him as her eyes danced before hse looked away. Tucking back some of her hair from her face, she cleared her throat.
"What about you? Surely I'm not the only one here who's go a woeful tale of love." she stretched a little, feeling a bit better to be off of the horse as she studied Radimir. "Surely there has been a woman or two you've pined over before? Or had been married to?"
He watched her from the side a little, keeping his head low and guiding the horse along the shore, just listening to her as she spoke. He didn't dare interrupt. Though it was a bit heartbreaking, he expected as much, but was equally glad to see that she was able to tell most of it without spurning him.
When the attention turned to him, Radimir blushed and grinned at the river bank. "I did. When I was a young boy, not much older than perhaps eighteen, nineteen or so. Her name was Anmar. She was beautiful...as glorious as an oasis in the falling sun. Her hair was exotic, bright red, her eyes, honeyed hazel. She was slim, slender but not skinny. A little thinner than you. She was a dancer in the service of a desert lord, whom i'd been contracted to kill, but only after I'd taken something important that he'd owned. She was his favorite, untouchable. I do not believe they were apart of a harem, though he did have many wives. They were specially honed for his entertainment. Dancing for his parties, for his friends, for his own pleasure."
Radimir grinned at the memory. "I'd come to his palace posing as a prospective trader, trying to get my hands on some valuable contracts that he had. And i when I proved myself worthy, I stayed as a guest in his house and Anmar, had spied me at one of his parties. I remember that moment...when we locked eyes, it was like seeing lightning flash gloriously in the sky and my heart hitched in my throat. But I didn't come there to find a lover or a bride and I kept my thoughts to myself, and focused more on the task at hand. But Anmar couldn't keep her distance. Oh, she could be cruel, and teased me and flirted with her 'master', but she kept her eyes on me. She looked through me."
He paused for a few seconds, watching the river's ever flowing current, taking dead reeds and fish and other live with it. "We first spoke in the gardens, exotic plants the lord had imported from the north. She flirted with me, made me chase her though the grass. But she'd all but disappeared and captured me by the fountains. She pinned me down and-and said: 'I know why you've come.' 'Why?' I said. 'To take me away from this place...'" Radimir's grin was wry and solemn and his eyes almost sad. "That was when she kissed me, hotly and hungrily... We first made love in my room, in secret when the lord was asleep and she snuck between the guard patrols, and we made love that way many nights, many times a night. But when at last i completed my contract, I couldn't stay, lest I be discovered. But Anmar went with me though I told her not to... She was stubborn, she was...so optimistic. We made love for the final time in a cave not far from the palace, hidden away from the world. I explained to her as much as I could why I'd really come...why i couldn't take her away. She understood and we parted ways then. I never saw her again.
"There have been other women of course, but Anmar was my first love."
Zarrah remained quiet, her eyes never leaving him as he told her his story. So he had been in love once. She should have known by the way he handled himself, by the way he looked at her. But as the story progressed, her smile slowly faded. She had to look away. Rubbing at her arm, she realized their stories were far too similar. It was eerie to think that she and Radimir's lover had once thought the same..
That they had a man to take them away, to free them.
"If you loved her, you should have stayed. Or taken her with you. but I suppose you had the order." she forced a smile.
"I was little better than Anmar, but my lover didn't abandon me. It was his love for me, his desire to see me free, to help me that got him killed." She lowered her head, sighing.
"Perhaps if I hadn't have been so selfish, or wanted to believe his dreams of my freedom so badly, he would still have been alive.."
And she would have still been trapped inside a cage.
Her words might have offended him had he been anyone else but Radimir nodded to her, in agreement. "And don't you think I thought about that? I wanted to, I wanted to be with her. But in that moment, I was foolish, I didn't want to put her at risk with the kind of life that I led." Radimir sighed and shook his head.
"But I should have then. I was a fool to leave her behind. When I said...that that was the last time I saw her, I meant that was the last time I saw her...alive. I had returned a few months later, determined to take her away, realizing my mistake and wanting to be together. I discovered what her fate had been. Her master's cohorts had discovered her trail, where she'd been hidden and drug her back to the estate - thinking she was in part with the assassination - They...they raped her, tortured her, and displayed her burning body on the front of the palace...for all to see, as a lesson of what happened to traitors."
Radimir's eyes burned with tears and he let go of the reins that he'd been walking Thorian with and stopped, staring at the river, at the glow in the moonlight, eyes stung and he breathed hard. He clenched his fists and gripped the hilt of his sword. "A new lord assumed the palace then, his son, I suppose," Radimir went on, eyes staring at the moon's reflection on the flowing water. "But that didn't stop me from killing every last soul in that place, and I took the young lord's head, last but not least, and stuck it on a pike. Nobody survived. Not even his wives."
I learned Anmar's body had been cast into a pit afterward, and she was torn to pieces by animals, what was left of her anyway. Revenge is indeed bittersweet."
Radimir's story cut too close to home. Zarrah found herself turning away from him as he continued speaking, trying to repress tears of her own. She knew how both Radimir and his lover had felt, as her own story was about as grueling as theirs. Then, without thinking, she stepped up behind Radimir, wrapping her arms around him suddenly as she buried her face against his shoulder, some dark hair spilling over it, but holding him tight and close. She said nothing, at least not at first, as a few tears soaked into his shoulder.
Then after a time, she lifted her cheek somewhat to allow for a small curled smile.
"You've both suffered a cruel fate, Radimir." she said, her voice husky as she tried to keep back her tears. "Though, I feel I understand you a little bit for sharing that with me." she sighed, frowning into his shoulder, but still held onto him, afraid to let go. "Anmar.. your lover, I know how she felt in the end. I.." she paused, eyes wavering. "Since I suffered the same fate." she closed her eyes, feeling ashamed. "Though when I should have died, I did not. And I'm not entirely sure if I'm grateful for that, since I've allowed myself to live again. But through vengeance."
Slipping away, she kept her eyes upon the sands, upon the ground, but not on him.
"My new life has turned into nothing but Hell, since the one thing worth living for had been taken from me. I was so foolish then. And now-"S he stopped herself, not wanting to go on to expel the full truth, but....
She had wanted to.
But instead, let the thought fade away, just like the silence from her lips.
Now her legend would be little more than dust in the wind.
OOC: lol I had to add on the last part XD
FOR CHEESE
[xD It's perfect cheese!]
Radimir hadn't expected to be embraced and the tears pooled at the edge of his eyes as she held him, bracing her face against his shoulder, listening to her as she spilled forth the truth. But it seemed so bizarre and could have just as easily have been assumed a little more than a metaphor. What did she mean, 'suffer the same fate'? But Radimir didn't dare question it, not when she opened up to him. He put the thought in the back of his mind when he turned to her.
He put a hand up to her face, bracing his knuckles against her cheek. "I once thought the same thing. Life wasn't worth living after that. It no longer had the color it used to. What is life without love?" he asked softly. "But we would never know if we just let ourselves die along with it. So all we can do is keep on living, learn from our past, and hope for our futures." He gave her a small, tired smile and embraced her too, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her hard to him, and laying his head on her shoulder. He was like that for a time, the force of the embrace, lifting her clear off the ground before he planted her back and let go.
He brushed a hand through his hair. "Well, we've got to go on. We've only got so much moonlight," he said, smiling, grabbing Thorian's reins and walking on.
(Cheddar cheese!)
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Zarrah had wanted to avoid his gaze all together, but found herself unable to pull her eyes away until he was finished speaking. She was beside herself, and the moment his arms wrapped around her, she found herself air born for just the slightest moment, and not entirely because he was pulling her off the ground, either. She rested her head into his chest, letting herself just go for the moment. And when he pulled away, she felt her heart become gripped within a vice. She felt torn and confused, but as Radimir began to walk away, she took his hand suddenly, and pulled herself closer to him before pressing her lips against his softly, swiftly before pulling away and remaining beside him, her hand still in his before her grip began to fade away.
She said nothing, keeping her hands rigidly at her side. She didn't know what to say. But he was right.
They had to keep moving. They were wasting precious time when they should be traveling.
So she simply nodded and followed his lead.
[Pepper Jack! D<]
Radimir was frozen at her kiss, and his eyes searched her face in confusion. But he smiled nonetheless and only gave her a soft nod, his gaze warm and took her hand in his again. He squeezed it close to him as he walked on in silence, letting her fingers press into the palms of real flesh, not cold metal, that there was something real beside, something tangible, not hidden away underneath impersonable steel.
They didn't need to say anything and Radimir walked on with Thorian until he was rested and ready to ride again. About an hour had passed since their discussion, when they turned into a bend in the river. The banks were narrow as the river swelled with rushing water, but still wide enough to walk side-by side. The cliffs were high overhead. All was quiet except for their footsteps and the rushing of the water.
But Radimir felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and jumped a little at the sound of rocks and dirt falling from the opposite cliff face, some splashing into the river. He looked up and could have sworn he saw something move on the edge.
(MOZZARELLA! FRIED D:)
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Zarrah stiffened when he reached out to her, feeling her emotions tense within her. BUt she said nothing, observing the way his hands felt, warm and strong around her own as he guided her along in silence. Neither said a word. Perhaps they didn't need to. Perhaps it was just enough to be aware.
But skin again skin.. to feel that flesh...
It reminded her of the cold metal she had always been met with when she was with Castor...
And she had to wonder, if he was ever free...
would he ever get the chance to feel her hands, to actually feel her skin beneath his touch? Or would he rot away, die before ever knowing what a holding hands could feel like..
Or how hot her body felt, slick and sweaty, after they'd make love?
She began to trail behind Radimir, her grip loosening within his, so she hadn't noticed the figure, only lifted her head with a start at the noise. Her eyes darted towards the cliff's eyes and pierced it with a scrutinizing gaze. But she saw nothign and held her breath, heart racing within her chest.
"Do you think someone's there?"s he asked, voice low, careful as she pressed near to him, eyes studying the rock.
It was only obvious that there was. The cliff was quite steep, but rocks didn't just fall from the tops of cliffs unless somebody pushed them there. He'd seen the boulder fall down the hill as Zarrah and Castor strained to make it to their destination. Sweat, toil, all in the hopes of making it in time. But this time, there was no way for a large rock to just make it down the hill and crush them without them being able to move out of the way.
Radimir nodded to Zarrah, but still said nothing, watching the cliff. He put a finger up to his lips, shushing her and not to make any more noise than necessary. He handed the reins off to her and prompted her to continue walking, staying beside her along the way. He put an arm up around her shoulders as he walked along, so that his head remained close enough to whisper into her ear. "I'm going to scale the wall. Walk along and act natural. Somebody is following us, I can tell by the tension in the air. But stay calm. The ridge lowers on the western part of the river, cross it on Thorian and we'll meet there."
He said nothing more and when the air was interrupted by the rushing of the river, Radimir moved away from her and quickly crossed it, ending up on the otherside, soaking wet but other wise unharmed, and began to scale the wall. The rocks here were quite tough and had plenty of crags with which to grip. His hands went in easily and he set a steady rhythm as all his muscles worked in tandem to climb the wall. He could hear footsteps, gentle as the wind crunching over the sand. He waited until they were quite a ways away before he threw himself over the edge, rolling over, quiet as he eyed a shadow against the moonlight.
It was a lone figure, but once he was close enough he was upon them, and held out a dagger to their throat. The woman shreiked and aggressively fought against him. "Why are you following us!?" he demanded, teetering her over the edge. Once they'd reached the lower ridge where Thorian waited, Radimir held her by the shirt collar, silkened cloth, dark to blend in with the night and she had a mask covering her face. He held her near the edge, her feet sliding against the cliff's sudden drop.
"Let me go!" she demanded, as the blade pressed ever closer to her throat. Radimir took a second to yank the rag from her face, which was badly scarred and her short brown hair flopped over, disheveled from sand and wind.
"Not until you tell us why you're following us!?" Radimir demanded. Just then a sharp whistle stung the air that echoed through the cliffs.
She only laughed at him, until the dagger was placed back against her throat. "Oh, it doesn't matter now. You could kill me if you want! They're already here." She grinned through Radimir held her over the edge. But in the corner of his eye he could see Thorian and Zarrah below and suddenly they were surrounded by two dozen people, dressed very much like this strange woman and they were upon them, trying to capture both Thorian and Zarrah.
Zarrah would have protested, but found herself only nodding and obliging his plan. Men always liked to play the hero, to brave the dangers set before them. Zarrah was no ordinary woman, and was certainly not someone who deemed herself needing protection or rescuing....
however, Radimir was also no ordinary man. Though if he had been Castor, she wouldn't have felt so anxious. The man could break through rock, through iron, through steel....
Shaking off the thoughts, she made quick work to follow his plan- but then when a whistle was heard, she began to glance around; and before she knew it, both her and Thorian were surrounded. Her eyes went wide. The people seemed to come out of no where, robed figures jumping out from shadows, from rocks, from trees-
The horse was startled, but he was a wise beast and tried to keep his wits about him-
But these people were prepared for them, and it didn't take long for Zarrah to find herself overwhelmed. Thankfully she had felt the same tension growing and had a blade already withdrawn, but her small knives hardly seemed a match when a quick swing to one robed figure had her wrist snatched at heartily and she was dragged off the horse.
[Pfft! If only that were the case! Zarrah's got issues.]
There was no room for heroism for in that moment of distraction, because when Radimir looked back at the woman in his grasp, she already grabbed on to him, holding on to his shirt as she yanked him down with her. He cried out as they fell down the cliff. But the aim had been well thought out and they landed with a splash into the rushing river below. Radimir was disorientedf from the motion and had lost the dagger he'd tried to kill her with.
A small team of her men were waiting down below and pulled them from the river, Radimir was senseless and shivering, soaked once again. Immediately he was on the ground, eating sand and he felt his hands and feet being bound behind him. He could see Thorian and Zarrah being overtaken not far down the river and he cried out for her to resist, but there were too many and soon, even Thorian was captured, strung up and blinded.
This was it, they were had. And soon Radimir's vision went black when something struck him hard on the head.
(Phsh)
------------------------
Darkness.
Radimir wasn't the only one who was knocked out.
And when she woke up, her head was pounding, her eyes were blindfolded and her entire body ached. She moved uneasily beneath the chains- chains.
Her eyes opened as she attempted to stare down at the jingling metal, but even shaking her head wouldn't free them. But she was also bound in ropes. She moved, making an easy noise before bumping her head off of someone elses. She turned to look but- well, again, the blind fold was there and she couldn't see.
She could only deduce one thing was going on when she took a moment to study the noises around them- the lurch of wheels, the smell of desert and animals, the murmur of gruff voices.
Slavers. Then she recalled being overwhelmed and began to wriggle within her confines, but it was to no avail. She was chained, tied, and blinded folded, so there was little the desert beauty could do. Sighing, she wilted against the figure before her and hesitated before asking...
"Radimir?" For if it wasn't Radimir- what had become of him? She held her breath, hoping it was someone else.
"Who's Radimir?" the voice of another bound man said through the squeal of lurching wagon wheels. It sounded old and gruff and there was some movement as he wrestled with his chains. The people that had captured these obviously had done this before and had quite a selection at their disposal on their way north.
Hours must have passed for they bled through the wooded panels and though they could not see through the blindfold, one might feel the warmth of the sun sting their skin from the exposure inside the larger wagon crate.
The older man's voice grunted again as he address the woman that had spoke. "Who's Radimir? How did you get yourself in this mess, girly? Hm, you don't sound old...you don't sound young neither. Too bad, to get yourself in this unfortunate shite."
Zarrah flinched when the voice that came back to her was hardly the viper man's. Frowning, she shuffled about within her bindings, but again, realized, they were pretty tight. And she was too weary to try to fight it. The heat from the day was pressing in on her and she was already sweating, hair clinging to her body as she glanced around.
"That's the name of the man I was with before we got ambushed," Zarrah told him, trying to turn around to see him, but could see nothing. The blindfold was still well in place.
After a moment, she asked, "Do you know where they are taking us? Or if they had taken someone in along with me?" She could only hope Radimir was well, but for all she knew..
Maybe he got away ok? Or.. if not..
She tensed, feeling queasy.
She just hoped he wasn't dead.
"oh, hehehehehehe!" the old man's voice rang out. "Well, I don't know about your friend. You see, once the blindfold goes on it doesn't come off until we get to where we're goin'! And that could be as far as a hundred miles or a thousand miles. I remember them talking about some weird guy with odd eyes. But ain't no tellin' if they're livin' or dead."
The old man coughed loudly, which echoed through the wagon, that lurched and rolled.
"Most likely 'live. They won't throw away nobody unless they died in the assault, get me? This is the third stop, I've been. Can't see nothin' but I feels the cart, yeah. Feel it stop right good. These men are professionals mostly...and darlin' the only place we's goin' is the auction block. North, most likely."
Strange eyes. That was Radimir alright. At the mention he was most likely alive, she breathed a bit easier, though that hunch was still not confirmed- but it was more confirmed by his later statement, which made her frown. Then at the mention of North, her body tensed.
North.
A dark smile crept across her lips.
At least they were heading in the right direction...
The old man only sighed at her silence, well at least she wasn't freakin' out like most do. It was a wonder these bandits didn't bother putting gags on most of them. He supposed they were reserving those rags for blindfolds rather than mouth gags.
"So, what's yer name, darlin'? Can't have you too quiet, then they think yer dead and beat ya till yer alive again. Name's Moot, myself."
(I totally didn't realize I never had her speak in my last post. oh well!)
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Zarrah gave a simple smile when the man started up a conversation with her. She was really too exhausted for little else, but still obliged him.
"My name's Zarrah." And she paused to consider what he said before. "So we're heading North? Do you know how far North?"
It was evident they were still very much in the desert, the heat was too strong, and even through the blindfold she could see it.
(Another short post D: )
"We're most likely at least headin' outta this forsaken place. So much heat ain't good for me ol' bones, you know how it is. Maybe when you're ol' you'll see how it is too. But hopefully that'll be years'n'years 'way. You sound like a nice lady," Moot answered with a grin though he doubted she could see it through the darkness.
"Hm...north? Well, I thought there was talk about this li'l town called Jopper. 'Stheir first stop mos'likely. Hm...I think I heard o' that place. It's a sloppy little settlement, ripe with those raiders from the plains, just at the edge of the desert. We must be close. Why? You expecting to end up there?"
Zarrah listened to the old man talk in silence. THough she couldn't see his smile, she could feel it in the air. It was gentle, though anxious. She moved a little within her bindings at his last question, and thought it over before simply answering.
"Yes. My companion and I were heading North." She frowned, chewing on her lower lip as she tried to think of a plan. She tried at the bindings again, only to be reminded by the metal jingle of the chains that she was beyond secure to her post. Sighing, she settled back into her confines, wilting a little and hoping they'd make it to the next city soon. At least there she could formulate a better plan. Though she wasn't sure what could be done when bond.
Perhaps she'd have to use some of her desert skills..
Desert men were awfully lonely....
"So, how did they manage to pick up you? I thought slavers stayed away from old men?" she asked in good humor, smiling as well and leaning her face towards him, even though she was still blinded.
"Hm...that's a good question. I suppose the last thing I remember is having a terrible fight with m'wife. I got to the pub, had a few drinks. Got roarin' drunk and was stumblin' home. But that part's real blurry." Moot coughed again as he felt the wagon turn round a bend, starting to go down hill from now.
"I think something knocked me down and that's probably how I got this huge knot on the side of my head. I ain't much to look at; bout sixty-six, goin' on sixty-seven now, but I'm pretty tough for my age. I wrassled with 'em for a bit, 'fore they knocked me out cold. Then I woke up here just like you did. Not sure why they'd get some ol' coot like me, but I betcha anything my wife probably sold me away when I went to get a drink! I betcha she got yous too!"
Moot laughed and shrugged against his chains. The wheels began to squeal to a stop. "Hm, I'm guessin' we're here. Well, it was nice meeting you Miss Zarrah."
(I.. have like no idea what to post XD so just posting something *flails*)
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"Like wise," Zarrah said, forcing a smile. All Zarrah could hear were the noises of men, and the footsteps approaching and then, even through hte blind fold, as the door was kicked open in her cart, she had to squint her eyes and look away. The sun was always too hot. She wondered how they traveled so far in this heat. But perhaps they had rested some? It was hard to say. She hadn't been awake for long. Soon, she found herself dragged outside, unceremoniously so before she was forced to walk into a shady building. It was much cooler, but the air was still stuffy, and it was here her ropes were cut, but her chains were snapped onto a pole that lay in the center of a cage.
And it was only here her blind fold was taken away, and she found herself staring at a man with black skin and rotting teeth smiling at her, chuckling as he realized.
"Wait, how can dis be? Is dis really who I t'ink it is?" the man continued to chuckle-
and the memories returned.
Izar.
Her eyes narrowed and as the man laughed, she wasted no time in smashing a fist into his face. And hte large man went down, laughing into the sands below.
"Really, Zarrah, is that a way to greet old friends?" He laughed again, rising off the floor and eyeing her up.
Zarrah's eyes narrowed, her lips scrunching shrewedly. "I see you're doing well for yourself. Still in the slaver business I see."
Izar laughed, tossing his head back some as he rubbed at his cheek where she clocked him at.
"Yes, business is booming. ANd now that I have the Lady of the Desert to sell, perhaps I can retire early?" the man was laughing again as Zarrah narrowed her gaze.
"You always did have a horrible sense of humor," she said, but found herself still asking. "There was a man with me... did you happen to get him to?"
Izar was laughing, but the noise faded away, but his smile did not as he thought about it.
"Ah, yes yes, a man with weird eyes? Yes. Nyala got him." he grinned, show casing his teeth. But Zarrah hardly looked amused. "I bet you are wondering where he is kept?" he tsked. "Now I know we're friends, Zarrah, but I'm still a business man."
Zarrah's gaze narrowed again.
"Just tell me if he's alive or not, Izar. I don't have time for your games."
Izar chuckled.
"Oh you don't? I was hoping you might. Your games were always fun."
[So...if Zarrah is in a cage, how did she punch him? And if she's chained to a pole, ...how did she punch him? I'm just confused about that part. Or are just her feet chained up?]
He awoke to threaded darkness, light cutting through vents that scorched his eyes. Something was heavy on his head, it smelled of rust and iron and his breathing returned quickly back into his face and made him feel claustrophobic. He felt as if his head had been locked into some strange iron cage and chains were clasped around his body, his hands tied to his sides with schackles around his feet and one long chain binding them together.
He found himself laying on a hard surface, an iron grate that was pressing hard into his back. Radimir tried to move, the chains jangling and strapped to the grate. He struggled a little more, then grunted as he did so, frustrated that he couldn't move an inch.
"Now, now, you want to keep your strength for the block. You don't want to look beaten and tired or you won't fetch a high price," Nyala said softly, then a soft chuckle could be heard following after.
Radimir said nothing, trying to keep from hyperventilating. He stared through the caged bars of his helmet. He could see a cloth tarp covering the top of what must have been a wagon. He could feel its lurching movements as the wheels rolled over the sand and stone. "Where...where am I?" he managed to ask.
"Relax. You're in good hands. We're going to get a pretty penny from you. Don't worry," she continued. He couldn't turn his head without hurting his neck, the helmet heavy, but from what he could see, they were alone in the rear of the wagon. And like before in the prison, his gear had been taken from him. He'd been stripped with little more than the barest of clothing, his boots gone, his belt, his whip, all taken to who knew where!
But that wasn't all that was missing. His heart leapt into his throat in alarm.
"Where's Zarrah!? What have you done with her!?" he barked.
Nyala laughed and kicked the grate with her boot. "You're little friend is in good hands, trust me. But I'd be worrying more about you." Her hand ran down his stomach, and she made a noise of admiration. Radimir tensed and clenched his fists as he tried in vain to lunge his hand out at her. "You put up quite a fight before that sedative kicked in. But we managed. Just relax. Fighting it will only make it worse."
"You goddamned bitch! If you hurt her, I swear I'll cut your head off and toast with your blood," Radimir swore. He struggled against her wishes but to no avail. The iron chains stood strong and clanked in his resistance. He grunted, his body straining until he could fight no more.
She laughed again. "As fun as it is to watch you struggle, I'm afraid we've already made it to our alloted destination. Just you wait, darling."
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As they stopped into their destination, Radimir remained still on the rack he was chained to. The wagon stopped and soon the tarp in the rear was removed and bright sunlight blinded him as the rack was pulled up and out of the wagon. He couldn't see who carried him, just that he was moving over sand and under sun. It blinded him and he could see shadows passing over sight, indistinguishable and silhouetted.
He could hear the voice when at last he was taken inside of a building, carried by two others, one to the front one to the rear, where it was considerably cooler, but sweat still beaded between the his skin and the metal, chafing and causing massive irritation. He moved a little, hearing conversation between a man and a woman. The woman... He knew her voice.
"Zarrah?" he asked as he moved in the chains yet again.
"Oh, quiet you!" Izar snapped and cracked a whip down on him, snapping leather to iron. Leaving, Radimir to cry out.
He was placed in the cage beside her, iron bars separating them, lain across two pieces of wood. Outside, Nyala's voice could be heard. "Come, Izar. We've got to sort the rest of them out. That old man is giving us trouble again. Bring the whip."
(She's shackled but she'd have some give. At least the way I see it in my mind- and she's no longer bound in rope so she's got some more freedom to move about- but it's still restrictive. But has enough slack for SLAMMING FISTS INTO FACE 8D Also I liked your post XD nice descriptions. TIME TO REPLY WITH SOMETHING SHORT :T Sorry. u.u)
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Zarrah whirled around at the sound of her name, and jumped at the crack of the whip.
"Radimir!?"
Izar pushed her over, her knees falling and scraping against the rough floor. She peered up at him through a mess of dark hair was he was laughing and moving outside of the cage, slamming the small room's door shut before it clicked and locked. Her eyes narrowed, but then she turned again to the cell beside her and moved to stand, though her chains restricted her, so she couldn't quite make it to the side of the cell.
"Radimir, are you ok?" her eyes went wide as she realized. "What did they do to you?" The iron mask on his face.. what happened!?
It was becoming ridiculously hot in the iron cage and Radimir could feel the sweat only making his skin irritated and even breathing became difficult. Panic, however, would help no one. He'd have to try and get out of these chains. Yet, he feared, he'd grown too weak in the heat and needed water desperately. But at least Zarrah was beside him, and it seemed she had fared better than. Sweat beaded down his chest and his arms, all over as he carefully turned his head as far as it could go in the heavy cage.
"Zarrah," he breathed, smiling through she probably couldn't see it through the small slits in the helmet. "Zarrah, I'm just glad you're okay. I guess you know by now." He coughed. "They're going to sell us. I don't-I don't remember much...I awoke in the back of a wagon, strapped to this...this thing, my head... Gods, Zarrah I can barely breathe. I need water or I'm going to die. It's unbearably hot in here." He had to catch his breath or he'd run out of air. Just then Nyala and Izara with two other men were dragging a third into the house, throwing him into a cage across from Zarrah and Radimir. It was the old man, Moot, and he was unconscious, looking as if he'd been beaten across the head.
"Who is it?" Radimir asked, unable to see. "What did they do?"
Zarrah's heart went out to him. The poor man. She knew she'd be going crazy if they had put some sort of contraption like that on her head.
"You must've put up quite the fight," she smiled, appreciatively. They were only cruel to those they thought dangerous. She, on the other hand- had to wonder why they hadn't tried a similar contraption on herself, but was thankful they had not. She would have been all over the place.
"And yes, I've heard their plans. I'm well acquainted with slavers. I know Izar, I've... stolen quite a few of his loads of slaves before, setting them free." She frowned, thinking back- it was Izar's slaves she had freed not too long ago, when she was still with Castor.
Turning her eyes back to Radimir, she studied him.
"Perhaps I can get you some water.."s he hesitated, thinking it over.
But the her htoughts were distracted as Moot was dragged away. She peered over her shoulder towards him and let her lips sag. Turning her eyes back to Radimir, she sighed
"They're dragging away, Moot.He's an old man I met inside the wagon with me. It's funny, he's been putting up more of a fight htan me-" and she wnet to move, the chains restricting her, before she dropped her hands and frowned.
Staying quiet a moment, she peered over at Radimir.
"We need to think of a way to get out of here. I... could try something, but I don't even know if I possess such skills. We're locked in here pretty tight." Though...
there were always men, and with men came desires and well...
she knew far too well how to get things by other sacrifices...
it was probably why she wasn't bound as horribly as Radimir.
He'd be turned in to fight in the ring, no doubt, sold to some cruel seller. He had a good body for tha tafter all.. and the age.
She, on the other hand...
Sex was pretty much all she'd be good for, and once her reputation was out...
Izar might be right. He might be able to retire- or...
He might have an uprising on his hand. people loved her or people hated her.
She could only hope that their luck would soon change.In the meantime, her violet eyes began to scout outside of her cage, curious to see what was going on and taking in all of the possible men, and women, she could.
Well, that was a given, but Radimir had no idea how they'd manage hat considering how strapped Radimir was to that damn rack. He tried to calm down his breathing but felt his heart sink at the prospect of being chained here while Zarrah had to figure out some plan to free them. He wondered if she could try to use her body, but the very idea of it set fire to his veins and not in a good way.
"Zarrah," Radimir said. "You don't have to..." he knew that she knew what he was talking about. "You don't have to do that anymore... You're not the same person..."
Just then another slave was being dragged in, but this was was much more lively. He was a large one and angry, and pulled against his chains as they neared Zarrah's cage. The ones that held him, struggled to maintain their grip. Suddenly, the slave rammed one of the men hard in the chest and slammed him against the cage, bending the bars severely. It was then that Izar returned and bashed the slave hard on the back of the head, knocking him out.
"Stupid bastard. Don't know any better I guess," Izar said. Then he eyed Zarrah through the bars, grinning with some satisfaction. "Don't worry about your cage, love, we'll fix that right quick. Not much you can do with those chains on you though." And returned outside while the other slave was dragged through the building.
Zarrah pressed her lips together, her chest tightening at the guilt she felt by Radimir's words. She was about to reply, about to let him know not all methods ended that way-
but sadly, that was always the plan. And men were far too predictable.
But then something happened, an unruly slave came crashed against her bars, leaving her moving away and cautiously looking up at Izar as the man grinned. Blinking, she hesitantly slipped closer together the bent bars, hands testing them- as if wishing, dreaming the sort of power that came with their distortion migh thave somehow brought on a certain.. more comfortable means to escape-
after all.. it would be rather amusing if the bars just happened to become loose or more brittle from that simple act of defiance by another slave, only to lead to yet another from a more famous one.
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(I dunno- braaaaaaaaains @_@ quick post before bed :T )
What Izar hadn't noticed about the sudden massive dent in the bars was the fact that the hinges seemed to just be slightly out of place. And what he also seemed to miss was the fact that the bars, though fashioned of strong iron, were quite old and rusted. And that the hinges seemed to snap through their bearings. But only the keenest of eyes could notice it. And a man like Izar...well, he wouldn't notice a snake unless it bit him.
Radimir had his head stuck in its turned position and he could make out Zarrah touching the bars just a little. He had seen someone hit them but he couldn't tell if they were broken. "Zarrah, is it busted?" he said, grinning inside the unbearably hot mask. If there was, things were only starting to look up. But that could be remedied if these slavers realized what happened.
Then Radimir thought of something he should have thought of before. Well, it was a little difficult to be creative when you were chained to a rack with little more than undergarments with an iron cage locked to your head. "Zarrah, I have an idea. Just a small one, but it's up to you to do something with it," he said, whispering harshly through the mask, between passing slavers as they dragged more people inside, placing them into various cages.
"I can't do much strapped up like this. But I do have something you might be able to use. Just bear with me, nothing is going to happen to you." Radimir closed his eyes, it was important for him to remain calm, lest he lose his concentration and the spell fail to work. He relaxed his entire body, chanting a charm taught to him from his training. He repeated the same phrase until he was placed under a trance, his whole body limp.
Suddenly it seemed as if a quiet dark mist was seeping from his back, looking like ink in water as it drippled down to the floor. The tattoo from his back began to manifest into a black viper that shimmered in the dim lighting, smooth scales that slithered along the floor and went between the bars. The snake was approximately six feet in lenth, possibly longer, but looked smaller as it bundled itself in the corner of Zarrah's cage.
It flared its hood and hissed, flicking its tongue.
[The snake is that tattoo from his back. Aaaand she can think of something to do with it. Scream and pretend its trying to kill her...I just hope they don't kill the snake or Radimir might not wake up xD]
(OOC: lol, Zarrah accidently kills it= THE END D:
ALSO we're at 54 pages XD)
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Zarrah moved forward to examine the bars, noticing that, perhaps with a little pressure, they might come undone. Holding her breath, her mind fluttered over a plan and she licked her dry lips before turning to Radimir. He had a plan? But what plan was this? He was worse off than she, but then suddenly she heard murmuring- was that a chant? And before she knew it, magics were in place. Her eyes remained wide, staring down at the snake that seemed to pool off of it's back as it slithered into her cell. Despite Radimir's words of reassurace before (and the fact he seemed completely indisposed of at that moment), Zarrah took a hesitant step back from the snake.
The snake..... the bars...
she was quick to formulate a plan. Smiling slightly, she turned to Radimir then slipped away, nearing the front of her cage, waiting and eyeing up the men as they came along-
She'd have to find a good target, after all- then, upon seeing a weak one she called out-
"G-guard! Sir!" she pressed lightly against the unbent bars, so as not to draw attention to the bent ones.
The man turned angrily towards her and asked through a hiss, "What?"
"Please, let me out or find someone to deal with this! There's a serpent in my cage and it looks ready to strike!"
Zarrah stepped aside to show him and he gasped, considering at first he did not believe her.
and when he drew near, she pushed the bent bars forward, popping one open and cracking the man over the head before he knew what was going on.. He fell over in a heap and Zarrah held her breath, glancing around- but no one had seen. She popped open a few other bars then dragged the man inside- heart fluttering quick as she searched him for keys.
(OOC: posting this- if you want me to add more I can or fix it I just have to go and I started typin this up and I wanted to at least post what i hd instead of accidently losing it :T)
[No that works! Yay page 54! 8D]
The snake hissed as the guard had drawn its attention to it. It bared its fangs and when he came closer, Zarrah acted in just the right time, knocking him unconscious, but, just to be sure he didn't get up again... The viper crawled on his belly to the unconscious guard and reared back before striking him on the neck, injecting powerful venom that would render him paralyzed for the better part of ten hours, until he would die a slow and painful death.
The viper crawled back to Zarrah, looking at her with yellow-brown eyes. "Don't be afraid," Radimir's voice would echo in her mind. "It is still me...in a way. I'm not going to hurt you, just find the key and unlock your chains. We'll just have to figure this out as we go." And without warning, the viper crawled up Zarrah's leg, wrapping itself around her thigh until it went around her side, up her chest and crawled into her hair.
"I'm sorry if this is weird. Just relax. And hurry!" Radimir said again hidding in the blackness of her hair.
[Maybe she can use the snake as a weapon or something...throw it at people or sump'm]
(Yeah I had started posting, assuming I had more time but forgot we had to fix the car seat for the baby before the appointment, which was a feat in itself XD I only had time to re-read/edit half of that last post so.. it's good enough XD and I woulda replied last night but I was tired/ working on muh novel stuffs~)
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It was strange to hear a voice so distant yet so intimate within her mind, especially one that came from a man who seemed unconscious- and also the fact the voice seemed more or less to be coming from the snake. A peculiar power, indeed.
She shivered as the snake slithered up her body, and stood a moment, trying to digest all that happened, but there was so much to take in and so little time..
She chanced a glance over at Radimir, frowning, then knelt over the fallen guard and began to search his body. Thankfully he had a irng of keys. Slipping the iron key into the keyhole, she turned it wihtin the lock to hear a 'click', and let the iron clasp on her wrist fall to the ground. She worked quick at the other clasps and rubbed at her newly freed wrists and ankles, which smoothed away the red rust that had been pressed into her skin.
Then flipping through the keys, she tested one against her own lock and realized she also had the lock for their cells. Holding her breath, she waited, biding her time before slipping outside ofher cell and quickly over to Radimir's- and just as the iron key was slipping into the hole,s he heard a noise from behind.
"Hey- you! Stop!" turning around, she felt the snake move down her neck and over her shoulder. Quick thinking had her spinning around, thrusting her arm our as the snaking slithered around her arm in a tight spiral at such a speed, it used the momentum of the thrust to catapult itself off of her arm and straight at the man's throat, sinking it's teeth clean into his neck. The man let out a cry of surprise, yanking the dark serpent off of itself and tossing it to the ground, but not before the viper sunk it's teeth into his hand.
While the man was preoccupied, she slipped the iron key into Radimir's cage and swung it open and quickly rushed inside, kneeling by Radimir's unmoving form.
Her heart went to her throat- she only hoped he was ok as she moved frantically through the keys- finding the small one from earlier that had fit into her shackles and quickly worked at removing his-
then moved fast in hopes to find the one for the cage upon his head-
only to hear a familiar voice from behind.
"My, my, why am I not surprised to find the Lady of the Desert already sprung from her cage?"
Zarrah whirled around, eyes wide and then narrowing angrily at Izar. He had a tight grip on a whip on his hand and moved forward swiftly, the keys dropping from Zarrah's fingers into the sands as he dragged her out and away. "Tsk, tsk. What a troublesome girl. Ought I to show you some manners?" he said, bashing her across the face with such a force, she fell face first into the dirt, coating it with some blood from her mouth.
Groaning, she pushed herself up, one eye swollen shut from the pain of the blow. However, her attempt to rise and fight back was short lived as the whip cracked across the air, striking her across her back as the woman let out a sharp yelp of pain before Izar struck at her again as more guards began to arrive from all the commotion caused by the screaming and the whip, and by the fifth strike Zarrah was pissed, but not totally subdued,a nd bide her time, turning around just at the right moment to strike her arm out as the whip came down, and powerful lashed at her arm, and hooked around it.
Izar was not prepared to have his whip cling onto her, but Zarrah was, and swallowed down the piercing pain and gave a sharp yank to her arm, sending Izar to his feet.
Another sharp yank had her freeing the damn whip from his clutches, and just as she was pulling it into her arms, she was surrounded by the first trio of approaching guards and slavers.
"Stop that woman!" one man barked as he drew out a sword, another, pointing a sharp spear at her while the third drew out a hooked blade. Zarrah eyed them all up,- three against one? It hardly seemed fair...
Radimir was unconscious to everything physically. But the serpent that had taken form became his eyes and ears and when the first man neared, it lunged out with no mercy, attacking to protect and sinking its venom into his body quickly. Soon after the second bite, he was writing on the floor, rolling for three seconds before growing still, paralyzed and would suffer the fate of the first man Zarrah had downed.
But the hope of escape was shortlived. And soon Zarrah was getting thrashed by the whip and soon was surrounded by three men, armed and ready. The viper withdrew into the shadows and moved back to Radimir's open cell. It slittered it's tongue as it whirled around his belly and soon found it's way back onto his back, flattening itself like a piece of paper until it etched itself back onto his skin. Suddenly he awoke with a hungered breath and flexed his hands. Something was different now as he felt the sting of iron was lifted and and the braces were gone. The only thing that wasn't was the iron cage on his head.
With the emergence of the snake, Radimir suddenly felt renewed and sprung from the rack he'd been chained too, though the weight on his head threw him off suddenly. As tired as he'd been, he'd landed on his feet and saw the three men surrounding Zarrah through the slits. Gritting his teeth, he charged forth, attacking the man with the spear first.
The man had only momentarily spotted him before lunging the spear at him. Radimir, unable to see, felt the tip graze his side, slashing through his ribs, but otherwise it was little more than a scratch. Radimir's hands grabbed onto the spear, sidestepping and using the momentum to pull the man toward him. He smashed the iron helmet into his head as hard as he could, smashing his skull open the man fell limply into the ground.
The sword slaver raised his blade high and cut Radimir across the back. Radimir cried, the sound muffled with the iron cage, as he fell to the ground.
OOC: *Sleeps through writing post*
IC:
The men were quite content to fight Zarrah back into submission, but they weren't exactly prepared for Radimir to suddenly appear from his cage- and with the damn iron contraption on his head, which seemed to somehow give him the advantage over the spearman as the man fell to the ground, bleeding and unconscious under the blow. Cursing, the swordman turned from Zarrah and charged after him, while the other remained, smirking and laughing at her.
"Come on, pretty little thing like you ought to give us now before-" but the man didn't get a chance to finish his sentence after Zarrah cracked the whip, slapping it across his cheek and cutting into it. He was seeing stars, but anger bit him back into reality as he charged after her. She simply thrust the whip back and smacked it at him again, this time latching it to his weapon arm and giving a pull, forcin ghim to drop it as e let out a noise and fell onto the ground- smashing his teeth into sands.
Though he tried to regain himself and retrieve his sword, Zarrah stepped onto his reaching hand before snatching it up for herself and giving it a twirl.
Now she was not only free, but had two weapons in her hand- and turned just in time to witness poor Radimir fighting against hte swordman.
Her face fella nd she quickly lunged in his direction, her curved blade clashing against the sword, blocking him from harming Radimir as she pressed the whip into his hand.
"Here, it looks like you could use a weapon."
And maybe a key, but they could see to that later. Smirking at him once, she turned her attention back to the sword man, thrusting her blade out again to catch another on coming blow to keep herself between him and Radimir.
[same -_____-Zzzzzz]
Radimir's back stung from the sword and the iron cage smashed hard against the ground, hurting his neck as the metal bit into his flesh and made his head spin from the echo of impact. Thankfully he had time to climb to his feet yet again, bracing himself against a cage, balancing the weight of the helmet that threatened to break his neck.
Just then the swordsman rushed him, but Zarrah intervened just in time. And when the whip returned to his hand, Radimir felt a flare of rage to find the whip had been his very own used to strike and beat the slaves that were being filed in and out of this place. And had been used to put Zarrah back in her place. Only once would it ever be used to strike her flesh. Never again!
Radimir felt the familiar grip of the whip, the leather flexing to the memory of his hand. The leather sung as it whirled high in the air. By this time, Izar had managed to return to his feet, but he was scrambling for the exit. "Where do you think you're going?" Radimir said harshly. While Zarrah was busy with the swordsman, Radimir danced around her and struck the whip out to Izar. The leather wrapped itself around his neck and Radimir was savagely upon him, beating him with his fists before taking the whip and wrapping it around his neck, strangling him.
But in the middle of that, something happened that Radimir had not been able to see. The light from the door way was shaded by a woman's silhouette. Nyala suddenly appeared and waved a rope above her head. Suddenly he was lassoed, the rope tightening around his neck and just as suddenly, Radimir was yanked through the open door, dragged out into the blazing sun.
"ZARRAH!" Radimir shouted. the rope catching on to the brace of the iron, rather than strangling him.
Nyala was quite strong as she pulled him, running to a horse she had loose nearby. Quickly, she mounted and kicked the beast into pulling him along the sands. His back scraped against the sand, razing his flesh, his hands fighting to untangle himself from the rope.
The swordman was skilled, so as muhc as she had wanted to help Radimir, she found herself being backed into a corner as metal snapped at metal. But Zarrah was hardly intending to be bested here, and pushed forward, the tides changing in their little dual when she managed to catch him off guard, her blade striking across his face, blinding his eyes with blood. He let out a cry, barely blockign Zarrah's next blow- but not the last-
and soon his head was lobbed off- too bad the blade was a bit rusty, since her attempt failed and blood poured out hotly from his neck. Cringing as the man wailed in pain, she pressed a boot to his chest, stealing his sword and used it to plunge deeply into his chest.
Silently, the man went as she kicked him off the bloodied blade, then turned around to witness, in horror as Radimir was begin dragged away. Snarling, she snatched up a dagger and dashed after them as they began to rush away, the dagger was muhc heavier than she was used to- so she could on;y hope the blade would meet it's mark as she hurled it at the horse and rider, hoping to hit either the woman in the back or the horse's rear-
Sand scraped against his skin, making it raw and red, shredding it mercilessly as he screamed. Radimir's fingers tried to pry the rope from this neck, the force of it holding strong even as the horse began to gallop across the path. But something silvery sang in the air, glinting off sunlight as it whirled, spinning with almost divine aim. The air rang out with a loud shrill cry from the horse as the large dagger sunk into it's right rear cheek. The shock of the blow, downed the animal, rolling it over and knocking Nyala off in the process.
Radimir suddenly stopped on the ground, coughing, his back stinging ferociously as his hands managed to loosen the rope from his neck, pulling it over the iron cage. The heat and the loss of adrenaline made him feeling drained and he laid there exhaustedly on the ground. Nyala however, was not as easily thwarted. Within seconds, boots stomped on sand, in an injured limp and slide along the ground beside him before she had his head in her lap, and a dagger in the other hand.
She looked at Zarrah with daring eyes as she held the edge of the blade just underneath the helmet. "Clever girl," she smirked, digging the edge in deeper. "Anymore bright ideas?"
Zarrah's face exploded into a smile as she made a noise of victory when the horse and rider fell. But as she rushed forward to help Radimir, she paused abruptly in her tracks the moment a blade was held to his throat. Her eyes narrowed as she kept a strong grip on her newly acquired weapons, though she knew, after only a moment's hesitation, that she was bested.
Scowling, she threw down her weapons.
"Dropping my weapons are as good as it gets, just don't harm him." he r heart was pounding in her ears, thundering like a freight train. But she had little choice in the matter. It seemed their victory had been short lived, especially now as the site was coming alive and she could hear men and other slavers moving behind her and were fast approaching. They would be handcuffed and chained in a matter of minutes, and Zarrah was powerless to do a thing.
She was right, both were powerless. Radimir was quite exhausted, feeling as if he was going to pass out then and there, but something in his heart refused to give in as he saw Zarrah across the way. Dropping her weapons, ready to give in, as the men that were hauling in the other prisoners were closing in for the kill. He had a feeling they would be separated then, they would be beaten and tortured and sold for stones.
Radimir could see Nyala just barely through the slits of his cage, the blade hard against his neck. No, not like this...
There were no words for this spell as Radimir summoned a snake from his palm, a small but deadly green viper that coiled in his palm. He managed to summon enough energy as he raised his hand and lunged the snake against her face. Nyala screamed, pulling away as the serpents fangs sunk into her neck. But in the same motion, her hand pulled the blade across his neck, effectively cutting it and the iron cage slammed on the ground. But the serpent managed to hold on to her neck, injecting more and more venom until Nyala lay still.
Radimir's limbs moved but he couldn't call out to Zarrah. He could only hope she could get to him in time to remove the cage from his head, the keys having jingled on Nyala's belt.
The moment happened in a blur. She had tore across the sands, grasped onto Radimir. She had probably been shouting, she knew she had been crying. There was so much blood.
Her hands pressed to it, gritting her teeth. They had to stop the bleeding..
but the men..
her heart was racing, her body moving fast.
She had gotten the keys, and clumsily flipped through them- her entire body wracked with sweat and madness before finally, shakingly she pressed a key and the iron cage fell off his head.
She heard herself gasp in elation, then cradling Radimir a second longer, lips pressing suddenly to his face as tears rolled down her face.
Tearing off a bit of her clothing (not that she had much of her skirts left at all) she pressed it to his throat, shouting a command for him to hold it there. There was so much blood. And she couldn't lose him. Not here. Not now.
Then she tore away, grabbing up the iron cage helm and using it like a shield. The sword was retrieved and the first wave of men were upon her- and soon the sands ran with their blood. It was madness, it was passionate, it was survival.
And soon all of the men lay still about her, until there was none who would dare come-
that was, except a few precise archers who revealed themselves and began to step forward, the remaining men at their heels.
Zarrah only shook her head.
No..
they couldn't die like this. They wouldn't die like this-
but then she heard it- something hard and heavy pounding against wood.
then a whinny-
Radimir's horse broke free from the stables a moment later and came tearing up past the men and archers. Zarrah's eyes widened, and before the horse had made it to them, she dropped back, holding up the ircon cage to shield her face and chest as best as she could, while her body fell protectively over Radimir just as the arrows began to sink in around them.
Into her legs, into her arms and into the sand.
But the horse was ok-and she could hear him thundering their way.
She didn't waste a beat. Tossing the iron cage aside, it rolled not too far away, the arrows that had sunk into it keeping it just as their feet as she braced herself and held onto Radimir, ignoring the pain from the arrows-
then as the beast came near, she hurled the pair of them at it and clutched heavily at it's side, forcing Radimir into the saddle while she dangled off the edge and gripped the reigns.
And all she could do now was pray.
Pray andhope they'd make it out of this thing alive.
Radimir was barely conscious as all of this went on, the blood seeping from his neck. He didn't know if the wound had cut into anything vital, only that it stung and throbbed as he weakly pressed into it. Suddenly they were on Thorian, he had no idea where he'd come from. Radimir was in no position to ride and he hung limply in the saddle, holding onto Thorian's neck, Zarrah behind him.
But the connection between horse and rider was not one that consisted of words. And Thorian knew what needed to be done without being told as the men began to give chase. The beast was powerful, pounding the sand as it headed away from the slaver's camp, from this town of vile intent. Thorian rode harder than he'd ever had in his life, trying to keep a steady pace while keeping his riders from falling off his back. Though he screamed when a few arrows ripped into his backside, he kept running, running until his nostrils were raw in redness and sweat dripping from every lock of hair.
And the Sehra Plains was visible in the distance. The desert was behind them at last.
(OOC: I was going to start a new thread, but figured they might not quite get FULLY out of the desert 'area' just yet, since both will need to rest and heal up - so looks like they get to remain in this thread.. FOR NOW)
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They had made it to some small, dusty town. Though they were no longer in the desert, the sands and dryness still affected many lands nearby. She had never quite been this far before, or perhaps she had, with her husband, on a trip for trade. If she had been, the memories were foggy at best, but each town seemed the same after a time, especially small ones like this. She had paused in an alley way within the streets, resting Radimir against a stone building and letting the horse drink from a nearby trough. The place was mostly silent, which was good for her as she leaned over Radimir who was flushed and hot with fever. She was hot too, but did not bur to the touch as he was. She bent over, examining his neck as she peeled back away the torn clothe they had used against his wound.
It was strange- it seemed he'd gain a scar similar to hers, and idly, she touched the thin, pale piece of scar across her own neck and thought back to Castor with a tired frown.
This wasn't about him right now. She had to help Radimir. And his horse. After removing the few arrows in her own flesh (which thankfully hadn't pierced in too deeply to her limps, she moved to the horse and worked at removing the arrows from him. Then, tossing them into a corner, she moved over towards the town's well and collected a bucket of water. Tearing off another piece of her skirts, she moved bck to Radimir's side and soaked the clothe up and began to dab it across his face, pressing it into his hot skin before dousing the cloth einto more water and working at the sweat about his face again. Then, laying it across his forehead, she tore off more clothe, her skirts nearly gone at this point, as she dipped it into the water and began to silently work at cleaning off his neck. Her own wounds could work- since she was still conscious. With Radimir, it was hard to tell, and for a moment, she gently held the damp clothe across his neck wound and stared down at his face as a frown slowly sagged at her lips.
She then took his hand and lightly squeezed it,a nd whispered in the desert tongue the words of blessing and thanks. After all, it seemed fate was becoming strange to her- thrusting two men in her direction, two men of chaos, two men she found herself fated to love.
Radimir couldn't tell if he was still alive. He grew in and out of consciousness. Moments he would see sand move underneath the horse, then there were patches of grass. A stone unfamiliar to the desert here and there. The sun was not as intense. Then darkness came. They must have been riding for hours. They must have been riding for years. It made no sense to Radimir who lay slumped against Thorian's neck.
When the water had touched his flesh, Radimir's eyes fluttered open. "Zarrah?" he whispered, quite confused. His flesh felt unbearably hot and if he could crawl out of it, he would. His eyes opened but his vision was blurry, and the sun had fallen from how long they'd run, the stars were out tonight. His voice was haggard, throat dry.
Radimir's hand weakly reached up, feeling for her face. "Where are we?" he whispered.
Zarrah was startled when Radimir suddenly spoke. She assumed he'd be passed out for a few more hours, but smiled, knowing that, despite how hoarse his voice sounded, he would be ok.
She placed a hand lightly to his cheek, feeling the burn.
"I'm here,"s he whispered, then at his later question, she studied his face and then pressed her hand against the clothe to his forehead. It was already hot. She removed it, dipped it in the bucket of water before reapplying it, hoping to sooth him.
"And we're at the boarder, between Essyrn and Adela. I can see the plains from here and the desert behind us. Though it's night, I do not know the name of the town, though if I had to guess, it might be the small town of Jezholt."
Her eye studied him for a moment, keeping the clothe pressed to his face.
"How do you feel?" She looked down at his neck, seeing how the blood seemed to have stopped, but it still stained the clothe good.
He smiled, glad that they at last made it civilization, escaping those intrepid slavers. Though he wondered how long they would be safe here, it might only be a matter of time before they'd be on their trail again. But in the meantime, they were safe at least. And could rest at last. Radimir, now conscious, could feel the edges of pain now flowing into his mind, though more from the scraps and cuts on his back than the tried wound of his neck.
"Like I was dragged along the scorching desert sand, by a rope and horse," Radimir said, managing a laugh. But the movement of his adam's apple distrupted the wound and made him shift uncomfortably in pain. "But, you saved my life, Zarrah. I'll never be able to repay you... Thank you."
He smiled at her, and gently caressed her face.
But that moment was short-lived when there was a shining lantern light that blinded him as a door was opened nearby from the alleyway. "Who goes there?" said an old man's voice. "Are ya comin' to harm to bring harm to me or my kin? If so, be gone with ye, we've no need for strangers here. Git! I ain't afraid to cut ya down!" The old man's hand wavered as he held the heavy falchion blade out to them. "Name yourselves now?"
Zarrah smirked. She was just glad he was alive, and still possessed a sense of humor. Though before she had a chance to speak, a man opened a nearby door. Zarrah cringed, but there was no sense in fighting or lieing to the old man. Raising herself off of the ground, she explained, "We were attacked by a band of slavers in the desert. We're just passing through in hopes to deter them from our trail." she looked back to Radimir, frowning at him, then sought the old man's eyes again. "We'll be out of the streets before the morning. I apologize to have awoken you and your family." She bowed lightly to him, hoping some manners and honesty would go a long way.
The old man stared at Zarrah with wide eyes, but he saw no reason to disbelieve her. Slowly, he lowered his sword and gave her a grumpy glare, typical of old men. "Well, you wouldn't happen to mean Nyala and her gang did you?" he asked. "They've been making all kinds of trouble through out the plains and what not, bein' raiders n all. I can tell something hellish must of happened to the two of ya. You look like camel shit."
"It was Nyala and her gang," Radimir managed to say, looking up at the old man through squinted eyes.
"Hm, well, I guess the right thing to do would be to ask if the two of you would like to seek shelter inside? I can't stand them raiders and if it means taking away two of their possessions, then all the better. My wife's got food and water if ye need it. Your horse can stay in the barn to the back. Come in quickly."
Zarrah looked to Radimir, a smile twitching across her lips. She couldn't believe their luck. She nodded graciously to the man. She wasn't about to pass up such an opportunity.
"Thank you. We'll try not to be a burden." THen to Radimir, she gestured. "Wait here. I'll take Thorian out back."
Guiding the horse to the stable, she frowned at his wounds. She'd have to tend to those after getting Radimir settled inside. She laced the reigns against a stall, then moved back to Radimir's side and offered him her shoulder to lean on.
"Here.." and gently she guided him inside, her eyes squinting lightly at the candle lit room. The place smelled musty, but other than that, clean. It was much nicer than outside, and the place was simple.
She looked around, silently at Radimir's side before turning to the old man and offering him a smile. "Thank you. We'll stay wherever you'd like. In the barn or on the floor. I just need to clean his wounds, then the horse's." Her own could wait until later. She wasn't dieing anytime soon.
As the two came into the lighted room, the old man took a step back and his face visibly changed. "By the gods," he said. He set the langern down on the table and put the sword away. "I didn't think the two of ya looked this bad in the dark. I've got some supplies in the kitchen. I've got a loft upstairs, the two of ye are free to stay the night. I'm Bailo, by the way. It's a pleasure to help two people in need. Wait here at the table. Please sit."
When Bailo returned, he had a small tray of supplies, bandages, salve, sewing needles and a bottle of bourbon half empty. "I'll get my wife in a moment. She'll bring the two of ye some blankets and some hot food."
(OOC: 55 pages, woo XD )
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Zarrah nodded, smiling tiredly that the man wished to help. It was refreshing to receive help at such a time. At his gesture, she moved Radimir to the couch, and studied his face, wondering how he was fairing. At least his eyes were open. She silently placed a hand to his forehead. He was still burning. Well, at least he would not have to sleep on the cobblestone. Turning toe Bailo, she nodded her head.
"I'm Zarrah. Thank you." she looked down at the supplies and nodded, then turned her attention back to Radimir. "You've got a fever. Once I get your back cleaned, we'll have to soak you in a cold bath."s he turned to Bailo, catching him by the wrist.
"Is there a way we could let him lay in a cool water bath? It would help to break his fever, and to clean off the sand and grit and blood from his back."
Before he left, Bailo nodded to her. "I'll get that fixed up in a minute. In the back. I'll tell you when it's ready." He left and there were sounds of talking on the steps above, a door having opened and his wife appeared.
Radimir smiled weakly at the man then back to Zarrah. "I guess with luck like ours, we have to take what we can," he said. His breathing had calmed significantly, though his fever was making him want to collapse. He hadn't had water in many hours, no doubt the source of his weariness. Yet he found energy enough to laugh and smile, just happy enough to be alive. Though tired, he managed to sit up as Bailo returned with his wife, Amilan and stared at the pair with some confusion.
"Gods, you two look like camel shit!" she breathed, covering her mouth.
"They know. I already told them," Bailo commented grinning. "Get them some hot food, woman, and some wine if we have any. Or perhaps water would be better."
Amilan nodded to her husband and quickly moved into the cellar where they kept their meat and other supplies. Bailo nodded and motioned for Zarrah and Radimir to follow them to the rear of the apartment house. Radimir trembled but he did his best to stand on his own, wavering as he did so, hoping Zarrah would be nearby to help him as he weakly stepped toward the indicated direction.
Zarrah remained nearby, allowing Radimir to lean against her for support. For now, getting Radimir's fever down and those wounds clean was her top priority. Eating could wait until later, so when asked, she shook her head and gestured. "He needs his fever to break, first. Then I'll try to force him to eat something." She smirked towards Radimir. Naturally, he wouldn't have a choice in the matter if she was to be the one nursing him back to health. But the bath was soon drawn- cold as she had instructed, so when she lead Radimir to the back room and asked for some privacy,s he was gentle in removing the remainder of his clothes- not that he had any left but a few scraps.
She frowned at that, then helped him over towards the bath.
"I'm afraid this won't be as relaxing as a warm bath, but you need to get your fever to break and cold water is the quickest way." Her eyes wavered a moment, locking to his before she helped him into the bath, bracing herself for him to yelp out from the cold of the water.
But at least it would help reduce his fever. His body was sweltering something fierce, and it would also help to clean out his poor sore, back side.
"GODS!" Radimir couldn't help crying out as he dropped his ass into the water and immediately tried to get back out, but knew he didn't have much strength to lift himself even if he could. Eventually he forced himself back into the water, his entire body immediately cooling to it. Inside however he was shivering, mostly from the shock. The water began to turn red from the small trails that blood that seeped from the scrapes, not to mention the dirt and tiny rocks that embedded themselves into his skin. The pain was quite intense and Radimir didn't want to move anymore lest he make it worse.
"You're trying to make me freeze to death, aren't you?" Radimir said through chattering teeth.
Zarrah couldn't help but feel sorry for him, nor could she help that she was smiling as she grabbed up a nearby wash clothe and soap and began to lather it within the rag. She tilted her head to one side, smirking.
"You've only figured out I'm trying to kill you now?" she teased, then moved forward, though hesitated, keeping the clothe in hand. "Do you need me to help wash you? I.. can be delicate. But your back should be cleaned out. Then we can see to the salves these people had offered." She also looked towards his neck, wondering how it was fairing, though it was only then she realized, with another cruel smirk that well..
"Hey.. you need to dunk back your head. Get your entire body wet, even your hair." She reached a hand out and felt at his forehead. "It wont do you any good if your face remains as hot as the sun. Come on, just hold your breath and dunk your face back. But keep yourself submerged a little. I'm sorry but.. " she smiled again. "It's the quickest way I know to get that fever under control."
"Oh, quit stalling. The more you talk the longer I'm in pain. I don't recall stalling when you were injured!" Radimir said with a great deal of irritation. But he no longer fought common sense. She was right after all and he needed to be soaked if he was ever going to heal up. He leaned back and dunked his whole body into the tub, reaching back weakly to undo the small ponytail his hair had remained bundled. Covered in sweat, blood and more blood, it felt thick and matted and not at all comfortable.
"I can't reach, just clean it as best you can," he said, leaning forward, shaking from the cold. "I don't care how you do it, rough, delicate, I can take it. Just do it, please."
Zarrah shook her head, sighing, but remained quiet as she worked the clothe gently across his neck and shoulders, then his back side, trying ot be as delicate as possible over the scrape wounds, and frowning when she realized, despite how careful she was being, the skin was so raw and sore, even she was making some parts re-bleed.
But it needed to be done. Better her than the slavers, and soon she was working the soap into his hair. She knew he was freezing, the poor man- and even though his temperature needed to drop, she also didn't want him catching his death either by obtaining a silly thing such as a cold.
Leaning forward, she informed him, "Here, I think you're clean enough. You just need to be rinsed off. Thenw e can get you dressed." She lifted a hand, resting it to his forehead, then smirked before helping him rinse.
"I'm sorry."s he said after a moment, not entirely sure why she was apologizing- but there was much for her to be sorry for.
At least he felt cooler.. for now.
It was not comfortable in the slightest and Radimir winced, but did not let his face betray him. He remained silent through out as she scrubbed away the tiny rocks that made their home in his back, his skin screaming for her to stop touching his back. But he resisted the temptation to cry, resisted though his entire body would have been just fine with dropping dead then and there.
At her apology however, Radimir looked at her with some confusion, not sure what exactly she was apologizing for. "Zarrah," he said through chattering teeth. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You saved my life. I'll never be able to repay you. Maybe it was better that I had listened to you the first time when you wanted to be left alone. Look at all the trouble I've brought you."
She couldn't help herself. Zarrah began to laugh. And laugh and laugh. THough it was a soft, quiet laughter, she rose to her feet, her cheeks rosey with mirth as she offered him a towel.
"Here, you clean up and just think about what you just said." she smirked a little, appreciating the view, despite the man shivering like a wet dog.
"I think what you mean to say is 'look at all of the trouble 'I' have brought you'." She smirked, and stood back, folding her arms across her chest.
Radimir burned in shame at her laughter, humiliated but he supposed what he said really was funny, considering their predicament. And after all they'd just been through, it was refreshing to hear her laugh. He actually smiled along with her, shaking his head as he managed to rise from the filthy bloody water, shivering as he reached for the towel, wrapping it around him like a blanket. But not before he felt his traction move from the ground and he slipped and slammed into a small stool nearby, hitting his head rather hard.
Just what he needed, another wound. "Can't get a break, can I?" he breathed, just laying there for a while.
As much as she was trying to laugh this all off, she knew their situation was grave. Moving swiftly to his side, she knelt beside him, brushing a hand gently through his curly blonde hair.
"Are you ok?" Then at his question, she smiled softly. "No, I suppose not." and she moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around him and letting her hair spill across him as she held him close.
"Though, if you wanted a catch a break, you should never have chosen to want to help me." then after a time, she sighed, melting more against him, though gently, careful of his wounds. "Thank you, Radimir. It means a lot I don't have to go through all of this alone. And I'm sorry.. for all that's happened to you. After all, you could have left me to burn in that building."
And wouldn't his life have been easier? But she's thankful he had more faith in her than she did, and felt guilty she just couldn't quite give herself to him.
Damn Castor. Damn that man to hell.
"Easy? As if life would be easy without you," Radimir said. "My life has never been easy" he managed to say, rubbing his sore head. He was gathering enough strength to sit up, moving to hold her close to him, relishing the feel of her breath against his skin, so close to his face. It was nice to just be like this, though it only made him want her. He shoved away the urge however, just wanting to be close, not wanting to ruin the moment.
"My whole life...I've devoted it to the Order. It was all I knew, all I would ever know. My father trained me, molded me, for I was the Prince, to inherit his kingdom of blood. My father controlled me, told me what to do, gave me my contracts. But he was still my father. I loved him, I would have died fighting for him. Then you took him away from me. Maybe you did me a favor, maybe somewhere deep inside I still wish I'd kill you. But when I looked into your eyes, you had me at your mercy, you could have killed me if you wanted to, I saw that fire burning in your eyes, that desperation, that you would stop at nothing until you'd had your revenge. It was easy to love you then, because you had the same desperation I did, the same fire, though perhaps channeled in a different way. Maybe you don't want to love me because of what I'd done to you, to your friend, but I love you because you are true to yourself, true to what's inside. You don't hide. You fight and kill because you want to survive. And killing you would have solved nothing."
Zarrah grew quiet and just listened to him. There was a lot she didn't know about him, and she smiled when he got that information off of his chest. And her smile was warm. Pulling away from him, she moved to gather his clothing and handed them over to him with a bit of a coy smirk as she eyed him over.
"I guess we should get you somewhat decent, unless you want to just lay that towel over your lap while I tend to your wounds." Then after a moment, she smirked. "Though I didn't know I was tending to royalty, my prince." Her grin grew wider as she turned away and began to gather up the supplies, and salve in hand, she turned back to him with a sigh.
"And you might be eating those words later. You might think you have respect for me, but I can assure you, all women are trouble." Though after a time, she considered the way his father was.
"At least your father cared enough to keep you as his own." her smile was a bit weaker. "I know my parents loved me, but not enough not to sell me to Carnavus." It was a hard stone to swallow, and one she'd rather forget about. She had been so young, and although life was never perfect and she was always hungry... it was hard to accept having your own parents who had raised you and loved you for so long, simply accept some coin and shipped you away. Though her life with Carnavus was 'better', she wished she had remained poor and dirty on the streets. She doubted her personality would have been much different- though then again,s he might not have lived quite this long other wise...
Fate was cruel that way. But she suppose she was thankful she was alive.
He laughed at the indication of being royalty. He never considered himself anything of the kind, not in the way Lords of the Desert used their money to buy their power, and paid ruthless cohorts to align with them. The way of the Order of the Viper was not quite so different, but there was power in reputation, in religion, that their services could be bought for the right price, and for the proper weight of blood. There was always the question of divine descent, or so his father led him to believe, that the order was born from the bones of their god, as he spewed out the worthless of the world in its creation.
But he was wrong. He was just a man. And like all men, he withered and died.
Radimir listened to Zarrah's recounting of her parents and it did twist his heart in a small way that she could endure such cruelty. But man was the perfect imperfection and would take to greed faster than the love of his own kin. They might have thought they were doing her a favor, when they'd only resigned her to a life of hell. He didn't need to know Carnavus personally to know men like him. And such impersonable evil, always lurked in the hearts of men.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he murmured, as the salve went on. The shivering had subsided, but his fever was only milldly reduced. Still, he was feeling much better than he was ten minutes prior in the alley way. "I doubt this was how you envisioned your life then. How do you think you would have gone about differently if you could do it all over?"
Zarrah continued to work the salve into Radimir's back, her finger's working skillfully and carefully due to his wounds, and eventually, she moved to his front and sat before him, still silent as she examined his neck, before scooping up more ointment with her fingers, then applying them to his neck. She was still thinking over his question. It took some time for her to digest before she lifted her violet eyes to look at him, then smiled.
"I don't know that I would," she said, her lips twitching a bit through her smile. "There are regrets, yes, and things I wish I had done differently, but for all I know the best in life is yet to come." Her smile broadened a bit before she went back to work, smoothing the salve across his neck, and finding herself humming softly, even as her throat was dry and parched, the song came out still beautifully, in tune, between her closed lips- a song she had sung with Radimir before- a song that always calmed her, a song that gently electrified her heart.
Radimir's neck was terribly sensitive, moreso than his back had been and he visibly froze when her hands rose to apply the ointment. He didn't dare move lest he open it up once more. So he just waited for her to be done. But when she began to hum that tune, the desert song of lost lovers and lovers lost, a sad smile took him. One that eventually broadened as he began to sing along.
The wound on his neck made his voice rusty and a hoarse, but he still sang as beautifully as he did the first time, repeating the verses along with her. He took her hand from his neck, held it gently in his own until he raised it to his mouth, kissing the top of her hand, then turning it over and gently kissing her palm. He held it warmly against him for a while before letting it go.
"Let's go eat. We need all the rest we can get," Radimir said. He got up, dressed in what remained of his clothes and held a hand out to help her rise.
As they sang, she avoided his eyes, slowly nodding after he had finally spoken.
"Yes, we'll need all of the rest and energy we can get." SHe smiled up at him, eyes still not seeking his before she rose to her feet. She ate, though very little, even as she prodding Radimir to eat the lion's share.
"You'll need your strength," she'd press, but did drink much water and thanked the couple for taking them in. Then when they were shown to the loft, she bowed in thanks and turned to Radimir-
"Would you like my help?" It might be a challenge, after all, to climb the ladder in his condition.
He ate heartily and approached the loft when they were done. He shook his head to her and weakly climbed it. By the time he reached the top he was thoroughly exhausted. There were two bedrolls up there with a small lamp as well and he crawled for the one farthest away, rolling into it. He bundled himself up and smiled at her as he closed his eyes. "Good night, Zarrah," he breathed, feeling sleep come easy.
Sleep may have come easy for him, though, despite she was exhausted, she found herself unable to sleep right away. She stood up, staring at his sleeping form before peering out the loft window into the streets. But all seemed calm, almost too calm as she sleepily rubbed at her eyes. The sun was beginning to rise by the time she had fallen asleep, her hair splayed around her, her breathing content. And although her sleep was brief, she woke up a few short hours later with the sun coming in warmly through the window and the soft smells of meal being fried below. Stretched, she looked over towards Radimir to see if he was awake when a knock at the door pulled Zarrah's attention.
"Sir, we are looking for two fugitives who might be hiding in this town."
Zarrah perked up at the dialogue, but kept herself hidden enough within the loft so, whoever it was below, would not see her.
"Two fugitives you say? Can't say I've noticed anything strange here last night, or even this morning," Bailo informed them.
"IT was a man and a woman. The woman had dark hair, of Essryni decent- the man, had blonde hair, strange eyes."
Bailo only nodded. "Well, if I see them, I'll be sure to let you know." And with that, the door was closed.
Zarrah who had been holding her breath, finally released it and turned to glance over her shoulder, frowning towards Radimir. So the slavers were in town-and already hunting for them. This brought up a whole new slew of problems.
Radimir stirred when the door closed at last. His body was quite stiff from the bedroll, but it was a hell of a lot better than sleeping on the floor. He'd felt his energy return to him at last though his body was sore all over, particularly his wounded neck. As he got up, he saw Zarrah was quite alert and sat up, rubbing his sore neck. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her with narrow eyes.
"The slavers had come to the door," She spoke in a whisper, motioning for Radimir to do the same, then crawled her way over towards the loft window and peered outside. THe man was still down below. This made her frown. Escaping the house would be difficult.
But as if on cue, Bailo showed up at the bottom of the steps.
"Looks like the pair of you might be hauled up here for a while." he only smirked, and chuckled, then turned towards his wife. "Say, could we use a pair of young legs around the house for the next few days?" He heard his wife laugh, which made him laugh as well. Zarrah simply smiled and bowed her head to him
"Thank you. We would be more than happy to oblige. We are completely at your disposal. It's the least we can do after you offered to help us."
As much as Radimir was grateful for a place to hide out, he knew they couldn't afford to stay here long. The sooner they left, the better. Unfortunately, their condition didn't lay much in their favor either. But Zarrah felt they could trust this couple. They had taken them in at a moment of need so he felt it was safe to assume they meant no harm either. Yet even his sense told him you could never trust anybody too much.
Radimir crawled beside her when Bailo moved away, speaking with his wife. "I don't think we should stay here longer than a day, Zarrah. The sooner we move the better. I don't think these slavers will respect the boundaries of a household and could just as easily come crashing through the door at any minute."
Zarrah listened to his words. He was right. As much as it would be nice to forget about all of their problems for a few days, it would be too dangerous for everyone to stick around. She turned to him and nodded.
"Perhaps by night fall, we could slip away unnoticed. It would be easier to be less detected and hopefully your wounds, not as severe." She studied his face, lifting a hand but hesitated and did not touch his skin.
"How do you feel?"
Radimir nodded. He didn't think the old couple would sell them out, but it wasn't a chance they could afford to take. Gold spoke volumes in squat villages like this and maybe Bailo didn't like the slavers, but that wouldn't stop him from taking a hefty bribe if it was in his favor. Radimir found his energy at last and moved to step down the ladder toward the floor.
"I'm much better," he answered, motioning Zarrah to come and follow him. "Thanks to you. Come, let's go see to Thorian. I just hope his wounds haven't gotten infected. Then we'd be in deeper than we already are."
"Oh, about Thorian..." she began, moving closely to his side. "I couldn't sleep well last night, so after you drifted off, I tended to his wounds. We should reclean and rebandage them. But I think he'll be ok." she smiled at him, but then thought it over with a gasp. "The stable- you don't think the men would search there? They might recognize your horse. And if he has those wounds..."
She was moving swiftly, but carefully out to the barn. Seeing how no one was around, she moved quickly towards Thorian and noticed a blanket had been placed over the poor horses's back. She wondered who had done this, but slowly removed it and observed his wounds.
"They seem agitated. Come, let's fetch some water to clean them out. We can then reapply some salve." She stroked Thorian lightly, smiling and giving the horse's cheek a quick kiss. "You deserve a barrel full of apples for saving us."S he said, offering one out from her hand while stroking his mane. "Too bad I only have just this one for now."
Radimir followed her out to the stables, eager to see Thorian at last. Though it was he that carried them away, Radimir had not been conscious during the entire escapade, only fading in and out of life, everything still hanging in the balance. Not much had changed since then, but when the horse saw Radimir alive, though not quite well, he whinnied happily and immediately shoved his face into his rider's, nuzzling him with all manner of strange horse kisses and even nipping his shoulder here and there as if to make sure he was real.
Radimir laughed and nodded to Zarrah, trying to keep quiet. "I'll get the water." He wandered to the trough, carefully filling a bucket with some water and moving toward Thorian. At the hint of her reward, Radimir grinned. "I don't think he'd mind a brood mare to go with that bucket of apples." He laughed and Thorian gave a proud prance as his rider began to clean his wounds.
Zarrah's eyes danced at the idea- and before she got a chance to make a quip- saying 'Like horse, like rider', she closed her lips, really how terribly rude that might come out- considering both of their predicaments.
So she kept her eyes averted, staring around the room, pretending to be examining this or that while Radimir did all of the work. It seemed the horse and rider needed a moment anyways, and well, so did she.
Radimir carefully cleaned out Thorian's wounds, the horse shivering here and there from the sting of contact, but at least they weren't bleeding and were not infected. He reapplied the salve but searched around and found no bandages nearby. It would be foolish to reuse the same ones. "He'll be all right. He's a strong boy, proud as can be. He likes you too you know. He rarely takes to strangers as quickly as he took to you. I'm not sure why that might be. Maybe because he saw you kick my rear once or twice and has earned you a bit of respect maybe."
Zarrah turned her gaze back towards the pair, smiling at them.
"Maybe. Though I'm sure he's seen others kick your ass before," she said, folding her arms over her chest. "But maybe we'll look into that mare for him later." she said, smirking at the horse with some appreciation. "I bet he could have any lady horse he wanted. He's a hero, after all.I bet the all fawn over him. And his pretty, well groomed coat." She heard a noise off farther i the stable and took notice... and smirked.
"Well, it seems like the folks here might have a mare." She gave Radimir a once over and playfully approached a fine, vanilla spotted horse on the other side. "Well, she is something ain't she?" Reachin ga hand out,s he gently petted the horse down her nose, smiling as she brushed her long hair away from her brown eyes.
"You're a pretty lady, arne't you?" she cooed to the horse, smiling as she peered over at Radimir from her shoulder.
"Actually no. You are the first. And I admit, you did quite well even for yourself. If you'd ever like to spar, I'd be happy to oblige. Though, if you can wait until I'm a little more healed up, I'd be grateful." He smiled at her as he applied the blanket back over Thorian, the horse watching them with mahogany eyes.
"I never thought about breeding him. But no doubt any time left in the stables alone, I'm sure he'd found a brood mare once or twice. I'm sure he's sired plenty. And will sire plenty more in his lifetime. His future is bright."
He eyed the other mare and actually frowned. "I don't think now might be such a good time for that. Last thing we need are horses bringing us more attention."
Zarrah looked away, petting the mare.
"I didn't mean now. Thorian is injured. As are you." She gestured to Radimir with a smirk. "Besides, injured or not, you wouldn't be able to best me."
OOC: SHORT POST FOR A STINKY LION >:C
Radimir grinned at her and shrugged nonchalantly. "Sparring is not about winning or losing, it is merely a test of skill. And well - I suppose we'll just have to prove should the day ever come. Not that you lead yourself to believe otherwise. You are a legend after all. Heaven help the man who bests you in battle."
He patted Thorian one last time before heading back to the house.
Zarrah smirked, quirking a brow at Radimir as she gave a shrug.
"Perhaps not, but the last man that tried to best me winded up naked, tired upside down in a palm tree at the Oasis." She gave Radimir a once over. "Next time I might need to be more creative if someone tries." With a smirk,s he moved away, listening at the stall doors- and upon catching a noise outside, she gestured to Radimir to be quiet- but thankfully the suspicious persons hadn't approached the stable.
"I think they finally passed by."S he said, turning back to him with a worried frown. "Here, let's get Thorian some hay."s he said, smiling towards him before moving to began forming apile before the horse, and the horse began to eat hungrily. "We'll get you more apples soon enough, don't you worry,"s he told the horse into his ear while patting his long neck.
In the moment, Radimir had forgotten about the slavers that were looking for them. And now that he remembered, it was all coming back. They'd taken his weapons from him! At the thought, he seethed and the temptation to burst through the stables and into the village street was all too invigorating. But he reminded himself this wasn't about him, this wasn't even about Zarrah. It was about finding that man that seemed to have such a hold on her heart, though he doubted he wanted it at all.
Radimir saw how she caressed Thorian as the horse ate voraciously. At the hint of an apple, he disappeared quietly, saying not a word as he walked out of the stables. He looked down the street,watching the passersby. The coast was quite clear as he dashed for the nearest vendor stall he saw. The town really was small with little more than a few square blocks at most. Eventually he found a few apples.
But as he turned to go back across the street, he heard the crack of a whip, excrutiatingly close-by. So close it stung his back and he tumbled to the ground dropping the apples. And to his horror as he quickly turned around, he saw Nyala standing over him, whirling the whip in hand. "Looking for this?" she said, smirking, though her voice was quite dry. And around her neck was as a bandage from the snakebite.
Thorian was reveling in the attention. She could tell the horse was also itching to be brushed. Radimir cared a great deal for his horse and it only made sense he had been somewhat spoiled, and also well trained. Her hands went through his hair, and when her fingers would catch on the knots, she'd pause her progress and silently studied all of the dirt within his fur and hair. And the blood.
Despite a few arrow wounds, the beast seemed ok, and food easily perked up it's spirits. She found a brush nearby and moved about to groom his fur, the beast snorting contentedly through it's nose while she worked at the fur along his powerful neck. Even his eyes seemed to coo as the horse shifted his weight from the left hoof to the other.
Yes, they'd have to go fetch some apples. Raising her head, it was only then she realized Radimir had disappeared, and even the horse peered back at her, nudging her arm and nibbling lightly at her fingers. SHe turned to the horse, brushing a hand down his long nose before glancing over her shoulder yet again. A frown had replaced her uneasy smile, violet eyes glancing through the barn as she called out, "Radimir?"
But the short cry from the streets alerted her something was wrong and her heart sank, fear clutching her entire body in one terrifying motion that froze her into place. She didn't have to be there to know Radimir was in trouble. Even the horse knew and began to fuss, pulling it's head violently from where he had been bound.
"Shh, shh, easy Thorian." She tried to sooth him, but the beast raised up, powerful front legs pawing at the air as it gave a shrill cry.
Zarrah cringed and hoped no one had heard the ruckus as she tried to calm the beast, but seeing as Thorian could not be sated, she contemplated unbinding him, but being too afraid of his injury, she moved away, backing up against a wall while her mind raced at a million miles a minute. She had no weapon on her, nothing at all but the meager clothing on her back. But she had to do something, anything, and so before anyone could take notice of the horse's fit, she slipped outside of the stable and peered down the road just in time to spot Radimir several blocks down the street with a familiar female slaver standing over him, whip in hand. Pressing to the shadows, she silently rushed towards them, anger, hope and fear all broiling inside her blood, helping to lend her strength. But in that moment she could not feel her legs, or even her body. She was too struck, she was panicked, she was afraid.
He had been caught. But no, they couldn't be caught! Not after this! Not after fighting and running so far! Their life outside the desert was just in grasp, the plains from another country finally in view. But there he was, the woman bent over him, whip in hand while another pair of her own men were quick on the scene. It was only when she noticed the other men did sense finally catch up to her and Zarrah froze in place, pressing herself against the shadows of a building and watched from a closer distance. But she knew she'd have to think, and would have to think fast-
After all.. as her mind whirled..
there were quite a lot of items at her disposal.. thankfully Radimir had been spotted and caught inside the market place.
Slipping closer, she looked for anything useful while keeping one watchful eye on Radimir- her head turning only once towards the fading noise of Thorian- it sounded as if the horse might burst from the stables. She could only hope the noise hadn't carried down into the market- and that some sort of miracle could be had.
She owed it to him anyways. It wasn't fair..
To drag Radimir so far away from him home... To drag him on some god forsaken mission and for what?
And all he would get out of it was a fake love, and confusion.
No...
She owed him far more than that. And she owed herself to figure it out. Why she felt comforted when he was near- why she was falling prey to her own emotions when he was at her side.
Yes, it was true she had fallen in love with Castor Bane, and all it had gotten her was abandonment. And here was a man, challenging her own intuition and wanting to help her become free of everything within her life without a cost, without a price-
She'd be damned if she'd let a love or friendship like that slip by. After all, she owed Radimir her life. Even if it ever came down to her last one.
Radimir struggled as the slavers suddenly surrounded him, Nyala standing back as she watched them grab him up limb by limb, holding him firmly. People were just beginning to emerge from their houses in that early morning, and began to slowly swarm the market, mindful of the shadows that lurked between houses. As the village was small, the market was it's life's blood, it's source of wealth and security. There were other slavers there, to which Nyala spoke to and there was nodding between them.
Izar was nowhere to be found, but Radimir knew the man must have been around somewhere, no doubt nursing his wounds. It wasn't a shame he wasn't able to beat him to death when he'd had the chance. And just as chance would have it, he saw Izar's dark face, bruised and cut, savaged by fists of fury as he was dragged to the block, chains already ready.
Nyala, it seemed, had already organized for some of her stock to be sold in this squat town! Radimir's face paled and his heart sank, how could they've known that where'd they'd set to flee and fly was directly into the belly of the beast. For this squat little town, the slave trade seemed to be just as prevalent as the pighole they'd escaped from. And maybe she didn't have Zarrah, but in this place of blood and gold, sometimes one out of two wasn't bad.
Radimir was thrown into submission, forced down as the chains were clasped around him, chained to the massive stone slab on the skin-trade side of the market. "I told you they wouldn't get far, Izar," Nyala said, staring down at Radimir with a cold scoffing gaze. "I also told you to let that bitch get away. She's not worth the trouble. He'll do. We could easily fetch five maybe ten thousand for him."
"We'd get five times that for the Lady of the Desert," Izar grumbled through his bloodied and bandaged face. "How do you know she didn't come along with this one!? She can't be far behind!"
"I said let it go! He'll do. Sell, him to some rich trader up north. You know the pompous ones that look for their kicks in the 'exotic' type. He'll fetch a good price. That I promise you. Now, here, take this. We'll have to sell off his crap too, except this whip. It's quality is incomparable. Go easy on him, will ya."
Nyala smirked at Radimir as he struggled in his chains. She approached him and knelt to his eyelevel. "You be a good boy and we might let you go without a scratch. Shame...all this wasted flesh," she sighed, grazing her nails against his face. But before she moved away, she leaned in and kissed him softly, shoving her tongue into his mouth. Radimir pulled away in disgust, spitting off to the side. She pinched his chin affectionately before moving away.
Shortly after that, Izar grinned and moved behind him, whirling the whip and letting it sting the air, Radimir's cry following close behind.
Zarrah grit her teeth. There seemed nothing she could do for Radimir now. He was already hauled off, and she could have chewed on all of the cuss words that were sputtering beneath her breath. With a hot sigh, she slipped back into the stable, knowing full well Thorian would need to be calmed.
And the beast was quite riled. It seemed he knew, and could even hear his master's screams.
"There, there, calm down. Shhh. Shhh, it'll be ok. Don't you worry. We'll save him. We'll save Radimir." It just might take some time. She needed supplies, she needed the night- and a few good men. After all, money wasn't cheap; and her skills could be expensive. She knew Radimir wouldn't want her to do it but... what choice did they have? She wasn't a thief- though she supposed she could be. She killed people after all, what was picking some pockets? Truth be told, she wanted to cause a stir, start some commotion.
They were on the boarder of the desert..
If her stories reached all the way out here and word got to those slavers..
She could only hope they'd take the bait.
Creeping back out into the streets, she remained studying everything from the roof top. Once she secured the location and all of the men in the caravan and on the street with Radimir, she began to contemplate her strategy, but it seemed fate had other thing in mind-
and before Zarrah knew what was going on- Radimir was being dragged away.
Wait was he..
Were they taking him to the selling block!? Cursing, she followed silently as best she could. Gods be damned if they were going to sell him now...
Radimir's feet dragged as they yanked him along to the selling block. The market place was tearing at the seams with all the people that had come to the see the new assets that were set up for sale. Radimir had been outfitted with considerably fewer chains than before, he was sweating fromt he strain of his torture, trying his best to remain calm.
He didn't know what lay before him, who would bid for him, where they'd take him. But he stood there on the block when it was his turn for the auction, proud, strong, shoulders back. The blood had been cleaned from his back though the marks were fresh and still stung. Izar stood first, introducing the latest asset. "Here my good ladies and gentleman, is a young male of Essyrni descent, strong, well-built, ready for labor, or pit-fighting. Notice his stance, he must weight close to two hundred pounds, but he's a strong one! Let's start the bidding at two hundred gold!"
The people in the crowd murmured amongst themselves. There was some commotion in the background when a woman raised her hand with an impressed smirk. "Two hundred here," she said. Her dress was foreign, possibly somewhere north, but he couldn't be sure.
"Make that five hundred!" a man said from the other end of the crowd.
The woman paled and glared at the man and immediately made a bet for a thousand gold. The betting began to pick up then and even Izar was having a hard time keeping up.
The bidding was turning into a circus, and Zarrah needed to act fast. Radimir's life, his freedom, his everything was at stake, and there she was, only able to watch helplessly from the roof top. Should she try a daring rescue and risk losing both their lives amongst the throng of people? Or should she continue to bide her time and strike when the time was right? Her gaze narrowed as she chewed on the inside of her mouth. Damn it. She had nothing to aid her except the beast back at the barn. But would it be enough?
No, she'd have to wait. There'd be a chance, an opening. She could catch who buys him, stalk them, follow them to where ever it was they were going, and find a chance to get him free. It was the least she could do for him. She just hoped he could wait it out. After all, attacking caravan's in the dead of night was her specialty. Yes.. she'd bide her time for now, spot who would purchase the viper mage and begin the slow stalking of her prey.
She had a deep hatred for slavers and masters. Perhaps it would be time to teach them all a lesson. So she held her breath, lips twitching as she smirked as the price went up and up.
Well, she thought in good humor. If she had but known how much money Radimir would cost...
but her humor did not quell the tension that gripped her. Radimir... yes. She'd see him through this if it was the last thing she did.
She had three tries left, after all.
Oh wait.. make that two.
OOC: I swear I'll make a more useful Zarrah post eventually :T just not sure if you had specific plans on what type of slaver he'd be sold to XD
BUT THEN I CAN HAVE ZARRAH ATTEMPT TO MAKE AN EPIC ATTACK ON HIS CARAVAN OR SOMETHING *flails* but I guess we shall see :T
Radimir tensed as his price increased with very bidder. Between the man and the woman that had started the bidding, a few brave souls entered here and there to throw in their price, only to be squashed by the eagerness of the first two bidders that were now duking it out. Radimir didn't know which was the lesser of two evils, but he'd rather be free of these chains than be forced to choose. The price soon reached approximately ten thousand gold, the high end of Nyala's estimate, the man throwing out the number in final price.
But the woman only smiled coyly. "Fifteen thousand, and a trade."
"Not interested," Izar cried out. "We're trying to get rid of our stock not get anymore!"
Nyala punched him from the side and he quickly stumbled, glancing at her then the woman. He scowled but knew better than question Nyala's judgment. He grinned a toothy, bloodied grin before nodding to the woman. "Sold! To the woman with the emerald green eyes."
Radimir blanched, the sun blinding him to the woman. She whooped and the men surrounding her made way as she jumped from the wagon she'd been sitting in, grinning at her prize. She approached the selling block as Radimir's chains were moved and the whip cracked against him to get moving. He didn't even flinch but kept his eyes to the ground as he was moved away for transfer of payment. "Here it is," the woman said, and behind her, her cohorts pulled her slave girls along. They were skinny things, not quite starved but lovely if only they took a bath. Izar gave one of them a grin.
"That one there," he said, pointing to a red-haired one.
"Oh, no, she's not for sale, but you may two of my half-elves. They'll do you much better. Here take them. Palla and Panem."
Radimir lowered his gaze, even as the red-haired slave woman looked him over, with some appreciation but said nothing. He could only hope that Zarrah had gotten away from here, run, even with Thorian. He didn't think she'd come to his rescue after all. But as he turned his eyes toward the sun he saw a strange shape on the rooftops, and he squinted, but he didn't need to look long to know that it was Zarrah, and the corner of his mouth tugged in a smile as they dragged him off toward the wagon, whip and what remained of his gear in tow.
OOC: Mature content trigger
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Madame LeFaente, ( as Zarrah had come to hear her name be declared) , was an interesting breed of woman. With a loose, fur trimmed robe that hugged only at her waist, and a layered dress worn beneath that hugged her curves exquisitely, adding in the regal and dominating look she was going for. She had thick, ruby red lips that shimmered like the massive ruby she wore on her middle finger, a jewel that seemed to almost consume her entire left hand. And pearls were wrapped around her neck and wrists, pearls even attached around thin chains that held her female slaves together, giving her accessories a more decorative feel. Yes, it was her eccentricity that leant the dark hair, jade eyed woman a sense of power and style- a formidable appearance to anyone who might cross her path.
She wasn't a heavy woman, just heavy with curves and she did eat well, giving her a full figure and plumper limbs than her slave women, who were well toned from their duties, but not too much. She gestured for them all to follow, one holding a black umbrella over her head as she made her way towards the rear wagons of her caravan, grinning as her prize was brought forth. But she was impatient and the men were being too slow, so she gave a brisk snap of her finger.
"Just bring him here. I want to look the man over."
And so they obliged, locking Radimir in place, metal cuffs about his wrists and legs, keeping him restrained enough, while another hung tight around his neck. The cuffs were all linked together via chains, where they attached to a wooden block that then was attached to another, thicker chain that was latched to the last wagon car.
Her approach was swift as Madame LaFaente grabbed firmly at Radimir's chin, looking at him this way and that, examining his snake-like eyes again and running a hand through his hair.
"A little dirty, but.."S he sighed, placing her hands to her hips as she looked him over with an appreciative smirk. "I think you'll clean up just nicely." Her eyes sparkled wickedly as she looked into his eyes.
"Come on,"s he gestured to the men. "Strip of him of his clothes." And so they did, and another gesture, another command had them dosing him down with water. The madame obviously stayed and watched the affair, a cigarette freshly lit as she stared at him, the end glowing hot orange, like the fadign burn of hte sun as the sweet scents of tobacco and smoke wafted through the air.
"Now get the soaps and scrub him down. Can't have his fleas getting on the rest."
.....
.........
Elsewhere, Zarrah had since moved down from the rooftop, keeping to the shadows and ever wary of the streets. Izar and Nyala's men were still in town, which lent a whole new sense of urgency and delicacy to her situation. She needed a costume, she needed metal, blades, knives, anything that could cut. She would find what she needed, in due time. She was working like a whisper here, a phantom there, all the while Izar seemed to itch at her echo of noise.
"What's wrong?" Nyala asked. And Izar, his eyes searching the roads, would eventually shrug and turn back to her.
"Nothign- I just thought.."
Nyala smirked. "You think the lady phantom might find us here?" Her grin grew. "Fine, let her come. We've gotten our money. And plenty of."
"Yes, but you do not know her reputation," Izar began."She is as ruthless and unrelenting as the desert heat." He shook his head. "You are from the jungle. You still have muhc to learn about the desert. But come, let us enjoy our wine and pork. I'm sure our dinner is ready by now."
The sun was beginning to set, the clouds staining across the skies in the color of wine. Long shadows stretched away from the west, while the hustle and bustle from the day began to surrender into gentle murmurs of the night. The stars began to twinkle, a light, chipped frame of the moon hanging over head and as Izar and Nyala were enjoying their wine and pig, Zarrah had a group of men enjoying their fix. The back streets were hardly appropriate, but most men who had her often times took her where ever they pleased, and the street was as good a place as any. She had her cheek against the sandstone outter wall of a building, a large man behind her, moving fast, grunting as the noises and pants echoed down the street.
They were the exact types of men she lead astray, lead into the shadows with the promise of sin. They owned slaves of their own, the man fucking her the being the man who had lost the bid and was quite upset with himself. He had seen Radimir and wanted to add him to his collection, after all, he loved fine specimen of men and women alike, so when a dark haired beauty approached him at the tavern, pouting her lips and moving her sultry hips about, he easily took homage with her.
He spilled all he knew about Madame LaFaente and what a wealthy bitch she was and how her tastes even outmatched his own (after all,s he had even come to find the pair had a brief affair and had at one point, almost considered marriage. Too bad LaFaente did not want to be tamed).
He was still sore over that, it seemed, and over what happened through the day. He couldn't believe she cheated him out of such a prize. It didn't take long for Zarrah to make a friend, to eye up his men, his wares, and his slaves. His name as Hsiro, and once Zarrah had gotten him good and drunk, he, and a tall, muscular, dark as night skinned slave, accompanied them into the night. Their walk had gone on, their strides slow, and eventually Zarrah's lips and hands were guiding him down the way, to a more private perch in the alley, where she was currently being ravage at his will.
Yes, he had money, he had power, and he had every single supply she needed. He also had her ticket to getting closer to Radimir. The man was howling by now, his large hands entangling harshly into her thick, black hair as he pulled her close, body striking in her deep with his seed. It wasn't until after he was done did he release his grip. Zarrah had her teeth gritted. He had nearly torn out her hair. She had considered just stealing his knife and gutting him right there- but she needed more information, more supplies, and clothing to help her slip into the shadows of the night.
So shfiting beneath him, she captured his lips against her own.
"Take me back to your place," she said, voice husky as hands smoothed down his chest. Hsiro smirked, nodded and took her under his wing, guiding her back to his small caravan and the temporary residence he'd had since made his home. And it seemed one round wasn't enough for the stocky man. After the two enjoyed fine food and dining, she was up again for half the night trying to sate him, using about all that she had. The man was insatiable, and all the while they were grinding and mating and melting together, she could only think of one thing that allowed her to enjoy the moment.
Radimir.
Taken into a world of pretend, she eventually ignored Hsiro's stink and imaging she was out in the oasis, the sweet smell of fruit sticky on their flesh- back to the time she wanted Radimir and it had been good and wonderful and beautiful when she had chosen to unite with him, in making love. So when, he (Hsiro) was sated, so was she, laying there nad breathing and pretending to sleep at the man's side. When Hsiro finally was asleep, Zarrah pulled herself away from his side and took a moment to wipe the sex and sweat from her.
She went through his things next, money, clothing, jewelry, knives, even finding an ornate little fan blade, which made her smirk as she examined it. It seemed almost as if fate brought her back to her old game. Then, with supplies freshly in tow she slipped out into the night, back into the barn where Thorian had been waiting and held a finger to her lips. The horse's ears perked up, and it stomped it's foot once and gave a swish of it's tail.
She patted it's head, kissing it's long nose before whispering to him, "Come. It's time we save your master."
[Brainz are BLAH! O_O]
Radimir ignored the pain of his present wounds. That was the least of his worries since he'd been chained and rechained to the apparatus. He locked eyes with his new mistress, determined not to give her the satisfaction of futile resistance, his expression stoic, but alive, and he knew she too saw the life in his eyes. And that made her grin only widen as the soft glow of her smoke permeated the evening air.
After being scrubbed of the dirt and blood that caked on him, Radimir had been given rather fine rags compared to what he assumed she would give him. He wore a loose white tunic that was tucked into his loose white trousers, soft fine silk with a leather belt that had been strapped around his waist. He'd been then led to her villa, a small but very decorated townhouse she'd been renting for her brief visit.
As the day waned into night, she had tasted him, sampled him that she might compare him to others and what place in her collection he'd be most suitable for. Though he did not ask, nor would speak to her in any way, he did not learn what the results of her assessment were and before he knew it, he was escorted to her evening carriage that would cross the Plains toward the North that night.
Radimir knew Zarrah was out there. Though whether she'd come for him, he didn't know. He only hoped she was smart enough to get to her own safety and take care of Thorian. Though perhaps the horse was more inclined to take care of her. Radimir sat in the back of the rear carriage as the three carriages began to exit the town, heading North through the Plains.
The moon was high overhead and he could see it through the wagon bars. If Zarrah was coming, he could only hope it was soon.
OOC: It's ok- my brain just got hooked on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKkLV1zE8M0
T_T *tries to push musical songs away in attempts to post*
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Slipping onto the back of the blood bay stallion, Thorian and Zarrah rode off into the night, the horse's hooves thundering against the ground. She pressed against the horse, becoming sleek and melting into him as the pair stormed off as a figure of shadow and might. Though the location was different, all the tactics would be the same, as the Lady of the Desert quickly approached her prey.
This woman, Madame LaFaente, had quite the coin purse and wasn't entirely a fool. Perhaps a woman with some eccentricities, but certainly not a fool. The rear of the caravan, though small, was guarded by a group of men- a few more than Zarrah had anticipated, but not that that mattered. She dealt with large numbers before, even bested a man like Castor (well, eventually; and he was what- part demon?). Besides, the shadows would become her friend, and as the caravan neared a more slender pass, moving through a narrow chasm, Zarrah gave Thorian one silent gesture and the horse moved off. She smirked. Radimir had trained his beast well. But she could compliment him later, right now she had to work on breaking him free
Slipping across the hard, crusted land, she moved silent and stealthy as the night, becoming a phantom. When the moon would break through the clouds, she'd pause, study the caravan, and then when the veil of clouds would return, she slipped back out into the mask of darkness an the first man went down. The small knife would have been hardly noticeable, except after he went down, blood gurgling from his neck.
There were five men in all, and it didn't take them long to notice when one man went down.
"Hey- Astalar!?" one man spoke. Oh good, he'd be her next victim.
A glint of metal had him silenced in a moment, the man dropping to the ground, gasping and bleeding from his throat, suffering the same fate as the other man.
Now the numbers were a bit more easier. Three against one wasn't bad.
The man moved about uneasily, weight's shifting, eyes glued to the desert.
But after a time, the mysterious force did not come.
Uneasily one man asked the other-
"Do you think we should warn the Madame?"
"The madame has already been warned," came a voice, then the noise of drawing steel as she moved to be at her men's side. "I have eyes all over my possessions. What's going on here-"
But then a knife move, and she barely caught it in time as Madame LaFaente moved just in time for the damn thing to sunk into her shoulder. Letting out a noise of surprise, then rage, she pointed one angered finger towards the darkness.
"FIND THEM! WHOEVER THEY ARE! AND KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"
But weren't they all surprised when just a single horse and rider came storming towards them, moving like a phantom and charging clean their way- giving neither the rider nor the caravan any means of escape.
Surprise had them at her mercy, for as she passed by she used a thin blade to lob off one man's head, then turned around and slashed another across the face, sending him spiraling to the ground ina fit of blood and panic, and to the last man- well, he took off running, as Zarrah grinned and tossed a knife at his back, downing him in one swift motion before jerking the horse towards the woman, this Madame LaFaente as thrust her sword towards the woman in one quick motion and demanded, "Where's the man? The one with snake eyes." Zarrah hissed.
Madame LaFaente, now pinned against her own carts, stood there, pressed against the wood with her large chest heaving with breath. And if she were to think of any funny business, Zarrah pressed just the tip of the blade against her throat, drawing blood. The Madame gritted her teeth.
"He's just behind me," she said, pointing to the cart she was pressed against. Zarrah stared at it a moment in surprise, then hesitated before calling out, "Radimir!?"
her voice echoed into the night, but everything seemed so quiet.. too quiet.. unnaturally so.
The assault came swiftly and quietly and to the untrained ear, one might think it was little more than a trick of the wind. But to Radimir's he knew the wound of singing blades and gurgling blood just as well as Zarrah did and his heart leapt into his throat at the sounds of hooves softly running across the grassy sand, what remained of the desert lands. Thorian! Zarrah! They had come and his face was wet with tear of joy though he didn't dare make a sound unless he was wrong.
He held his breath and listened with all his might at the voices outside of the carriages. The men were confused and when they finally realized someone was upon them, they were quickly dispatched, the last one plopping to the ground with little more than a dull thump. Radimir looked out his barred window, unable to see more than a few shapes in the dirt, waiting still for more sounds.
But his heart found its rest when he heard Zarrah's voice and he dropped to his knees. He came to the bars, shackles clanking against iron as his held onto them, pressing his face to the window. He saw Zarrah then and made a noise of exhilaration but at the sight of the Madame he scoffed in disgust. "Kill her Zarrah and be done with it!" he exclaimed, wishing he could shove the chains through the bars and strangle her himself.
But as he looked past Zarrah something seemed to be walking closer them across the grassy sands. And the closer it came the more it came into view. It seemed to be a man with a bluish hue seeping off of his skin like smoke, a gaping hole from his chest as he dragged his feet across the sands. He moved in shfting spots. Blink and he'd instantly be closer. Blink again and soon he was right behind Zarrah, a spectral blade in his hand.
"BEHIND YOU!" Radimir cried out, recognizing the face of his father, but found only his tongue could not freeze in fear.
[was thinking maybe the ghost could kill the madame or sump'm!]
At Radimir's warning, Zarrah barely moved out of the way in time, just for the ethereal blade to sink clean into the Madame's chest. The woman let out a sputter of breath, a laugh, as blood gurgled and surged within her chest, burning inside her lungs as she coughed.
"Ha! Look, another man with snake eyes," she spoke, a grin twisting across her lips before the life faded from her eyes and she fell limp beneath the blade.
It was only then Zarrah's mind returned to her as she pressed her heels into Thorian's side to back away, panic tensing within them both.
What was this!? The phantom was bleeding off smoke from his skin, it lapping with blue spirits. And the face, she recognized the face as the man turned towards her.
Shit.
It was Radimir's father, and he looked pissed.
Radimir stood frozen as the specter of his father suddenly appeared before them, a ghostly and ghastly apparition that sent chills down into his very soul. He jumped back from the window as the spectral blade pierced through the chest of the Madame and she laughed at the irony before she slumped down. But the blade had not yet left her flesh as it seemed blood began to seep through it and into the hand of the spectral assassin.
Adurim's eyes fluctuated in their glow, in increasing vitality or so it seemed. It's face turned shiftily toward Zarrah and it seemed as though it wanted to plunge the blade through her. But Radimir immediately shot out a hand. "FATHER NO! PLEASE!" he cried out, reaching for the ghostly image of his father. Adurim's image began to falter and as Radimir's hand passed through him, his figure dissipated and it seemed he was carried off by the wind, no longer able to stay manifested for long.
Radimir stood there in silence, his arm half hanging out, the chains still around his wrist. "Father," he whispered. He then remembered Zarrah and his eyes wavered toward hers, not knowing what to say.
Adurim's eyes were enough to pierce into her soul. Fear gripped her, freezing her in place. No, the man was dead. What on earth was he doing here? What had he become? And it wasn't until after the phantom had left that Zarrah remembered to breath, chest heaving as a fever rushed through her, causing her to become weak and drop her sword. As strong and brave as she had always been, she felt about ready to faint on the spot. But she caught herself, dropping to one knee as her mind came back to her, dizzy and her insides ringing.
She took the blade carefully back into her hand, pausing a moment to consider the spectre, but figured to leave it at that. Questions could be answered later. She then turned back to Thorian, who had waited patiently, although troubled as well by the sight, off to one side. She released a held breath and moved swiftly over to Radimir, her hand meeting the one he held out stretched.
"I've come for you, but there's not much time," her eyes met to his, still fearful, wary and wild. "Who knows when that phantom might return."
Or when the rest of Madame LaFaente's men might arrive. "I need a key, or method to get you out of there. Do you know where she had kept the keys?"
OOC: Sorry if this is crappy. Kind of in a bad mood but still wanted to post ;_;
By the mere contact of her hand Radimir was zinged back to earth, back to reality, and back to the fact that he was still chained up in the reinforced carriage. She was right, the rest of her men from the carriage ahead would be arriving soon. He blinked at her and squeezed her hand quite hard as he scrunched his face in thought. "I-I-I remember something about her saying she kept the key in a box in the first carriage. I saw the necklace was around her neck! Oh, please be careful, Zarrah."
And that was all he said before he gave her hand a final squeeze and let go of it reluctantly, watching her bolt off into the darkness, Thorian in tow. He remained silent, holding his breath, hoping she could get the key without a hitch, hoping the men would not hear or see her ahead and those that did were assured a quick and bloody death.
The element of surprise was lost on some, but not on others. With horse and rider tearing through the night, blood glinting like spurts of rubies in the moonlight, staining the sandy dirt and dry grasses along side the wagon. Though her kills were cold as usual, when all was said and done and she was left, breathing hot and heavy at the front of the caravan line, a sparkle of tears threatening in her eyes was caught against the moonlight.
Brushing her dark hair from her face, Zarrah dismounted her steed and slipped into the caravan. The servants, the ones unarmed, she only gave one cold glare towards and they left her alone, not daring to raise an arm against her, even as the dark cloaked figure barked, "Where are the keys? the keys to the chains for the man in the last cell? And the keys to the slave cages?"
It took the red haired servant a time before she muttered, "O.. over there!" And pointed to a single black box resting on a sleek and polished desk, one made completely out of ivory.
She wasn't no time scooping up the box, opening it's contents to find a hook latched with a series of keys. Turning around,s eh noticed the two women in this car were also chained, and paused a moment before working at unlocking their binds.
"There. You are free. Be sure to disappear into the night." And without another word, Zarrah slipped out like a shadow.
Racing back towards the last car, Zarrah dismounted Thorian again and drew out the box with the key, discarding the black box into the sandy dirty while the jingling of keys tinkled across the silent air. After finding the one to open his car, she pulled the heaven wooden door open with a grunt, and it gave a light squeal before moonlight poured into Radimir's cell and then in stepped Zarrah, working at his chains.
"You know we really need to stop finding ourselves in these sort of predicaments," Zarrah said cooly, her voice showing the faintest signs of a joke. She quirked a brow up at him, after releasing his wrists as she stared at his face then neck, a hand gentle upon him. "But at least this time the woman didn't place your face inside a cage." But the soft, tender touch was brief as she dropped to her knees, working at the rest of the chains that bound at his legs and the rest of him. As the last lock was clicked open, the cuffs falling away, dropping heavily towards the floor, Zarrah took a step aside, her body half hidden in shadows, half bathed in moonlight, which carved out her form of half skirts and wraps and elegant garbs of the night, while the fancy jewelry she had stolen was being kissed by the moonlight.
"Are you alright?" she asked, after a time. After all, who knew what that women might have done to him in the short time the pair was apart.
Radimir was blinded by moonlight when the cage door opened and he felt like the invalids that had been living in squalor in the sewers back in the city now so very far away, seeing light for the first time and tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He just stood there, breathless for the longest time despite her humor, watching her unlock the chains from around this wrists, then his ankles, and the weight of all the chains slamming to the wooden floor of the carriage.
They stepped out of that dreadful cage, bodies spilled all around them. Thorian stood off to the side, elated to see his rider again, but made no sound, knowing not to ruin the moment.
Radimir said nothing to her and just stared at her with searching eyes. He wished his heart wouldn't swell as it did so, didn't make his chest feel like it was going to pop open. He took a step closer to her, let his fingers slip over her cheeks, tickling her skin softly. But if she knew what was coming, she would have little time to prepare for it before he swept her up into his arms, tightly around her, muscles clenching with no small measure of relief. He made a noise of that relief, of that sorrow, of that happiness all wrapped into one as his pressed his lips to hers, kissing her hungrily, softly but passionately as if he'd never thought he'd see her again, turning his head this way and that until his lungs screamed for air.
He licked his lips when at last he pulled away and set her down on the ground and immediately moved toward Thorian. He braced his face against the horse's massive chest and it seemed the beast also hugged him back, neighing in pure elation. "Wait, before I forget," he said, turning to Zarrah for a brief moment. He went back to the carriage but did not find what he was looking for. But as he searched the bodies of the guards, he soon found his gear, lost and taken from him by the slavers. He snatched off his boots and leather cuirass and sword and whip, still slick here and there with his blood.
After throwing it on, he stalked back to Zarrah and grinned at her. "Let's get the hell out of here!" he said as he mounted Thorian, the horse happy to feel that familiar weight on him once again, and reached out a hand for Zarrah to climb up behind him. "There will be time to thank you for this properly later."
Her breath was stolen away. Though it was only for a moment, the kiss felt like the rush of an hour, the slow swing of the pendulum of a weighted clock and the grinding force and weight of the cosmos all driving into her with remarkable power and need. When it was over, she stood there a moment, dazed. And it took several seconds more for her mind to catch up to the frantic beating of her heart.
Thankfully the darkness of the caravan car hid the heat on her face, and when she stepped back out into the moonlight, the coolness of the air was refreshing. And she was smiling, although subtly as she observed the horse embrace rider, before moving forward and joining him on the saddle. She slipped her arms around him and leaned into his back.
"Don't worry about thanking me. Let's just ride."
Thorian was all too happy to be gone from this place, from the slaughter of dead men and the sound of chains that jingled when the air passed through them, tinkling like soft chimes. The only thing that could be heard then was the pounding of hooves beating against the sand and grass as the desert truly began to sink its distance from them, the last dregs of an hourglass as it sunk toward the base, and they pressed onward the distant glass of an uncertain future as that small containing structure came shattering to the ground, splattering sand everywhere and they were free at last. Riding toward the moon.
Radimir said nothing, his mind roiling over with thoughts of what he'd seen of all that happened. The night air swept against his fleshy cooly, reminding him that he'd been sweating somehow, though he didn't know why. The vision of his father made him afraid, made him wonder what that had meant. Was the Serpent God taking its vengeance out on the last of his Order by sending the specter of his father to kill him? But no! The blade had been meant for Zarrah! The blade that missed.
He tried to push the thoughts from his mind and continued to press Thorian into the plains, the grass thickening, civilization far behind them.
The grounds continued to roll by. More and more tall sweet grass welcomed them, seemign to stretch on forever like a sea of brown and green, while the desert faded far behind them as a singular mirage on the horizon. The grasses were rustling, the noise almost foreign to her ears, as were the noises, the heavy hums of cricket and meadow birds.
Over head, the air was stirring, the air was alive. Dark clouds were passing over head, thunder growling off in the distance and echoing as a dangerous purr across the wide expansive plans. The winds picked up, howling around them and pushing against their skin and hair.
Rain.
The first droplets came down, one at a time, soft and sweet and cool. Zarrah's eye went up towards the sky, just as a bolt of lighting streaked over head. And a few more cool droplets continued to fall about them, delicate and light.
Rain.
How long had it been since rain ever fell in the Moraki desert? How long had a thunderstorm rolled across the sands and flooded them with it's sudden down pours?
And then, in a blink, a wall of rain came rushing towards them, engulfing them in it's world.
Her lips twitched as she felt her clothing soak against her skin, slicking it against her body and hugging each and every curve. The air smelled wonderful, and it seemed to make Radimir's natural musk more apparent as she sighed and breathed him in, feeling her heart stir at the echo of that kiss from but a moment ago.
Rain.
Everything seemed to be crashing like the sweetness of the pouring rain.
It was such a sweet surprise, like the softness of her lips now as they moved against his neck while the pair rode onward. And then her mouth was moving up and up until she was whispering softly against his ear.
"You should stop the horse," she purred, her voice nearly lost in the sudden drumming of a wave of thunder. It hitched, like an itch in the back of her throat as her arms moved and hugged onto him even tighter, hands moving soft and flat against the soft, lower skin of his belly, just above the rim of his pants.
Radimir had only seen rain a few times in his life, and he couldn't be sure when was the last time. He was pleasantly surprised when the rain came down on them, it was cool and suddenly his body seemed unprepared for it as it sleeked his skin back, against the leather of his armor, making his clothes stick to him as Thorian danced in the rain, prancing though he was galloping. The horse neighed, happy to feel it against the heat of his skin.
Radimir only wanted to continue onward to leave the desert behind. The feel of Zarrah behind him reminded him why he was on this journey, so far away from the place he'd called home all his life. Reminded him there was still something left to fight for in this world.
More chills passed through him as the sheet of rain came down harder, sweeping across the plains and making the grassy slick and billow over with wind and rain. But it was when she whispered to him that he realized those chills came from her lips. He turned around to face her, uncertain he wanted to stop. But it seemed Thorian was tired of the run and more than willing to graze on fresh grass and drink in what he could of the fresh rain.
Radimir's hand swept over her hand, squeezing it tightly against his belly as his head turned and nodded to her. He threw his leg over Thorian's head and dropped down into the soft knoll that raised just a little, and held out his arms to help her from the saddle.
Once she was off the horse, she even surprised herself as she leaned forward and kissed him. Just lightly, loosely, a single foot tipping up as she leaned into it. But just as quickly as the sweet moment was created, it was gone, and Zarrah was rushing off and running among the tall grasses. Water pelted her, slicking down her clothing as her skirts slapped and snapped against her ankles as she ran. It felt good, it felt free and everything here felt sweeter and somehow more complete.
Life was gushing all around them as she put her arms out, letting them graze across the tops of the sweet grass before she tumbled into a cartwheel and let herself spill happily into a laugh upon the ground, her body fanning out, black hair fanned out above her head as she stared up at the skies. And rain fell down upon her face. And she smiled as broadly as she ever had, and was smiling so much, laughing so much it actually began to hurt.
It felt so good.
She as free.
The desert was gone and she was free.
Radimir stood off to the side, watching her spinning and dancing like a child feeling rain for the first time. In truth, he couldn't stop the elation that rolled in his own stomach and he could have sworn his heart leapt in his chest just watching her cartwheel through the grass until at last she tumbled into the ground, the grass billowing around her.
Radimir laughed out loud, and soon he tumbled down beside her, head facing where her legs were and and spread his arms over his head, loving the feel of the rain against his skin. "It's beautiful isn't it?" he said aloud, laughing. "I've never seen so much of it at one time."
Lighting flickered over head, as Zarrah turned affectionately towards Radimir.
"Yes. You don't see this everyday at the desert." she sighed and melted back into the grass. For now the pair seemed hidden beneath the grasses, Thorian off to the side, enjoying the sweet roots of the tall grass. It felt so secluded and personal, so relaxing and perfect, and it showed in her eyes as she leaned on her side and admired Radimir in sweet silence before slowly crawling over top of him, hands like paws in the grass beside him, them moving to pin him beneath her. Her dark hair was wet and tickled at his face while fat droplets rippled down the curling tips and dribbled onto his body below her. She smiled, and as another flash of lighting flickered over head, before the light had faded, her lips sealed to his, melting sweetly and softly, as tender and inviting as the rain.
Radimir gave a small gasp as she crawled over him and he felt an immediate swell below his waist despite the coldness of the rain. He said nothing at her, just smiled as she hung over him, her hair tickling his face over his body over his arms. And his hands came up to her hips, hugging the soft swell of her form, pushing her skirts up when at last her lips met to his, as sweet as they were.
He was hungry for more, his tongue slipping softly into her mouth, running along hers as he drank her in sensually, letting the rain slip down her hair and onto his face as his hands moved up along her sides and he just held her close to him. He pulled away to catch his breath, which clearly had been stolen. "We made it," he whispered to her. "We're finally out of that dreadful place."
"That we did," she said, taking his hand and holding it against her face. It was only in that moment that she found herself drifting back to thoughts of Castor. The happiness that once sparkled within her eyes faded as she looked down at Radimir as she sat upon him, frowning.
"Well, not all of us are free," she said, before pulling herself up off of his body and turning away as she stood, staring out at the vastness of the grasses swaying in the winds. The rains continued to pelt down upon them, finally making her realize she was cold as she shivered. There was a flicker of lighting, a gentle rumble of thunder. But her mind was lost elsewhere, staring off at the distant horizon, remembering, thinking, recalling, loving... Castor.
Radimir was embarrassed frankly and when she moved off of him, he sat up, his hand hiding his groin for a minute, thankful for the darkness and rain until he felt he was able to stand without too much shame. "You're right," he said, knowing who she was talking about. "But only time will tell, frankly." He smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder before walking back toward Thorian. "We should find a place to camp for the night. Or perhaps we can walk. There's a leather sheet bundled in one of the saddlebags. You're welcome to it. C'mon then, we can't stand around."
Zarrah nodded, turning to Radimir and offering him a smile.
"I'd prefer to walk for a time. There's...a lot on my mind, I don't think I could sleep. Perhaps we could make our way to the grouping of trees over there." SHe pointed towards a trio of skeletal trees, gnarled branches reaching up towards the raining skies. "By then I might be thoroughly exhausted." and she looked at Radimir, examining him as she approached, a gentle hand resting on his arm. "How are you? I mean.."s he looked away sheepishly. "If you need to ride on Thorian I'll understand." She lifted her head. "After all, you've been through alot today." Never mind what she had to go through to get him out. He had been in the den of the lion, and no doubt his brief time ha hardly been fun. Women (or even men) like Madame LaFaente were cruel that way with their slaves, their toys...
"I think Thorian could use a rest," Radimir admitted, trying not to think about what happened with the Madame. He didn't answer for a time, just kept walking beside her as they were led to the trees. But he kept his head down the entire time, not bearing to look at her, unable to bear even the beauty around them as the rain came tumbling down. By the time they made it to the trees, Radimir took the wrapped leather sheet from the saddle bag of Thorian, the horse grazing nearby and threw it over a few gnarled branches that hung out, to shield them from the rain. He shivered there and knew it was probably best to get out of his wet clothes before he died of pneumonia. When he was undressed, he set them on the smaller branches and rested in the grass with a blanket over him, shivering just a little.
He just stared ahead of him. But he couldn't ignore it any longer. "She fucked me. That's what you want to know right? Well, she did. And it hurt, quite a bit. It wasn't the usual way," he said, keeping his eyes from having to look at her. "She had peculiar...tastes. And not all of them were good. At least not for me. I'm not sure I could say any of them were..."
Zarrah sat with him in silence beneath their make shift tent, the noise of the pelting rain against the leather blanket over head seemed timeless. After a time, she lifted her violet eyes over to him. She too, had abandoned some of her clothing, at least the robe that had been sopping wet and had hung it on a nearby tree branch where it was more dry, under the tent. A fire would have been nice, it would have made it cozier, and warmer as she shivered and moved closer to his side, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Radimir," she told him, her eyes seeking his before she moved to wrap her arms around him and just held him tightly. "I understand how cruel those tricks are of men and women. Only caring to sate the flesh but not the heart. It's cruel and wicked." She sighed, and just held onto him, not wanting to let go, nor could she. Even she needed the moment, the closeness, the heart. Though they were without a fire, there was at least a warmth between the two of them- , she hoped it would be enough to make it alright.
He only nodded to her and physically tensed as she put her arms around him. He reminded himself it was only her however, reminded himself that the Madame was dead and that they were safe for now, away from even the slavers who thought they were bought and sold already, well, him more than Zarrah anyhow. Radimir opened up the blanket for her and invited her inside to share the warmth. Years in the desert trained his body to brace heat rather than cold and her company was more than welcome.
Radimir turned to look at Zarrah but despite the rain he could smell something on her that smelled strange. He let out a hand from the warmth of the blanket, took it to her chin and coaxed her face to look at him. "Zarrah? How did you know where to find me?" he asked, his eyes intent.
She took the invitation to join him inside the blanket. It was warm, cozy, comfortable and warm. She sighed as she nestled in beside him, but after a time, he had moved his hand and lifted her chin to look at him, and she blinked, staring at him curiously and felt herself struck dumb by his words. Her lips wavered, a smile was there but not one that would reach her eyes. Her eyes were full of melancholy as she took his hand and guided it to her lips and breathed against them, hoping to keep them warm. Bu the eyes ever left his.
"I know how to get men to talk," she informed him, frowning for just a second before she smiled. "My husband trained me well and I knew how to get what I wanted. It works for all men, the man included who had wanted you for himself and fought fiercely in the bidding. It seemed he knew this Madame LaFaente and both it seems," she siad with a shrug. "Are of similar stalk. Men will talk your ear off if you give them a good lay." She smiled again, though it was flat and she looked away, feeling guilty all the same. "So he told me everything. And then I took what I wanted from him when I slept and followed the caravan into the night. And the rest you already know."
Radimir's guts twisted at the revelation, that she was forced to resort to old tricks in order to obtain his freedom. But he knew there was little other choice that she had and though it saddened him, he knew he could not punish her for it. She did what she had to do. She did it for him, she broke him free of bondage and brought him out to the plains. Though he could not hide the sorror from his face he leaned into her and nuzzled his nose against her cheek, kissing her softly there.
"All I could ever say is thank you," Radimir said to her. "There's nothing I could do to pay you back. At least nothing I could think of... Thank you! Thank YOU! For everything." He couldn't help himself and let his mouth nuzzle further against her, let his lips linger across her rain-scented flesh just for a time, just hugged her close to him, wanting to say the words.
Zarrah too, felt soured and wretched for what she had done- but what other choice did she have? Time was of the essence, and she was lucky the Madame hadn't castrated him or worse during her foreplay with Hsiro. But at Radimir's affections, she tensed, feeling chills shock through her as they ribboned in tickles across her skin before fading away, like a decay. She frowned, felt her eyes sting even as her heart swelled for the man that held her. And his thanks had a single salted tear slipping down her cheeks.
Gods, she wanted him. She wanted him so bad. But she was too terrified and afraid. And also reluctant to give up on the other man she had so desperately loved. Castor, poor Castor..
but even the reminder of him wasn't enough to stop her from enjoying Radimir's warmth, his company, his affections as she leaned into him, turning her face and softly sealing her lips beside his.
"You don't have to thank me,"s he whispered, words as delicate as rain. "I wanted to rescue you." Her eyes then met to his as she smiled. She cupped his face, feeling the tough but smooth skin of his cheek and side of his jaw. "Who else can I rely on incase I find more invalids to rescue from sewers?" Then, as the hint of joke was raised, she added. "And besides, I could use a friend with a horse."
Radimir was tingling with warmth all over as he nuzzled his face in closer to hers, feeling her breath splay across his face when she spoke to him. He actually managed to laugh amidst the own tears that welled in his eyes, just happy to have someone he could rely on, someone so near. A tear fell and he wiped it away with his thumb, hand still wet when he caressed his hand over her face.
Smiling against her lips, he kissed her once more. "There are so few people I could trust in my life. I'm just glad I could rely on you. You don't know how much that means to me, Zarrah. I thought you would have abandoned me for sure," he whispered to her. "I would have hoped that you'd have taken Thorian and left that place. Gone and taken care of yourself, even if you'd have left me behind. But I'm glad you didn't." He pulled the blanket tighter around them, smelling all over her more potently now, pressing his lips softly to her forehead.
"You'd think I'd really just steal your horse?" she joked, a smile tugging leftward.
Zarrah could have cried the emotions were so overwhelming. She adored being with Radimir in this moment, but in the same breath her belly churn and twisted and yearned to be with Castor.
Castor Bain! Oh, why did that man have to plague her life so? Why did he have to find her, to play with her, to rescue her and make her feel like he had cared? He had denied there was love, yes, even after she had foolishly confessed it. But she thought she had felt it, seen it in his eyes, had wanted to believe it had been there. But then he just left her in one heartless motion as he stormed out of the desert. If he didn't care for her and her help- why let her come? Why save her when she could have died? Why bother?
And For all she knew Castor Bain was dead. And that very thought made her lips tremble.
"I wish I could love you,"s he whispered, her lips moving against his, but not pressing in to kiss, only tickling against his lightly as she spoke. Her eyes avoided his, clouded tears stinging from within. But then she looked at him, directly in the eyes, the expression quite clear what she had meant and what she wanted.
Radimir felt his heart beating faster and slower all at the same time and at her words he felt his heart twist in the same turn, wishing she could return the fire that burned all over for her, that threatened to devour him alive. Radimir bit his lip in indecision, clutching himself against her and wanting more, but he knew from her words that it would only be half-hearted even then. Even if his fire would be enough for both of them.
Radimir kissed her softly, then turned his head to devour her lips, bruising as they were, feeling dejected but unable to reject her in that time. After a good long minute when he could breath no more, he pulled away and just held her close to him. "Zarrah, you say that you wish...as if you do not own your own heart. I'm sorry you feel that way, but I knew you couldn't. Maybe it was just wishful thinking."
Zarrah just couldn't kiss him back. She just couldn't. Guilt burned inside of her and twisted everything into a tight, sickening knot. And when their lips parted, she was able to breath, her eyes meeting to his and her heart going out to him.
"Maybe someday you'll get your wish. ANd if it's not me, maybe you'll meet someone like me." she tried to smile about it but speaking the idea made her feel ill, and the pain was evident in her eyes. She was so torn, she was confused. But she knew Radimir was a good man, had felt that, had needed that, and, at least for now, she had him at her side. Sighing, she leaned against him, closing her eyes and pressing her eyes against his chest.
"I suppose it does sound silly, but you are right. It doens't feel like I own my own heart." She frowned and looked down at her hands, thinking back to when she had tried to sacrifice herself for Castor. He didn't know she had another try, that if she could just give herself for him, to help him move forward, it would have been ok. But he had gotten so angry, had seen worth in her life. Perhaps it wasn't love like she wanted to believe. But she supposed it was a start. They did, after all, have a fun time together in the desert- and a wild time back in at her place and at the Inn...
She felt a few tears slip down her face. Thankfully she wasn't looking at Radimir. It was embarrassing to think she was lamenting over a lost love she had never had, pining for something she could never get, yet find herself in the willing arms of another, a man so wonderful and beautiful that she hated herself he had not gotten to her, first.
Radimir could bear the thought of loving another woman. He couldn't fathom never meeting Zarrah, being without her, for surely any other woman would have just cried at his capture and left him to die, but not Zarrah. Oh, he only wanted to see her happy, to see her free of harm, free of chains, and to him, that was the greatest love of all. And as much as he burned for her, he only held her there, wrapping the blanket around her and rubbing a hand across her back.
Radimir said, "But I've learned a long time ago wishes don't come true. You have to make your fate. Your life is in your hands. I can't help but love you, but I know your heart is chained to another. I'd fight for you until my last breath, I'd protect you with every ounce of blood left in me. I want you to live. I want you to be free at last, for yourself."
Zarrah's eyes wavered as she looked into his eyes at his confession. Tears began to blur his face as she tried to smile in-spite of her fate, but her lips were shaking.
"You have a beautiful heart, Radimir. Why waste it on me?" She had to ask, her heart was breaking over it and she felt terrible not to be able to reciprocate. A wiser woman would just accept him, take him then and claim him as her own. But here she was, being a fool and whimpering over poor Castor Bain, a man who might not ever get free, if those damn scrolls were right.
He laughed and shook his head, chuckling rumbling all through him as he held her closer. He rubbed a hand across her back and just shrugged. "I don't think of it that way. The way I see it, why not you? Why should I be there for you? If not you? Who? I would still be stuck in the desert. I'd still be in my old life. I'd still be under my father's command. You're the only one who's been able to see in me what I couldn't see myself. Self-worth. Why shouldn't I love you?"
Zarrah pressed her lips together, staring him still in the eyes before she sighed and kissed him softly, sweetly on the lips. Lowering her gaze, she nestled in beside him.
"Speaking of your father... it seems he didn't quite appear as dead as we all thought." She peered up at him curiously. "That, or we're all going crazy. You did see that mirage, that ghost of him, did you not? Though it was hard to really say if that was a ghost. After all, it killed Madame LaFaente, which begs the question as to what exactly happened back there." Her eyes looked into his with some concern. She had never had to truly deal with other worldly things, so she knew not how to pin this sort of problem. How does one deal with a living, breathing ghost?
"Honestly, I don't know what to make of that," Radimir confessed to her, shaking his head. "I knew it was my father. He listened to me. I asked him not to kill you. I begged him not to. But I'm not sure if it was because of me or because of the fact that he couldn't sustain himself for very long. The spectral blade he wielded, it wasn't like one I'd ever seen before. It doesn't make any sense. I sacrificed his body so that he might be at rest. But perhaps my god was not satisfied with it. And sent him to haunt me. I'm afraid I don't know. And I think that's what scares me the most. We should go to sleep now, Zarrah. Thinking of this only makes me restless. And I'd like my neck to heal before we go on."
Zarrah grew silent and simply nodded.
"Perhaps we should take turns sleeping. Just in case. We do not know these lands nor what that was all about with your father. And I think I'd feel better knowing one of us was keeping the other safe." She smiled and examined him a moment before leaning forward and kissing softly his cheek.
"You rest first. I've still got a lot on my mind."
Radimir included.
Radimir nodded to her, understanding her assessment. She was right after all. They were entering into strange territory and though he was well-traveled he only heard stories of the raiders of the Plains of these grasslands being home to all manner of bandits and criminals of such a slovenly kind.
He laid back onto his side, half-curled in the blanket, shivering a little as he drifted off.
While Radimir slept, Zarrah sat quietly at at his side. Her mind was constant, thinking to all of the things that have been happening to her since that fateful night she had attacked Carnavus's caravan by moonlight. She had been reluctant at first to open up to Castor Bain, or anyone for that matter, but over time, she found herself peeling away her layers for him, her heart exposed and raw and wanting. ANd just like that, after one long adventure that could have nearly killed them both, he left her life as suddenly as he had come. And it had been on his own volition. She frowned, thinking back to that. She had been so angry, could still feel the anger burn inside of her.
But her thoughts became broken the moment she caught some peculiar light flickering in the darkness. Rising up, she placed a hand upon the hilt of her sword and stared out at the open grass. But she saw nothing, just the rustling of the wet grasses and the moonlight. She swore she had seen something move, but by the time the creature was noticed again, it was almost too late. A large, serpent, it's body slightly larger than her head, came slithering forth in silence, and when it's faintly glowing body came into view, moving outside the parting of grasses, Zarrah's heart caught within her throat.
Her reaction was abrupt and crude, letting out a sharp cry as she slammed a foot clean into Radimir's gut.
"WAKE UP!" she shouted, panicking, and at the motion, the snake lunged, leaping through their campsite and plowing clean into Zarrah. Landing outside the camp, Zarrah was on her back, the wind knocked out of her, her sword having been dropped along the way while her arms fought to keep the snake's jaws from chomping down upon her.
A snake!? and one that had an eerie glow, like Radimir's father had! She couldn't believe this- was he somehow back again in another form? And as she was wrestling with the snake, she managed to get a knife out and slashed it hard across the serpent's eyes. While it hissed back, she managed to roll away into the grasses, only to find herself coming face to face with another patiently waiting serpent as it stared back at her, flicking out it's forked tongue.
"Shit."
[She WOULD kick Radimir when he's vulnerable! |8]
The air was forced out of him when Zarrah launched her foot into his gut and he gasped desperately before he could clearly register what was happening around them. He was quite cold but when he finally did come to, his blood shot white hot with adrenaline as he watched Zarrah suddenly thrust back by what appeared to be a spectral serpent. The size of it, the markings he knew then that his father had come back to finish what it had failed to do so many miles ago.
As Zarrah was cornered by two serpents, Radimir immediately had gotten to his feet and reached for Vidain, holding the falchion high above his head as he leapt into action. He found the second serpent first just as it slithered closer to her, trying to move as quickly as it could on its ghostly belly. Radimir slammed the blade high above his head, chanting a magic phrase to make the steel of his ancestral sword pierce into its hide. "NO!" he cried out as he cut into the ghostly serpent slashing it clean through its head. Even his blade glowed blue from its enchantment and he stared deep into the eyes of his father that still slithered near.
"Father, if you come closer, I will not be afraid to do the same to you," he warned, unwavering.
"R-r-radimir! You impudent welp! You stand in the way of vital prey! You have set upon us the wrath of Na'gazhak! You will rue the day that you've angered our goddess."
"It was you, Adurim, that brought shame and anger down on us!" Radimir spat hotly. "With your arrogance. You forgot your proper place--"
"And you forget yours," the serpent hissed. "You are my son... You will never be able to take my place."
"I want to be NOTHING like you!" Radimir roared at last, charging forth and slashing the burning blade into the serpent, splitting it down the middle. But the ghostly snake only wavered away and billowed up like smoke on the grass. And all that remained was the sinister laughter of Adurim as his manifestation faded away.
OOC: Yep, that's how you know it's true love. When a woman is able to kick a man when he's down, lol.
But on a serious note, I really liked your post X3
Sorry mine is lame :C
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As the images of the serpents disappeared, Zarrah took a moment to catch her breath. She slowly raised herself off of the ground, staring over with some concern towards Radimir as she approached his side, delicately putting a hand upon his shoulder.
"It seems we might not be quite done with the desert yet," she told him, forcing a smile as she looked down at his blade, then up into his face. "Do you know what sort of power this is? The one your father is chasing us with? Is it connected to your goddess, this Na'gazhaki?"
"Not done with the desert?" Radimir said, looking at her quite puzzled. "No. NO! We are done with the desert! There's nothing keeping us here any longer." He stood up and took her hand in his, holding it against his breast, sighing. He didn't want to talk about Aduruim, but it seemed they would have no choice since he seemed so persistent in making his presence known.
"Honestly, I don't know how to explain it. I thought I put my father to rest, burned his body in offering to the goddess. But something has disturbed his spirit, has resurrected him. The way he spoke to me...something wasn't right. I don't think my goddess is very happy with my Order right now. But it is unheard of for the goddess to resurrect a spirit to destroy her followers. It must be something else. Someone else. But who?"
He didn't know why but he heard a sharp whisper pierce the air and it almost breathed the name Carnavus.
Zarrah's smile twitched a little as she looked into his eyes as he held her hand.
"But that's the thing, Radimir. If something has happened, it seems it's the damned desert that's after us." She shook her head, sighing, but after a time, she believed shed heard the voice too, and visibly flinched from it. Looking around, but seeing nothing, she frowned and wondered if she was going crazy before she turned back to Radimir.
"Did you hear that?" she asked just under her breath and leaned forward, trying to listen for it.
"Gods, I could have sworn I heard the wind whisper the voice of my dead husband." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "That would be something..."S he blinked then looked up at Radimir, eyes searching his. "That both of ours pasts would come all the way out here to haunt us. Even from where they rest in their graves within the desert.."
but then again, SHE should be resting in a grave, but was not, and she frowned at the thought.
"Radimir.. what if... there was something connecting us back to the desert? What if... it would tracks us down if we were to try to leave?" She never considered it, but had her own curse, the chance to have many lives, to have three chances, be the reason these peculiar things are happening? Did that being that granted her her wish of vengeance come with an even steeper price than she realized?
"Yes, strange that is. Wind must be playing tricks on us."
He heard it too and it sent a cold, unpleasant chill down his spine. Radimir hadn't met Carnavus but Zarrah had told enough about him that he could only think with disgust at the kind of man that he was. The fact that Adurim had chosen to take a contract from him was demeaning, made low the Order he held dear to his heart. But the Order had fallen into the shadow of its former self, perhaps he had been desperate.
Radimir didn't know and thinking about it only confused him further. But if the spirit of his father was haunting them, then it only meant something had happened to bring him to such unrest. And the last person he worked for was Carnavus.
At her words, Radimir turned to her sternly, taking her arm and jerking her a little before letting go. "And what do you propose? That we turn back? We've made it this far! We are not turning back, even if the very sun of the desert heat reaches out to bring us back. If my father is following us, then so be it. We just have to protect each other more. I'll-I'll teach you enchantments, special incantations to protect you. But we can't turn back. Now's our chance! Now's our chance to be free and I'm not letting that get away from us!"
Zarrah didn't flinch as Radimir spewed out his thoughts to her, requiting just how dedicated he was to this freedom. Smiling, she lifting a hand up to his face, fingers tracing the air just beside his cheek as she leaned her head just slightly to left as she studied his face, looking into his eyes, studying the shape of the way his brows hung over them,t he shape of his eyebrows, the cut and length of his nose, the strength of his jaw, the high rise of his cheeks, and the shape of his lips.
Her violet eyes then returned to his eyes as she smiled a little again, the smile cutting a slight dimple in her right cheek.
"I am only saying, would it not be wise to dig up the unrested souls and put them in their place? What if they aim to hunt us forever? And across the whole world?" her fingers now rested upon his chin, staring into his eyes and imploring him to hear her.
Though it was then she sighed as she looked away, removing her hand.
"I don't want to go back either, Radimir." She then lifted her gaze back to him. "But perhaps I am over thinking this. Perhaps we can run away from it all. From everything. Or who knows, perhaps there is a limit to how far these ghosts can reach." She shrugged, then turned to stare over at the horizon as she sighed.
"I suppose we ought to keep moving." Then blinking, she paused to look around- "Where's Thorian?"
Radimir nodded to her, understanding what she meant. "I have a feeling we won't have a choice about putting the spirits that haunt us to rest. But just because they follow us, doesn't mean we have to stay trapped in this desert. We will continue on as we did before. We're not running. We are pressing on, as tenacious as ever."
He smiled at her then looked up at her indication of Thorian, noticing now the horse had been gone. His heart leapt into his throat. "THORIAN!" he cried out, quickly snatching down the leather wrap that covered their camp since the rains had stopped and bundled it as he looked around, but found no sign of the horse. "THORIAN!"
Zarrah hadn't began to panic herself until Radimir was. She stepped out into the tall grasses, shouting along with him.
"THORIAN!" and upon hearing a neigh off in the distance, her heart caught to her throat as she cast a look over at Radimir then tore off across the ground. As she ran, the clouds began to part, the rain having let up and shed light across the fact she was nearing the edge of a very sharp drop in a hill side and stumbled to pause. But as her eyes trained across the darkness, she noticed the horse down below. Not certain how he could have gotten down there, she tried to think of how to tackle this hill side wen she noticed a slither of spectacle light below.
"Radimir! One of those serpents is after Thorian!"
Radimir trailed after Zarrah, treading diligently but lightly over the slickness of the grass. He moved quickly, his body used to having to run lightly and quietly over long distances for years in the past. He trailed slightly behind her and as he did so, he held his sword strongly in hand when he too saw movement in the grass. "GET THORIAN!" he bellowed. "I've got the serpent!"
He tackled the creature to the ground which hissed at him and lunged at him. It's fangs caugh the rip of its blade and it bled a greenish glow of spectral blood. His blade in his momentary blessing, found it's edge near its head. The snake was much quicker than the last two, dodging left and right and trying to skirt around him. But Radimir was faster, quick to give distance when necessary before closing in for the kill. Feignting right then striking left, he sunk Vidain home into it's skull, decapitating it before it too sunk dead in the long grass, fading from existence.
Not thinking twice, Zarrah raced down the hillside and used the momentum of her run to catch up to the spooked horse. Snatching onto his reins, she buried her face into his long neck and whispered words to calm him before slipping up onto his saddle and turning the horse around. She caught Radimir killing the serpent just in time as she prodded Thorian over to him, then stopped the horse when she was beside him and offered down a hand.
"Come, let's get a move on it before any more of those snakes want to eat us."
As Zarrah came riding back on Thorian, who chuffed happily at seeing him, Radimir grinned a large smile of reliefe and put his sword back into it's sheath. He moved over to her offered hand and took it, climbing into the saddle behind her, putting am arm around her waist as he took a rein in the other. He gave one last glance to where the ghostly snake had lain in the grass and spat into the ground. He nudged his boots into Thorian's side and bounded off again. To the North, away from these haunting lands. They would make it throught he plains, and neither ghouls nor ghosts would stop them.
They had been riding for hours into the sunrise. The glass plains seeming endless as the world bled into colors of warm copper light. Not a trail or city had come into sight, and even though the rains had stopped, the pair were still soaked and the wind rushing against them made her shiver. She was thankful for Radimir's warmth against her, for the strength of his arm around her, keeping her in the saddle as he commanded his horse, his companion, his friend, to keep going. But going to where? She supposed anywhere was better than sitting idle, waiting for those ghosts to come back and haunt them.
Sighing, she leaned back into Radimir, her scent mingling with his and the scent of rain.
"It seems these plains are endless. It's like a grass desert. They stretch on for miles." She glanced around and spotted some wild animals and a stream cutting through the grass plains. Turning to Radimir, she spoke, "We should perhaps stop to rest and eat. There's a stream up ahead. You see it? Thorian can also rest. It's been a few hours of travel and there has yet to be a sign of a path or people."
Zarrah also had not rested that night and she was finally becoming exhausted. The horse had lulled her into a quiet contentment, but she could not sleep as they traveled, for fear those ghosts would come back, and every so often, she was glancing over her shoulder at the world behind them, ever wary that at any moment, those snake things could come back.
The sky bled into day and Thorian kept moving from their camp by the trees. As Radimir kept riding, he was awed for a moment at the glory of the plains, the rolling hills, the sweeping grass that blew against the cold winds. It was so different than the desert, even more beautiful than an oasis after spending hours in the scorching sun.
The temperature difference was so sharp, Radimir almost couldn't believe that this sun was the same that had beat down on them the entire time in the desert. They were miles away from that town, from the slavers, from the dead of their kin, of their lovers, of the traces of their past that swept off of them like the high winds swept sand up from the dunes. Radimir couldn't help his smile, grinning at the sight before them and held Zarrah even closer to him, thankful he could see such a thing with her. Even if she didn't love him, he loved her and was glad he had taken her from that place that promised them both little more than death and suffering.
"A stream?" Radimir replied. He squinted his snake-like eyes and grinned then. "Oh, I see it! Yes. That's as good a place as any." Onward they trotted, Thorian then slowed into a walk and when they reached the stream, Radimir slipped off the rear of the horse and helped Zarrah down as well, feeling her weakened weight, remember she hadn't slept at all the night before.
He held her for a moment, eyes searching hers. "You can take the blanket from the saddle, rest in the grass. I'll find us something fresh to eat. There's abundant game here. I'll just go up the stream a little ways. Take care of Thorian, give him a good brushing. He's earned it." He gave Zarrah a light kiss on the cheek before moving past her and taking the whip from his side and his blade.
He surveyed the stream, before moving up it, slowly watching the movements of the wild animals, a few deer, the likes of which he'd never seen were drinking. They'd have enough meat to eat for days! He kept his position low, lurking through the grass. As he looked up however, he saw something else moving too. His heart leapt into his throat. SNAKES! the first thing that lingered on his mind. But as he saw a head peeking up from the grass, feathers in their hair, he knew it was a person. And as he spotted them, he knew they spotted him in return and ducked back into the grass.
Zarrah gave a warm smile and nodded. Yes, Thorian had done very well for them. Radimir was lucky to have such a horse. Taking the brush, she moved it over his coat, the horse snorting happily with each stroke and after she was nearly through, he gave an appreciative stomp of his foot. Zarrah smiled, brushing her dark hair from her eyes as she peered over into the grasses. For the moment, it seemed Radimir had disappeared. Squinting her eyes, she stepped aside from the horse, curious as to where he had gone, whens he noticed something peeping up from the grasses. Tilting her head to one side, she studied it with interest. But just like that, it was gone.
Blinking again, she glanced around. Was it a bird? An animal? Was it Radimir?
But then she noticed a few more shadows moving in the tall grasses and began to back up towards Thorian.
"Radimir?" she called out, her voice carrying over the grasses. A hand tensed at a blade hidden within her skirts, her eyes narrowing.
"RADIMIR!?"
Radimir didn't see the shape again after it slipped from view. He kept low and moved toward the stream, thinking nothing more of it as he focused on the deer nearest him. He took out a dagger from his belt as he got within range and when he was he flicked his rist. The steel blade swung like a shining star in the sunlight and within a second it embedded itself into the neck of the deer. It squeaked and fell limp on the ground after blood squirted from its neck. He looked around before bounding from his hiding spot in the grass as he knelt down to inspect his kill.
Meanwhile back at their temporary resting place, the grasses moved softly with the flow of the wind. And as they passed through the grass with each rustle of the wind, minimizing their exposure, small heads came closer to peek at the woman by the horse, curious but cautious. Shortly before an arrow flew, zinging through the air, aimed right for her ass cheek.
OOC: Lol, just because I had my character stomp your character while he was down doesn't mean you should try to shoot mine in the ass when she's not looking 8D
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She felt Thorian tense, which was all she needed to alert to her something was coming her way. In a blur, her blade struck out from beneath her skirts and caught the arrow before it hit. Her eyes widened, then narrowed as they rushed out into the grasses.
"RADIMIR!" she called out, two blades drawn at her side. "We've got company!" she hollered, hoping the man had heard her. As she raced through the grasses, her eyes caught a fleeting form before, a moving shadow, before it disappeared. Growling, she raced after it, but no matter which way she zig-zagged through the grasses, no matter what trail of whispers she followed, when she thought she had caught up to something-
Nothing was there. Pausing, Zarrah was catching her breath, eyes scanning the area, her blades held between sweaty hands as her heart beat rapidly within her chest.
Had her eyes been playing tricks on her? But no... there had been an arrow, and as she turned around, she was surprised to find an arrow aimed right at her face.
[I have NO idea what you're trying to insinuate |:]
Radimir had been hauling the dead dear back over his shoulders as he walked back from his hunt by the stream. But at the sudden shriek of his name, he knew something was up. And his mind instantly jumped back to the figure he saw in the grass, moving far to quickly than even he was capable of. He dropped the deer gently and took his sword out, running back to the camp at full throttle. Thorian was spooked and was standing on his hind legs, neighing wildly and kicking at the air. And it was then that Radimir stopped dead in his tracks, seeing Zarrah there with a bow right in her face.
He stood back, holding out his sword. Before them was a strange looking person, decked out in leaves and feathers with their face painted in the red of fresh soil. It was male from the look of it, young, probably not older than eighteen or nineteen, thin and looked at Zarrah with both fascination and deadly intent. "Zarrah!" he cried out, but out from the bush immediately popped out five others just like him, wielding spears and nets. "Not again!" Radimir cried out as he threw out his blade and cut through a net that rushed at him.
"FIGHT!"
OOC: You never do ;D
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Zarrah took advantage of the moment, with the tribe'sman startled, she bashed the bow and arrow aside before crashing her fist into the man's face. Another tribes' man beside him came after her, but a high kick to his face sent him back. Soon she found herself back to back with Radimir, twirling her blades at her side while her eyes scanned the number of tribe's man encircling them. They were peculiar looking, dressed strangely, with only hide clothes over their loins, red dirt painted across their bodies, and even bones used as necklace and earrings. Their eyes were piercing as they advanced, spears in hands, arrows in others, another net at the ready. Zarrah bared her teeth.
"Got any bright ideas?" she asked Radimir from over her shoulder. "It looks like they've got us out numbered."
[But of course.]
Radimir clashed with two others after tearing through the net. They flailed to the side but another with a spear immiediately had him pinned by the throat. He whirled around and sent his boot reeling into his cheek, knocking him to the ground. But soon he was back-to-back with Zarrah and letting his adrenaline get the better of him. He wasn't going to be captured again... Not so soon after just escaping the slavery he'd been sold into.
But at the sight of these tribesmen, something didn't quite measure up to the way they were fighting. Though it was obvious they sought their capture, they were not initial belligerent. He looked over his shoulder to Zarrah and slowly lowered his sword. "We go with them," he said softly, but not taking his eyes off their surroundings. "See what they want. If might be easier than trying to kill them all. Who knows how many more there are."
Zarrah was taken back by the idea.
"What?" she snapped, hands tensing on her weapons. "You want us to just drop our weapons and go with them?" but as the tribes'man moved forward, she bit into her cheek. It really didn't seem like they had much of a choice.
"We've still got some tricks up our sleeve," she began, eyes searching for.. then she saw him. "Thorian.."s he whispered. "YOu should call your horse... we could race out of here- we could-" but the two weighted nets were thrust over them, and even Zarrah was having trouble thrusting her blades to cut them. Growling, she peered through the holes in the nets, watching as the men with feathers in their hair approached.
"Gods, I just hope they're not cannibals," she snarled. "Though it would be a nice change of pace from being chased by slavers."
Radimir put up little struggle as the nets came flying over them yet again. He'd sheathed his sword since then and just held his breath as the tribalmen came in closer to them. He could have kicked Zarrah if the net let him. "Because being made into soup is always preferable to a life in chains. Though I guesss you have a POINT! HEY!"
As they were both rolled up in the nets, bundled securely as to not have them struggle, Radimir felt a spear poking against his behind and he looked at the expression of a man that said to "Shut the hell up!" Radimir grimaced as he watched one of them lead Thorian away, one by the lead and another on his back. There were three others by the stream, a few women at that that held deer he'd slaughtered over their shoulders, and they were immediately carted across the plains.
"Hey!" Radimir barked. "That's my kill! HEY! I'm talking to you! OUCH!" The spear came poking at his sides again. "Hey, you with the spear. Wait till I get my hands on you! You just keep that thing to yourself!"
OOC: WOO! WE OFFICIALLY MADE 60 PAGES 8D
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Zarrah rolled her eyes at Radimir. Since she was keeping quiet, they were hardly prodding her, that was, until they did. SHe scowled at the men and pressed nearer to Radimir.
"What was that saying preferring soup to chains?" She gave a glance to his ass, then to his face. "If I had to guess, it seems they like you better." SHe smirked, despite their situation, but then hardened her eyes as she glanced ahead, noting that more and more of this tribal people were coming into view. She wasn't sure how many to be exact, it was hard to tell through the ropes. Though she did catch sight of Thorian being taken away, the deer Radimir supposedly had caught and frowned.
"Well, at least we still have our weapons. If we needed to fight our way out of it, we could."s he idly took Radimir's hand, squeezing it to remind him she was still at his side, and in doing so, slipped him one of her fine blades she had stolen from Hsiro.
"In case you need it,"s he whispered. "Hide it somewhere. Like in your pants."S he smirked at him, eyes dancing lightly but then she turned away, the pair prodded forward as they marched endlessly across the great stretch of grass lands, until they were brought to a small settlement, the smell of fire's catching her nose first, the call of children, the chant of people, and the fluttering of leahter beaded feather works on ropes. These people, it seemed, had constructed a small haven of lean tos and small hide tents, ones that had multiple animal hides stitched together to give it length. She studied it idly, and the people within, catching a glimpse of some elderly women sitting in a circle, passing around a small pipe that they smoked. THough as the two, and their horse, were brought into this camp, it seemed all the men and women, even the children rose up to greet the men as they returned with their catch.
It was here Zarrah backed up some, pressing herself against Radimir.
"I've got a bad feeling about this.."s he whispered, keeping her hands steady, ready for anything.
OOC: Maybe I'll try to do some art work later this evening to celebrate the occasion looool
Radimir clutched the thin, easily-concealable blade and carefully used his fingers to slip it into the leather band of his left bracer where Zarrah had handed it to him. He only nodded to her in thanks. "You'd like that wouldn't you," he snapped with a hiss as the men carried them into their settlement. They'd walked for quite some time when at last they made it and they were slashed from the net, spilling out into the cleared field.
Radimir stood up then, his bones a little achy but immediately clung to Zarrah as he watched them. "Don't say anything...I might regret," he said as he clutched her hand. He watched the crowd slowly part to make way for an ancient woman coming forth, supporting herself with an old oak staff with bindings wrapped around her eyes, indicating a possible lack of vision.
As she came forth, Radimir only watched her, for she limped but made stready progress until she stood right in front of Zarrah and seemed to stare at her though her eyes were covered. She took her staff and poked her in the breasts then in the shoulder then in the stomach, first softly, then hard upon the last strike. "You....maja...the one," the woman assessed in very broken Common. She moved over to Radimir then and poked him in the behind and in the chest with a hard whack. He yelped but quickly bit his tongue. "You....maji..."
The people around her gasped as they stood back. She turned around and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe," she quickly added. "We...shall see. Soon."
Radimir grew bolder then and stepped forward. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked, demanding answers at once.
But the old woman only turned around bonked him one on the head, sending him back to his former place.
Zarrah wasn't sure what to make of this old woman. Her face twisted in irritation as she bared her teeth.
"You maja us with that stick again and we might cut out your tongue," Zarrah warned. The old woman looked up at Zarrah, only smirked, laughing once through her nose as if please.
"You shall both see in time."
Zarrah glanced sourly at Radimir, her lips sagging as the pair were guided over towards a small bench where the woman gestured to the dirt.
"Kneel here." she said
Zarrah frowned.
"And if we refuse?"
The woman found herself laughing again.
"A lion is always prideful, but to be certain, she must humble her guests."
Zarrah's face twisted in confusion as she looked around at all of the tribe'sman about them- all of their eyes plastered curiously upon them. She then turned to Radimir, eyeing him a moment before she sighed.
"Ok, maji. You heard them. Let's humor them and kneel."
After all. This was his fault. He had suggested they 'play nice'.
So, moving to the ground, she got to her knees, eyes scanning the crowd for any funny business before she elbowed Radimir's legs, prodding him to do the same and once he would be at her side she whispered.
"You'd better pray to your God's now, Radimir. I've got a funny feeling about this place. Something... strange about these people, but I don't know what."
Their eyes seemed alive and wild, but it was hard to explain. THey almost seemed.. fascinated by them- which was peculiar. MAybe they didn't want to kill them- but if not that.. what?
"You and me both," Radimir said as he nudged her with his boot after she elbowed him. He kept his eyes on the old woman that addressed them as "Maja" and "Maji" respectively. He couldn't be sure what language that was but it had the tinge of Essyrni in there but mixed with a few other portions of a language he'd never heard of. Maja meant something along the lines of "He who walks with his head held high." And Maji..."He who decieves." In the simplest of terms, the lion, and the snake. Or in Zarrah's case: lioness.
Radimir knelt down beside Zarrah, letting go of her hand at last and setting his hands upon the bench. Only then did he have them wacked again by the old woman's staff. "If you are Maji, you should have known that was coming," the old woman said with a sneer.
"I knew it was coming," Radimir answered, rubbing his hands. "I just didn't think you were that fast, you old bat." Another thonk to the head. "HEY!"
The old lady smiled as she paced before them, murmuring strange words he didn't understand.
"What do you want with us, if you don't mind telling us? Who are you?" Radimir asked, shielding his head. But was quite surprised when the old woman didn't strike him again.
Zarrah elbowed Radimir in the gut before hissing, "You're being too direct. I'm sure if they wanted to give us a straight answer they would have."
And it was at this the old woman smiled.
"Ah, Maja, wise and patient. Always there to discipline her snake."
Zarrah glanced over at Radimir, raising a single brow at him. Her snake? Oh boy, wasn't this about to get strange...
She then turned her attention to the old woman- squeezing a hand on Radimir's shoulder that pretty much commanded him to 'shut the hell up you fool'.
"In a way he is my snake. What of it?"
The old woman's smile broadened again.
"Then this is perfect. It seems fate."
Zarrah blinked. It seems fate what? But it also seemed the old woman wasn't about to finish her sentence as she turned back to her people, addressing them in her tribal tongue. Zarrah used the moment to lean in closer to Radimir.
"First sign there's violence, I say we strike." she told him, her eyes filled with some measure of concern, before she went on to chastise him. "ANd you really need to be more patient. You'll get lumps all over your head if you don't." She smirked a bit at that before tightening her expression as she looked back at the old tribe'smaid.
What did they exactly have in store for them anyway? But then the woman came back, shaking something in her hand as both Zarrah and Radimir had bunched necklaces looped over their heads.
The necklaces were made of fur and bones, and at the bottom, something rattled. Zarrah picked it up, but then quickly dropped it. It was some dried, mummified animal penis (or so she really REALLY hoped that's all it was..), and it was full of stones. So was the dried ball sack. Gross. Her nose wrinkled as she looked over at Radimir.
She wondered if this could't get any weirder...
"I might want to exchange you necklaces." but upon seeing the terrifying mummified snake on his, she reared back.
"Never mind, I'll stick to my sun dried testicles."
OOC: lol don't ask XD
[All I can say is that you watch way too many documentaries]
Radimir froze when the strange necklace was placed over his neck. He then opened his eyes and looked down at the mummified dried snake remains whiched seemed to have had it's scales braided over each other and the snake-head preserved and tied in a fashion that made it eat it's own tail. Radimir was quite awed by the ingenuity of it, that the eyes had been replaced with tiny jewels, not more valuable than a few copper pieces, possibly harvested from local minerals.
But as he looked over to Zarrah's he made a noise like he was holding in his laughter and if she would glance in his direction, he would be smiling from ear to ear at the crusted genitalia that hung on a beaded string around her neck. "You look good," he commented. "Very becoming."
"Silence!" the old woman demanded, stamping her stick on the dirt, a slight cloud billowing up. "Maja and Maji, you have come at last. But first....you must prove to be Maja and Maji. And not mere Decievers born of flesh. You may call me Kalla, I am the Wise Woman of Sarumac Village. But you knew that already, didn't you Maji?" She smiled a toothy grin to Radimir and he only shrugged in a nod of uncertainty.
"And to answer you Maja, yes, fate. The winds are much like the ones in my dreams. I had a vision that you would come when the streams were deep and the stars showed the way to the north. You would come from the Southern Star, have you not?"
To spite Radimir, Zarrah touched his arm with the mummified penis.
"Keep that up and I'll stuff this thing up your-"
But then the woman had approached them, smiling and talking about how this was fated and how they were from the Southern Star. Zarrah blinked and moved away from Radimir, staring at the old woman with some uncertainty.
"We come from Essyrni, from the South of here." That was for certain, but what was this old woman going on about? SHe shot Radimir, a look, but kept her lips closed.
"Ah, from the land of the sands. As expected," the old woman spoke. Zarrah only sighed. This old woman had a long winded way about getting to the point.
"So you say we have to prove something? Why? What is so different about us than any other strangers who might have come upon your land?"
And here the old woman smiled, a smile that consumed almost all of her old wrinkled face.
"Destiny. The dream. And the fact you act as the lioness herself, and you..." She eyed up Radimir. "Well, perhaps you're the snake." She gave a skeptical frown. "But snake eyes and that marking on your back hardly can justify what you are. You have a bit more to prove than the lioness, that's for sure." She patted at his legs with her staff, prodding his calf muscles a bit and making noise of disapproval. "After all, the pair of you bicker. You are mates. You should learn to harmonize."
Zarrah eyed up Radimir.
"Mates.."s he rolled her eyes. "Right."
OOC: Yeah- probably :T
Radimir only looked at the old woman with confusion, and even more to Zarrah, for he knew that she knew of the turmoil that boiled inside of him, and in her, that helpless impotence of indecision that made him feel as though he wanted to beat some sense into her. But Radimir pushed those disturbing thoughts from his mind and looked back at the blind woman with a curious glare.
"We only bicker between us because we do not understand what it is you are talking about. What's going on. Your people captured us and brought us here without an answer, without a word, not even of peace and you expect us to prove something to you. Why do we need to prove anything? I only ask in the highest respect...Kalla," Radimir said, bowing his head in a semblance of humility though this old woman only made him frustrated.
"There it is," Kalla went on. "That is the Maji I know... Yes, perhaps you might be after all. Please." Kalla motioned for both of them to stand and for two of the tribesmen to escort them to her tent. It was the largest tent in the village, pressing them through the flap and leaving them behind as Kalla stepped in behind them. She moved passed them and took a piece of kindling from the hearth and held it to the tent wall.
Before them sprawled a magnificent painting, archaically done of a great serpent, large and powerful with a fanned headdress battling a great lioness.
"These are the Maja and Maji, the creators of all things. They were enemies from the start. For Maja could not stand Maji's underhanded cunning, and Maji could not fathom Maja indominable pride. So they battled each other time and again. From the first battle was born the universe, the emptiness above. The second battle birthed the stars, glittering in the evening sky. In the third battle, they made the world, the earth, the mountains, the sea. But in their fury, they realized they loved one another, though they were so different, and realized they could not exist without the opposing nature of the other. They split the earth with their lovemaking, the sea parting lands and there they birthed a guardian to watch over the world they had made. But they vanished then from creation, no one knows where. But the stars gave the signs, that they would come again, in the form of man and woman... and here you are once more, Maja and Maji."
Zarrah lifted her head, lips parting as she took in the story and looked over at Radimir, then back at Kalla.
"You must be mistaken. Why would Gods come back to this earth anyways?" she felt uneasy being assumed Radimir's mate. The laundry ladies had believed it to, and she nearly had felt it herself, now these people...
though it begged the question, just a little..... as it tugged at her subconscious- Why weren't they mates? She had her reasons, and if one ever fell so foolishly in love, one would understand the consequences of that love. And it wasn't that she did not feel for Radimir, it's just she could not let herself completely fall. No...
It would be too simple to do that.
"Ah, that is always the best question. The Gods, they are always curious. Always lonely, It is why they create." she placed a hand ontop of Zarrah's, then ontop of Radimir's. "It is why we are all here. Come, prideful lioness, your journey must have been long. Let us purify your mind and body- and well, leave the snake to sit with the men int he cold."S he laughed, exposing her rotting teeth before Zarrah was taken by the hand and guided away. Zarrah spared one last glance at Radimir, before she disappearing inside a nearby hut.
The hut was warm, almost too hot, and her skin instantly began to bead with sweat. There was a great fire in the middle, incense burning all around in great wafts of purple smoke. The fire lit her skin like gold, making the subtle sparkle already in her skin and hair shine. As she looked around the room,s he tensed and backed away as the women inside tried to pry her clothes off, and after a time,t hey finally were able to corner her and get them off. Then large, dried grass fans were used to paddle the heat towards her while Zarrah knelt before the pit of fire. She was dripping sweat now and uncertain what they had in store for her- but this damn tent was bloody hot, and now she was delclothed... and unarmed. Chewing on the inside of her mouth,s he tried to formulate a plan, when the old woman appeared before her and handed her a glass of water.
"Here, for the Maja."
Thankful for the water, Zarrah took it and guzzled it down, not realizing it was hardly water- and after having been subjected to the heat, her body was dehydrated so it took in the infused spirits easily, and suddenly she was seeing spots and the room was moving.
"I..."
The old woman, approached, grinning wide from ear to ear.
"There now, how are you feeling Maja?"
Zarrah cocked her head.
"I... I feel... dizzy..."
"And do you feel light of head?"
Zarrah only nodded, the world swimming around her as she dropped to her knees, barely able to keep herself aware.
"Good.." the woman's voice came in ghostd echoes, before clucking off in her ancient tongue, some sort of chant as the fire's began to burn and churn to a more riper color of orange.
After Zarrah disappeared, Radimir was left behind and took several steps back as two men came with crude spears and nodded for Radimir to follow them. He did so with reluctance as they led him off to another tent. He couldn't see where they'd taken Zarrah and perhaps that was there intention and soon they dragged him off into seclusion, to be shrouded in complete darkness.
There a small torch was lit in that dark hut to create a semblance of light and the men came to strip him of what remained of his clothing as well. Radimir did not resist, though he remained tense as his muscles clenched with the sudden cold that filled the room. He was left there, stripped of his clothes, his boots, his armor and weapons and stood there in the darkness with nothing more than the torch for warmth, but even that was not enough.
Mists began to fill the room, strange ones that made him feel disoriented and much like a snake in cold, Radimir could feel his heart slowing down as he crouched down into the dirt, huddling his limbs against himself. Moisture filled the air, leaving him to shiver and for a moment he thought he was knee-deep in tundra snow. He slowly lost consciouness. And the torch at the center soon lost air and dwindled until it was no more.
Colors burst inside her mind, and the world danced as she was lead away. Her entire being was on fire, her mind unable to focus as the women sang and chanted and banged hide-stretched drums as they moved off with Zarrah into a sandy valley with trees and shorter grasses. It was here they took her and began to wet the red dirt as they painted across her flesh. And it felt wonderful to have so many hands all over her. Her body burned and leaned into each motion, her lips parting, gasping as the markings crested a thigh, between her legs, up under her arms and down her face, across her chest and back and just as the heat was at it's peak...
Everything went quiet and dark.
The first trial was to begin.
Radimir awoke to evening, not knowing just how long he'd been asleep. As he awoke, the necklace had been removed from his neck and he was covered in dried mud-paint, the designs of which were beyond him. Then his mind jumped to Zarrah, to Thorian, to their journey and the fact that they were constantly getting sidetracked. First it was slavers and now these ridiculous tribesmen that seemed to think they were gods!
And just when he realized where he was, it was when he tried to take a step forward and suddenly found himself before a great pit of fire, literally. It seemed somehow somewhere they'd transported them over the mouth of a vulcano. If Radimir had been craving heat before, now he was sweating bullets. Latters fashioned of thread and wood were extended over the mouth of the volcano, latticed across each other and back again, creating a precarious bridge. He held in his hand a crude spear, much like the ones of the tribesman. And across from him he saw Zarrah with much of the same weapon.
"BEHOLD the first trial!" Kalla cried out. "For the beginning of time Maja and Maji fought against each other time and again, each another stage of creation. You must reenact their famous plight, their fury, and their thunder!"
"You...YOU WANT US TO FIGHT!?" Radimir cried out in disbelief. But the answer was made for him when he was shoved out onto the rungs of the ladders before him, his barefeet cooking underneath the heat of the volcano.
The wood work rungs zig-zagged across the mouth of the volcano, heat and fumes smoldering up beneath the pair as Zarrah had stepped out bravely across the mouth. The spear was in hand, gripped tightly and twirled to one side with expert finesse as she began to move closer towards Radimir. It seemed as if it took no skill at all, her bare feet moving across the way, her body slick with sweat and mud-paint, her dark hair, now hanging heavy barely covering her body as the swell of heat created a hot breeze between them, lighting her flesh like liquid gold. The painted icons across her body seemed to glow in response to the fire, almost seeming alive. And Zarrah's eyes, they seemed wicked as her lashes hung low, her teeth bared like an animal and before Radimir would know it, she was thrusting her spear clean at his face, shouting and throwing her head back as all of the women watching behind her began to chant and shout and roar.
Radimir leaned back and out of the way, stepping lightly and delicately over the rungs of the ladders. "Zarrah! What are you doing!?" he cried out. He held the spear in front of him, moving like smoke over water with barely more than a touch as he bounded out of the way of hot steam that poured up from the mouth of the volcano. It was unbearably hot and they had clothed him in little more than a loincloth. His flesh glistened and he could feel the mud hardening over his skin. "Zarrah, think about what you're doing! I thought you wanted to get out of here!'
Too bad for Radimir, Zarrah was gone and the 'lioness' had appeared. She stepped back and glared at him with ferocity, baring her teeth again as if she had wild canines ready to sink into his flesh. Her eyes were wild like the flames around them, as heat spewed up in waves. She side stepped a hiss of smoldering heat, flipping her spear around before dancing forward lightly on the rungs, feet clinging in as she cried out and thrust for Radimir's gut.
The drugs did wonders on her senses, her mind lit from the heat and from whatever opiates she had got. She was no longer in this world or the next, but in some other place of existence all together. And she had become like an animal, and the tribe all watched in awe as she struck out the spear again, aiming for the 'snake's' throat.
He immediately saw that there was no talking sense to her. Radimir prepared for her assault and lunged himself out of the way, landing hard on the rungs of the ladder, but quickly rolled back to get on his feet. Her stance was predictable and the way she shifted her weight along the rungs, he began to count her steps, as she came closer and he struck the tip of the spear with his and spun it with ease in his hands. He looked at her like a target, a mark to be slayed and placed on a pedestal when the hunt was over. He danced around her and parried and quickly feinted in order to drop her to the rungs and bashed the spear over her face.
The hit was unexpected, and Zarrah went down, her mind reeling from the attack. In that moment, the heat, the strike, the pain- it all crescendoed into one moment, an echo awakening inside her brain. Where was she!? A blurred vision moved before her, and instincts had her legs hook forward, taking out Radimir's legs from underneath him as she whirled around. And as the man fell on the rungs, she was quick to move over him, her legs spread over his, hair splayed across his chest and sticking to it like glue, from all the sweat. Her bare chest heaved, body glistening from the glow of the volcano beneath him as she pressed the spear at his throat, her teeth bared in his face. And it was only in that moment she began to realize to whom she was fighting as her snarl began to fade away.
"Radimir?"
The tribesman cheered as the lionness seemed to have won. Kalla jutted out her staff and cried.
"Good work, Maja!" and her old wrinkled face could not stop smiling. But in the midst of their celebration, the volcano began to shake. Zarrah lost her balance, spilling more closely over Radimir as she clung onto him, and the rungs beneath him.
Gritting her teeth, she managed to peer up at him, wincing as the intense heat began to rise from beneath.
"Are you alright, Radimir? What happened?A nd why are we straddling each other over a pit of fire?"
Radimir was fully prepared to defend himself if he didn't have his spear trapped between her and his belly. He grit his teeth savagely and just before she would have thrust her weapon into him, Radimir was fully prepared to die right then and there. It was just like how he'd always imagined it, in the heat of battle, in the glory of blood and victory, and he knew that he could rest easy dying by an opponent he respected as much as he respected Zarrah.
But when she stopped, his savagery faded, only slightly and Kalla declared her victory. Radimir turned his head over to the woman and men that had gathered to watch the spectacle, they were cheering for Maja's victory. And Radimir had to brace himself when she fell closer to him. He looked at her, confusedly. "You were going to kill me," he answered simply. "In a battle much like the ones in the legend. You won. Now, get off me before these ladders break!"
And just as if the very words summoned it, Radimir heard the wood creaking from the heat, blackened from the rise of the lava. "Get up!" Radimir said, pushing Zarrah off of him, and sweeping her from the rungs. The ladders were giving out at the center, rungs breaking and weakening when at last the heat of the volcano was to much to bear.
Zarrah was stumbling behind Radimir. The spell having faded, her mind still in a fog, but the panic from their circumstance driving her forward. Rungs were breaking under her heel, snapping as she went, and as they neared the lip of the volcano, the rung just infront of her gave way before she had a chance to step on it. She let out a cry, her body going through the rung as her hand snatched onto the supporting sides, which groaned under her weight and were creaking from the rise in temperature. The volcano was scorching at her legs as they dangled, and in a panicked voice she cried out for him.
"RADIMIR!"
The last thing she wanted was to die like this, to be blistered and alive by a volcano.
At the sound of his name, Radimir stopped in his tracks, though he knew he couldn't stand in one spot for long as the rungs were already breaking. But he did turn back, and bounded from left to right and back gain, over strong rungs and stood opposite the one she clung too. He reached for her wrist and pulled her up quickly just as the ladder support snapped in two. He threw her over his shoulder, with the ease of adrenaline and bounded for the nearest edge.
They snapped underneath his feet and when he was about six feet away, Radimir made a run for it, hoping the last rungs, furthest from the center of heat, would support his weight. But the ladder suddenly snapped underneath him. He launched himself forth by instinct and jumped up as the entire structure collapsed into the pit of lava below. Radimir made it to the edge, rolling down the ashen side, the people parting and quickly coming to their aid. Radimir scraped against the soft ash and gravel but his concern was far from himself and he crawled closer to Zarrah, turning her over to make sure she was okay.
"Zarrah! ZARRAH!"
As the pair fell against the ashen ground beside the lip of the volcano, she found herself too stunned to move at first. She could have been burned alive. She could have..
but more importantly, he could have been burned, too. What a fool she was to ask for his help! Even if she would have died, it wouldn't have been over for her.
And at the sound of his voice she lifted her head suddenly, embracing Radimir and holding him tight.
"Thank the Gods," she breathed against him, only to find herself a moment later torn from his side. "I'm so sorry, Radimir." She was truly a fool! She could have lost him because she thought for that fleeting moment she was mortal. Her eyes stung with tears at the thought.
"This is good, you both have proved your worth already. But the time has not yet been settle and there are more trials to over come before the night is over."
Zarrah looked up, appalled. How could the old woman just so easily tear them from one trial to another? She glanced over at Radimir, her lips trembling as she was dragged to her feet. She woudl have fought, but her legs felt useless, her mind in a whirl, and her body in a fever. The only thing she could muster out was a whimpered, "Radimir!" before she was dragged off amongst the crowd.
They dragged off the victor and left Radimir in the ash beside her empty spot. But it wasn't over when he too was pulled from the ashes and set to stand as the people gathered down the volcano and at it's base. Radimir pulled away from the men who had escorted him down the mountain side, following a narrow, precarious path down back to the valley.
"Kalla!" Radimir cried out. "Kalla wait!"
He came far too close to the wise woman and she thrust her cane out to clock him on the head, but he swiftly dodged it and stood in front of her. "Wait," he said. "As Maji, I demand there to be an intermission period between trials. We must gain our rest before we should press on again. Don't you agree, Maja!?" He looked over to Zarrah and the people slowly carried their victor down, to the edge of the path, letting her pass through.
"You want an...'intermission'? What is this?" Kalla demanded, pleased that Radimir had dodged her blow.
"We should be afforded time to rest. In the morning, the trials may continue. That is all I ask," Radimir said.
The old woman smiled a rotten grin and looked Radimir over. "Maji makes a credible point. But what does Maja think?"
Zarrah was as silent as the rest all eyes all moved to her. She clutched a hand against her, feeling her heart beat within her chest and within the tenseness of her fist. She stepped forward, lightly at first, her body still weak from the shock as her eyes stayed with Radimir.
"Naturally, we are but humans that it would be wise to have us rested before another trial. ANd if we were to rest together, it would help cultivate our kindred spirits."
Kalla thought this over but gave a laugh.
"I do not know if it would be wise to keep the pair of you together. You have to remain celibate before the last task of calling to our protector God, Shin-min-ra. But perhaps in the morning then, we could have the pair of you tried again. Though I am not sure, you being human or not, that we should adapt these trials to as such. We are the keepers of our own faith, and would it not harm our ideals to oblige?"
"Yes, but what you are not seeing is that our spirits need to remain healthy for those spirits to blossom. If we are to become lovers through your scenario, it would make sense to have us rest, and rest well together."
"Not necessarily, Maja," Kalla pointed out with a smirk. "Just because you love your mate now, does not mean. through the trials, you shall fall again. Now, we will discuss this once we get back to camp." The old woman laughed. "Its a long way down the mountain side. And the fire's are awakening. We must not delay. Your rest may have to wait for another lifetime, Maji. For we go on what the earth declares and the whims of the stars."
Zarrah's lips trembled. At least they were considering it. She shot a worried look back at Radimir, frowning towards him as she was guided away yet again.
Radimir knew that Kalla would not agree to it, no matter what they'd said, but you couldn't blame him for trying. The villagers ushered Zarrah away again down the narrow path, pushing past Radimir, until they plucked their victor from the ground to carry her overhead once more. They were cheering, unusually so after seeing the display that nearly killed them.
Radimir didn't understand as he followed behind, the men returning to escort him down the hill, how these people, particularly the old Kalla, could believe that he and Zarra were their gods, or rather manifestations of them. He considered the consequences of telling them the truth, though more likely than not if they believed them as mere mortals they would simply kill them without further contemplation. So, Radimir knew it best to humor them, though he wondered if the trials kept up like this they might very well die anyway.
Though the walk was indeed long, eventually the tribespeople made it to the bottom of the moutainside and down to the valley below. It was then that Radimir too was swept up to be carried over their heads. All the while Kalla's voice echoed ahead of them all. "In times of victory and times of defeat, Maja and Maji were respectful of the other opponent, bowing to them when they knew they had been bested time and again. They fought more than just in body, but in mind. The trial to follow will be that test."
The entire camp was in an uproar of dancing and music, bodies flailing to the smoke, to the dancing flames as feet pounded hard against the grounds. To the sky, their fingers would flail, to the ground they'd shake their shoulders, then twist and stomp and move around the fluttering blaze. Zarrah was kept off to one side of the camp, her eyes tired, but never leaving Radimir. And then as the song was coming to an end, the women all grabbed onto Zarrah, guiding her over to the fire. Not understanding what they wanted her to do, Zarrah simply let the women guide her and soon she was placed beside a pedestal near the fire, the women's hands all fanning down and around Zarrah's body as they dropped to their knees around her in prayer. She was barely clothed now, but perhaps that was better than earlier when she hadn't been clothed at all, black hair still keeping her modest as they only thign she was afforded was a hide skirt while dark painted hands of the women continued to move and stroke the air about her legs.
It made her uncomfortable to think these people were moving all around her and fawning her with so mcuh attention, and again, she snuck another peek over at Radimir to see how he was fairing amongst this strange crowd.
Radimir was lost in the celebration of Zarrah's victory as the villagers all fawned over her, paraded themselves then suddenly prostrated themselves in inexplicable worship. Radimir stood outside the ring of women that bowed down to Zarrah, billowing air over her legs in mysterious clouds of smoke began to wade around her and Kalla could be seen through the smoke of the large campfire dressed in feathers with charcoal streaked across her cheeks.
She was screeching in a high pitched voice and dancing strangely through the smoke. It was then that Radimir found himself being ushered in through the women to stand beside Zarrah, the women making space for the men every other or so. They bowed on their knees, keeping their foreheads to the dirt when Kalla turned to address them both. "The trial of the Serpent is nigh," she said, cackling high to the sky. She waved her cane, raddling a shell with stones inside of it to the sound of the drummers on the side.
"Twelve holes darkness lies, and the snake lurks in all, but only one jar contains the magic stone, but of the serpent's fangs beware!" Kalla made fire spew from her oaken staff, blazing the sky, and Radimir visibly jumped at the sign of it. He looked over to Zarrah and raised his brows.
"I wonder how much she paid for the fireworks... Oh, shit...that's real fire," Radimir said, mesmerized as the fire spread over the sky and suddenly burst into twenty separate fireballs.
"Maybe she's a mage?" Zarrah whispered, eyes narrowing upon the old women. By now, Zarrah's hair had been braided and beaded through, feathers lining around her face, giving her a fancy and wild frame work that brought out the sharp angle of her eyes. She stared at Radimir. "I'm surprised they haven't put feathers in your hair yet."s he siad, reaching for his hair, only to find the roar from the crowd startling her as she drew back. The pair were now standing before the crowd, and as she watched the masses were jumping in madness. And as she studied them, at first she thought they were just going berserk, but then she notice a bunch of vases being passed around, bobbing among the crowd as if being carried by a sea. Blinking, she leaned in towards Radimir.
"What do you think they're doing?"
but then didn't have to answer as the dancing stopped, the chanting stopped and the only noise was the crackling of the fire that blazed in the center of camp.
Then, as the crowd parted away, twelve jars were placed within the dirt, the light of the fire dancing off of them. Zarrah eyes narrowed upon them, then snapped over towards Kalla as the old woman approached.
"Maja, the wise lioness will go first. Pick a vase and place your hand inside the jar. But be wary of the snake."
Rattles were shaken, a tenseness filling the air as Zarrah peered over at Radimir, then back down at the vases.
"You want me to pick a vase?" Zarrah repeated, her face twisted and soured.
The answer only came from an abrupt chanting from the people. She winced at the fact she had no idea what was in store for her, so after creeping a few steps forward, Zarrah stopped just before the group of vases.
"Maja, now is the time to be tested. Fate will work for or against you in this next trial. You must decide, and the pair of you will pick through the vases until the snake is found. But be wary. Use all of your senses. If you survive, it will be true. The one to take a bite, if any, will have to suffer the shame of their own pride."
Zarrah's face wrinkled at the idea.
"You mean to tell me we're playing a game of chance? And that one of these vases contains a snake?"
"Yes, a deadly snake. One of the most potent that live in the grass lands. The ground viper. He is sleeping dormant inside a vase. But be wary. They are sharp and they are smart."
Zarrah's eyes widened while the old woman cackled, more rattles shaking as the tenseness in the air grew. She looked around her, not certain what else was to be done, before spitting back at the old woman.
"But this is crazy!"
"No, it is but a trial. Are you afraid that the snake will get you?" Kalla asked, her lips curling back an exposing her old rotted teeth.
Zarrah's face hardened as she looked at the woman. If they wanted her to guess, what other choice did she have? Not giving it a second thought, Zarrah grabbed the first vase that was near to her and lifted off the lid.
The tribe hung in silence, even the rattles quieted in the moment as Zarrah stood there, looking back at the crowd. Then slowly, ever so slowly, she lowered her hand within the jar.
The darkness pierced her, she flinched, but as her hand swept around- she felt nothing but the smoothness of the inside of the jar. Then lifting her hand outside, it came out unmarred- and the crowd cheered.
She showed her hand this way and that, before her eyes finally turned to Radimir. That's when Kalla gestured to him.
"It is your turn, Maji. Show us the power of the snake!"
And as Zarrah moved past him, standing at his side she chimed in.
"Yeah, Maji. Show us that power of the snake."
This was crazy. For him, perhaps not so much, for he had been one with the viper all his life, from his first conscious breath to the clouded mist that rose from his mouth on that cold night. Radimir held his tongue the entire time as Zarrah hashed it out back and forth with the old woman as she insisted that Zarrah stick her hand into the mystery of the jar. The task itself did not seem so complex and one could easily feign finding the serpent. But of the one she spoke of, no doubt the viper would get a whiff of mortal flesh and plunge its fangs in at first hunger.
Radimir held his breath then when Zarrah did so without even thinking and he nearly thrust forward and yanked her away when at last she pulled her hand clean. He almost wanted to shove her into the fire when she mocked him to try it himself. He scowled at her. "This is not a game," Radimir said sternly. "My blood courses with venom. You? One bite and you will die. It is certain." He looked hard at her for a moment longer before stepping forth to the second jar.
He hesitated, depite the jeering of the crowd. Slowly he removed the lid and after some moments he slipped his hands inside, feeling the smooth clay bottom of the jaw, nothing inside. But he couldn't help a small smirk when he pulled his hand out and there lay a small serpent in his hand, formed from magic that made the people gasp. Radimir twisted his hand and made the small snake vanish in a puff of smoke. "Just kidding," he said, grinning.
"Maji, ever deceitful," Kalla said with a wry grin, a scowl upon her brow as she thrust her oaken staff toward Su-lahna. "Proceed Maja. Show him the true heart of the lioness! She fears no viper!"
Zarrah smirked as Radimir cleverly produced a fake serpent, but she was sweating a little at the prospect of actually being the one to find the serpent. She was aware the poison could kill her, but what choice did they have? She should just fight these damn tribesman, but unfortunately, they had her pinned to her deity. She was too prideful for her own good.
Stepping forward, she approached the jar, watching to see if any of them held any hints of where the serpent might ly, but they all remained as still as clay pots could be. Holding a breath, she reached for one that was the farthest from her and opened the lid.
She couldn't look at Radimir as she hesitated, then sunk her hand inside.
WHen her hand reached the bottom she startled herself and reared back, dropping the clay pot as it shattered- revealing nothing was inside.
She swore beneath her teeth and closed her eyes, shaking her head, all the while the crowd cheered.
The stakes were getting higher the more jars were checked and though the moment seemed to last forever, already the time had come for Radimir's turn once again. He was sweating bullets, beading them down his forehead despite the cold chill of the wind. Radimir stepped forward again, not liking the prospect, even if he was born with the blood of the viper. He didn't think the venom he'd been trained to withstand included the bite of the Ground Viper, a grassland snake not too often found in the desert hollows of the Order's temples.
Radimir removed the lid and stared into the darkness for a moment, he could have sworn something was staring back at him. He braved it nontheless and stuck his hand in. Upon finding nothing still he dropped the clay pot to the dirt, slamming it into nothing, raising his hands in momentary victory. For truly there would be no real winner in this endeavor.
Except perhaps the snake itself.
Zarrah jumped when Radimir slammed the pot into the ground. But then she was breathing a sigh of relief. This whole ordeal was nerve wracking so when it was her turn, she picked upt he first pot near to her, and just before she opened the lid, she turned around and smashed it at Kalla's feet- only to have something leap out from the wreckage. In a blur, the viper moved towards her, it's mouth open, teeth glistening before hard fangs snapped down into her flesh.
She wasn't even sure if she ahd made a noise, but she did, as she dropped to her knees in the dirt. SHe grabbed onto her arm and the viper reared back, baring it's teeth again and snapping at her. Zarrah had enough time to dodge back, nursing her arm defensively as she did.
SHIT. The poison was already starting to numb the spot it had sunk into, and if she could believe it, she was already taking t a fever.
"Gods," Radimir breathed as the viper's jar had been broken and it's fangs suddenly sunk into Zarrah's flesh. Despite the rapidity and direness of the poison, now would not be a good time to panic. Instead as the snake fell to the ground and attempted to strike her again, Radimir was upon it and faced the snake even as it reared back to strike him.
Radimir hissed and stared into it's eyes, mesmerizing the snake as he crouched low and pulled it to his whim with his hands as if twirling invisible strings around it. The viper hissed, flared its hood and bared its fangs as it tried to break the trance but Radimir's whispers were strong and pulled the serpent closer to him, until he reached forth and took the snake into his arm, coaxing it to coil around his forearm. He coaxed the snake to open up it's neck, never breaking his gaze, and there he made a small cut with the thin blade Zarrah had given him earlier from the bracer that still coated his wrist and with it, took blood from the serpent, coating the blade.
Radimir licked away the blood, holding it on his tongue before slipping the knife away yet again. He knelt before Zarrah, the snake calm and tamed at least for the moment. "Open your mouth Zarrah, let out your tongue," he commanded. When she complied, he stuck out his tongue before hers licking the blood onto lips and whispering words of an antivenom to quickly counteract the poison. Kissing her softly until she drank at the rest of the blood. He the moved over to her bite wound and began to suck out the poison, spitting it to the ground until the sand there laid stained with green and red.
Radimir stood then and stood before Kalla the snake still coiled around his arm. "You could have killed her," he seethed, staring dead in her eyes.
"If she was Maja, she would have withstood the poison."
"These are mortal bodies you play with," Radimir warned. "And the fires of our rage will burn hotly soon enough. Leave us be. Give us our things and let us be gone from you."
"You do not understand the roles you are challenging, Maji!" Kalla called back, defiance in her eyes. "You will continue the trials or we will end your mortal forms. There is no other choice!"
Radimir gripped the serpent in a fist and suddenly launched the snake at her, uncoiling it form his arm, spiraling in the air. But in time the old woman batted the viper out of the way crying out strange words that suddenly turned the snake into wood as it struck the ground, a rotted log that splintered with maggots upon impact with the ground.
OOC: CHRISTMAS COLORED SANDS
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Zarrah was in a daze as Radimir fed her the anti-venom, her body burning and tingling from both the poison.. and from the her mixed emotions for him.
She whimpered as his lips moved away, violet eyes trying to find his, but he had already turned from her, working at the poison on her arm and sucking and spitting it away. She bared her teeth, not because it was painful, but for other reasons that made her shiver. Then she remained steadfast at his side, eyes dark and piercing as they held Kalla within their gaze. But even Zarrah found herself faltering, surprised by the sudden magics of Kalla as the snake turned to wood and fell into the sandy grasses. She turned her eyes to Radimir, then back to Kalla. Swallowing down her pride, Kalla only laughed and motioned to her people to carry up their deities away.
"Takes them back to their camps. There is more to be had. Enough waiting and resting. We will carry the rituals through."
Zarrah chanced one last glance to Radimir before she was torn away, her eyes speaking volumes of the emotions she felt in that moment, for him, and about these tests they found themselves resolved to face. What else would be in store? And it seemed they were fit to kill the pair of them, but as Zarrah sat on her knees within the tent the ladies had taken her to, her mind began to drift and waver, bending at the drugs laced in the incense that burned inside.
"Yes, the next trial shall commence soon." Kalla's voice was soothing and had Zarrah's eyes rolling back and nearly drifting off into sleep. More jars of incense and perfumes were opened, and the more her mind stung and became unclear, visions clouding her and the world splitting into colors and shapes.
"Maja..." a voice came from the abyss, whispering on a casual breath of air "Maja... the time is now to seek out what you are. To find the vision of power and of truth. Do not return until you seek it. Seek the truth within.."
Zarrah shivered, and after a moment, realized she was out in the cold. It was night, stars sparkling over head as the world rolled this way and that. SHe could hear hard drumming in her ear, unrelenting, fervent, like a fever, though surreal... like a dream...
"Maja.." the voice echoed in a ghosted voice about her.
And then soon all she was seeing was bright white light.
Radimir saw her eyes then, struck by what lingered there. It brought bouts of confusion in that moment, for he knew she didn't love him, had sworn herself to another, and in the scheme of it all, he only became increasingly frustrated as they were dragged away yet again, separated into their respective huts.
Radimir sat in his hut, alone, after having fought off three men that tried to tend to him. The voice of the wise woman seemed to reach him even as far reaching as this. "Go away," he breathed, even as more mist was taken to the hut, smoke burning, filling his senses and his mind with nothingness swirling within.
"You have a strong spirit, Maji," Kalla soothed. "You are defiant yet you do not know why. Do not resist our ways, Maji, for they would only bring more harm than good."
"We need to ....leave this place," Radimir insisted. He slumped backwards on the ground, closing his eyes, unable to resist her soothing voice as Kalla kept speaking. "Zarrah..." he breathed. "Zarrah."
It was the last word to leave his lips when consciousness left him and when at last he awoke, he found himself in some place he'd never seen before. It was cold, unbearably so and he was still dressed in little more than the loincloth and whatever furs were thrown over his shoulders. He was barefoot, standing over hard snow, trees surrounding him, the ground stony and hard.
Radimir stood, wind howling around him as he walked unsteadily through the trees. He didn't know where he was, or how he'd came to be here or even if this place was real or a dream. Radimir walked on unsteady legs, clinging to trees, the bark feeling rough to the touch.
"Zarrah?" He cried. His voice echoed out like a cave, the sound flexing and fluxing moving in waves and bouncing back at him. "Zarrah!"
The whiteness turned into an intense heat, an intense noise. She felt herself flinching, the weight of the world keeping her down, like lead. She felt a fog creep over her, and when she heard a voice, it struck through the void and rippled like an echo. She could not discern what it was, but she felt it call to her. Then it came again, fluttering through the warmth-t he mass....
The fog began to lift, rolling, fading drifting away like mists rolling off the sides of mountains and rising higher and higher, before turning into clouds.
It was uncertain where she was or what this ought to be, but all around her were walls of pure white. She had thought she had felt something, or seen it, yet when she pushed forward, her hands came crashing into a solid wall. Her fingers gripped into it, smoothing across as she held her breath, trembling and moving side ways against it. She felt anxious, she felt lost. She had no idea what to make of this place, but the only thing she could recall was a simple name.
Not even the face.
"Radimir?" Her voice cracked across the wall, layers peeling away like the frailness of an egg shell. She dug her hands in, the wall crumbling down, all the while she felt a hot rush of energy send her back into another blinding frenzy again.
"Zarrah!" Radimir kept calling out to her, for her, but hearing no answer, not even the whisper of his own name. His heart was beating fast and slow at the same time, languid beats deafened as if he were wading through water. Radimir kept treading down the icy hill his feet numbid and bitten to the cold. The trees thickened around him, and he could have sworn he saw a shape moving through the trees, but it was difficult to make out.
"Stop! Wait!" he cried out. But it ran away from him even as he pursued it through the trees, zigzagging here and there. It all but vanished, leaving no trace of it behind, the only footprints in the snow were his own. "ZARRAH!" he cried out again. This time the sound that bellowed from his mouth shook the very ground he stood on and he clung to a tree just to support himself.
This time, when the voice called out to her, the world broke, cracking into itself like glass.
But then as the cracks began to grow, they darkened, and soon sharp teeth of black spikes were cutting across the white void that had once consumed her mind. Blinking, her eyes went bleary a moment, but when she blinked again, they focused,a nd soon she found herself shivering and staring at the tops of trees with soft, white flakes falling down between them.
Sitting up, Zarrah glanced around, not knowing what to do. but she felt as if she were on fire, something biting into her limbs. She shivered, hugging an arm around herself. She was naked, her body in heavy contrast to the white snow. But she had no strength to move, only trembled as she looked around. Trees were everywhere. And all around her snow stretched as far as her eyes could see. to her, it looked like white sands, but as she looked at it further, something was different about it. It felt cold, and hot at the same time..
and wet.
Frowning, she rose, pushing herself against a tree to brace herself from the cold. She needed clothing, she needed shelter, she needed help. It was then a figure moved across the shadows and she blinked. It was hard to focus, hard to speak. But when she did, the name came to her again.
"Radimir?" and her voice echoed throughout the sea of pines.
Trees quaked and fell, moving from his place where he clung to the branches. Radimir nearly fell beneath one particularly large elm, narrowly dodging and rolling in the snow. He heard a faint whisper of his name, it tickled the back of his neck, gave him chills despite the snow. He continued to call out to Zarrah, hoping to hear his name again. Running through the snow, he saw a blank expanse spread out before him, the rocky mountain sloping down.
"ZARRAH!" he cried, hoping for an answer. But all that came was a sudden, chilling, familiar laughter that reminded him of his father whenever he found someone pleading for their life to be particularly amusing. He heard his father's voice say something indistinguishable. But only fear found its way buried in his heart and he ran faster though the snow.
He saw something laying in the snow, and beside him in the trees the shadow from earlier was moving alongside him, almost as if racing him. Radimir ran faster and slid in the snow when he suddenly came upon Zarrah's form, or what he thought was her form, curled up in the snow as it gently fluttered down on them. "Gods! Zarrah! Look at me! ZARRAH!
OOC: Mature trigger!
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The moment Zarrah looked up- she saw him- though as Radimir ran towards her- he ran through her, and their images split into two.
She let out a cry, feeling the weight of their worlds collided as every end of a pine tree split at the sky, cracking it open as it fell to the world in shards, like glass. And she felt the pull of the world like a stream, like the heart beat of a river, and even as she swam, she felt her heart burn and beat for him.
'Radimir...'
Though she could not speak his name. SHe was swimming, swimming endlessly when she felt something familiar between her legs. Tearing her eyes about, her face and body twisted in confusion. And then the waves rolled around her again, pushing into her, with pleasure and with pain until she felt herself pushed beneath a massive wave, and soon a sweaty body was over top of her, rolling into her and grunting, pushing into her so deep his balls slapped heavily against her ass.
She knew the scent, that body that took claim of her, holding her hands down, laughing and burying his face face into her chest as he lapped at her skin. It stung, it all stung as she tried to move, but he held onto her fierce, laughing and laughing as he dove deeper and deeper inside her with sin.
'Carnavus...'
She felt her body burn with rage, but she was too impotent and could not move, despite feeling all of the tension inside her. She was his, and he was taking his claim. His wife, his property.
She was becoming his slave again.
He'd lunged for Zarrah but she ghosted through his grasp. "No... No!" Radimir breathed desperately. He didn't understand. She was right there! But as he looked again it was nothing more than a log that had fallen in the snow. He waited there looking around him, his heart slowing when he saw a shape walking toward him through the shade. Though the snow was little more than a flutter, the silhouette was difficult to make out.
Radimir held his breath, waiting as if came further into view. There she was. "Zarrah?" he whispered, mesmerized, but she did not answer him. she only smiled sweetly, looking beautiful in the frosted cold, off set by the bronze of her skin. "Zarrah," Radimir repeated waiting for her on his knees. "I'm so glad to see you. I don't know where we are. This place, it's so strange. I - Zarrah?" As she came closer his eyes locked with hers and there was a glint there he'd never seen before. And the color was no longer the violet he remembered so well. In fact, he might be foolish enough to say there was an odd yellow tinge to them.
His breath quickened. "Adurim!" Radimir barked and he shot to his feet then, bolting to Zarrah's form and tackling it to the ground, snow billowed everywhere and when he opened his eyes to find nothing beneath him instead there was a howling behind him. As he turned around, Adurim rushed at him, his spectral blade drawn as he overpowered Radimir, raising the weapon high, aimed to pierce his heart. Radimir caught the blade in time, holding it against his palm, feeling the edge cut into it and the blade burning his flesh.
"You were always impetuous!" the specter growled. Adurim's other hand crushed at his throat. Radimir clawed it with his free one, but all the while feeling his blood drip down onto him.
"Why!? Father, why are you doing this!?" Radimir gagged.
"Because I have come to succeed where you have failed. You shame me, you shame our Order by loving this woman! But don't you see? She has made you her slave! She will betray you! Perhaps it is a mercy to kill you now. And she will be next!"
"NO! This-THIS is not you! Father, please! Somebody is controlling you!" Radimir managed to shove the blade away and shoved his leg into his chest, kicking him off. "ADURIM!"
But as the specter of his father fell off, he vanished again in a cloud of snow, any answer he might have given, to be lost to the winds. Radimir's mind was reeling, looking down at his palm, the blood painting the snow red. Climbing to his feet, he pulled the fur tighter around his shoulders. Suddenly a voice eased its way on the wind, floating into his ears.
"Find the Serpent's Totem, Maji! Then you will find your mate."
Zarrah moved and struggled, trying to fight against the rolling motion and possession Carnavus had on her. It was terrible and it was hot, and the man was laughing like a sweating pig. Then when his face looked down to her, she saw the maggots in his nose, the skull through his skin and her heart lurched within.
"You are mine!" he hissed possesively, his laughter cackling across the void. She struggled against him, trying to scream out, but nothing was there. His laughter consumed her, the world bending and whirling, wrapping around her body tight and not letting her go.
She couldn't breath. SHe couldn't see. And she felt as if she was going to die.
"N-no!" she shouted, clutching at her throat. "But you're dead.."
Carnavus's laughter echoed around her, vibrating the world. She twisted and turned, struggled but the world held onto her tight.
"You can never escape me, Zarrah. An eye for an eye!" he laughed. "You sought to kill me, but it will be you who's breath will be breathed last!"
"N-no!" she saw a fragment of Carnavus's face and reached out for it desperately, aiming to claw at his eyes- but the image moved away, in a ghosted recession, one phantom locking and fading into the next until he had all but disappeared, leaving Zarrah all alone in the dark.
"Look for the serpent. Look for your light.." a voice came, but it was unclear, and her world wavered around her. What did that mean? What serpent? What light?
All she could see was the endless, binding darkness that kept her weighted down, like a stone.
Radimir was lost again in this expansive wasteland, with nothing more than stony ground, frosted stone, trees like pillars that shot to the evening sky. His breath came hotly, feeling his body grow weary as he walked on. But there was an invisible force driving him on, the need to be free of this place, the mesmerization of its entrancing qualities lost on him. The only thing that reflected in his mind over and over again was Zarrah.
He huddled in his fur, feeling himself grow even more tired. The mountain grew out from the sides and before him suddenly was a crack in the stone, a massive crevice. The wind howled from the mouth of it, seeming to call his name. Radimir felt fear course through him at first, but knew then there was no other place to go as he passed through the mouth of the cave and into darkness.
After a time of feeling as if she were drowning, she began to feel as if she were floating through space, through time. She closed her eyes, feeling tired, lulled by it as the darkness carried her away. Soon the repressive clutch of Carnavus seemed to dissipate, winds were howling through the void. The sound of it was frightening and unknown, and slowly she opened her eyes and felt herself becoming pulled along with it. Then up towards the sky, she saw a crack amongst the clouds. At first, it looked like nothing, until she noticed the curling wave that resembled a serpent. Blinking, she studied it in silence, then found herself floating towards it until she reached a hand out to grab it, only to find her hand becoming cut on broken glass.
Drawing back, she gasped and looked down at the blood flowing down her arm. She grit her teeth, then looked before her. A wall of glass was placed, and on the other side, a figure was approaching.
At first, she stood, baring her teeth and looking feral, ready for a fight. But as the image came nearer, everything became clearer and she saw exactly who it was.
Her face fell.
"Radimir.."
and she rushed to the glass, eyes rolling over the solid piece that was held between them, before turning her violet eyes back to his, desperate, yet hopeful. She could't get to him, could not touch him, but still she raised a hand and placed it against it tenderly, as if reaching for his face.
Radimir's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness that engulfed him as he passed through the crevice entrance. The winds howled and swirled snow through the cold cavern walls. His steps were careful as he came down from the mouth of the cave, feeling along the wall of it. He was unarmed and his bleeding hand might give trace to anything that could hunt him. He didn't know what he was looking for, except it's name. It's very image was lost to him and he knew that he would not find Zarrah in this strange world.
As his hands passed along the wall, they abruptly paused upon feeling something smooth, much smoother than the icy walls. He paused, waiting to see through the darkened glare. Upon the otherside of it, he could make out a strange necklace laced with the teeth of a deadly Sand-Shera viper, large and vicious that were threaded around it. It was crowned around a large stone altar and Radimir could see eyes staring back at him from the other side as well, but he did not see Zarrah.
He knew he needed the totem, that must have been it. What else could it be? He backed up and got a running start, bashing his foot into the glass. Upon impact the glass wall cracked, though only a little. He did it again and again, more and more frustratedly, tired of this place, tired of these games, these trials and before he knew it he smashed through the wall and falling through the otherside, covered in glass cuts.
But the eyes he'd seen before came glowing again, as Radimir came to his feet again. And there was the largest serpent he'd ever seen. "Basilisk," he breathed, staring at the reptile that bared its fangs to him.
Zarrah furrowed her brow. Did Radimir not see her? He was clearly looking at something. But what? But then he came rushing at her, smashing into the glass wall again and again. As the shards exploded around her, she tried calling out to him, but her voice was lost and she fell once again into the void, waking up moments later, strapped to a cold pillar of ice. Her hands ad legs were frozen into it, and she could feel the ice creeping up her body, reaching into her blood and stretching forth, hoping to secure her heart.
She didn't even shiver, not even as her naked body was braced out to the world.
All she could think about was Radimir.
Radimir.. Radimir...
Her eyes trembled with tears that would not come, but it was only then she began to question herself, and the world grew still, the snow falling having ceased and she began to lament over the war within her own heart.
How come she could just not love him? Why could she just forget? To let go? To fall?
The ice continued to creep up her legs and cover over her hips, all the while a final, hot tear began to spill down her cheeks as she began to realize...
As much as she denied it..
She was in love with Radimir.
And as the single tear fell, it shattered the ice that bound her, and she was falling into a wall of bright, flickering light.
Radimir faced the serpent as it bent over him. He leaned low, picking up a shard of glass long enough to be a bowie knife and stood slowly, moving as he stared with the beast eye to eye. He was getting close enough to the totem, though every step he took the basilisk hissed at him got closer to him. That was it, there was no time to waste. Radimir reached forth and snatched the chain, slashing at the basilisk with the glass shard, tearing into two scales, peeling them off.
The beast shrieked loudly and bolted after Radimir as he ran out of the cave, climbing for the crevice, leaving his fur behind, throwing it at the face of the creature that gave sudden chase. Radimir climbed out of the cave immediately running for the top of the mountain where he'd come from. The winds were fierce now, and the ground growled as the basilisk suddenly burst from the confines of the cave, stone flying everywhere. It screeched and howled as it slithered through the snow, coming on his heels very quickly.
As Radimir held the totem in his hands, running as fast as he could through the thickened snow. He threw the necklace of teeth over his head. The serpent found its way toward him even faster, crying out. The ground continued to quake as Radimir bounded through the trees, zigzagging. Trees fell and crashed and broke and splintered when the serpent passed through them, but the further he went the thicker the snow got and the faster the snake got. Radimir dodged and crawled, trying to keep steady.
He paused for only a moment, looking behind him as he saw the ground suddenly breaking away, falling away into white nothingness. He tried to beat the ground as it broke away, trees falling down into the emptiness of white. "NO! ZARRAH!" Radimir cried out, crawling to the peak of the mountain, but even as he did so, he was caught in the cascading avalanche the serpent too falling as it nearly had him in his grasp. And soon he found he was weightless, falling down into white.
It was hard to explain how it happened. One minute she was alone in this world, free falling, naked.
The next she turned her head, dark hair whipping up around her, and saw him. Radimir, and he was falling right beside her. Her eyes lit up, her hands reached out for him, hoping to catch him this time within their dreams.
Radimir twisted and turned, whirling around into that nothingness, feeling weightless and pulled down at the same time, falling into white. He didn't know where he was, what he was anymore and felt he'd surely die. He closed his eyes, praying to the god he knew abandoned his order to give him some answer, some relief. But Na'gazhok had never been known for his mercy.
Radimir opened his eyes again, falling backwards as he cascaded down and saw Zarrah beside him and his heart leapt into his throat. But fear swirled in his belly, even as they fell, that if he touched her, reached for her that she might vanish yet again. He had to try, however, had to and if it was an illusion, he had nothing left to lose.
"HOLD OUT YOUR HAND!" He cried out and he did reach for her, their fingers barely meeting before he clawed his hands into hers, feeling something solid and pulled her close to him, holding her close to him at last. But just then, it seemed they were fated to land through the white, and he closed his eyes, feeling as if water was cascading all around them, taking them through the darkness of a lake and breaking through the surface on the other side.
Her heart flew into her chest the moment her hand was seized by Radimir's and then she was pulled towards him. But in that instant, they were one, and drank down together into a darkness, only to be gasping for air at the other end. Gods almighty, it had never been so good to see one person in all of her days. After all of the bizarre circumstances they had gone through, she could not restrain herself from tossing her arms around him and holding him fierce, lips crashing against his lips in a blister of passion.
"Gods, Radimir," she whimpered, ignoring the fact she could hear the world beginning to crumble and roar like thunder all around them. "Gods, don't ever leave me again."
Radimir was gasping for breath, startled by the kiss and from the water and pulled his face away trying to breathe. He held her tightly to him, hugging her close and smiling at her. "Leave you? Are you sure you're Zarrah? Just a few weeks ago, you couldn't wait to get rid of me," Radimir laughed at her. He waded through the water, pulling them to what seemed like a shore despite the thundering of the world around him. But just as she asked him, he didn't let her go and just hugged her to his cold bare form, kissing her cheek multiple times in show of affection.
"I'm sorry I left you alone. I thought I found you, but I guess this nightmare wouldn't let us. Not until I got the totem. But perhaps with luck, we might wake soon."
"Totem?" Zarrah looked at him, confused. "I was only told I needed to find the serpent, to find my light I-" but then her voice broke away as she only finally began to realize what that meant. Her heart fluttered inside her chest, her body burning hot as she glanced up at him.
But then the calling of the drums began to make it's way through their dreams.
"Ah, they are coming around.." came Kalla's voice, wavering the vision they were in. Zarrah ignored it, her eyes only for Radimir.
"You were what I had to find." She said, moving closer to him, eyes reading into his, such wonder, such hope, even fear for uncertainty were laced within. She cupped a hand upon his cheeks.
"I had to travel around until I could find you.. accept you.."
but as close as she felt his naked flesh against hers, so natural, so right- she began to become pulled away, the dream world becoming snuffed out all around them.
And she was pulled and pulled away...
"R-Radimir!"s he tried to called, her voice lost in the pulling, and a moment later, she woke up in a gasp, her entire body glistening with hot sweat.
It was natural, it was right and Radimir clung to her. Clung to her until he felt her body begin to pull away, drifting through his grip like sand through his fingertips. Radimir's eyes was stricken blind when she was suddenly gone and he was left alone in the dark, cold, drenched with nothing to show for it, save his mind lost in confusion.
When Zarrah would awake, she would find Radimir's form beside hers, laying on his side, eyes closed and breathing heavily, hyperventilating in the hot incensed room. But he did not awake, still stuck, still lost in the vision of his drug induced slumber.
Zarrah's eyes opened to Radimir laying before her. Her eyes sparkled there with care and concern, a smile gracing her lips as she lifted a hand forward to touch his face. But then she noticed the way he breathed so heavily, and was remaining asleep.
"Radimir?" she touched his face lightly, then moved to sit up, concern filling her eyes. "Radimir!?"s he gently shook him, then looked all around her, suddenly realizing the entire tribe had gathered in a circle around them.
Even as she moved him, still Radimir did not stir. He was stuck in the dream world though covered in dirt and sweat and was clearly in distress as the world began to close in around him in his mind. Radimir tossed his head fitfully. It was then that Kalla came forth, her eyes narrowed in concern.
"He has taken to the haraji-ka more deeply than you. He will awaken but he needs time and motivation," Kalla pressed. She motioned for Zarrah to get up, to move to his head. "You two over there, pick him up and take him to my hut. We will attempt to summon him there."
They did so quickly, Kalla calling for Zarrah to follow.
Zarrah followed and into a tent the pair was taken. It was already roaring hot in the room and Zarrah found herself sweating even more. She watched in silence as they rested Radimir upon a bed of oak, the center having been worn away so he could be nestled within. Then, moving ot one side, Kalla picked up a stick and placed it int the fires and waited until the end of of it was glowing hot and red. Then she moved it out, shoving it against Radimir's side.
And by the time Zarrah cried out, it was too late.
"NO!" and the men had to have her restrained, arms latching all over her limbs to keep her in place.
"Come on, Maji!" Kalla called out to him, the drums beat rising in anticipation. "Awaken back to us to let us see, let us see if you really are our snake!" and she thrust the heat against him again, raking the burning hot end of the stick clear down his chest.
At the first sign of heat, Radimir winced physically in pain but did not awaken, only groaned, still struggling in his sleep. He moved and writhed until Kalla struck him a second time with the flames and at last he awoke, screaming, sitting up and turning on his side, clearly in pain. "AHHHHHH!" Radimir turned and looked at Kalla with wild eyes.
"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!?" he demanded.
"MAJI AWAKENS!" Kalla said grinning widely.
It was no use, the old woman was out of her mind obviously. Radimir laid back down and looked around him. The necklace of the viper's teeth was still around his neck when at last he was making sense of what happened. "Zarrah? Where's Zarrah?"
Kalla's grin curled into a more wicked grin when he spoke Zarrah's name.
"The maja is right here,"s he said, gesturing to Zarrah who was still restrained by the tribesman, butwith a flick of her wrist, they released her and Zarrah rushed to his side. She took his hand tenderly, looking down into his face.
"It seems the vision quest worked better than expected," Kalla said, eyeing the way the pair looked at one another. "Which is good. The pair of you are proving yourselves well and the trials are nearly at an end."
"There isn't going to be an end," Zarrah spoke, squeezing Radimir's hand as anger shook through it. Tears burned within her eyes before she turned around to face the woman. "We will do no more of your tasks! I will kill you all if you get in our way!" she roared, lunging at the old woman and striking out- only to find Kalla striking back, her stick smacking into Zarrah's arm and the force of it sent a shock wave through her as Zarrah clutched onto her arm, collapsing to the ground in a yelp of pain.
"Tsk, tsk. Maja, so fierce in spirit. Your pride will get you in the end, do not worry yourself." She turned away from Zarrah's writhing form to look at Radimir before she gave a dark smirk.
"Now, Maji, sweet Maji, it is good to see you are back from your trials. Do you find more faith in yourself and the task ahead? The visions you have both encountered should have pointed out all of the answers to what you seek. And.." she added with an even darker grin. "Prepare you for what we need."
Radimir held his burned side, flesh singed and sore, the sting of which would heal with time. He then remembered the palm of his hand and stared down at it. A slash indeed was cut across it and the flesh there was raw and haggard, blood dried. It still stung and he clenched his fist. He just stared at Kalla then to Zarrah but could find no words to say.
Radimir moved his legs from the wooden bed, sitting on the edge of it. He then looked back to Kalla and said simply. "I wish for time alone with her. Leave us. For now."
"The time has not yet come for - "
"LEAVE US! Radimir would not take any other words from Kalla as he dropped off and limped toward Zarrah, getting a feel for his legs. "Take my hand."
It had taken some time, but the shock of the pain eventually did subside. It was then the sharp bark of Radimir's words came to her ears as she turned and looked up at his hand. Lifting her own, she slipped it within his and let him lift her off the ground, her eye staring at his in question, but she said nothing.
Radimir took her hand into his own and pulled her up with him. He looked at he confidently, his eyes hard but giving her a slow nod. Slowly the men and other villagers filed out of the hut, leaving Kalla behind. She gripped her oaken staff and nodded and soon left after they did.
When they were alone, Radimir took hold of Zarrah then and threw his arms around her. He just held her there in silence.
Zarrah stared at him in silence as the tribesman all left. Her eyes were wavering with questioning, and also echoing the emotions she had felt while they were both stuck within their visions, their dreams. Then, when his arms moved around her she stiffened, but soon found herself melting against the warmth of his body as her arms slowly moved around him in return. The silence was all that needed, no words needed, but she still felt she had to tell him..
"Radimir..." she hesitated, just holding him tight. "I was so afraid when I had those visions." her voice was soft, almost snuffed out by the crackle of the flame. "I saw so many terrible things. Carnavus was there, he.." she shuffled uneasily. "Although I know it was just a vision, it still felt so real. I felt like I was still his. I still belonged to him and I was drowning. THere was no escape." Here, she lifted her eyes as they wavered with a gentle brewing of tears.
"But there was a light in the darkness...." She placed a hand gently upon his cheek. "I kept finding hope. I kept finding it, through you."
Despite her pride, despite herself, she found a few hot tears slipping down her cheeks.
"It took a dream for me to realize how much you've come to mean to me, Radimir." her breath was so quiet, like a hush on the wind.
"I don't think I can part from you any longer. I don't think I can deny what's burning in my chest." She placed his hand upon her chest, letting him feel the heavy heart beat within.
"Radimir.." her eyes captured his in the moment, so intense, so emotional, so real as her fingers curled lightly over his dry lips. It was hard to tell if the next words were actually spoken, or if her lips were doing the talking.
"I think I'm falling in love with you."
And she kissed him, soft and chaste, before sealing her lips against his with need.
It was a lot to take in in that moment and Radimir was still in quite a shock after all that happened. All he needed in that moment was Zarrah's arms around him, was her warmth igniting his tired, singed body and for all he was worth, he held her snugly to him, breathing in her scent, finding no words to ruin this moment. But it seemed she couldn't do the same.
After a time she did speak. Her words were so strange to him, and he felt a twisting in his heart despite her tone, soft as it was. Radimir could find nothing to say, perhaps there wasn't, his tongue stuck in his throat. He just figured it was the dregs of the incense wearing off.
"Zarrah," he said at last, looking at her with tired eyes. "Don't say such things. I know you don't mean them. You were clear before... It's just the drugs... It's just the dreams. We'll find your light." His voice was haggard and he looked down away from her, saddened that she would say such things in a moment of such vulnerability. And it only made the inkling fear of Adurim had said squirm in his gut. Was he right? Had he been right? Was Zarrah only using him for her own ends? He wouldn't put it above her, she'd used men just before to rescue him.
He found he couldn't be near her any longer and dropped his arms from around her. He did not hear the words she mouthed that came far to light for his ears. When she kissed him, he grew angry and pulled away from her, feeling his face grow hot with shame and anger, knowing all to well it couldn't be true. "Why do you want to hurt me?" Radimir said, looking down.
Shocked, Zarrah found herself simply staring over at Radimir as he hung his head in shame. She could see the hurt there, the anguish and knew it was her fault as guilt tightened itself as a shamefilled knot in her belly and throat. She wasn't sure how to answer him, not at first. She didn't deserve to have him anyway. Not after all she had put him through, not after all the torture and her toying with him while still lamenting over Castor's names. She lowered her head, setting her jaw as she remained silent. She wasn't sure what to say to him. He was right to be angry with her. But she couldn't shake the feeling.
"I never meant to hurt you, Radimir," she soft softly, her voice dry and wavering. "I tried to warn you before any of this could happen, and you did the same to me. I.." she kept her gaze averted from his, felt her lips trembling with shame. "I'm sorry, Radimir. I can't.. I can't do this any longer. It tears me up inside to think of all the pain I've caused you. And for what? While we had those visions, I kept thinking of you, and only you. I wanted to reach out to you, hold onto you like a crutch. And it was then I knew. It was then I realized I was a fool." She stepped away from him, shaking her head.
"I was so afraid of losing you, and it made me realize how much I valued you, how much I've come to care. And I think it's more than you can ever come to know. ANd I'm sorry for that. You keep remaining at my side, steadfast. You keep loving me, helping me, embracing me when I needed it that... Yet, I only knew how to push you away and become spiteful over my own loss. Over my own emptiness burning inside, fierce with need and want of devotion. I guess..
Perhaps it not fair that only know I should fall. Perhaps I am just making a bigger fool and hurting you all the more by admitting it, but it's true."
She hung her own head in shake, dark hair hiding her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I won't ever speak it again. But I wanted to say it, at least once. Because I fear what they might have in store for the other trials, and this feeling int he pit of my belly.. it's raw fear. And I do not wnat to go to the grave knowing that you never knew."
Radimir didn't understand what she was saying, it was all happening quicker than he imagined. For someone who was so strongly in love with a man that wanted to kill her at one point, so devoted to him that when he left she didn't care if she lived or died and he jumped into the fray to pull her from the flames of death. Radimir could just as easily believe that her words were brought on by the distress of their situation, that she'd only grown attached to him because there was no one else grow attached to.
"What are you saying?" he said, unable to look at her. "That you love me? Or I'm just convenient for the moment? Zarrah, I'm not afraid of getting hurt. I guess we can't help who we love." He finally did look up at her. "I know you don't mean these words you say. Words are only words after all. In truth, you will love only men who hurt you, animals of men. My father was right, I have been made your slave."
Zarrah stared at him for a time, unable to swallow down the words he spoke. She wanted to strike him, to hit him, to hate him, but a part of her knew he was right. When there wasn't doubt before, he planted the seed again and she recalled those long nights with Castor, finally opening up, finding her heart becoming so wounded as she turned away. She had nothing to say to him. She was hurting too much and she assumed he faired the same.
It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair.
But she did love him.
Maybe she'd love him the same way he did someday. But for her, it was a start, even though she was knocked back to where she had felt before. Though this feeling was much more hollow and cruel, and she had no idea how to get rid herself of the twisting feeling that churned and tightened bitterly within her gut.
"Even if you don't believe it, I do care for you Radimir," she whispered, hearing the tribesman outside the tent growing anxious. "Perhaps it's not the right time now, but someday, when it's all over, perhaps I can find a way to make myself love you as you love me. But we're both slaves to our fate. ANd I never asked you to suffer. I never wanted any of that." She hung her head again.
"You are too good to me, it's why I'll find a way to make you free of this." And without another thought, she slipped out blade she had stolen and move to stalk out of the tent. "I'm going to end this now."
It was too much to be borne. Radimir watched as she walked out of the hut. He was reminded of his wounds then, the air of her movement giving sting to his burned side. He couldn't help himself, he knelt down by the oaken bed and leaned against it, feeling the tears roll down his face. He wanted to believe it, but he'd yet them proven true. He couldn't help himself, and he supposed she couldn't help herself either. They were words, words lost to the wind.
Eventually, Radimir found the stength stand and nursed his side as he too walked out of the tent, feeling tired and cold, bereft of anything that mattered anymore.
"Ah, Maja, you have come to us at last!" Kalla exclaimed. "I see that you have-" but before she could finish her sentence, Zarrah tore a blade across her face. The woman went down, her cries echoing into the air. But before Zarrah had a chance to sink the blade into her again, the tribesman were upon her. SHe lashed out, knocking back the first group of men that came at her, cutting open their flesh, and tearing open another's throat. Blood ran down her arm, the entire place was in panick. Two men were dead, then three, and like a wall, the entire place was upon her, roaring viciously like one massive thriving animal.
Down to the ground she went, the men beating on her with sticks until she was spitting out blood. It was Kalla's voice that cut through it.
"STOP!" and just like that, everything ceased.
The sea of men began to part as Kalla walked through them, staff in hand. She paused as she approached Zarrah, looking down at her and studying the bruise across her eye, the fat welt on her lip, and the blood dribbling down from her nose. But hten Kalla herself smiled, blood oozing down from her own face, the gash Zarrah created had streaked across her from one eye to the other side of the top of her mouth, and was still blooding as she raised her staff and pointed it at Zarrah's face.
"Only further proof you are the foolish lion, Maja. But we do not take kindly to such actions. Come, string her up. We'll tie her to the post for the night. See if that can't knock the pride out of her." ANd before hse knew it, the blade dropped from her hand and Zarrah was being dragged away.
Radimir's stomach soured as he watched helplessly as they beat her within an inch of her life. He cried out for them to stop, rushed forth and tried to part the crowd, but ultimately it was Kalla that managed to keep them from killing Zarrah. Then as they dragged her away, Radimir was upon them and tackled one of the men to the ground.
"LEAVE HER BE!" he howled, beating the man savagely and moving before the other to capture him. "Leave her!" Radimir threw his body over Zarrah's, covering her. "Just leave her please! If you must punish her for tiring of your games, you must punish me also for I had every intention of spilling your blood. Leave her be!"
Radimir glared at Kalla. But the old woman's gaze was hard and stony. And she gave them an evil smirk. "Very well, take them both away!"
They were taken away. She could hardly see what was going on. But soon their hands were tied, limbs extended, both of them strung across tall poles that pointed up out of the ground and were attached by a vertical log across the center. The ropes were as tight as tehy could be, limbs extended as open as they could be, and necks tied, forcing their tired faces to look onward. The sun was just beginning to set, and the soft drums of mourning were beaten throughout the camp. It wasn't long before Kalla approached the pair was the day slipped into night and whispered towards them.
"You will remain here together, tied and bound for the next three days. Then, once we are satisfied and believe you have suffered enough for your transgressions, only then we shall release you and continue on. Maja.." she nodded to Zarrah with one eye, then looked back to Radimir. "Maji.. I fair thee well. I hope you can stomach a few days of roasting in the sun, and being eaten alive at night by the insects that swarm these grass lands."
And with that she left, taking wit her her torch, whcih left the pair of them to fade into darkness, the only light being that from the crescent moon.
Radimir groaned as they were suspended on the the massive poles, choking a little from the rope that braced against his chin. He coughed and watched the sun fading away. They were lucking evening was just falling upon them but it didn't change the fact that they were still tied to poles and were set to roast for three day's time.
"I hope you knew what you were doing," Radimir coughed, looking up at the stars that presented themselves beautifully in the evening canvas. "What did you think she would die easily? Old crones never die easily. I already tried it when you were poisoned by that viper. She's quite powerful...but he magic is strange, archaic even. I can only hope we make it three days."
Zarrah was quiet for a time. Her mind was wondering over so many things in that moment. But the only thing she could think of was to hand her head shamefully away from his, as best she could and reply, "I'm sorry, Radimir."
Not only had she tormented his heart but a moment earlier, now the pair was to suffer through her prideful consequences when she tried to attack Kalla. But after a time, her lips twitched a bit.
"At least I cut her eye. Damn crone." she tried to laugh but it hurt, so she winced and fell back into silence, closing her eyes.
"Yes, the old ones are always hard to kill!" Radimir actually laughed at their situation. It was his appropriate way of dealing with what had happened, after all, they had three days to think about what they'd done. If only punishments in the Order had done such punishments so mundane. People would bend just from the boredom alone.
Radimir looked over to Zarrah. "That one eyed thing is actually quite a good look for her, if you think about it? Maybe I should sleep with her to get us out of here. Worked for you, it ought to work for me. I guess I can over look the fact that she's old. But still, if I just imagine it's you I might get through it." Radimir dangled his legs, playfully.
"No use in crying over salted wounds, Zarrah. Look to the stars. Aren't they beautiful? They've never looked so gorgeous in the desert."
What a repulsive joke. But she figured Radimir was trying to make light of the situation rather than add salt to wounds, but the tension between them was still as present as ever. And Zarrah was still bitter for it. She didn't want to look at the stars. It was just another reminder that every step they took, they'd never get any farther than where they were going. But at least they were out of the god damn desert. She wasn't even sure if she had the heart to pursuit Castor any more after this was all said and done. The man, by now, was probably lost to her forever.
"Maybe I should sleep with her. You might be lousy at it." She said, trying to smile, but her face had heart from the beating,a nd one eye couldn't even open all the way.
"How do you know you wouldn't be lousy? Just because you're slept with a lot of men doesn't make you some kind of expert," Radimir said, rolling his eyes. He laughed then, genuinely so, knowing it was an untruth and turned to look at her. "Zarrah, even if we die here, I just want you to know that I don't regret a minute I've spent with you. You freed me, believe it or not. I would have never left the desert. I would have never left the order. The greatest way to die...not a regret in the world."
If his words were meant to perk up her spirits in their current condition, it failed. She tried to smile at him, her dark hair in a tattered mess about her bruised face, but it was soon fading. It hurt to smile anyways. It kept tearing open the wound on her lip, spilling more blood that tickled her.
She hung her head, staring down at the ground with a weary expression.
"I'm pretty sure there are better ways to die."
"Oh, I agree," Radimir said. "There are many ways to die. I've impliimented many myself. I always thought I would die in the heat of battle, in the rush of life, in the rush of defending myself the way it ought to be. I thought I would die as Lord Viper carrying my Order into the glory it once held. But I see all of that is just an illusion. There is little value in pride, in lineage, in honor."
He paushed for a moment then gave her a look. "Zarrah, the only thing worth dying for is someone you love. I'm sorry I didn't believe you...I...I don't know what to believe anymore. I've lost everything. Except you."
"Dying is different for you than it is for me," Zarrah began dryly, though she frowned and did not elaborate on what she meant. She couldn't even lift her eyes to look at him. She felt too ashamed.
"I think you and I are on the same boat. Who knows what to believe in anymore." She lifted her eyes, staring off at the horizon, her face still pained, and her vision a bit bleary.
"But we'll make it through this."S he said, forcing a smile that cut at her lips. "If only to add more confusion to our hearts."
He felt sickness coil in his stomach at her downcast gaze and sullen attitude. He looked at her with disdain, and scowled. "Don't speak in such a manner," he said. "Zarrah, what's gotten into you? Why do you speak as if there is no more hope? Maybe we don't know what to believe but I think that...better than what we had before. We have a chance to start anew, and we will. Zarrah, I made a promise to you, does it mean nothing? Why do you seem so...lost?"
At his questioning, Zarrah finally lifted her head.
"You ask why I seem so lost, because I am." Her eyes wavered, catching some of the sparkling stars above. "The whole world is open to us now, yet here I play chasing games to a man I'll probably never see again in all the days of my life. A man who has purposely run from me and probably never wants to see me again. I play the fool, wanting to love a man who made me vulnerable, and then there's you.... You who I push away, the one man who remains steadfast, like a true lover ought to be." She studied his face. "I don't know what I'd do without you Radimir. I still think back to that oasis. To those fruits we shared, to the love we made as equals. It was... different than most of the sex I've had in a while. My heart has never felt so light as it has around you, and it makes me wonder if I fell in love withe the wrong man first. But I can not change what has happened, or how my heart feels. But it does feel for you, Radimir. I know that but... But now," she sighed and looked away, tears glossing over her eyes. "But now it only makes me feel more confused." She hung her head. "You were right. I need to stop toying with you. But my heart is breaking, even as it tries to soar. I do not know what to make of it. All I know is if we live through whatever these tribseman have in store for us, I..." and she lowered her head, tears running down her face. "I will try to be much stronger..."
"For you."
Radimir's eyes swelled with ears too and he wished then to be free of the ropes so that he migh hold Zarrah close to him, realizing his mistake back in the hut. He was just happy to see her alive, in good condition, ready to press through to the next trial. He searched for her so ardently in his waking nightmare, wanted to save her, to hold her close and protect her if he could.
"ZARRAH PLEASE," he found his voice breaking. "Zarrah, don't be sorry! You only followed where you're heart led you and I rejected you because I thought you simply couldn't help yourself. My father tried to kill me in my sleep, he told me you couldn't be trusted, that you would betray me...but you've only saved me. You were right. YOU WERE RIGHT! I was wrong. Say it again. Please. I can't imagine going on without knowing we might have been, could still be!"
Zarrah kept her face turned away from him, still too ashamed to look at him as hot tears streamed down her face. She bit into her lower lip as it trembled, keeping herself from speaking. But she couldn't if she wanted to. Too many emotions wracked her body, too much doubt and shame claimed her tongue.
"Radimir.. please.." she whispered. It hurt too much now, her body still bruised from her pride.
And they still had three days....
"Zarrah...there is no doubt, and no shame, no moment should be wasted between us. Zarrah, I love you with more fire than I've ever thought I could love a woman. Say it again, say it, please," Radimir pressed, insisted fervently, though he knew he was fighting an uphill battle. "Zarrah....i-I....I understand. I guess there's no use, eh? But I'll always love you. And if you change your mind. I'll be...hanging."
OOC: Lol. You WOULD make him say that cheesy line! *sniff*
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The more he spoke, the more tears spilled down her face. It was uncontrollable, and she began to shake as she sobbed. But after a time, her tears turned into laughter, and her laughter was heard, cutting across the quiet darkness before she lifted her head and turned to Radimir, smiling despite her tears.
"If words could give power, yours would give me wings. And I'd take us far away from here."
[What the hell else is he going to say? |8]
Radimir smiled at her, glad to see she was able to turn her frown over at least once despite their situation. "Smile with me all the time and we'll get through these gruelling three days. We've made it through far worse. The desert sun prepared us for this all our lives." He laughed and looked to the stars again. He closed his eyes and actually fell asleep. His joints were sore, arms yanked ragged by the time he awoke to the morning dawn. And just as Kalla had said the heat was building up around them.
Yet it was much gentler than the heat of the desert sun that beat down on them. When at last the sun was at it's height, Kalla returned with five men, armed and ready to defend their wise woman to the death if need be. Radimir turned to look at her, gagging just a little and furrowing his brows from the glare of the sun. "We are..." a cough, "...ready for the next trial, Kalla. We have nothing more to protest."
"Silence, Maji!" Kalla shushed him and walked over to Zarrah, looking her over with her good eye. "We will be the judge of that, Maji. For your tongue is made of lead this afternoon and it's silver has yet to fully bloom. Maja...how are you feeling?"
As Kalla approached, Zarrah felt herself burn with rage. It was like renewed energy scorching through her veins. ANd when the question was pressed, she smiled, exposing the dry blood on her teeth. Then spat directly on Kalla's face. But the action, though it made her men tense, only made Kalla laugh, a sharp noise that echoed around them, scaring the birds as she wiped the gob of saliva off her face.
"Prideful as ever, you fool!"she pointed her staff at her, then smacked her legs good and hard. Zarrah let out a whimper, but suppressed the scream.
"FOr that, two more days for you.." And then her eyes peered over at Maji as she smiled.
"And you.. you can come with us. The snake need not be punished any more for the foolish pride of his lioness." And the men moved forward to cut him from his bindings, Zarrah smiling all the while.
Goddammit Zarrah! Of course she had to go around making it worse for herself than it already was. But he bit his tongue lest he make it worse as the men came to cut him down. He fell to the dirt, slumping over weakly. "Please," he pleaded with Kalla, looking up at the old woman when at last he found the strength to stand on his own. But that didn't stop the men from grabbing his arms to make sure even he was under control.
"Please, let her go. We are both under a great deal of stress," Radimir said, coughing exhaustedly. "We just wish for all of this to be over with. We - "
"Sh-shh, Maja, you are beside yourself with exhaustion," Kalla cooed, walking over to him and putting a gnarled hand on his shoulder. "We will take you to that rest you so desperately desired on the mountain. Come this way. Perhaps when your mate has learned to contain the salivation of her tongue we might let her down. For now, the sun shall be her only companion."
With that they dragged him away.
Zarrah felt her throat tighten as Radimir tried to defend her. She didn't want him to, he didn't need to suffer for her insolence. Perhaps she should have swallowed her pride...
But thankfully, they had let him go, and as he was dragged off, her eyes followed him until he disappeared into the grasslands at last.
The sun was hot, but she had suffered worse in the desert, and found her mind warmed and lulled by it. She thought of many things in her time by herself, wished for many things as her throat was parched and sore, but as the day gave way, and the smoke rose up from the tribe's fire off in the distance, she wondered how Radimir was fairing and if he was thinking about her.
She had thought about many things while she was bound.
About Radimir..
About Castor and Carnavus, about life...
It was in silence her pride was simmering, still there, still alive, still beating like the drums she could hear off in the distance. If they survived this, what was to become of them?
OOC: Sneaking in a post. Got so much to do today T_T
Radimir indeed got the rest he so desperately desired, just as Kalla had said. It was a drug induced slumber again but it brought rest instead of nightmares and Radimir dreamed of Zarrah, of her beauty, of her body, of what he'd said and done the moment she admitted her feelings for him, the foolishness of his decision to reject her, the foolishness of his believing the spectre of his father.
At last his sleep was was gone and he awoke to the darkness of night in the hut. As he moved from the small leather bedroll that had been provided to him, he found beside him a full skin of water and a clay plate of fresh deer, and plenty of fruit beside it. Radimir ate vigourously half of the rations provided to him. The hut was empty and he gathered up the water skin and bundled the food on the plate as he stepped from the hut.
The tribespeople were busy dancing amongst themselves blowing fire and chanting, Kalla amongst them with her back turned to Radimir. Radimir snuck low and moved around them, hiding amongst the grasses as he moved to where they'd left Zarrah. He came through the tall grass. He approached quietly, standing before her as she hung.
"I brought you something," he said. And it was then that he moved toward her ropes and pulled the blade from his bracer that they hadn't removed from him for some reason. And slit the ropes, snapping them and letting her loose. "I will be punished for this no doubt," he added, holding her against him. He cupped her face and searched her eyes for a moment. "Here.." And raised the water skin to her lips.
Zarrah had been going in and out of consciousness for most of the day. Her body was healing itself, though it was difficult as the strain on her body from being bound was taking it's toll. So when Radimir approached, she almost didn't hear him, his movements like a whisper against the grass. At his voice, she didn't respond. Not at first, but then slowly opened her eyes to look at him. As he cut the rope, she fell, no strength left in her limbs as she collapsed within his arms. And the water he offered, she took, drinking in down but coughing at first as her throat was too parched to retain it. But still she drank through it, sputtering along the way until she could feel the moisture return to her mouth and throat, as she opened her eyes.
She stared at him for a long while, just holding his gaze, not having the strength for much more.
"R-radimir.." Her voice was rough and soft. It hurt so much to speak and she motioned to the waterskin. She needed more, and so she drank, gasping when nearly all of it had been drunk before collapsing against his shoulder and breathing, taking in his smells, the smells of the tall grass, of the air all around them, even the scent of the fire from the camp not too far away.
Then she sighed, just leaning against him and listening tot he sounds of the rolling grass.
"I'm sorry. I could not let it go. I shouldn't have been so defiant but..." she closed her eyes, sighing once more as she moved her hands, the feeling beginning to return in pin pricks and needles. She grit her teeth.It hurt so much.
"I could not let her win. I could not bow down to their whims any longer. But it could have hurt you too." She lowered her gaze. "I was foolish and prideful." Then she even laughed, a small, cogent laugh, one that hurt at her sore ribs before she peered up at him with tired eyes.
"Perhaps I am the lioness.."
Then she looked to him, her eyes sparkling subtly. "Thank you for the water."
Radimir just held her close to him, his arm around her waist as her chest met to his. He let her drink at her own leisure as he'd had his own fill of water and food. She could take as much time as she wanted, and there was nothing of urgency on Radimir's mind, no doubt she needed rest, sorely. He'd had his fill of that too. He just smiled at her, his cheek to her forehead. Her flesh was so cold from the evening breeze and yet he could feel where the sun scorched and where bugs bit.
Radimir held her tighter. Yes, she'd had enough punishment for the moment. No doubt Kalla would think of something more devious later. "Do not worry, I had plenty for myself," he explaine, grinning wider kissing her cheek. "C'mon, they lent me a hut for the moment. I slept the entire day and there's no reason you should not use it either. If they catch us, they will punish me, not you."
He took the plate and lifted it up with one hand as he used the other to lift her up and swing her legs out to him. Deftly he swept his arm underneath her knees and placed the clay plate on her belly, as he cradled her against him, carrying her back to the camp, quietly, softly, his steps no more than a whisper of the wind. He watched for Kalla, seeing she was leading a dance around the large fire herself and he slipped back through the flaps of the hut.
"Here," he said, and laid her softly on the bedroll.
For a time, Zarrah remained quiet, just listening to Radimir, listening to the beating of his heart, feeling his warmth, feel the strength of his arms around her, and listening to the ambient sounds of the tribe as the winds rustled at the hide walls of his tent. Then, she closed her eyes, feeling exhaustion pull at her, ignoring most of the pain in attempts to sleep.
But before she faded off into slumber, she whispered and took his hand, "They wouldn't just punish you." She lightly squeezed it. "I'd tell them it was my fault."
Radimir laughed then and sat laid down on the bedroll beside her. He reached up a hand and stroked her cheek softly. "You would say such a thing, though you know you shouldn't. You are too selfless for your own good, Zarrah, and you know it'll only get you into trouble. Let me take the blame this time and I'll let you have the one after that just for ol' times sake. This way you don't always feel like you have to protect me." He chuckled again and took a grape and offered it to her, rolling against the bottom of her lip. "You should eat something, get some strength back before you sleep."
Zarrah smirked.
"I don't think you have the power to stop me." She opened her eyes again, tired, but smiling still.
Then at the grape, she lowered her gaze and opened her lips willingly, allowing the fruit to slip in and as her teeth crushed it, she moaned softly as the juices burst inside her mouth. It was sweet, even a little tart and she easily swallowed it down.
"I never thought grapes could taste so good." She grinned, tired, barely keeping her eyes open as they looked around to see if there was more.
Radimir grinned again, sweetly and rolled his thumb underneath her chin and stroked her fingers across her cheek. "Lots of things taste good when you've been roasting in the sun for more than twelve hours," Radimir whispered to her. His grin only grew. He plucked another grape from the vine and fed it to her, before reaching down and pulling up the rest of the half-eaten vine. He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "What makes you think I couldn't stop you?" he asked softly, rolling another grape just under her lip again.
"I might look weak, but I could still kick your ass. Besides, I'm pretty sure I remember you saying you've become my slave." She was eating one of the offered grapes when she swallowed, then looked up at him with a small grin.
"I'm also very good at persuasion, and even in my condition, I don't think you could over come me." Her eyes fell half lidded as a hand traced down his cheek. "Slaves tend to be obedient." Her hand paused against his cheek. "As do lovers."
He laughed again, his grin widening and a blush taking his lips. "I could beat you blindfolded," Radimir insisted. "I could beat you over the pit of a volcano. But we already did that...and you won by a technicality! We should spar sometime. No spectators, no volcanos, just you and me, a real test of strength, wit, and cunning." He couldn't help his laugh and cupped the cheek against his face. He turned it over and pressed his lips warmly to the palm. "Oh? And what makes you so persuasive? Even slaves have minds of their own, and they aren't always obedient."
"I know," she smirked. "But it's by choice you're here with me in this mess. And if I were a bit stronger, you know exactly how well I could persuade."
But she felt tired and sighed, no longer having the strength to keep her smile as she closed her eyes and simply leaned against him.
"A prideful lioness.." It was a thought repeated inside her head, hearing the soft drumming of the tribe and trying to pick out Kalla's voice, or any other, that might indicate what was going on. "It sounds like they're dancing again." It seemed this tribe always danced around the fires at night, just before retiring for the day. After a long moment, however, she sighed again.
"I wonder what sort of trials they'll have in store for us next." Though it was evident she would not even be able to function properly for any real trials the next day, who knew what Kalla and the tribesman might do once they found out the snake had rescued the lioness....
OOC: I hope this post makes sense. I came home from my parents house today and was exhausted, fell asleep for a few hours but woke up cause I was hungry, so just posting something quick before I go back to bed, but while I was posting my dog and I had a honking contest.. XD
I won! (since) He got so excited he almost fell over, so I snatched him up for love and cuddles 8D
"You are right on both things," Radimir agreed, smiling as tiredly as she. "But you are always right. At least for now I am content to let you be right." As he watched her eyes closed, he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the forehead, stretching out beside her and falling asleep again himself though he had slept for the better half of a day only moments earlier. The sounds of dancing outside slowly faded away into dreamless rest as Radimir huddled against her.
The hours of night passed and they still remained undisturbed. Radimir awoke first, quickly remembering Kalla and knowing she would no doubt go and check on Zarrah and know that she was not there. He jumped up and looked to the flap of the hut and found that it was yet undisturbed, not even the wind passing through the leatherskin. Radimir still wasn't buying the sense of calm just yet and turned over to Zarrah. She looked beautiful as she slept and he smiled as his hand ghosted over her cheek.
Radimir leaned over her and stole her lips for a moment. He kissed her softly, trying to wake her up. "Zarrah, we should be up and ready before Kalla comes back and gives us a run for our money," he laughed against her lips, pecking them again.
"Maji, ever the disobedient," he heard Kalla's voice ring through the air. "Clever Maji, always trying to fool." Kalla stepped forth and parted the flap, looking amused as she smiled with rotting teeth.
Radimir instinctively threw his arms over Zarrah and faced the old woman with venom ready to strike if need be. "You will leave her alone. She has suffered enough! If you must punish anyone! You will punish me or I'll fight you all tooth and nail if you touch her again without her consent!" His eyes were wild as if completely ready to fulfull his promise if Kalla so much as summoned men to come to them.
Instead Kalla only laughed as if it were nothing more than a joke between them. "I know what you both think of me. Your expressions betray you. But you must understand my people have been waiting for you for almost seventy years. And I have guided them since, promised them you'd return. And you are here, but you do not yet understand your place here. Our gods have returned at last...and yet you deny your place in the world. You were meant to come together, mean to come to this place, mean to us... But I sense something more disturbs you," Kalla said. She stepped forth and leaned on her oaken staff. She bored her eyes into both of them and stomped the staff into the ground after a few seconds. "We will do a spirit cleansing before you are to attend the next trial. Demons will hunt our gods, no matter where they walk. Before you may be done with your trials, you must face your demons more closely. When you are right of mind and right of spirit, then the final trial will come."
[Getting greeted by a happy dog has got to be one of the best feelings in the world (:]
"You act as if this is fate. What if we refuse all of this? What if we disappear, or what if we disappoint you and you end up killing you own Gods or being wrong?" Zarrah questioned, but Kalla only laughed.
"You won't. But for now, the pair of you can rest. I will notify the priests to prepare the hot springs. There are a few items, some blessed, others not, that will be needed to help soothe your minds and body. But if the pair of you are hungry, the women have placed a basket of fruit outside your tent." Then she bowed. "Rest well, Maji.." Then to Zarrah. "Maja.." and she slipped back out through the tent flap.
Zarrah sighed and found some strength to lift herself up. Her entire body felt sore, but at least she could feel her limbs again. And she was famished.
"I hope there's more than just fruit out there." Zarrah began with a sigh before turning to Radimir and studying him in silence.
Radimir was relieved that Kalla had decided not to punish them further for there was no real need for it as it would achieve nothing more than their resentment. Radimir returned Zarrah's gaze and gave her a small smile, amused at the old woman's antics. "I'll go and see if there's more," he said and shuffled toward the tent flap.
He found the basket and a few waterskins more. There was also fresh jerky in another baske beside it. He slipped them inside one by one until he carried them to Zarrah's side, laying them all out before her. "It seems we can never get enough fruit, can we?" Radimir grinned as he pulled a fresh nectarine from the basket, a fruit so rare in the desert that it was only afforded to the rich. "What more were you looking for?"
Zarrah gave a weak smile as she sat up.
"Well, I've been craving bread for some time. But beggars can't be choosers." She stared at the fruit for a moment before picking up a nectarine and examining it within her hand. "Besides, you and I don't do well with fruit." She said, smirking at the recollection what happened last time in the desert as she sunk her teeth into the fruit, juices dribbling down her chin.
Radimir couldn't help but let his grin grow at the thought of what happened last time. He bit into his fruit and moaned at the taste of it. "Well, I happen to recall you stuffing heaven's fruit into my pants and smashing it on my nuts. I'm lucky everything still works all right," Radimir laughed again. He searched the basket and pulled out a rounded flattened loaf of bread that was quite hard to the touch. He tossed it over to her. "Here, before we end up in yet another unwanted scuffle."
Zarrah caught the bread with a smirk.
"I'm pretty sure if I stuffed this bread down your pants, I'd think you'd be compensating for something." She looked it over. The bread was hard, but she was still able to break it in half, and then feasted on a few pieces as the broke it apart, offering some to Radimir as she went.
"So they're aiming to have us go to some hot springs."S he smirked at the idea. "I hope they're not planning on broiling us alive." She eyed Radimir skeptically. "You might need to eat more of this bread and that jerky before you might offer some good meat on those bones." Though Radimir wasn't fat, nor skinny, he was lean and well muscled, but not quite like Castor, whose muscles had been tight and compact, his body built like a bull. Radimir...
He appeared different, more built for the desert, similar to herself. Dark skin, dry skin, and thorough knowledge of the days heat and environment. They both knew how to quickly adapt and use whatever resources were available- including each other.
"So if we survive this trial, this whole thing about us becoming 'Gods', where would you like to travel? If given a choice, I mean. I know you've come here to help me and follow me where I go. But I think I've changed my mind on my direction, and I haven't got a clear path before me. I think anywhere but the desert would be fine but.."s he took back up the nectarine and exmained it before finishing it off and tossing it playfully at Radimir's lap. "I was just curious. If given the choice, have you ever wanted to be in a particular place in the world? LIke the mountains or the ocean?"
Radimir took the bread and bit it softly as he took a few sips of water for himself. It was indeed dryer than he thought and he ate it enthusiastically, not knowing when they'd have bread again if ever. "Oh, over compensating am I? I'd always thought I was rather well-endowed and I didn't hear any complaints last time," Radimir mused, laughing. "But every man must bow to their own ego. I wouldn't be much of a man if I didn't."
His expression changed however, when she mentioned not wanting to continue on her set path any longer. He didn't know what she meant exactly but perhaps it wasn't his place to ask. He caught the seed of the nectarine and examined it in his hands for a moment in silence, his eyes tracing the intricacies of the lines and wrinkles there in before throwing it back into the basket. He reached for a piece of the jerky and began to shred it in his hands.
"I don't know. Before you, I never thought about leaving the desert. I would have stayed there my whole life. I think I'd like to see snow before I die. Real snow, not just in my dreams. I'd like to make love to you in the heat of a cabin, the chill of winter outside, a fire roaring in the hearth. I'd love to see everything. You only have one lifetime, why settle in only one place? Didn't you ever think about leaving the desert? Where would you go?"
OOC: Music that came on while I was posting! Thought it was pretties and (somewhat) pertained to the thread >>
Dreamcatcher (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q96jsPZ_To)- by Blue Stone
Zarrah's expression warmed at his statement, though when it turned to her, and her being an intimate part of those memories, she flushed. Rassar had similar dreams. To take her far from that desert and show her the world. She found herself looking away, her eyes going distant as she thought about Rassar and clutched on the necklace she somehow still had around her neck, despite their long journey.
"Perhaps we should head north then." She smiled, finally lifting her eyes over to him. "So we can make that journey so you can see the snow."
She then thought to his question, leaning back some as she looked up at the top of the tent, to where the wooden poles connected and the hide wrapped at the top corners.
"Sure, I've thought about it. But my ambitions were to simply see the whole world." her lips twitched a bit into a smile that remained there, seeming forced as she looked down at the baskets of food. She suddenly didn't feel very hungry. She wondered if things had been different- how far her and Rassar would have gone....
would they have ever seen the snow?
Radimir laughed and dusted himself off from the remnants of food. He chewed at the last bits of jerky and stood then. "It's settled then," he said with much confidence. "We'll see the whole world, every inch of it, every cranny of it until your curiosity is sated. Then we'll make love in the winter snow. I know life pulls people in their respective ways, but I find it hard to imagine traveling in such a way without a proper companion. Without you. But come then, we haven't had a proper bath in ages, it seems."
Radimir walked over to Zarrah and held out his hand for her to take so that he might help her stand, testing her limbs at least. "There's no reason to keep them waiting. A hot spring bath sounds just like it would hit the spot, don't you think?" he said grinning ear to ear.
[That's a cool song! A little long, but it's sooting. Very nice.]
OOC: Yep. 5 minutes is kind of long for a song >.> But I've seen longer. most of the other songs on the album are about that long, too. but it's under 'electronica/dance category, so I guess that makes sense?
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Zarrah was still smiling as he helped her to her feet.
"We'll see if I can manage the walk."S he smirked. "Hot waters might do good for my legs." She leaned against him somewhat, testing a few steps. She was able to move, but her legs felt strange. She nodded, letting him lead the way.
As the pair exited the tent, a few tribesman were there, a young woman in particular, smiling prettily as she looked at Radimir.
"The hot tubs are this way, Maji and Maja." she bowed to them both and moved towards a small path cut through the grasslands until the small group was lead up the side of a mountain and amongst some young trees and foilage. There, a few pools of hot springs were steaming. All around incense had been prepared, and a few oils basins with soaps and perfumes to help the pair bathe and cleanse in preparation for the next rituals to come.
Zarrah wondered if Kalla was to show up, but as if on cue, she did and gestured to the ladies around them in their native tongue, before a group approached Zarrah and helped her remove the rest of her clothing and the necklace she had worn earlier-
They even reached for Rassar's necklace, but she snatched a fist around it, giving them a dark look. When the women turned to Kalla, the old woman simply waved it off. So they let her have it. Then they guided Zarrah into the hot springs and began to caress their hands down her body, coating her with sweet, oils as they kept her afloat as they began to chant and stroke her, gently and softly.
The words were lulling, and the hot springs felt good on her sore limbs. Not to mention the hands stroking all down her body set a fire to her, one that set a flush to her cheeks and between her legs. But the women kept at it, and the haze of the incense wafted past her.
This ritual was driving her crazy. And yet they continued, all the while her body burned and burned.
she hoped the women would leave soon..
They seemed to know a trick or two about the female body, and she really REALLY needed Radimir in that moment. And it took all of her efforts not to moan. Everything felt too good- as her lips twisted and her teeth sunk into her lower lip.
Unable to withstand much more of it, she let her lips open as she gasped. The women all exchanged glances, grinning as they continued, slicking more oils along her, paying careful attentions to stroking their hands over her chest, between her legs and thighs, all the while Zarrah was on fire. She kept breathing and gasping as they went.
Kalla observed with a smirk before moving over to the other hot spring to see how the women were treating Radimir. They had moved to help him out of his clothes as well and guided him into the waters and were stroking their hands all along his body with care, hoping to coax out a similar reaction they had been trying with Zarrah, all the while the younger tribeswoman from earlier kept her eyes fixating upon Radimir's eyes. Those unique eyes had her enchanted, and she was glad to be apart of this ritual so she could touch the Maji, a man of who made her touch herself at night and beg to the stars to take him as a mate. BUt hse knew he belonged to the Maja...
If only she had been born the lioness. But she supposed she ought to be attracted to a snake. She had been born under the stars of the serpent. So she had always been intrigued.
"How do you feel, Maji?" the girl asked softly, her hands caressing down the chiseled muscles of his stomach and chest.
As before in the loneliness of the hut, the incense was taking to his brain immediately and Radimir felt his vision fade in and out closing his mind and his senses to a different reality. They undressed him in what meager cloth they provided him in as they dropped him down into the warmth of the spring. The women paid careful attention to his body and for a moment his mind thought Zarrah had grown several pairs of hands that all rubbed up and down him at once.
Unlike her however, he couldn't hold off his moans as their hands smoothed over him. All he could think about was her, however and it was an illusion that disappeared from his mind when he opened his eyes to the young tribeswoman in front of him. He stared at her in silence for a long time. "G-good," he said breathlessly, throwing his head back as he felt his length slip into her hands and she stroked him up and down, and he grew steadily. "Where's...where's the M-ooooh-Maja?" he managed to ask.
"She is nearby," the young girl said. When her work was done she spread them over his shoulders, digging her thumbs into him. The other women spread their hands over his thighs and pelvis and the heat from the springs brought more than a sweat to his skin. Radimir couldn't help himself as his breath hitched and he turned his head this way and that.
"Take me to her," he begged, closing his eyes once more.
"Patience Maji, patience," he heard Kalla's voice respond, but already his senses were swirling in his mind.
OOC:
MOAR MUSIC I AM LISTENING TO 8D
Rumi's Passion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0fK97bXWS0) by Mosavo (I tried searching for the song 'Serpent's passion' but I think this is the same song~)
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The incense wafted across the waters, the sulfur from the springs, ever present in the air. She felt her mind and body numb and on fire, awakening to deeper, basic instincts that needed sated or she felt for sure she'd go insane. But as the women stroked her, she found herself having no release and finally asked, as she grabbed onto one of their wrists.
"Radimir.. he.. I.. I mean the Maji- where..."
But one of the women silenced Zarrah with a soft hush. Zarrah moaned as she watched the woman purse her lips in the motion. They guided her out of the springs and wrapped her in a black gossamar robe that hung loose off her body and guided her away, leading her up another path. It was difficult to walk. Her entire body ached to be touched, to be filled. She was in a fever and the cold temperature of the mountain side temple did little to cool her off as she was guided to the center. The women opene the robes and began to paint gold all across her body, smoothing black across her lips and eyes while smoothing in the rest of the gold paint across every inch of her exposed flesh, even working some int her hair and stringing gold and copper beads throughout.
Zarrah closed her eyes, moaning as she bit her teeth into her lower lip. And then they slipped the black robe onto her body, swathing a black veil across her face and moved away, while incense burned and wafted all around her, keeping her in a trance, keeping her in heat. Keeping her in need.
She couldn't stand it anymore and slid a hand down to touch herself, when she heard something and turned around.
Lines of naked men had entered the temple, all of them carrying jars with painted symbols of the snake and lion and began lining htem down the open pathway. Her eyes looked over them with want, her body in such a frenzy she would have taken on all of them just to stop this fire. And just as the men began to depart, she noticed another figure emerge.
It was Radimir, and he was alone at the entrance of the temple. And despite her need for him, she found herself nearly paralyzed for it as she stared at him, her eyes half lidded, her lips quivering, her body anxious and hungry.
"Maji.." she whispered, her hand lifting from her thigh and reaching out for him, her eyes beckoning him to come, and asking him for everything.
Radimir faded in and out of consciousness as he followed a strange form ahead of him in the early morning light. He was walking one moment, he could feel his bare feet slowly passing over gravel and dirt and soft grass as they moved them up the mountain pass to the temple above them. The next moment he found hand smoothing over his flaming flesh, painting him in a gleaming silver that reflected the moonlight. Dark runes were etched across his skin, his belly, wrapping around his thighs and down to his calves. Up his back, the scars of the whip wounds were painted over with more runes and circling around the snake that coiled there.
Soon, he found himself standing before a temple door, the small pillars carved from the very mountain itself and incense smoking from the very pyres alite outside. Radimir was breathless in a daze as he felt himself step up the three steps and into the dim lighting of the temple. He saw Zarrah ahead of him, standing before an altar and there were strange shapes, tall and broad that moved passed him from the doors, and vanished behind him. Soon, he heard a loud creak and the door closed behind him, locking them both inside.
Each step made him ache as he moved closer to her, his mind here and there, and it was almost as if he was viewing himself from above, looking down as he moved closer to her and smashed his hips against hers at last, pressing her against the stone slab behind her. He felt his sex throb with heat near hers but he hesitated in entrance. His mind was confused, making no sense of their surroundings, and the only thing that made sense was Zarrah's all too tangible body flesh to flesh against his.
"...Zarrah?" he tried to make sense of her features as she was covered in paint. "I...I mean Maja... My lioness...my lover..." His hands reached up and peeled the veil from her face, peering down at her familiar lips and his mouth wavered over hers.
Zarrah's mind felt clouded. She was even confused, not registering her own name. But at the word 'Maja' she slowly raised her eyes to his and found herself melting into him, black painted lips meeting to his as her hands moved across his body, smearing the silver paint as she moved. Her lips were coating his, her breath hot and moaning as she moved and pressed herself against him as he did to her. She let herself lean back, laying down now on the stone table and guided him over her.
"Maji, Maji.." she moaned, lips kissing at his throat, then trailing up to his ears. Her legs easily spread to him, his swollen sex fitting right between her legs. It didn't take much effort, her body was slick and so when the tip of his sex found her opening, there was nothing holding her back as she arched her body up, his slipping in through her slit as her sex swallowed him whole.
ANd in that instance, the drums began to sound, beating faster and faster as the pair moved.
She was like an animal, growling and howling as she felt his sex slam inside her again and again, and all she could do was scream out for more all the while things were being moved into place...
The ritual had begun.
He was possessed and registered nothing more than the sensations that coursed through them as they moved in unison. Images flashed before his eyes of a lioness devouring a serpent, gnashing teeth against scales and the creature crying out as it was eaten alive. The image terrified him but it soon passed into visions of the serpent coiling around the lioness, suffocating her strangling her to death.
Radimir groaned in pleasure and pain as his knees pressed against the stone slap, claiming Zarrah again and again. He could not register quite what was going on around them as he moved over her. But the jars that surrounded them began to shake and small cracks were present at their bases, leaking sand and their lids rattling. But Radimir was too lost in euphoric sensation, holding himself above her with his arms but letting his legs relax and only moved his hips against hers, slowly and sensually before moving with need. His lips claimed hers, smashing in hunger.
Paint was smeared across the stone altar and the jars began to move more violently, sand shaking and leaking all over their bases. Twelve jars suddenly broke in their fury, leaving mummified remains trailing down to the floor of the temple and slowly began to move towards each other.
Gold and silver began to bleed, paint smearing together as their bodies moved. Never before had she felt such a wild fire in her loins as she did now. She could offer him no resistance, her body slick and open and hot and inviting as his entire sex moved within. She was in a frenzy, and little was registered of the events of the outside world.
THe mummified parts began to move, crawling together, piece by piece, as they made their way towards the alter where the pair was making love. They somehow seemed to move all on their own, something taking possession, as the limbs and pieces shook and moved along the way.
The lioness was roaring, crying out in sheer pleasure as her snake, her mate, moved within her with need. The union was feral and real, a deeper need and hunger awakening between the pair- and Zarrah felt she was that lioness, crying out as the snake tamed her and made his claim, marking inside her body again and again his dominance as she did little to resist. Just kept her legs opened as she screamed in pure ecstasy.
Radimir needed all of her then and pressed his body close to hers and guided her legs to wrap tighter around him, locking his hips to hers, chaining them together in a way that made them truly one. He moaned against her lips, his breath leaving him and seeping in again as if by some strange force, as intangible as the wind. Radimir felt hiimself constrained then and adjusted his position, pulling a leg loose and slipping it over a shoulder, gently followed by the other that rested just over the crook of his elbow.
He leaned over her, his back curled as his arms pulled her body up and turned over to adjust their position. He never once broke their union, moving his legs to drop onto his ass, sitting down, thrusting harder into her as he landed, carrying her and pushing her down on him at his own discretion. He wrapped his legs around her, coiling around her like the snake that he was until they were nothing more than a tangled knot of sweat, hair, paint and limbs.
And the more they moved, the closer the pieces from the jars began to shape together. The sand too, ghosting into shape of a serpent.
The music intensified as their bodies entangled, moving, perspiring, smearing paint all over. It was hard to tell who was who and what form was what. But they had become one, and the heat was intensifying. Priestess began to come in, lutes beginning to play and men entered behind them, dancing with fire sticks that they twirled about and began to light the series of urns all around them.
The mummified parts had finally made their way to the alter where it's 'parent' was writhing in ecstasy, the pieces beginning to lock together, spilling more sand, creating more structure- but still, it was hard to tell what it was going to be as it coiled up, almost seemign ot take the shape of a massive snake, it's form illuminating and growing, it's large shadow casting against the far wall as teeth peeled out from the shadow, and mummified wraps began to break and fall.
But Zarrah was oblivous-
She was in heaven, a fiery hot mess that could not be sated, but was sated thousands of times over. Her body kept throbbing and spasming as she orgasmed again and again, her cries as wild and feral as the diety she was meant to be as her finger nails raked fiercely into Radimir's back and her teeth sunk sharply into his neck, drawing blood.
And in doing so, the music only intensified, nearly drowning out their screams.
Radimir cried out at the height of their passion, hot seed spilling out into her in pure ecstasy and pleasure. He threw his head back when her teeth sank into his shoulder, spilling blood down his shoulder. Radimir wanted more, unable to contain himself as they kept going, completely oblivious to the chanting, the music, the beast that formed around them.
But he did not remain oblivious for long when the sudden shriek of the creature that had been reborn from their union. Radimir felt reality rushing back to him when he suddenly stopped and turned back to look in horror at the creature, salivating and hungry for flesh.
Zarrah remained panting beneath him, chest heaving, eyes in a daze.
"Why did you-" she started to growl through her teeth when she heard the shriek from the creature and turned her head. Gasping, she sat up beside Radimir on the stone pedestal, her heart going inside her throat.
The creature was massive and terrifying, it's shadow expanding across the whole of the room, it's head scraping off the ceiling as it's mane, created out of a thousand serpents, were thriving against it's face. It was a bizarre creature to behold, a body like a snakes, fluid and long, with furs nd scales scattered down it's length with lion like paws and a tail flicking angrily off the end. And it's face was the most peculiar of all, with snake like eyes and a snake like face with a lion's maw cut out of it, and as it bared it's teeth, it exposed sharp, animal teeth, though the fangs were much longer, sharper and curled, like that of a snake as it opened it's mouth and a fork tongue came snapping out.
Zarrah gasped and pressed herself against Radimir just as the creature caught sight of them and tossed it's head back and gave a roar, one that shook the whole of the room. It was here the priestess came and snatched both of htem by the arm.
"Come, Maja, Maji. The ritual is not complete. We need to get out of the room before the creature-" but it seemed too late, the woman explaining everything was the first victim as the beast snapped it's head forward, mouth stretching open, stretching wide as it snapped her up in one swift motion and tossed it's head back, swallowing the woman whole.
Panic over took her, and she didn't think twice before letting the priestess guide them off towards a back room in the temple, a heavy door sealing behind them as they want. But she could still hear the wailing call of the serpent-like lion as she shivered. But then another figure moved within the dark. And an old hand grabbed Zarrah's wrist.
"Come, Maja. There isn't much time. THe last ritual is at hand." And Kalla pulled Zarrah with her through the dimly lit room. Zarrah's mind was a blur, not realizign where she was going or what was going on as Radimir was left behind, held back by the priestesses while the creature in the other room roared again, shaking the entire ground.
"Here, Maja. Climb inside. Quickly. Before it's too late." Kalla said with much urgency.
It was hard to see what Kalla was pointing to, but Zarrah blindly obeyed, finding herself stepping into some golden box. Her hands smoothed across the surface, and once she began to realize what sort of shape the box was, she turned with a gasp, just as Kalla and a few other priestess's closed the heavy lid over Zarrah, sealign her within her own golden coffin- one that had the face of a lion and the body of a woman with a serpent wrapped around her body.
Kalla gestured to the priestess.
"Get the men, and check on Maji. He must not become eaten by the snake. The sacrifice is already in her coffin. He must only eat the Maja in order to satisfy his hunger, his power. Come, let us move quickly! Before the creature finds a way to escape!"
Radimir had never seen such a creature before in his life and adrenaline kicked in when the priestess came to take them away, he moved with increased agility, throwing himself off the altar and yanking Zarrah along with them. He was starting to realize now just what they had done and the consequences of it as the image of the woman being eaten alive flashed through his mind again. They needed their 'gods' to awaken that creature, to restore it to life. But for what, he did not know. He knew only that it was a terror unleashed upon the world and would eat and destroy anything it came across.
Everything was happening much to quickly when suddenly Zarrah was torn away from him, dragged down the hallway. He pulled against the arms that held him back. "Zarrah! HEY! Where are you taking her!?" But no one answered his question when she abruptly disappeared. At last Kalla appeared, coming down the hallway, but at that point Radimir had torn away from the priestesses and slugged them hard across the face. Their grips broke and they fell when Radimir charged after Kalla, coming down the opposite end. "Where is she!?" he demanded to know.
The screaming outside was deafening however and the sheer sound of it sent Radimir reeling and the entire temple quaking from it's force. Kalla too fell to the ground and suddenly there was a massive crash of stone as the doors of the chamber were suddenly thrust open, bashed in by the head of the creature as it took two priestesses into its mouth and snapped their bodies in half, eating them whole, spitting their legs to the floor. The monster ate their legs as well. The temple quaked again as the wall came crashing down, billowing up dirt and clouds of dust.
Radimir disappeared through the dust, leaving Kalla to fend for herself as he moved back into the main temple room, back to the altar and screaming for the monster to come his way. He saw a series of swords and primitive spears clinging to a wall. Radimir dashed for it as the monster came bounding his way, the serpentine mane writhing and hissing at him. Radimir turned with a spear in hand and a shield in the other, baring his teeth, trying to lead the beast away.
The priests and priestesses that remained with Maja moved quickly. A man with a great hammer moved about, hammering down the coffin lid, and keeping it in place, allt he while ignoring the cries and please from inside.
Zarrah could feel the hammer striking the coffin, the metal agianst gold ringing and shaking and deafening her. She tried furiously to claw and pound against the lid, begging to be let out. It was dark inside the coffin, and hot. She was easily succumbing to a fever, paranoia and all other manners of desperation when suddenly she felt the coffin lifted off the ground as the men began to take her onto a track. The tracks were crude and lead into the open mouth of a snake-lion type creature carved from stone, with fire blazing on the inside.
At the top of this alter, the priestess who tended to the Maji's arousal was presented, moved forward to the end of the stone pillar over looking the entire temple as an elder priest moved behind her. She was naked, and in their native tongue, she was instructed to kneel down against the two vases. A prayer was chanted, one Zarrah could her through the thick coffin still, and aftre the prayer had been finished, the priest took a dagger and cut the woman's head clean off.
Her body dropped, blood catching into small carved ravines in the stone and began to pour downa nd funnel through them, lighting up the rune details below, while some of the blood came down through the opening of the snake-lion's mouth like rain. It was here the track began to move, and it caught onto and began to carry the coffin Zarrah lay within, dragging her towards the open mouth of the creature, towards the raining of blood, and towards the flame...
All the while Kalla was picking herself off the ground and calling over to Radimir.
"Maji! To the back temple! Hurry! We must draw the creature into there to complete the ceremony! It is the only way to satisfy him! Come! Use that spear and draw him back!"
OOC: did we ever have a name for the snake-lion thing? XD
Radimir didn't know Kalla's true intentions but whatever they were, he knew they weren't for the better and the only thing that lingered in the back of his mind was what she had done with Zarrah. He saw the altar above them, a massive stone carving of the creature he was fending off, though this time it was breathing fire. Massive billows were pumping air into the stone structure, making the flames rise higher and more powerful as the smoke poured throught he nostrils of the beast. And he too saw the gold casket slowly conveying toward the maw.
"KALLA!" Radimir cried out, holding his shield out at the serpentine lion snapped at him. He was lucky this creature didn't breathe fire himself or he'd be in more trouble than just being eaten alive. Radimir locked eyes with it and skirted around it, fending it away with the tip of the spear. It shrieked and bellowed and clawed at his shield. Radimir thrusted the weapon out and forced it back, piercing it's scaly hide back toward Kalla.
"HOW DOES THE RITUAL END?!" Radimir demanded, but he knew as his gut twisted that it was Zarrah inside that box and they were going to burn her alive. He couldn't stand it anymore and dodged around it, leaping up onto a broken pillar and scaling it use it to leap up to the altar above them. Meanwhile the serpent-beast crawled and lunged for him, breaking stone and nearly toppling the entire temple to the ground with the force of its blows.
[I got nothing xD I was thinking something with an S. Sumajai? I dunno.]
"Maji, keep him back!" Kalla pressed, her eyes darting around the room wildly before turning to spot the golden coffin as it neared the flames. She didn't have to say what fate had in store, especially as her eyes flickered over towards the images of the room-
of a lion burning in fire, being devoured by the creature.. by her son....
And with each pull of the tracks, Zarrah grew closer and closer to the flames.
And the beast roared onward, smashing wildly about and toppling over totems and pillars of stone alike, one heavy one falling inside the couldran and snuffing out part of the flame.
Gasping, Kalla raced towards it, noting that some of the rock halted the progress on the track and she crawled right intot he scorching flames, dancing around it and began pushing away the rock, until at last she was free and the gold coffin glinted and pressed onward, soon becoming devoured within the flames.
Radimir's heart leapt into his throat when at once he saw Kalla willingly free the stone that stopped the coffin from it's current path toward the flaming furnace. "NO!" he cried out and before he knew it, he bashed the face of the creature that howled and swiped at him. He smashed the gleaming shield into its face with all his strength, sending the beast reeling back, yowling in pain. Radimir dropped the shield and ran up to the stonework where the conveyor belt was leading the gold encased coffin into the flames.
He came up behind it and could feel the terrifying heat of the furnace as its maw opened before them. He gave it only a second's worth of a look before he leapt onto the coffin's side and used the spear to pry open the lid. He stabbed the top down into the space between the lid and side of it and though it had been hammered down, Radimir's sudden sense of adrenline found it moving in increments. He was growing increasingly desperate and in front of him, he saw Kalla turning and facing them as the coffin was slowly moving into the mouth. Heat washed over them.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Kalla shrieked. "The ritual isn't yet complete!"
But Radimir paid no attention to her as he howled himself, all his strength, all his passion, and love and anger and rage came screaming from his face and gave literally everything he had as the heavy lid was lifted from its place and in one fell move the lid came crashing up and over. It took that same everything for Radimir not to fall over and collapse right there beside Zarrah when he looked down at her.
Kalla howled and tried to climb over the gold coffin's lid. Radimir looked at her with wild eyes and took the spear in his hand and threw it at her heart. The old woman gasped and clutched as the spear buried itself into her side as she narrowly dodged it. But that didn't stop the conveyor belt from swallowing them both up and into the flaming furnace they all went. The heat was unbearable and Radimir clutched Zarrah's naked form against him and danced around the fire. Kalla was trapped on the otherside of the coffin, crushed as the lid came down on her.
The moment the lid came off, Zarrah sat up, gasping in panic for air. The heat was overwhelming, as was thesight of the scorching flames all around them. She saw Radimir, saw the chaos and quickly grabbed his hand,pulling her own self outof thecoffinandintotheburningroom.
"We'vegot to move now!"shesaid, pulling him towards the exit, but not before leaning in to steal a sweet, soft kiss."Thank you."She spoke softly, eyes searching for his, before she moved swiftly, pulling him along as the pair rushed out of themouth of the furnace, and she kept on moving, far, far away from the flames and out into the temple where she gave pause. The massive beast was writhing around, thrashing it's claws at the priests with spears who tried to keep it at bay.
"Gods!" Zarrah cried, frozen in place. "What the hell IS that thing!?" And as if on cue, the massive beast spotted the pair of them and reared it's head back, giving a mighty roar which shook the entire temple. Zarrah stumbled into Radimir, bracing herself against his side, but was soon pushing him out of the way as the creature lunged forward, snapping at the air between them as they fell out of the way. Glancing up from where she fell, Zarrah gritted her teeth, but then suddenly found an old hand, charred and bloodied sealing around her mouth.
"Hello, Maja.." Kalla's voice creptintoZarrah's ear. "The ritual is not complete. It's time for you to sacrifice yourself for your child."
Zarrah's heart leapt into her throat as she fought out of the old woman's grasp and turned around, the dagger in Kalla's hand barely missing her heart and sinking into her shoulder as Zarrah let out acry of pain. Her screams gained the attention of the raging beast that had temporarily been preopccupied with Radimir. It turned around, raised it's headand gave a hot snort through it'snostrils before tearing off in a fury for the Maja.
"Now is your change for the prophecy to be fullfilled, lioness!" Kalla cried, shoving Zarrah forward just as the beast was opening it's mightty jaw and lunging forward, aiming to kill.
Radimir grunted when Zarrah shoved him away as the beast came tumbling toward them, snapping it's jaws like an iron vice. There was no clear avenue of escape and soon the hybrid animal came clawing toward him. Radimir scrambled away, dodging slashes and rolling past bites. But suddenly Zarrah's cries pierced the air and the beast turned from him and began to move in her direction. His alarm overcame his fear and before he knew it he was running after the beast.
He moved quickly and soon tackled Zarrah within a second of being eaten, moving her out of the way and it was then that Kalla's burnt and crusted form found itself within the jaws of the creature. The old woman screeched as her body was gnashed and ground within its teeth, swallowed whole and thoroughly enjoyed it seemd as the creature seemed to lick its lips.
Radimir dragged Zarrah to her feet and plucked the dagger from her shoulder. He continued to push her away as the priests and priestesses continued to ward it off with spears. "Zarrah, there must be another way out," he breathed desperately. "Or we've got to try and kill this thing!"
OOC: So.. frigging tired *posts anyways*
If this makes no sense I'm sorry ;_;
Zarrah flinched away as Kalla was devoured, gritting her teeth and tensing. That was too close. Thank the Gods Radimir was around. But there was hardly any time to thank him as the beast was in a frenzy, roaring and storming throughout the temple.
Gritting her teeth, she turned to Radimir and shouted, "We have to stop it! Other wise who knows what sort of terror it could bring." But how? Her eyes studied around the area and noted the flaming furnace... then she turned back to Radimir again. "We could lure it into the fire. One of us acting as bait." Naturally.. the maja. "The ritual asked for a sacrifice. That I ought to be sacrificed. Perhaps we should try to offer it what it wants, then find a way to force it inside." But how? She studied the area, noting the cracks in the ceiling above. Turning to Radimir, she took his hand. "See the ceiling? It looks about to break. One of us could lure the beast inside. THe other, standing without and finding enough power to strike down the ceiling. Perhaps a spear could do it, or something else. I don't know what- but we'l l have to act quickly!"
It was a sound plan for sure to lure the beast back up to the furnace above them. And one Radimir nodded to Zarrah as he pointed to the conveyor track above them. "Climb up there and lead him off! I'll find a way to break the cieling. Go!" He shoved her away as the creature roared again and started after Radimir. He taunted it and goaded it to give Zarrah some time to climb up before it saw her form up by the furnace then seethed and hissed and snapped at another priest that got too close to its tail. The creature snapped its appendage out and smacked the man toward his mouth, devouring him whole, splattering blood across the sandstones.
Radimir was hit by the blow as well and throw backwards toward a pile of bodies that hadn't yet been devoured and took a while to recover all the while the creature scurried back toward Zarrah's direction, hissing and crying out, ready to follow her into the fire if need be.
"Shit!" Radimir scrambled up from the bodies and took a spear from a fallen priest and shoved between those flailing in fear and panick. He found himself on the opposite end of the furnace trap and skirted around the flames and up onto the stone structure. He was just all enough to reach the ceiling and did his best to jam the weapon between the cracks. "C'mon!" he growled trying to hit it hard enough to break. All the while he could feel the creature getting closer and closer to Zarrah.
Lead, her body felt like lead as she tried to climb her way back to the tracks and to the mouth of the furnace. It was scorching hot, and she clenched her teeth as she studied it, a hand covering her eyes at the intense heat and light, before turning around and noticing the creature still thrashing about. But it didn't take long for it to eat one priest after another, and eventually it found it's way to Zarrah, spotting her as she stood out against the flames. Something hot, something tasty, as it tore across the ground, it's teeth open in a roaring rage. Zarrah stood her ground, keeping her hands clenched at her side, eyes bold and daring, but never flinching, even as the ground began to shake. Then, as the creature was nearly upon her, she leapt out of the way, tumbling clean into the flames. Angered, the creature followed suit, and it was hard to tell if Zarrah would be able to get away.
The flames were howling and scorching, lapping towards the air, and the creature was roaring in pain. It began to thrash and bash itself off the walls, helping Radimir's cause as the stones were coming loose, plummeting to the ground just as both Zarrah and the creature attempted to escape; the creature's head and Zarrah disappeared beneath the boulders, dust swelling around the room and blinding before everything went still.
Radimir kept piercing the stone as hard as he could, though his limbs were starting to feel weak and thin, and his heart beat with a sudden desperation as it had when he tried to pry open the lid of the gold coffin, a feat near impossible save for those of the fiercest strength. Radimir's body was merely mortal and he could feel his body wanting to give out. But his strength lied not necessarily in his body but in his strength of will and he knew in the forefront of his mind that if he didn't break the stone when the time was right they would all die.
But it seemed that fate would destroy it for him as the creature flailed and shook the structure from within. Radimir could feel it giving way beneath him and when at last the stone could no longer hold, he leapt from it and off to the side. Radimir was caught in the mix of smoke, the fire at last snuffed out and the furnace crushed beneath the cieling and remains of the structure. He covered his face, coughing when at last the smoke cleared.
Radimir opened his eyes and peered through it to find nothing more than a pile of stone, the creature crushed beneath it... And not seeing - "Zarrah!" Radimir cried out. He rushed to the stone, tripping hard onto his knees. He scrambled for the boulders, crying out her name, alarm spilling into his gut, twisting it until he felt like he wanted to puke. He looked down to the surviving priests and priestess below. "HELP ME!" he cried out, but they remained still, helpless, unsure what to do. Others tried to climb for the windows above, to escape. All the while, Radimir pried the what boulders and rocks he could away, but the rubble was deep and every second send fear lurching into his already sickened stomach.
He kept clawing at the rock. "HELP ME!" he tried again, and only one man seemed to stir from his voice and it seemed he moved blindly toward the track, toward the rubble, still dazed from the incident but with enough sense to assist Radimir in moving a particularly massive slab of stone that blocked them from getting to whatever was beneath. They at last shoved it aside, Radimir coming to tears in desperation and finding a hand underneath. His heart fell and sang at the same time and he clawed even faster. They pulled her body loose at last, the head of the creature crushed just behind her.
"Zarrah..." he breathed when at last they had her loose. "Gods..."
Zarrah lay there for a moment, unmoving, a frown plastered on her face. She was coated in a thick layer of dust that had clung easily to her body once slicked with sweat and sex. A dribble of blood was running down her temple, and a few scraps were evident across her legs and arms, and it seemed she might have fallen unconscious, or was dead, but her chest heaved in a light series of coughs before her eyes fluttered open, taking in Radimir's form. Though to her eyes, she was seeing many outlines of his one form and could not make heads or tales of it.
"R-radimir?" her words came out choked, her mind dizzy, though she still smiled as a hand moved up to touch him, only to fall away as exhaustion swelled over her, drawing her back into a world of dark.
He gave a small smile, a sigh of relief for a brief second when she whispered his name and gently touched his face. She fell into darkness and he clutched her to him, cradling her in his arms as he got up from the rubble. He left the priest behind and held Zarrah as they came to the antechamber. Many of the remaining followers just watched them and the look in Radimir's eye as he walked through the doors told them to keep their distance.
He came down the path, the one that led them to the temple in the first place and Radimir found the road that led back to their camp. He stopped at the foot of their tent, exhausted and suddenly fell to his knees, holding her with him as he crawled along. "Zarrah," he pleaded, hoping she could hear him. He was exhausted yet reached for the waterskin nearby. He opened it and doused his face with water and then hers, only to collapse at her side, barely able to keep his eyes open.
Despite the water, Zarrah still didn't move, remaining cold to the outside world. But nearby, a familiar noise was made, the whining and pawing of Thorian. The camp had all been but abandoned since what had happened, most of the men and women having gone to the temple or ran away during the chaos. The horse had been left unattended, having been bound by several ropes to a tree inside his own private tent. But even he knew something was wrong, and was growing anxious and was bucking lightly, trying to fight the ropes.
Radimir was lost in his own unconsciousness and fell into darkness, or lost somewhere halfway between. Meanwhile Thorian was getting more and more restless from his tree. He knew something was wrong, knew that his rider was in distress and when he found his rope, the horse snagged it with his teeth and chewed it and bit it with growing desperation. He whinnied and yanked on the rope when at last it snapped and Thorian dashed through the camp, looking around with wild eyes, nostrils red and saliva dripping from his maw.
Thorian sniffed the ground, looking for them and eventually traced his scent to the tent nearby and thrashed it apart with his hooves. He pulled at the hide and sticks holding it erect until it all came crashing down around them. Radimir jumped up a little at the sound. Thorian neighed happily at the sight of them, though he stopped when Zarrah didn't respond. "Thorian," Radimir cried out weakly. The horse came by him and nudged him, encouraged him to stand that Radimir did at last. His gear was still on the horse and he carefully carefully dressed, too tired to care that his flesh was gross and sticky with the remnants of the ritual.
"Zarrah..." he murmured toward her and came and searched the empty camp for her clothes. They were kept in Kalla's tent and he took them in a bundle and any other useful supplies they might need before returning to his own tent. He tied them into a saddlebag and took Zarrah with some effort putting her into the saddle before him before climbing on and kicking Thorian into motion.
"To the river, Thorian," Radimir ordered, knowing the horse would know the way as the beast kicked dust up from the grassland, disappearing into the fading light.
The cool waters of the river seemed to do little to revive her. It pulled away the dust, the blood, even some of the exhaustion, but it took some time. It wasn't until every speck of dirt and sweat was swept from her body that it seemed her eyes finally opened. She saw the sky. The clear blue sky, with only a sparse cluttering of clouds painted across it. She blinked, just staring, simply staring and feeling at peace, not realizing she had been holding Radimir's hand the entire time until she noted him beside her and blinked again, simply staring, simply smiling.
Night had fallen by the time they made it to the river and Radimir collasped in the water beside her in sheer exhaustion, tired beyond anything he'd ever imagined he'd be. He was amazed he was even still alive after all of this. Radimir would have been content to die just then, for at least he'd saved Zarrah when she needed him most, someone to be there for her. And he was just glad it could be him. His vision was blurry, eyes looking up at the stars when she turned to him. He could feel her hand stirring, just a little and he slowly turned his head towards hers. He have her a small smiled. "We made it," he murmured. And it was all he could murmur before closing his eyes falling into darkness then.
She felt the heavy pull of reality when he fell away, when Radimir grew quiet. Her entire body felt so heavy, and it took all of her effort to sit up in the river. Everything that was possible ached, and her ears were ringing, her vision, slightly skewed as she looked around. Thorian was munching quietly on the tall grasses of the river bank, while Radimir lay beside her, half his body laying within the shallows of the stream, the current pulling lightly at his clothing and hair.
She took her time, studying him and the way the fading light of hte setting sun cast across the river, bleeding in golden sparkles that were a constant, while the stream moved on. The sun soaked into his body, making him appear to glow and she smiled. There were some remnants of silver paint stuck to his cheek. She leaned over him and used her thumb and gently rubbed it away.
Her limbs still felt detached, as if they were almost not there at all, but she forced herself to move, forced herself to carrying Radimir onto the river bank as she held him, just cradling him close as a cold evening wind began to settle in. She managed to retrieve a blanket from Thorian's saddle bag and wrapped it around them, before curling up to sleep with him against the tall grass.
As Radimir slept away, huddling against the wind, he found another form against him to keep him warm. He was shivering for a time and Thorian kept watch in the tall grass in case the tribalpeople returned with a vengeance. The horse was alert and stood strong, waiting for his riders to come to, even as he idly ate some of the rolling grass.
When dawn did come, Radimir awoke to the early morning breeze feeling Zarrah against him. He stirrred to look at her with some confusion, trying to remember what happened in the last twenty-for hours. "Zarrah?" he said softly. "What are you doing? What happened?"
Zarrah had awoken before Radimir, and was just enjoying the lazy and calm moment beside him. So when he stirred, she remained silent and still, until he spoke. Rising, she smiled down at him, brushing his disheveled blonde hair away from his face as she moved to tuck some of it behind his ear and kept her hand curled there.
"A lot has happened, but we are finally free." And here she smiled a bit wider, her lips pulled more leftward towards her cheek. "Again." She studied his face, before looking away, out towards the river, listening to the calming sounds of the swaying grasses and the bubbling of waters against some of the more shallow waters of the river. It was so calming her, so peaceful, whihc belayed the truth of what actually had happened not too long ago.
"The trials for that ritual the tribesman had placed us through is at an end. It seemed they wanted to revive some wicked monster, but in the end, it's own war path seemed to kill itself." She turned her eyes back to Radimir, violet eyes studying him and the worn clothing he still wore from their time in the tribe. "I don't know how we got here. I awoke. Thorian was nearby, as he is now, and I was in the waters." Her eyes flickered, moving back and forth as if reading from a book as she mulled something over, then returned her gaze to Radimir.
"I suppose we ought to be thankful we're still alive." She said, and smiled more sweetly towards him, soft affections warming her eyes. "And that we still have each other." ANd here she took his hand and laced her fingers with his, gently squeezing them, her heart fluttering. She hadn't forgotten that part. The part where she realized she had been in love.
At her smile, he felt himself grow a litte warmer because of it, a little brighter, a litte more life to him and he opened his eyes wider just to show of it. As she explained what had happened, it was all starting to flood back to him at once and he jumped up because of it. He remembered the creature and Kalla and the devouring and the fact that they tried to roast her alive inside of a heavy gold coffin. Radimir quickly turned over to Zarrah and held a hand to her face, eyes searching hers as if to make sure she was still real.
"I thought you were surely dead," he whispered. "I thought I'd lost you. I remember now... They tried to sacrifice you but I couldn't let that happen. Zarrah..."
"It's ok," Zarrah told him, squeezing his hand, her face brightening. A light blush graced her cheeks as her eyes sought to his. "We're away from all of that now. And we'll keep moving. Far away from here, from the desert, to wherever it is you wish to go." Her hands lightly traced his face, eyes sparkling as she looked at him, but she didn't dare move forward, for she too, had a slight fear that, perhaps this wasn't real. And it was some sort of dream.
Radimir's eyes warmed again and a small smile took the corner of his mouth. He brushed his fingers against her cheek, lightly, feeling the warmth there and it only made his smile grow wider. "I'm just glad you're all right," Radimir breathed against her. "I don't care where we go. As long as I'm with you, we'll survive, we'll live." Tears seemed to brim in his eyes as he looked down at her. "Look at me, I'm a sap!" he laughed, but couldn't help himself when he suddenly dropped his mouth down to hers and kissed her passionately, letting his tears slip onto his tongue as he kissed her.
Zarrah whimpered lightly against his kisses, tasting his love, tasting his need, tasting his tears. Her hands had found their way to his face, cupping it as she kissed him back, drinking of his love and shedding a few tears of her own. But after a time, Thorian gave her back a nudge, pushing her forward and deepening her last kiss as she laughed and she moaned before tearing her lips away with a pant and a smirk.
"I think your animal is telling us something."S he said, quirking a brow and smiling back at Thorian. The horse simply sputtered happily through it's nostrils. Her grin widened before she returned her violet eyes to Radimir's.
"Come," she said, taking his hand as she rose to her feet. "If you are well, we should get a move on. It will be a long journey to get us far from here."
Thrills flowed through Radimir when she returned the kiss and his heart soared in a way he never expected it to. Any lingering doubts of her feelings for him were washed away and he just wrapped his arms around her, content to just feel the heat of her mouth on his as if therew as nothing else that mattered in the world. And maybe there was nothing else, not even the search for the man that had torn Zarrah's heart from it's bearings and smashed it to the ground. And that only made Radimir kiss her even harder.
He did stop however when Thorian nudged them both, chuffing happily to find his two riders were well enough to travel again. Radimir grinned, taking her hand, standing up and dusting himself off. "I think it'll seem like a blur in the days to come," he muttered, smiling widely. He leaned in and kissed her cheek softly before climbing up in the saddle and reaching out a hand for her to climb up behind him. With that the set off, splashing water as they crossed the river and headed deeper into the plains.
The roads were still gritty, the soil still littered with sands drawn in from the harsh deserts they had since left behind nearly a month ago. It was strange to see it, her eyes studying it as her body rocked along with the gentle sway of Thorian's body as the horse moved down the cut path. The day had been beautiful, with blue skies over head and not a speck of clouds in sight, even as the skies stretched on for miles. There was a warm breeze, and the temperature was pleasant, so it was a nice surprise to hear the soft music from a reed pipe and stringed instruments carrying across the valley. She perked up at the sound and leaned in against Radimir.
"Do you hear that?" the music rattled, and carried on, pleasant and inviting. She smiled. "Mmm, music. Something that sounds distinctively untribal." She sighed and adjusted herself against the saddled and strained her eyes, looking forward. "There must be a city up ahead. I think I see the tops of some buildings. Perhaps we can stop there." Her smile grew a bit. "It would be nice to find a bed to sleep in for the night." Though she was used to her own pile of rags, her make shift bed she had used all of those years in the desert...
There was something about laying in a bed that was just so relaxing, even if it were made of lumpy straw. Though she herself preferred ones stuffed with feathers.
They'd traveled many miles and finally found a semblance of a road. Radimir reminded himself that with every step that they were getting farther and farther away from the desert. From all they'd left behind, which was really nothing at all. Radimir was a ghost on the wind, no name to speak of, no history but the secret lineage of his people. The only names whispered were those of his order, and even that collapsed in the shadow of the wind.
"What was that?" Radimir said, perking up. But it wasn't long before he too heard what she indicated and looked up to see a small city in a low sweeping valley amdist the grasslands. Radimir nudged Thorian to walk in that direction and he couldn't help the smile on his face. "Yes, a real bed sounds nice right about now. I'm quite sick of sleeping on the ground, frankly. I never thought I'd say that. I'd kill for a cold glass of wine too. C'mon Thorian! We'll find your mare in there!"
Zarrah smirked at the mention of the award for Thorian. A mare. Her smirk grew. She supposed, she herself, was like a reward for Radimir. Perhaps she ought to procure a horse for herself. A nice mare with a strong will for their travels, one to give Thorian some company. She never owned a horse on her own. She fancied it would be nice, and after having spent a lot of time in Radimir's company with his horse, she adored the horse's personality.
As the group entered into town, the entire streets were littered with people dancing, music playing, and sweet foods cooking in the streets. Free wine was advertised, hot and bubbling in a cauldron in the middle of the town. Zarrah nudged Radimir, grinning at him and nodding towards it.
"Seems like you might get that cup of wine after all. Although it seems it might not be cold."
"Cold, hot, all I need is something to put me to sleep!" Radimir exclaimed as he jumped from the horse. His limbs were raw and sore and tired when he caught Zarrah and helped her from the saddle. They took Thorian to a public stable and paid a gold coin to keep the beast in a fine paddock beside a beautiful bay horse that chuffed at his presence. "Looks like he found a friend already. C'mon, let's go find a good inn and we'll dance and sing with the rest of them. Maybe we'll sing that little duet of ours from back on the plateau?" Radimir smiled at her, optimistic and took her hand in his walking off into the festivities.
Zarrah blushed, feeling awkward he'd bring up that song. It was something rather personal, and although he was probably joking, she couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed by the cause. Though she supposed she had no reason to, and shook the feeling away and lifted her chin.
"It's been a while since I've been dancing,"s he said, her eyes dancing mirthfully. "And when I was, it was men paying good coin out in the desert. You know, when I wasn't killing them for coin." She took his hand, guiding him forward through the colorful streets. "Come on. Let us see what fun we can find." And there was much fun to be had. Many people were dancing within the streets in happiness and pleasure. Young and old, old and new, it didn't matter who, as they were all dancing along wtih couples or groups to the beat. It didn't take long for Zarrah to find her own hips moving, feet dancing across the ground as she began to move her way around Radimir in circles, occasionally bumping her hip to his as her hands moved up and down her body, then her fingers reached out to smooth down his.
Radimir yelped when Zarrah yanked him off to dance in the streets. The revelry was infectious and soon even he found himself smiling with glee though he'd yet to start dancing. He was tired, dirty and wanted only to bathe and get a clean set of clothes, and perhaps sharpen his blade and go to sleep and didn't think he was in any condition to dance just yet. But it seemed Zarrah had other plans and as she started dance around him, Radimir stood still and watched her with lingering eyes. She was beautiful when she danced truly, and was very good. He only hoped he could match her turn for turn and hip for hip.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a grin. "If you think you can dance better than me, you've got another thing coming." He bumped his hip into hers quite hard and shoved her away just enough to give him space to stomp his own feet into the ground. He'd learned a thing or two from the rituals of his Order that called for dancing through fire, for challenging serpents and mimicking their movements and Radimir's movements were powerful and sensuous as he turned and hit the ground with his feet and rolled onto his back and then shot his legs out to thrust himself back onto his feet, somersaulting on the ground in rolls and flips and turning his hips again as he faced back to Zarrah.
Zarrah grinned at Radmir's sense of rivalry. She simply let her hips sway as she watched him, her own grin growing as he tried to show off his moves. Twirling around, she bumped her hip into his, rolling it before stiking him again, hip to hip, then turning around in a swift two stepped twirl before her arms caught around his shoulder. She leaned in, body rocking, eyes leering, body moving to the song.
"It's not about competition," she seemed to purr, violet eyes dancing. "It's about enjoying the soft, sensual flow of the music."she siad, her body pressing forward to his before her hips moved back as she twirled, and came back in real close to him again. "And become one with that song. Moving in tune, with your hips."
She grinned, hands lightly ghosting around him, but this time she did not touch him.
"You might be a snake charmer, but this sort of music is different. It's one of play, one of love." Her hands lightly met to his again as she twirled away, shoulders lightly touching his as she moved around him in time to the beat, in time wiht her feet, hips still swaying to the tune.
Then when she paused, she was at his back, shoulder to shoulder, her face leaing his way, cheek almost to cheek.
"Have you ever learned that sort of dance from your order, Lord of the Viper?" she asked in a tease, her face hidden from his view by a veil f her dark hair, and his too, was mostly hidden from her view by his own blonde hair hanging about his face. But she could spot his lips and waited to see if he would smile.
He did have a rather nice smile.
"Of course it's not a competition, because you would clearly lose," Radimir said to her. He moved on his own, his body flowing not to the music, but the music flowing through him and he moved challengingly and yet sensuously, skirting around her and keeping his distance. He laughed, actually having fun though truly he was the only one in competition. But it was all in good fun, all lost in the revelry of the people dancing in the street.
She teased him as she danced, this he was easily seeing and while he wanted to dance with her, he slowly stopped gave her a small, charmed grin. "I suppose not. Not in my order. Our were more in celebration of our god rather than love. There was a small ceremony performed by those that chose to bond with each other, but it's not something I was particularly versed in," Radimir confessed. He caught an arm around her waist for a moment before pecking her lightly on the cheek.
"You enjoy yourself. I'm going to see if I can't get a room at the inn right here. And if anybody touches you, you break it off, understand?" He nodded to her and vanished through the crowd, finding the nearby inn.
Zarrah gave a roll of her eyes at Radimir's comment.
"You just worry about procuring us a room. I'll see what else I can find to keep us entertained, or even something to line our pockets. I'm sure we could pick up a small job around this town before moving on. Or, find something to trade?"
Though she didn't mention what, she was only joking on what he might assume before she moved to walk away.
The streets were extra crowded. As was the market. Extra vendors lined the way, women pressing their wares, men trying to get Zarrah to buy jewelry, dresses...
She didn't realize it, but she managed to realize she needed more clothing than what she adorned. In the desert it was less awkward, more appropriate, but here...
Women were more covered, more concealed, and so she began to idly search through a pile of clothe and dresses, curious as to what sort of fashion she might find here.
The inn was large and decadent and patrons were inside sharing fine pints of beer and good food. The very smell of it gave chills to his body and grumbles to his stomach, having not eaten anything in more than twenty-four hours. Radimir procured them a room, a fine suite available for just ten gold a day. He didn't know how long they planned to stay here since it seemed the festivities would last about three days. He smiled at the prospect of spending all those days here, after all the trouble they'd been through so far.
Radimir paid the clerk thirty gold of what meager funds he had and found the room of adequate size. There was even a complimentary bath in the corner. He carried up some fresh water, warm to the touch and he was glad at last to just be able to take a bath and get dirt out of places it had no business being. Radimir filled the tub, covered by a framed partition and kept his things aligned out to the side.
With the water steaming, he finally crawled in, letting the heat soak him to the bones. He closed his eyes and could have fallen asleep there and not even cared.
She knew it was wrong, but a little harmless flirt here or there to distract lined her pocket with a bit of coin. Just a meager amount, nothing to make her rich,a nd nothign to bankrupt the men she pick pocketed. She had picked out a violet clothe, hoping to use it to make a make shift dress. She folded it within her arms, moved throughout the street and found the inn Radimir was staying at. The innkeep showed her to the room, and hwen she entered, she was surprised to see it was empty, but smelled the scents of a bath and when she peered in, she smiled and just watched Radimir in silence from where she was perched beside the partition.
The heat relaxed and massaged every muscle in him sore with travel and the dirt slipped off here and there amidst the ripples. He just sank in, closed his eyes shut and eventually felt himself relax into sleep. He just laid there in the water, lapping over him, bubbles covering most of everything as well. He didn't hear Zarrah come in, and didn't feel her motion as she stood over him. In fact, if she listened closely, she might have heard a light snoring as he sank deeper into the waters, level just below his nose.
Zarrah smiled as she watched him sleep. It had been quite the long journey. She moved to sit down beside the tub, watching and listening to him sleep before moving behind him and lightly massaging her hands through his hair and neck, lightly digging her fingers in to massage his scalp, all the while humming a song he might be familiar with..
a duet they sang together, for what seemed eons ago.
[POOM! *pooms*]
Radimir awoke with a start when thumbs suddenly found themselves buried in his scalp and he half drowned before rising up and spewing out water from his panic. He flushed his nose out and rubbed his face clean of bubbles, brushing his hair back, turning to Zarrah and thankful it was her and not the cute maid that had been eying him downstairs. He gave her a humored grin, turning on his side against the tub. "You would scare me like that," he murmured, taking an arm out to pull her chin close and kiss her lightly on the lips. "You trying to drown me?"
OOC: D: why am I being poomed?
Is it cause I tried to drown Radimir? X3
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Zarrah smirked and leaned casually against the side of the tub, fingers lightly moving through the waters, back and forth.
"How did you guess?" she inquired, smiling through the kiss before flicking the water on the tip of her fingers at his face. "It seemed you were enjoying yourself a bit too much. I figured you wanted to sleep as quiet as death. So drowning seemed to be the quickest solution."
[Just cause]
"You would try to get rid of me at this stage in our journey. Kill me off, take Thorian and ride off into the sunset to find your beast man. Well, that's too bad, I'm on to you. I don't die that easily and I know for a fact that neither do you." Radimir laughed as he sat up in the tub and took the wash cloth he'd neglected to use from the side and proceeded to scrub his flesh. "Now, unless you're going to join me, I suggest you give me some privacy. You've got sand and dirt and other things all over you."
OOC: HMPH!
WELL THEN!
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Zarrah quirked a brow at him, still smirking as her hands lightly played within the water.
"Beast man?" Her smile grew. "Is that what you wish to call him?" She laid her head against her arm, staring at him lazily, but seemed rather comfortable sitting beside the tub, not moving.
"What if I refuse? I could just simply watch you before taking my turn. I doubt we'd both fit in there, and what sort of dirt and things do you think are all over me?" Again, her grin grew wider as she stared him over before yawning. She was tired as well. "Besides, there might not be much bathing going on if I were to rid myself of my clothes and slip inside."
Radimir's grin fell just a little at her questioning of his terminology. "I'm sorry. I know he's importnnt to you but no man who throws away someone like you can be anything more than an animal. Nor one who can so easily kill another in such brutality and not even care about the consequences." Radimir sighed and would speak no more of him. He wasn't sure where their journet would take them next or if she was still intent on finding Castor. If he could even be found.
Radimir met her eyes again' searching her face for something he did not find. "You can watch me. I'm not particularly modest," he replied and coninued to clean himself. "And by other stuff, don't think I don't remember what happened in the temple." He laughed and finished off with properly washing his hair, dirt and grime loosening at last. His ponytail was undone, leaving his hair falling down around his face as he stood from the tub and got out, grabbing a towel from the side.
"You are right after all," he went on. " we would just need another bath by the time we were finished." He gave her a laugh before moving around the partition.
Zarrah kept her smile, but only listened as Radimir spoke, standing after he did and watching him move to leave.
"Perhaps I'll go get myself a shower now." She nodded to him. "I shouldn't be long." And she strolled away, making her way down to the front desk before ordering the fresh waters. After all, Radimir had soiled the waters pretty thoroughly, and she could afford the fresh water with the coin she had stolen. As the worker prepared the tub, she examined the purple clothe she had bought from the market. SHe could at least wear it like a sash dress for now until they could afford something more.. appropriate. But the worker was quick, and he called her to the room. Nodding to him in thanks, she closed the door behind her and let her clothing drop away to her feet before stepping into the bath and letting her worries soak away with the waters.
Radimir had dried and dressed in loose linens he found in a wardrobe nearby, complimentary with the room. He had since crawled into bed, leaving Zarrah to her own devices and it wasn't long after that when sleep finally came to him and he slept peacefully. But there were moments when he was tense and he saw before him the body of his father being ripped apart by hooks and chains and grappling hooks that gored through him.
The bath did wonders for her to help her relax, to help her feel clean, and to shed off the last bits of the desert from her body and mind. So after an hour, she finally rose from the tub, letting the waters fall from her body before wrapping a towel around herself and hair. Her hair would take some time to dry, but she was exhausted and headed back to the room, taking a seat on the bed beside Radimir as she smirked and watched him sleep for a time before leaning over and stealing a kiss to his lips.
It seemed there would be no end of surprises and as Radimir tensed in his sleep and he'd been sweating lightly, hair damp, pillow moistened and heart beating rapidly. Radimir nearly screamed in distress when he felt something electrifying course through his lips and her familiar scent flowed through his nostrils, invigorating him but making him calm all at the same time. He turned up and moved his arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist, rolling over and pulling her across him. He moaned into the kiss, working his mouth sensuously over hers. When he needed to breathe at last, he hovered his mouth away from hers, looking at her with languid eyes. "Zarrah," he breathed. "Say it again."
One moment she had been standing, the next, laying across him on the bed, her breath stolen away. His moan made her smile, her own body grow heated as she pressed back, only breathing when he did. But at his question, she looked back at him curiously through half-lidded eyes.
"Say what again?" she asked, curling a hand against his cheek before moving it through his damp blonde hair.
"You know what I mean," he laughed, lightly pecking her on the cheek. His arms squeezed tighter around her hand slipping underneath the towel and lightly tracing down her spine, ghosting down her skin. "Tell me you love me again, Zarrah. I ruined the first moment. I was such a fool. Please say it again. Say it..."
Zarrah felt her heart flutter at the sentiment, his need and desire to hear it again, and how he still lamented over the first moment and how he felt it was botched. Her lips twitched, she leaned forward, a smile gracing her lips as she kissed him.
"It wasn't ruined." she kissed him again, cupping his face. "Perhaps just ill timed." Then she kissed him a third time, then again. "But if you really want to hear it again.."s he said, her lips against his. "I might be cruel enough to make you wait." And before he could retaliate, she slipped in some tongue, her's wrestling with his as she pinned him against the bed, though he might have heard, somehow, between their pants and kisses, the words softly whispered, "Radimir.....I love you. I do."
Radimir smiled wryly at her teasing. He had a feeling that it would have been too good to be true to expect her to admit it so easily. He fell back on the bed as she pinned him down, giving a gasp of surprise but smiling nonetheless. chills ran down his spine and fluttered into his gut at the way her tongue felt in his mouth, the thrill of being young, the fire of young love.
He tilted his head as she kissed him, lifting it from the pillow kissing her forcefully. And he heard the words - felt them reverberate through him and that hopeless emptiness inside seemed to fall in on itself. His stomach shuttered beneath her. He was absolutely breathless and moaned against her lips again, devouring her lips with need. "Zarrah you don't know how long I thought it would take to hear those words from you. In fact I never thought you'd say it. Gods your lips taste so sweet. Moreso now than ever."
A smile hitched against her lips as his smashed over hers. She could feel of his love flowing into her, and it heated her body, and sent electrical thrills tickling her to her bone. When he told her how he felt about it, she stared down at him dizzily, but only smirked again, laughing once through her nose.
"Perhaps they might be too sweet for you," she said, pulling herself away, just enough so that she could remove the towel upon her head as she tossed it aside, her black hair a mess underneath.
"So maybe I should reserve those words for when I truly mean it and feel it in my heart." She smirked down at him before glancing away, pretending to be distracted with the wall.
He frowned at her with some confusion, unsure at what she meant when she suddenly pulled away. As her black hair cascaded down her back, his eyes lingered on it like liquid night and he leaned up on his elbows. He said nothing as he sat up then and carefully pulled her hair down around the swell of her breasts. His thumbs brushed along their tips when he leaned down and kissed them, breath warm across her flesh. His hands moved down just underneath them, cupping them and pressing just down her sides. "Maybe you're right. Say it too often and it might lose its effect... Or maybe because you know it might lead to something else," he murmured, hands massaging the tips of her breasts once more. "Or you just want to see how much you can tease me?"
Zarrah didn't move, just let him touch her, touch her hair, as she released a soft breath and shiver. And she heard his words, but didn't answer for a time, her eyes having gone into a distant stare, as if drunk. But she did catch his last comment as she smirked and turned around, catching him by the shoulders and pulling herself back down to him, lips crashing into his.
"The idea is still new to me," she confessed, lips traipsing across his cheek. "The last man I tried to love ran away. Who's to say you might not do the same?" Her breath was hot against his ears, rich and husky as she dragged her teeth along it. "Though I am also not used to be chased, either." Her lips gentle nibbled at the top, before she paused, nuzzling her face against his temple. "You were so damn persistent." And she smirked at that.
"I know he hurt you and it must be hard to love anyone when that's happened to you. But where else have I got to go? You are not only my journey but my destination. I do know your value to me, and I'd give you my life to you. I love you, Zarrah. I love you and I just wanted to protect you because what life is worth living without love?" She stole his breath away and he whimpered beneath her breathing, beneath the nibbles on his ear and turned his head harder into her chest, sucking her breasts before turning his mouth lower kissing her belly inch for inch.
Zarrah's smile began to fade away, little by little as his lips traveled south. Her mouth remained open, words forgotten, her body heated by his expression as a hand smoothed down his chest.
"But I used to live so long without love. I had never realized what it could be,"s he said, voice hitching as his lips continued south. "Even in the brief times I experienced it, there is also a dread that comes with it. The results of that lost are devastating. One moment, perfection, and the next, you're a wreck." Her hands moved and twisted lightly into his hair. "The first man had been taken from me, and the latest, completely run away after tearing down your temple." Her hands moved through his hair, voice growing softer as a small smile formed.
"And now.." She paused, studying him through half-lidded eyes. "Now I have you."
"And I can't help but worry what will become of us."
"We can't know what the future holds, Zarrah," he breathed against her skin. "We just have to do our best to be prepared for everything. And what's most important is that we'll face it together." Radimir's lips lingered on her belly and adjusted himself over her, lowering her back to the bed. His hands caressed her thighs, lightly parting them. "But I won't leave you, Zarrah. Yet...if somehow, life does bring us apart, we'll part properly and know that my heart will always be with you, until we come together again. You don't have to be afraid anymore, you'll always have me." His breath splayed just underneath her belly button as his hands firmly held her sides, feeling the heat of her flesh. He kissed her further south until he tasted her sex there, mouth warm and skilled, gently rubbing her thighs.
As he moved lower, his words slowly drifted away, fading out like the fresh smoke of a snuffed candle. She felt her body heat, and also tense at first as his mouth moved over her sex. It was a delicate and sensitive area, one more vulnerable now since he had been leaving a trail of kisses and breath in his wake, and as he moved his hands against her thighs, she simply opened them wider for him.
His mouth grew hotter, tasting her and lapped at her until he felt her whimper and felt her chills run into his own body. He moved his lips along her sex before moving on, kissing along her hip and along her thigh, from one to the next before trailng his kisses back up her belly. "I love you, Zarrah," he breathed against her skin, touching her here, massaging her, his hands exploring her until her skin was on fire. His skin was already heated, mind in a haze when he came back up to her at last, his hand exploring between her legs. "Zarrah, maybe we'll have to take a bath again after all," he murmured, chuckling lightly.
His skill hardly sated her, but it did rile her up good. Her body was in heat, begging for the attention, for the release. She felt as if she was on fire, but it seemed he knew what he was doing, stroking her, lapping her, just enough to keep her electrified. When he spoke, her eyes opened as she grinned, but before he would get a chance to move over her, she snapped her legs together, denying him access, though not entirely. She was still exposed to him, but her legs were together and her lips were set.
"Do you think you'll become so lucky?" she teased, leaning up now on her elbows as she peered back at him with a leer. She didn't point her sex away from him, just kept her legs together from allowing him to crawl over her, just making it more of a challenge if he wanted to pursue something more... vigorous.
Radimir growled in frustration when she refused him access. But it was all in the fun of the chase he knew. He moved over her and lifted his shirt from his head, throwing if off to the side, laughing at her insinuation. "What makes you think I'm lucky? Look at what's happened to us so far. Skeleton warriors, slavers, strange rituals. Well, I guess I am if we made it this far. But I've never put much stock in luck." He chuckled and moved over her, laying his side, her back to his chest. He dragged his lips along her shoulder, pecking it softly, kissing her neck with added heat. His hands played with the skin of her belly, gripping flesh hard before smothing it down to her thigh. His hand still tried to gain access, but laughed as her thighs only closed tighter.
"I think you'd just like to see me beg," he murmured, kissing underneath her earlobe, taking his teeth to it.
Zarrah smiled through a gasp as his teeth met to her ear.
"But of course," she told him, squeezing her legs tighter, keeping him out as she curled her toes and tucked up her legs. "Every man should have to beg to get what he wants."
His tongue ran along her earlobe as he snagged the top of her ear and let his breath come out huskily against it. "But it's just that now that we've professed our love for one another, we should solidify it into a perfect bond. Because whether I know it or not, I am bound to you, Zarrah," he breathed. He moved his head over hers and kissed her cheek, dragging his lips along her skin. His hand moved from their point and caressed her flesh, massaging his thumbs into her muscles.
"We have a ritual where I come from. The one my father performed with my mother. It is a marriage of wills so to speak, where two people promise to be together, in love and faith, protect one another. And after the ceremony, they make passionate love for days on end, because they've chosen to be together. Night and day. The lost recorded has been three days and three nights and by the fourth, they spent the entire time feasting because well...after three days of sex, wouldn't you be hungry?" His hand had gripped her ass and reached underneath her thigh, feeling for her sex under there, teasing her just a little before moving back up her side and massaging her breast.
"It's sort of like marriage but you don't get a ring, and you don't have to deal with pesky relatives. And you just make a promise. And when worse comes to worse, if the two people no longer choose to be together, they may formally part ways, and no harm done." He chuckled against her skin, kissing back down her neck. "It's an...interesting ceremony, one I thought might be nice to mention. If you could choose to marry again, properly, how would you do it? Simple? Or go all out? What kind of things would you like to have? Anything goes."
His tongue, his breath, his words, his touch... it was all driving her crazy. Little breaths escaped from time to time, her body tensing, nearly shivering from the need. He'd be able to feel her sex burning, soft and soaking wet to the touch. Yet still, she remained unyielding, keeping her legs tightly closed as she appeared to moan in silence.
"If I could do it again, and do it right, something simple, something at night.." she spoke. "I could never do a ceremony. It would mean nothing.. but promises against the moon light, two bodies entwined in blissful sin, that's all the promise I'd need to keep a union. Someone to be there to guide me, to hold me, to touch me.... someone to just take these things one step at a time."
She slowly turned to face him, legs still together, but resting them lightly across his belly, so that her sex was facing his, and that the two parts were barely a breath apart.
"How would you want to make such a promise?" she asked gently, eyes warm, loving, lusting as she locked onto his. "How would you want to take a woman and claim her as yours?"
"I think that's a lovely idea. And not much different from what I mentioned," Radimir chuckled as she turned around to face him. He could feel the heat from her legs emanate to him even though she kept them tightly shut from him. He leg his fingertips brush down along her knees, gently playing with her skin there. Radimir grinned and lightly pressed his lips to her cheek.
"I'd like to take her to some place secluded, a cliff, maybe, the highest point possible. With a blanket of stars over us, and if there just so happens to be a meteor shower, even better. And we'd promise each other our devotion and kiss underneath the rain of stars and make love in the howling wind. Maybe before the warmth of a campfire if the night got too cold. But our bodies would be enough to keep us warm. We'd promise our love, to be there for one another when we need them most, and even when we don't. We could do anything."
His hand moved up to play with her hair, brushing it out of her face. "It's not nearly as lovely as underneath the glare of the full moon, but the night offers bliss that cannot be compared to the day. And most people are asleep by then, but not us. We'd be awake all night, exploring each other. We'd leave before the break of day and go anywhere. Or no where at all."
She enjoyed his kiss, and even his words. It sounded so wonderful, so romantic.
"On top of a cliff.." she spoke, pressing her teeth lightly into her lower lip. "And to make love with all of the power that resides beneath, the hull of the earth as a bed beneath." Smiling, she removed her eyes from the ceiling, where they had been pinpointing at one location while she was lost in thought. She looked over at Radimir, smiling at him and cupping his face.
"Would you want to make love to me on the top of a cliff?" she asked, her voice serious, soft and sweet. "Could you see us professing our real love there?" Her eyes wavered. "With a meteor shower over head, beneath a world full of falling stars."
"I see, I see," Radimir said, laughing with her. "I can see you think the fantasy is a little ridiculous. But it could happen provided the timing is right." He laughed harder. "Why? You wouldn't count on such a thing? What does it matter? What matters is the here and now. I have you and you have me and we are together. It seems we have the same idea about these bonds. I don't suppose you'd ever want to make such a bond with me? Perhaps it's too soon..."
Radimir gave a sigh and turned on his back, facing the ceiling, looking at the shapes in the plaster above them, visualizing a meteor shower over them, the roof was gone and there was nothing more than the wind, the sky and the stars.
Zarrah turned towards him when he moved to lay on his back. Then she completely turned around, slipping her legs over him as she moved to sit on his belly, just a mere inch from his sex, soaking his skin just above it.
"No,"s he said, smiling as she moved to lay ontop of him, brushing a hand through his hair. "I don't think it's silly at all." And her smile tugged a bit leftward at the second thought. "And who's to determine how soon? Perhaps it is for us, our relationship is still so very new, but that doesn't mean we can't try it out." And before he might be able to protest, she sealed her lips warmly over his.
"You're right, but...it wouldn't hurt to give it time. We have all the time in the world, we're young, we're energetic, we've got everything ahead of us," Radimir said with a wry smile, looking up at her. "What if we rush into it and it's not what we thought it was? I'm not saying I would leave you but so many people don't think such important things through. So many people try so hard for something that was never meant to be. I do love you Zarrah, I'm not afraid to try if that's what you want. But we have to be honest with each other. We can't hold anything back if we're gonna try and make it. And maybe if we're lucky, we'll find that clifftop and the stars will decide to rain." He laughed, feeling up her thighs as she straddled him.
"What happened? I thought you were keeping it locked tigher than a miser's purse?"
Zarrah studied his face. For a man who was so determined to have her, she was surprised at how thorough he thought about things, and even to the degree whatever they were sharing now could fail. She had never considered the potential for failure, though it was always something that could occur. But as she thought it over, she grinned wickedly, cat like as she leaned forward, ass now moved into the air.
"I believe anything is possible." she spoke, lips dangerously close to his, hair tickling against his skin. "We are two people, people are known to make mistakes. But I believe if it is a mistake, it's well worth the risk." She smiled, her lips moving against his, lightly, not truly a kiss, as her lower lip brushed softly, just tickling his.
"And if I wanted to give it away so easily, you would have never wanted it in the first place."
Let's see him get it now. she thought, and cupped his face, smashing her lips against his, but still keeping herself well lifted and as far away from his erection as she could. She could play this game all night.
"What an inspiring outlook," Radimir admitted shortly before she kissed him. And as she did so all of his breath was stolen away. His arms tried to move around her but she continued to evade him. He was getting quite frustrated but playfully so, rising to her teases, her hot kisses and replying with some of his own. He wrestled wtih her, trying to pin her arms down but instead just took one and twisted it behind her back. HIs leg moved to knock her off balance so that he could over throw her and roll back onto her back.
"You're right," He muttered. "I wouldn't have wanted it. I don't like when you give it away so easily...especially to anyone else." His voice was hard and rough as he came to her neck and sank his teeth into her collarbone. "So why all the teasing?" He couldn't help a laugh, not minding it as he chased her harder and tried to get her into position.
Their body were entangling now, and as she moved to evade him, she felt a jolt, a fire rush through her each time his strong body paused her's from fighting and kept her tame. The movement,.. ah, the wrestling and the sound of the sheets rustling beneath them...
It was nothing like how Castor had been, this was something more. She could show heart and spirit with Radimir, laugh even as her body moved against his, hot skin bumping to hot skin,a nd somehow in the mess of it all, she felt him. She felt just the tip of his hard member touch the gentle opening of her sex. And in that moment, she froze. She couldn't fight it anymore as her vision grew husky, her fingers interlocking with one of his, the same one she had been struggling with but moments ago as she held his gaze with her deep, purple eyes.
"Kiss me, Radimir," she said, her voice barely over a whisper. "I want you. Take me and make me yours."
Radimir smiled wickedly down at her when he had her beaten and triumphed over her. He was poised, ready to take her, his sex ready, eager to taste her again. He slowly slipped inside, feeling no resistance, moving slowly teasingly inside her but paused abruptly, looking down at her. "I don't know. I can't really tell if you want it as bad as you make it out to be. You're likely just teasing me," he murmured, his own voice carrying its own evil intention. "If I gave it too you too easily, you wouldn't want it, after all." He kept his body over hers, moving gently sometimes, then pausing, pulling out and teasing her as he slid it against her.
Zarrah moaned so loudly her body shook. There were no words of elation that could describe how she felt to finally have his body inside her, that was, until he threatened to take it away. Her eyes widened suddenly as he stopped, staring at him as he now held the winning card in his hand. And her eyes rolled into the back of her head, eyes closing tight as he teased her, moving into her from time to time.
"I should have known you were a man driven on vengeance," she growled, her voice a husky moan as she felt him move within her, then just slightly without. She bit into he rlower lip. "But you do realize if you keep this up, I'll just have to take it from you." She panted. "Would you really want to keep up this charade?" Her voice hung at the question, eye lashes lowered, body hung and trying to move to meet with his, only to gaspa nd grunt in frustration at his incessant teasing.
"Come on, Radimir!" though she was laughing and moaning all the same. "Gods, just fuck me," she begged.
"Oh, the gods can't help you now," Radimir chuckled, a laugh from deep within his throat. He slipped inside her again, moving so slowly she'd have to wrap her legs tightly around him to keep him there. He slammed into her but immediately pulled haflway out, teasing his length inside of her. "You know this is all your fault and now you have to suffer the consequences. Besides, you would take it provided I let you. But I don't think that's going to be happening anytime soon. I think I like you like this anyway. Serves you right for being such a tease."
It seemed she was suffering the consequences of her own actions, the sex was good when he was ramming it inside her, only to pull it away, having her feel the burn, the sensation electrifying within become faded at his absence. She yearned to have that feeling nursed, to build, but he was smiling, enjoying being in control. She shook her head.
"No," she said, gripping her legs around him tightly, catching him when he thrust himself deep within. She let out a breath, a moan, before her lips began to fall closed again. "It.. it will be you.." she said, the muscles within gripping him tight. "Who will be begging to the Gods for help." And then she moved him over, pinning him to the bed as she took in all the length she could and screamed out in a gasp, before moving over him, riding him like a wild stallion. ANd surprising even to herself, her orgasm had come quickly she was screaming out, body throbbing as she rode him till the bed was nearly rocking off the ground, beating into the wall until she collapsed against him...
but was soon moving again.
"You owe me about five of those,"s he growled, lips finding his as she kissed him, hot and ready with need as she began to fuck him, again and again.
It seemed her prediction had been right and soon it was Radimir that was screaming out in pleasure and it was soon too much for him as he was fighting her to get off of him. "GODS!" he gasped for air. "Zarrah! PLEASE! Can't BREATHE!" He grabbed her by the hips and pushed her off of him mid-fuck, his sex hanging, eager, wet and completely unsated as he rolled off the bed and scurried back to the window, opening it up and dry-heaving out of the window, glad for some fresh air, sweat beading down his forehead and dripping down his entire body. Nothing came out, thankfully. He clung to the window sill and looked at her with wild eyes, "YOU ARE" A huge gasp of breath. "CRAZY!" he said, but he couldn't stop his grin, laughing as he drug himself back to the bed.
Zarrah smirked, watching him need to collect himself. She supposed she had gone a little too far. But he as the one teasing her. Did he forget she knew many tricks? It was quite the game to find a way to sate a woman, and she supposed to took the demands to the extreme. Well, served him right. So she lay there on her side across the bed, a hand agaisnt her thigh, the other one against her cheek as she stared over at his member, then up at him.
"You still owe me four more." And she gave him a little sultry pout, her violet eyes burning with a playful lust. she was still on fire, and so was he, but perhaps they ought to take it a little easier this time-
lest they break the bed.. the wall.. the floor...
Or Radimir.
"OWE YOU? YOU-YOU- YOU PRACTICALLY took me by force!" Radimir said hotly, but his expression showed that he wasn't complaining as he positioned himself beside her again. But he was laughing and grinning, laying on his back. "You act as if you've hadn't had a man properly in years, just take it easy! I'm not going anywhere! Well, get on then!" As they came together again, the headboard hit the wall and sent dust from the dry wall hitting his face again and he coughed again, the dust clouding up around them. He coughed and blew it off to the side. "You did that!"
Zarrah grinned and kissed him through the dust and wall chips. She held his face firm.
"Just kiss me."
And soon she was wrestling him off the bed and onto the floor, coaxing him to move over her like an animal, underneath, on the side, at an angle, just about any way they could move, she wanted it. She seemed unsatable, her breasts bouncing as they fucked.
"And it has seemed like eons since I've done it like this."s he said, turning around and wrapping her legs around his, so they were front to front, and lips met to lips. Her sex as so wet, each angle was so easy and Radimir moved within her with no effort or force at all.
"Not with someone who wanted me this much, who has wanted me for so long... Gods.."s he arched back, feeling herself near another climax. "Radimir.. I.."
And did she really need to ask him to do anything else? He better get to work. She needed that last one. She did say he at least owed her five...
Radimir was quite sore from such use, not quite used from such a bedroom marathon as this. But he was a young man and his heart was ready to move on easily from one position to the next. Pleasure warped his brain. His breath was hoarse as he moved over her at last, making sure her legs were tighter around him. "I could give you ten if you wanted," he breathed hard against her lips as he began to move inside her, thrusting hard as much as he could, he knees sore from the hard floor, but that was secondary to the pleasure that coursed through him. "I'm only twenty-eight after all. I'm not an old man. Just tell me what you want, Zarrah. I just want to please you, to love you." He thrusted deeper, as much as he could, pinning her hands to the floor, threading her fingers inside his as he moved with need.
Zarrah melted at is words, moaned even as she tightened her sex around him so he could feel her, all of her with every stroke.
"N-no.. not ten.." she said through pants. "Just one more." She smiled up at him, her body flushed and her own body growing tired and sore from their antics. "Just one more... and have it with me."
He moaned loudly, smiling at her final resignation. And though he'd never let her know it, her willingness to keep it to five rather than go any more as he wished was a small victory on his part and one he'd gladly keep. He groaned when she tightened herself around him, as he moved deeper, and faster at the instigation of climaxing with her. He smothered her with his mouth amidst breaths, moaning louder, feeling himself cling to the edge but just barely. "Ready when you are," he murmured between thrusts.
OOC: oh.. my.. 70 pages and look what they are doing *hides face* scandalous!
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At the sound of his words, she quivered, her smile only faltering as she breathed out and held herself to him close.
"J-just go ahead," she panted, her own body tightening and tensing, drawing him near. "Let me feel it all."
He couldn't hold on any longer when she instructed him to do so and as if by her own words he came hard, flushing her through with hot seed as he cried out, his entire body shuddering over her at long last, joints wobbly. He didn't stop until the last bit of it finally came out and he was left a shuddering heap over her. "Gods," he moaned. "Zarrah. You really know how to wear a man out."
Zarrah grinned and held onto him. He wasn't the only one exhausted. Her moans had been drowned out amongst his, but it all felt so wonderful, and to take his seed in, to feel it, made her feel so satisfied after all that. She curled her toes into the floor and just lay there, unmoving.
"Yes, and we might be a bit sore tomorrow, but we'll sleep like children."
He laughed against her, still remaining joined with her when at last he pulled out. "Maybe not so comfortably on the floor," he admitted. "C'mon, let's at least make some proper use of the bed while we're at it....Ugh, I don't think I can stand, can you?" He laughed again and moved off to the side, pulling her into his arms. Instead he reached across and pulled the sheets from the bed as well as the pillows and dropped them down beside her so that she could have something to lay on as he threw the blanket over their sweating forms.
"Thank you," Radimir breathed against her, brushing hair from her face. "For telling me proper this time. I was able to react the way I should have the first time. And ...well, it was incredible. We'll have to try for longer next time." He just laughed jokingly before closing his eyes at last.
Zarrah smirked and nestled in beside him, sighing contentedly after the blankets were drawn. SHe felt so at peace, so content that nothing in the world could spoil it. Smoothing a hand over his chest, she held onto him, keeping her head against his shoulder.
"You might regret such a request," she said, smirking, though her eyes were closed as she sighed with contentment. "I've been well trained for such things most of my life. You'd be asking for a run for your money. I could go for days."
Radimir grumbled with his eyes closes. "You would break me no doubt," he murmured with a sleepy smile. "But it would be a fun challenge. I regret nothing I say and nothing I do. Besides you are lucky to have a man who would want to explore such things with you, and have the bliss of holding you in his arms afterward. I'm sure plenty of men would have wanted to, but they'd only see you one way. I don't see you a lady of the night...I just see you as a woman. A woman that I love."
Zarrah smiled at his words, but as he went on, her smile slowly faded as she opened her eyes. She looked up into his face, a hand gently touching his chin, thumbing over his lips as she studied him.
"When you first met me, out in the desert, were you really just following a woman then?" she found herself asking, now sitting up a little more, craning her neck. "You must have been watching me from a distance for so long. What made you follow me? And what made you change your mind? I'm sure you weren't just following me around because I was some pretty face."
"Honestly? You were an assignment like any other. Adurim tasked me with following you and your companion to make sure you made it to Carnavus' little hideaway. You may not have known it but I saved you from that sandworm that nearly came down on you and from the poison curse acting too quickly. But i didn't quite register then that I was delivering you to your doom. And when I found my father's body out in the cold, another assignment turned into hot-blooded revenge. I just wanted to punish you, to make you hurt as much as me from what you'd taken. But in all that time I always thought of you as a woman. I never thought of you as a whore. Why? Did you think I only wanted you because of your reputation?" He smiled at her and kissed her thumb that slid against his lips.
Zarrah smirked.
"Most men do." Her eyes moved from his down to the thumb he had kissed, then back up to his eyes. "So you viewed me as a woman then?" She smirked at the idea. "When I first saw you, I thought you were handsome, and that I was doing the world a favor by sparing your life. That some lucky laundry lady might find you and take you as their husband-bride." Her smirk grew wider. "I never though the strange eyed man would end up as a potential lover.." She leaned forward, stealing a soft kiss. "...of mine." Her eyes searched his, studying the slits that were his pupils, her thumb now resting against his chin. "So what sort of secrets does the viper offer to you. I can see it in your eyes, I know it flows in your blood, but what of it? How much of that time has become a part of you? What does it allow you to do exactly, and how does it affect the way you see me? Do I seem like prey to you, serpent?" Her eyes danced at her question, but she was curious. Did he see as any other normal man, or did the viper in him change his perception of things?
Radimir gave a soft tired laugh. "You want to know all of my secrets do you, my lady. But I can tell you some things, but not everything. The viper's blood gives me certain gifts. I'm more flexible than most men - of which we just had demonstrated," he gave another soft laugh, "and gives me snapping reflexes. I move with speed where most men would move with brute strength. Aside from my magic, my vision is more acute, honing into specific details. My eyes are also much sharper in darkness, I could see you plainly on the blackest night, in the darkest cave and still close in for the kill. I react to heat and cold much in the same way a snake does, cold lulls me and heat excites me. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to travel north. I'll have you to keep me warm after all. And my magic - well, that's a whole other story altogether."
Zarrah smiled. He most certainly had some... impressive skills. And it was interesting learning how his body was truly similar to the serpents he had once worshiped. She continued to stare at him curiously, taking in his eyes, the slits, the colors as a hand ran loosely through his blonde hair.
"I suppose, being just a woman, I could find ways to keep you warm." She smirked. "I'm a lady of the desert after all. Perhaps the desert heat is just apart of who I am.." her fingers lightly moved down the side of his face. "Just like you have part of the snake." Her eyes studied his ever still, still curious.
"And what of your magic?" she asked with a coy smile, a finger lightly twisting into his hair.
"Since when have you been so nosy?" Radimir inquired, laughing and throwing his head back to look at the cieling. "I think you've seen many finer points of my magic. I can summon serpents from my very hands, transform my weapons into them, even hypnotize and control various snakes to do my bidding. I am immune to most venoms and under the right circumstances my blood might provide an antivenom. My magic also..." he hesitated for a moment, his eyes searching her face and his smile faded, " allows me to change my shape. Disguise myself into any whom I change down to the smallest detail. That you wouldn't even know the difference." His expression turned somber and he turned his eyes back up to the cieling.
Zarrah had been so enthralled by his story, enjoying knowing more intimate details about her new lover, that she had almost missed why Radimir was sad. But then her own mind reached back, recalling that night, the final night she thought she had made love to Castor Bain. Her own smile faded away, the moment between them tense, then growing quiet and delicate. Yes..
how could she forget how she had hated him for that? That he had stolen a potential last moment in Castor's arms? But then she reminded herself, Castor left her, and she promptly grew sour, rising from the bed and sitting at the edge of it.
"I suppose that sort of skill can be very useful," she whispered. "I think I'll go order that second bath." And she moved to rise. "Can't go around all day smelling like sex and sweat."
As she rose from their spot, Radimir just watched her leave, knowing his words had summoned something she had probably buried away. He bit his lip and finally stood, going after her, gripping her shoulders and turning her around. "Wait, Zarrah," he murmured. "I'm sorry I tricked you. It was wrong, I know, but at the time I knew that you'd never look at me the way you looked at him. I just wanted to share that moment with you and that was the only way I knew how. I'm a bastard for thinking such a thing and even more for carrying it out. I'm sorry. In effect...I made love to you based on deception, but it wasn't right. Please forgive me. I'd never trick you like that again. I did it because I was desperate. I wanted only you. I still do."
Zarrah looked to him, her face a mixture of emotions. She wasn't sure how to feel about him, or what even to say. It was a despicable thing, something she knew would be hard to forgive, and because of the way she was still feeling, she knew she hadn't quite gotten to the point of forgiveness. And it hurt her to realize she had given up on another love for a man who had been so obsessed with her he'd go to such lengths, but in the end, did that matter? They had been through so much together already, were beginning to share dreams...
but were they really dreams, or did Radimir only see her as something he needed to have, an obsession. And how did she honestly feel about him? HAd she truly abandoned her feelings for Castor? Both ideas hurt her, and she looked away, her face hot and her eyes cutting with tears.
"I know what I did was wrong... I shouldn't have done it," Radimir went on, but when she said nothing and he saw the glint of tears in her eyes when she turned her head away, he knew he couldn't explain his way out of this. "Zarrah, I do love you," he murmured, his mouth against her hair. "I want to see the world with you. I want to protect you and hold you and share with you what I've never been able to share with any other woman. If you can forgive, then I'd be happier than any man you would ever know. But if you can't, I understand. I can't force your mind and I won't. It doesn't change the way I feel, or why I decided to come with you in the first place. I'll trust your decisions." Radimir put his arms around her then and took her face to his chest, holding her, letting her feel the throbbing of his heart before he leaned down and kissed her forehead and cheek softly.
The words simply hit against her, not fully sinking in, but echoing, as if she were simply made of stone. But she felt brittle, so as he continued to speak, she felt the hot tears bubbling from deep within, and when his arms wrapped around her, she buried her face against him as those tears spilled down her cheek.
"It's just very hard to swallow," she told him honestly. "The moment was full of too many 'what ifs'." She frowned, her lips trembling against him as she tried to brush away some of her tears. Then she lifted her face to look at him. "And here I promised myself I'd hate you forever for taking whatever was left of that memory and soiling it.." Her eyes flickered, as if trying to read his face as more tears still brewed.
"I still think of him. Of Castor Bain,"s he admitted. "I won't lie to you, Radimir. I still feel torn, and perhaps it will take a long time for me to get over him, but I do know one thing." she gently lifted a hand, touching his face. "I am happy where I am now, and I think I could keep on loving you. If given a real chance."
[You spelled it right 8D]
Radimir gave a chuckle and reached a hand up to brush away her tears. "I know it must haven't been easy to deal with. I put you in a very difficult position. I couldn't very well make sense of the turmoil I was feeling right then," he confessed, caressing her cheek against his hand. His lips pursed at the mention of Castor Bain and he gave a nod.
"I know," he said. "He was why we left the desert in the first place. You'll probably still think about him from years to come. Perhaps we'll find him in our travels if you still want to, to at least come to terms. As for us...I'll give you more than a chance. I'll give you a lifetime if you let me."
It was only at the mention of a lifetime that Zarrah's eyes began to fade away, going distant.
A lifetime.
She technically had two of those- but at what costs? She was able to come back to the dead again, but what if she didn't need them? Was it possible she could become an immortal wanderer, traveling the earth sometime after Radimir's death? It was uncertain, she knew not the complications behind the 'curse' itself or what it all really meant. But for now, she figured to live in the moment and no longer dwelled on it. Perhaps it was something they could discuss later if it came down to it. How else would she explain it? It sounded crazy, though, truth be told, to the keenest eye, the faint gold flecks in her hair and skin also might have seemed peculiar; an after effect from the first time she died, something that could be passed off as just her skin kissing the sun or her hair catching it against the flutter of a desert wind.
Yes...
for now, any of her lifetimes she had she'd spend with him. They'd take one day at a time.
"I suppose all I can do is the same."
Radimir smiled down at her and gave her a nod. He placed a finger underneath her chin and pulled her face up to his and gently pecked her lips, letting them linger there for a moment. "Time is the worse thing you could ever waste. Every day that comes and goes, we cannot get them back, so we must spend our ever slipping moments with the people we love. I want to spend them with you, no matter where they take us." He kissed her softly but deeply then and wiped away the remnants of her tears with his thumbs, brushing them away.
"I guess we'll both need a bath now."
Zarrah smirked at his comment, then nuzzled her face into his hand.
"I suppose you are right," she said softly, then lifted her face up to kiss him.
"Perhaps this time we might be able to share? The bath water can get quite expensive.." And it would be nice to enjoy a simple moment like that with him.
"Oh? I thought you were content to just watch me?" he murmured, but grinned against her lips nonetheless. "Come then, let's get a fresh tub downstairs and we'll see if we can't fit ourselves into such a confined space. I feel sticky already."
Zarrah smirked. When the pair was decent, the water was ordered and drawn, and to their surprise, a second tub was available. They brought it into the room, filled up both, and laid out new soaps for the pair and fresh towels. The waters smelled heavenly, and Radimir wasn't the only one feeling sticky, after all, she was the one who had taken all the seed.
Once undressed, she pinned up her hair and stepped into her own bath, sighing contentedly as she leaned back and just let herself relax.
"So is this what normal people do?" she said, smirking. "Actually have time to enjoy a good bath?"
Radimir stood behind her, watching her climb inside before stepping around to the other end of the tub and climbing in for himself. The water was warm and the air was cold and gave Radimir chills as he slipped into the waters, collecting what bubbles he could around him. "Only people who've suffered manor fires, sewer invalids, armed guards, slavers, tribal rituals, and...searching for a madman with metal hands. But we deserve it don't you think?"
Zarrah smirked as she stared over at him.
"Madman with metal hands? I do believe you've upgraded him from beast to man, even a mad one." But her words were in jest as she reached for the soaps and clutched them in her hand, lathering it between her fingers as he kept quiet and simply smiled.
"A beast lurks in all men. I'm sure you know that well enough. Some are just more in tune with it than others," Radimir carefully commented, even offering a smile as he took a rag from the side and scrubbed it with the soap and began to wash his chest, but his eyes looked at her knowingly.
Zarrah afforded a small smile in return, mimicking him in beginning to bath her own self.
"And all women, as well."
OOC: SHORTEST POST EVARS 8D
"Really? I've yet to see the beast in you. Pure and raw. But I do believe you, in a way," Radimir went on. He hadn't realized how much sweat had dried on him and he reached down to wash his sex that was sore from such use. "I bet Carnavus brought out the animal in you. I saw that look in your eyes before you went to kill him. Before you nearly killed me."
Zarrah smirked.
"Carnavus is a dog. He should only be treated as such. And one easy way to kill an animal is to become one yourself" she tilted her head, studying Radimir a moment before turning away, going back to cleaning herself. She was already feeling better. Sex was a messy act, after all.
Radimir had been scrubbing his body all the while as he thought her statement over in his mind. She was right after all, but there was always the danger of losing yourself, of all that made you normal. Being an animal was all well and good but when the moment was over...what was left?
"Then what?" Radimir asked, looking up at her as he scrubbed his shoulders. "You're an animal, you kill your prey and what happens then? Where has your true self gone?"
Zarrah grew silent. He was right, but she didn't know what else to say. She had already felt that conflicted emotion several times, especially after she had killed Carnavus and set out to burning his entire home down. The repercussions could have been disastrous. But in the moment, she almost hadn't cared.
"I think the key is to find control between yourself and the beast inside. Between the calm and the storm. I think your still inside yourself...but sometimes, the animal is just below the surface." Radimir lowered his gaze, just about finished as he washed through his hair and stood up in the water. He climbed out and lingered on the side of the tub, leaning on it's edge. "Zarrah can I ask you something? Do you still want to find Castor Bain?"
Zarrah had remained quiet at his question, suddenly feeling chilly at the idea. She turned away, not sure how to respond as she sighed.
"I don't think that's even an option. I don't even know where to begin or if I even want to try to walk that path again."
Radimir reached out a hand and touched her face solemnly. "Then we go wherever the wind takes us. I know it must be hard for you, more than I can really fathom. But perhaps this is all part of letting go." He gave her a small smile. "I'll head back to the room now. Come up when you're ready." He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss before grabbing his own towel.
Zarrah smiled at him and nodded.
"A broken heart takes many years to heal, a wise man once said." And she took his hand, lightly squeezed it before stepping out of the bath herself. "I will be there shortly.' She informed him, smirking as she worked at toweling herself dry.
There was a lot for her to think over, her mind mulling over this and that, but predominantly falling back to Castor Bain. Castor...
the man who seemed as wild as the sands, as mean as the sun, yet as quiet as the night. He had touched her, deeply, made her open up, cared for her even when he walked away. She frowned.
But he did walk away.
Was he so stubborn not to realize he needed help? She was offering, yet even after he had gotten what he had come for, he still moved away. She even held a clue for the next piece, but also a clue towards something more... that perhaps there was no cure, no salvation for the man who so desperately sought it. And she couldn't help but feel guilty, feel sad for him, and wish she could cure him herself.
So she hadn't noticed the ghosted form of the snake that swept in through the window... bleeding in a path of ghostly mist. It's eyes glowed a faint, deep blood red, while it's body was a misty, pale as the moon, white. By the time she was mostly dry, her black hair being the only thing dripping wet, the snake was already curling up her ankle, when suddenly it opened it's mouth, and it's fangs sunk in with a strike.
She let out a cry, dropped to her knees, just as the snake had vanished. Peering down, her eyes were quickly becoming clouded, her mind jaded, as she noticed two sink holes in her flesh, one dripping with fresh, bubbling blood. Her violet eyes wavered, uncertain what sort of snake had bit her. But before she had a chance to call out to Radimir, the image of a snake began to curl itself and imprint upon her leg, htis tme, a phantom snake, white as snow, with blood red eyes...
and it seemed to stare at her, mesmerizing her before she fell onto the ground, her world going black.
Radimir had dried himself and had since settled into bed, well, after a change of sheets he requested from the clerk and had closed his eyes. But he found sleep was a long ways off from the thoughts that pressed his mind. Always his mind came back to what Zarrah had said that she still thought of Castor Bain. And perhaps it was his own paranoia coming to bite at him, but he couldn't shake the squirming of his gut that perhaps it was more than wandering thoughts on the man with the metal hands. And yet, he couldn't doubt her now, not when things were blossoming between them. He would be by her side, no matter what misgivings he had about her confession.
He forced himself to relax, closed his eyes and took a breath at last. Sleep was nearly upon him when suddenly he heard a familiar cry and he jumped up from the bed, hoping he would hear it again. But when there was nothing more than silence, he jumped out of bed anyway. He knew Zarrah's voice well enough by now and carefully came down the steps, sword in hand, listening for any intruder that might have cornered her in the washroom.
As he burst through the door, he was surprised to find nobody around and immediately sheathed his sword. He fell to the ground in alarm, kneeling beside Zarrah's still form. "Gods!" he said, unsure what happened to her. He turned her over and pulled her up into his arms. In his panic, he overlooked the small bite on her leg. But it was only on the stairs that he saw the white snake on her leg and dropped against the stairwell wall. "Gods...not again."
It was all he was able to say, unsure what to do then as he dragged her up back to the room.
As Zarrah lay in the bed, her mind was in a fit, eyes moving beneath the lids rapidly as her body began to sweat and on occasion, she also shivered. Internally, she was struggling against something unseen, as her body fought against the ghost's venom curdling through her veins.
OOC: SHORTEST POST EVARS
It wasn't anything he'd ever dealt with before and Radimir was helplessly at a loss as he inspected her body once more. He eventually found the snake bite and took a dagger and gently slit across it, allowing blood to seep out. He had a bowl nearby and proceeded to lower his mouth to the wound, sucking out the blood and spitting it into the bowl. He proceeded to repeat the process until he thought it made a difference but he couldn't tell.
Radimir looked around the room, finding incense in a drawer and proceeded to light it around her, billowing smoke and chanting words of a ritual that would induce her into a meditative trance and make her relax. And hopefully slow the poison that coursed through her veins to a molasses like halt.
As the incense wafted over her body, and the words were chanted, she felt herself calm and drift off into an even deeper rest. Though for only a few hours she slept, with wisps as dreams, hints of things, but nothing clear, and when she woke, her head was throbbing. Groaning, she sat up and rubbed at her temples, her face scrunching before she opened her eyes.
"R-Radimir?" She hadn't recalled what had happened, but felt disoriented at best.
Radimir took in a breath he felt he'd been holding for hours. And when he saw that she was awake and no less alive, relief swam over him. Even if it was all too brief as he knew any sudden movements would help the poison that coursed through her veins now. He had no idea of it's true nature or if this was like the last time. But if it was, then there were a few things to consider, that one might only get it undone at the behest of the one that cast the curse.
And all Radimir could do was do things to counter act the poison to slow it down. No, as his eyes scanned down her leg once more, this curse not only affected her body, but her soul. It was latched onto her now and he could only think of one of a few ways to remove it.
Worry had stricken his brow as he leaned over her and patted her brow with a moist cool cloth he had on hand. "Zarrah," he breathed. "How are you feeling?"
Zarrah sighed, irritably and said, "As if my head were a pair of drums someone won't stop striking it." SHe groaned and rubbed at it some more. "It hurts, and I feel a bit stiff and sore all over." But then she opened her eyes, her face twisting a bit as she realized...
"Hey.. what happened? When did I get.. why am I..?" but talking, thinking.. anything hurt her head as she sighed and just let herself wilt back into the pillow. "I just need this damn head ache to go away and I should be fine." She didn't even realize she had been bitten by an ethereal snake.
"Don't," Radimir warned. "Don't move more than you have to. And don't think. Something has happened and I've done what I could to slow it down. It will take much longer to strike you, but it will try. Zarrah you have been bitten by what I think my father called the "Emaji Majad", the Soul Serpent. This is the first time I've ever seen it. But I think it is much like the serpent that found it's way onto your body before."
Radimir paused and held her hand, patting the towel on her head again. "Relax, any kind of distress will no doubt only make it worse."
Zarrah scrunched her nose at his words, raising her brows some as he went on to explain.
"Soul serpent?" She sat up suddenly, despite his suggestion. "I was bitten by some sort of snake?" Then, finally realizing the throbbing burn on her ankle, she looked down to note the ghostly image of a snake wrapped around it, imprinted on her flesh and her eyes widened.
No... not again!
"There are ways to counteract this. I have an idea that might work," Radimir said calmly. "We an both induce ourselves into a trance, we'll have to send ourselves into the spirit world and find my father. He was the only one of my Order with enough power to be able to perform the Soul Serpent. Only there's one thing, I think it's best if you go alone. I would have to stay out here and guide you and make sure you wake up. You would have to cast him away, into the Abyss for good, where his soul will be trapped forever. I'm sorry Zarrah...I didn't know he could do this until now...
"But we can't do it here. I don't have the necessary supplies or incense. But I think I know a place more to the north that will have the necessary supplies."
Zarrah frowned. It was a lot to take in.
"I'm afraid I don't fully understand all this entails." She looked down at her leg, eyes tracing over the symbol of the snake. At least this time if it had to reach her heart, it had to travel a lot farther than the other mark on her leg. ANd if it was a similar mark, this time she didn't get a warning, or a timer like last time, but perhaps the snake mark acted the same? If so, she would have to note if it would move across her flesh. She sighed frustratedly.
"It seems we can't every out run our ghosts," she murmured. "Would you be able to tell me how this might work? How would I... get into some sort of spirit world, let alone interact with it. I'm afraid I am unfamiliar with such a thing. Is it like another plane of existence or something- sort of like the believed after-life?"
Radimir smiled and actually laughed at her questions just a little. "I'm afraid there's not much I can tell you that would help you prepare for the venture except what I've read of my people's doctrines. From what I understand, it is a plane within our own, but it takes an elevated consciousness to get there so to speak, to realize it's around you. I don't know what you would see, I've never been there myself. It's a matter of mind and spirit."
Zarrah frowned over the idea, taking in what he said very carefully before sighing and looking away.
"If what you say is true, it seems we have no choice. I'll have to trust you. We'll have to resort to those measures.."
Her eyes went back down to the mark, fingers itching over it before she sighed.
"It's funny how your father can be dead, but yet he still manages to plague me from his grave."
Radimir gave a small nervous laugh. "Believe me you're not the only one. I can't sleep at night because his vision haunts me. But I can't let him control me anymore. I'm a man of my own will and right to live and we'll get through this together. I won't let him take you." His voice was soft yet solmen as his eyes burned with nothing more than love for the woman beside him. "Let's leave this place, get as far away from here as possible and head to the small grove in the valley ahead. I've been there once before. I know the way."
Radimir carefully leaned down over her and helped her too her feet, moving her gently and helped her down the stairs. Though he'd paid the clerk enough gold for three nights, he did not ask for his money back and only left the quiet room of the inn as the revelers had taken rest finally in the wee hours of the morning.
As the pair headed outside of the Inn, Zarrah had remained quiet. But as they walked into the streets, she paused, grabbing onto Radimir's wrist and simply held it a moment in silence, her eyes going to the ground.
"Radimir I..." but she sighed, the right words failing her. "If this mission fails... if something happens to me when we try to rid me of this mark, I do not wish you to panic. There are things you don't know about me, things better left unsaid, for even I do not understand them. But please realize you can trust me on this road, where ever it may take us, where ever it may lead. Even if it leads us to a road of my death. Know I will fight and find a way to get back to you. There's a chance to beat this, a high chance, and I'm only afraid that if I go to another plane of exsistence, within my own mind I.." her face faltered, eyes moving, thinking over the next words carefully. "I'm just afraid I'm not as strong as you may think. Doubt does a lot to a woman, or even a man, and although I can pride myself in confidence, inside, I am still a mess."
Could she really conquer something on another plane of existence? A battle of will and wit? Though she had a lot to fight for, perhaps she could simply focus on that. Her violet eyes sought Radimir's, wind carrying their hair away from their faces as she frowned. Worry was evident in her eyes. This was a battle she would not be use to. Something she'd never consider she'd ever have to do.
Could she be brave enough? Could she be strong, all the while her heart was still battling itself, vengeance was still a burning in her heart, and she only had the comforting grace of the man infront of her- a man she had only recently come to love. Could that really be enough?
Radimir's eyes gleamed in the darkness, glittering like a snake's studying it's prey, taking note of every movement, every word, every ebb and flow of blood that coursed through her veins. He wanted to hold her face clearly in his mind in that moment at her admission. It took a lot of guts to admit such a thing, especially to someone like him. He was silent for the longest time until he remembered his breath and reached out a hand to her cheek.
"You'll survive," he said simply, holding her face confidently. "You'll survive because it's what you've always done and I would never ask you to change no matter what we face. We'll face it together. I'll help you stay strong, even if you don't need me too. I trust you Zarrah, with my life. Whatever lies ahead, we'll make it through."
His arms swept around her in a solemn hug that was a more a promise than anything else. He took her then to the stables where he found her a mare Thorian had taken a particular liking to and left gold in her place, quietly fitting her with a saddle and bags and even a blanket in the cold early morning and let her out of the stall. She looked over to Zarrah and gave a pleasant chuff. "What are you going to call her?"
Zarrah's mind was in a whirl. There was still much to consider, but Radimir's confidence in her did help raise her courage. She was never a fearful woman, but this sort of thing... Though it was unfamiliar, she supposed a fight was still a sight. She swallowed down her doubt and took note of the black mare that was presented to her and found herself smiling, petting the horse's long neck.
"Her coat is as black as my hair. As black as the night," she commented, cooing at the horse softly as she brushed her long hair away from her eyes.
"I don't know.." She thought over the question about a name. "I've never had a horse before, nor considered a name for one. What does one name a horse?" She looked over at Radimir, then to Thorian and smiled. "How did you come up with the name Thorian?"
"Well, his father was Al'Thari, my grandfather's horse," Radimir explained. He too admired his beast and the pride with which it carried itself. He was an amusing animal and nuzzled against the black mare with affection, friendship even. "Thorian means 'Born of the Sun', in my order's cryptic language. We choose our names following the flow of our father's names. My father's name was Adurim. I am Radimir. There is a certain flow to it, see?"
"You don't have to name her now," he went on. "Ride her, see how she feels underneath you and let her personality show you what name suits her best."
Zarrah smiled and continued to stroke her horse's long neck.
"Perhaps. It would be wise to get to know her before claiming her with a name." The horse nuzzled against Zarrah's hand lightly, and her smile warmed even more. "Though suppose she doesn't like me?" though it was evident the horse was already partial to her, and the idea had her completely fascinated as she continued to lightly coo and stroke her hands through the girl's dark mane.
"Horses make their feelings quite evident first hand. They're remarkably intuitive," Radimir explained. "There's no rush. Name her when the time is right. For now, let us leave this plains town now that we have a chance. And trust me, if she didn't like you, she would have bitten you and been done with it. Climb on! Get a feel for her!" Radimir ushered her onto the horse and placed the reins into her hands.
Zarrah wasn't entirely sure about this. It wasn't that she was afraid of a horse. Quite the opposite. She was just uncertain about having her own horse. To think, this beautiful creature was her own. So once in the saddle, she found herself brushing her hand through the horse's mane again before nodded to Radimir. "Perhaps we could have a light race to break her in?" she peered over her shoulder, spotting some dark clouds rolling in and the gentle rolling meadows nearby the town. An old, gnarled tree sat squat and off to the distance. She gestured towards it.
"See that tree?" she said, testing the reins of the horse as she guided him around where Radimir stood.
"I'll race you to it." and her smile was wicked as she gave a hard kick to her horse's side as she took off, her laughter fluttering in the dust she made Radimir eat in her wake.
"Why you little cheat!" Radimir growled at Zarrah as he bolted onto Thorian's saddle, the horse already bounding after the black mare with dangerous excitement. Radimir was clinging on and was nearly a third of the way there when he finally was sitting right in the saddle. He was laughing and giggling the entire way there, holding onto the reins amidst his sweaty palms. Thorian ran around the side of the mare, gradually gaining on her.
So she was cheating... Zarrah was not about to let Radimir win. And the mare seemed to agree, so when the pair began to gain on them and Zarrah pressed her heels harder into the mare's side, she obliged, chuffing and narrowing her eyes and rushing forward with more spirit and speed than before, and soon the pair were leaping over a fallen log in their path, the two of them becoming air born as Zarrah's laughter carried across the valley. The tree was well in sight, they just had to keep at it, keep pressing on.. and Radimir would be eating their dust.
Radimir lowered himself in the saddle and pressed his knees into Thorian's shoulders. He could feel Zarrah gaining on them - there was no need to look out to the side at her. He moved around the log rather than wasting precious seconds vaulting over it. Yet, he found it actually gave Zarrah the advantage and Radimir watched as the mare flicked her tail over to Thorian and the blood bay horse gave an indignant chuff. Radimir pulled back on the reins, just as they reached the tree.
"You win," Radimir said with a grin. "This time anyway."
Zarrah smiled as she turned her and the horse towards Radimir, dark hair spilling about in the wind.
"But of course. And I intend to win next time as well. Though you are a far seasoned rider than myself, I figured we could be on more level grounds with my head start." Her eyes danced playfully, as did the horse's she rode as the black mare tossed her head, chuffed once at Thorian and gave a swish of her tail. She even pawed at the grasses towards him, tossing her head lightly as if to rub it in the face that she and her rider had won this round.
"I suppose in the lovely game of life, sometimes one must resort to unscrupulous ways to achieve victory. Particularly when your ambition far exceeds your skill. But I will teach you ro become a better rider soon enough," Radimir smile at Zarrah, even noting the haught attitude of her horse. Thorian was far less impressed and knew that if his rider hadn't pulled on the reins so soon they would have won. But Radimir was content with her victory for she had been victorious in fewer things in her life - love no less of them. Radimir moved Thorian over to the tree and began walking away from them. " Come now vixen. Let's dance upon the wind." And with that he dug his heels into Thorian's side and bolted into the valley gloom.
Zarrah knew she hadn't really won, but the games they were playing kept her mind at ease, away from the ghostly snake symbol now tattooed to her ankle, or the ceremony the two had just undergone barely a week ago. They would have plenty of time to see to that silly mess, for now, she simply laughed, pressing her heels into the mare's side and raced off after him, leaning against her mane as she ran, hooves thundering hard beneath her. She was gaining on him, but part of her had to wonder if he was letting her, or if her mare was actually gaining speed. The thrill of the race was exhilerating, and her violet eyes danced as they reached out in attempts to catch Radimir's.
"Is Thorian getting rusty in his old age?" she teased, knowing full well the horse would probably understand her. "This mare is barely broken in with me as her master, yet here I am, running so close to you we can have this talk!" Her voice managed to carry over the thundering of their hooves, and she pressed the black horse closer to Radimir, her grin growing wider as they rushed across the land, side by side, horse by horse.
Radimir couldn't help his smile a she was trying to race him once again. He calmly rode Thorian as she was pressing to keep up with him. He laughed. Yes, there was nothing wrong with moments like this and it was precisely moments like this that kept him calm, free of worrying about the concerns that lingered most on his mind. There would be time for that. Radimir pulled on the reins just slightly gaining control over Thorian a little more as he'd turned his head to bite at Zarrah's thigh.
"She trusts you. It helps to have a horse that's as relaxed as you are. They are quite inuitive and can sense when you are tense, when you're in distress. And, it helps that you're just letting her run as she pleases. Try and force the horse and you'll get bit. Or trampled on."
Zarrah's horse wasn't about to let Thorian just get away with that. It gave a neigh, chuffed and snapped it's teeth towards the other horse in warning. She was about as fiesty as her rider, and Zarrah only smirked in reply.
"Then I guess horses and women are pretty much alike!" and she pressed her heel into her side and off the black mare went, pulling off into the lead, the mare seeming to laugh at having Thorian eat her dust.
"Yes, it's not hard to see at all," Radimir breathed as he watched her take off. He let her gain distance, let her run off. There was no need to rush, at least not right now, though the lingering thought of her ghost snake on her ankle sent chills to his stomach. They couldn't afford to ignore it much longer. Best to head off to the field and be done with it. So he turned in that direction, feeling the chill grow and fester like an angry red rotting wound.
The playful, unannounced race continued well across the valley. Zarrah and her horse were making circles around Radimir and Thorian by now, Zarrah's laughter still evident and clear as it rang all around them in a beautiful song. But after a time, she eventually halted the horse by an area nearest a stream, and dismounted, allowing for the black horse to drink and eat the sweet grasses there. Her hands lightly stroked through her dark mane as she whispered something to her, the horse making a noise, a nudge, then she went back to her grass. Zarrah simply smiled.
Radimir stopped Thorian beside her, glad that she had taken to the horse so easily, so quickly and dismounted from a tired blood bay when he too lowered his head to take a hearty drink from the cool stream. Radimir stood beside, Zarra and patted her shoulder confidently. "You ride beautifully. You're a natural. So have you decided on a name yet? She has spirit, a lot like you."
Zarrah smirked at Radimir.
"I was thinking Nieti, an old word meaning the midnight wind." She ran a hand down her mane, then let her go. THe mare would be fine eating grass and drinking the cool waters. "It's a name I was always fond of. If I were to ever have a daughter, I would have called her that." But having children was apparently something the Lady of the Desert would never have.
Radimir's grin turned sour a little at the mention of children, but his eyes didn't stop dancing. He didn't know the complete details of Zarrah's condition and she'd only mentioned briefly that something had happened to her, that it was because of Carnavus no doubt, but she was not like other women in her life and she wouldn't be. Perhaps there would be no children in her lifetime.
"That is a beautiful name," Radimir commented. "Suitable for daughter and a horse." Stepped beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist, just holding her close. "Perhaps in another life."
Zarrah tensed as he drew near to her, but raised her eyes to his and smiled none the less.
"There is no other life," she told him, a hand to his cheek.
At least not for her.
She smiled a bit sadly, kissed lightly his cheek before sighing.
"I gave up the dream of children long ago. It seems I am unable to. But I never really wanted them. When I was young and foolish, I had those dreams, and I thought the name was beautiful. I even imagined renaming myself that, Nieti. But the past few decades soured my views on family and raising a child." She studied his face. "Bringing up a child in this world would be horrible, and I am no woman fit to be a mother." She smirked a bit more playfully at him before turning her attention to the horses as she sighed. "What would the Lady of the Desert ever do with a child anyway?"
It was a somber conversation indeed and Radimir knew that while not every woman wanted to bear children, those that deserved it and couldn't, bore a burden indeed. It was not his place to say anything more on it, not his place to assume that perhaps they might be born with another chance in another life, another time, perhaps even another world in the infinite cycle of souls as was believed by his people. But nothing was forever, not even humanity. And when her time had come, it would come and that was that.
Radimir said nothing to her for a good long while before he moved over to Thorian and began brushing his coat, the soft gloss smoothing over nicely. "That's a question only you can answer, Zarrah. The circumstances in life don't always serve us in the ways that we like. Try as we might, we can't always escape our fate. I'm sure if you really wanted to be a mother you could find a child to love, properly. It doesn't have to be of your womb to deserve that much. And most often women have children to mold into tools for their own use; to live the lives they couldn't. I'm sure you would love a child no less than you should, despite your experiences."
Zarrah remained silent and listened to Radimir's words. She smiled at them, just listening before finally commenting.
"A child, no matter the means, would not be wise for a woman like me," she turned to Radimir and studied him. "But even still, I've come to easily accept my place, and I'm happy enough with where life has lead me." She eyed Radimir over with a grin before moving towards her horse and studying Nieti.
"Nieti, how do you like that for a name?" she asked, stroking a hand down her long cheek.
The horse's ears swiveled forward on it's head, then one tucked back on the side. Zarrah smirked.
"Nieti is what I'd like to call you, if you'd accept."
At first it seemed the horse wasn't listening, nor comprehending entirely what Zarrah had said, but then it moved it's face forward, and lightly nibbled at Zarrah's fingers before giving a single nod of it's head, then prod to the dirt with it's hoof.
"Nieti it is."
Despite her words, Radimir saw the affection Zarrah displayed with the horse, with that of such gentle creatures and couldn't help but smile. "I don't care what you say," he muttered. "I think you would make a great mother. You're kind and gentle and know just what to say and when to say it, that says it all."
He continued to brush Thorian as the hose began to play in the water, romping and splashing and kicking his legs in the air and dunking his head into the stream until he was soaked head to toe, chuffing and neighing. "The field is not too far up from here, just up on the stream. Help me collect the herbs."
Zarrah quirked a brow at Radimir was he tried to tell her she would be a great mother.
"Don't get any bright ideas," she chided with a shake of her head and smirk. She patted Nieti's side and scratched a few times to her ear before moving away to Radimir's side.
"What do you need herbs for?"
Though perhaps it was just best to get supplies now while they could, and while they would still be free.
Radimir laughed. "It's like it didn't even happen I see," he went on as he started walking down the stream. "I told you. For the ritual of course. We'll need it if the trance is to be induced properly. It's a rare plant I've heard locals call it devilsweed, a hallucinogenic no doubt. A relaxant, and will make it easier for you to fall into the spirit realm." He found the tough white plant with thorny sprouts at the tips of it. Radimir carefully grabbed the bottom of it and snipped it just above the root with a dagger, collecting a few to wrap in a tight bundle.
Zarrah halted dead in her tracks. She had all but forgotten about the ritual, and the damn mark on her leg. Staring down at the ghostly snake mark on her ankle, she frowned, then looked back to Radimir.
"Do you need my help?" she inquired, moving towards his side. She had no idea what they were looking for, after all.
"I would need you only to relax and don't fight the magic when I prepare the ritual, let it take over you. If you fight it, it migh only bring you more pain and make the snake course through you much faster than the other one. I think i have enough now. We should prepare a camp soon...maybe not in this area," Radimir said. He motioned for her to take her horse along with him as he led Thorian away from the stream to a small clearing of grass up ahead of them.
Zarrah raised a brow at his instructions.
"Me, relax?" She smirked at the idea and gave a shake of her head. "It might be hard to do,"s he admitted, following at his side. "I won't lie to you, I am nervous about what is to come." But she turned to him with a smile. "But you already know this. Perhaps these herbs will help be to remain focused?"
"They'll drug you is what they'll do, but at least we won't have to worry about strange cultic tribesmen around here like we did back south. We can't afford to take anymore breaks. The more time we waste the more a threat that snake is to you." Radimir set up a blanket on the ground and instructed her to lie down on it. "Face up, just look at the sky, count what's left of the stars, and count to one hundred. I'm going to light the grass beside you and close your eyes when you're finished. Just relax and listen to my voice."
Zarrah smirked at him, shaking her head.
"This is true.T his time around it's just you and me."
And well, the snake symbol on her ankle, and soon.. it would just be her, and whatever waited for her in the spirit realm. Drawing in a breath, she obeyed, laying down upon the blanket as she stared up at the clouds.
"So count the stars?" SHe smiled, shaking her head again but let her eyes go around, gathering whatever ones she could see as she counted inside her head. When there were none left for her to pick out, she closed her eyes, her world going black as she drew in a long, steady breath and waited for his next command.
Radimir's voice was soft and lulling as he lit the bundle of devilsweed around Zarrah, small bunches here and there. He instructed her to think of her life in short brief moments, just observe then, don't react to them, as if she was watching herself, recall every moment up until this time. Radimir pulled up her shirt and exposed her belly and rook a small roll of red mud in his hands and began to draw three serpents around her bellybutton, swiggling his thumb as he did so.
"Just breath and listen to my voice. Youre body feels heavy, sinking into the ground, and your mind is slowly fading up and out, visualize yourself a if you were looking down from the sky. Don't think just see. Let yourself fade away, let yourself vanish from this world and slip into the next."
Radimir's voice wasn't the only thing lulling, so was the peculiar sweet scent of the burning devilsweed. As she was instructed to think to her past, there was much to take in, and she let them flare out like vibrant stars, but tried not to dwell on one for too long. Once, when she was a girl, she was baking bread with her mother, a happy memory of a time when she was just old enough to recall memories. Laughter was evident, but soon the laughter was swallowed up by sobs, as her mother was clutching onto her father. She was in hysterics, and all the young Zarrah could do was stare over her shoulder at her parents as silvers were slipped into her father's hand, and she was taken away to Carnavus. She had been cleaned and scrubbed, then wearing layers of white lace as she walked down the long aisle and accepted becoming the man's wife. She recalled seeing Carnavus as more of a father figure, and that's how it first began. He instructed her on many things, as did the women, and she was repulsed at first at what she'd learn.
She was too young to understand sex, so their first night was awful and it hurt and burned. And Carnavus smelled as sweaty as a rotting pig. And he took her so many times, she was numb to it. she recalled the times training with the women as well, and when she grew old enough and of age, how she'd experiment from time to time, and as her body blossomed, Carnavus's obsession with her grew. She was soon his favorite, and he called her just about every night to sate him. She enjoyed knowing she did a job well done, for it was the only thing she could do as his bride, as his slave.
But soon she grew anxious and desired much more, and when Carnavus began allowing her some personal freedoms, she had met Rassar that fateful day in the market ad her entire world changed. it ws funny how an easy smile, a few simple words of 'I'll protect you. I'll help you out." could change her life. she had all but accepted her life as a slave to her husband, but this new desire burned within her like a wild fire, and the plans were made and set. Too bad Carnavus had eyes and ears all over Essyrn, and the morning she had snuck out, the Eunuch (whom she thought was her friedn at he door), told on her and the men pursued...
Rassar's death flashed before her mind, a terrible thing to witness...
his blood had stained the streets. Then she, dragged away, hair cut off, tossed this way, pulled that-a nd left to die and rot in the desert in the end...
It was here she recalled the beginnings of a new life.. her lips, already weak and almost set to death barely whispering to agree with the spirit who tantalized her with promises of revenge...
'I can give you three choices..' the voice whispered, distinctly non-gendered in it's tongue.
And all she recalled saying was 'Yes.'
And thus she was reborn, climbing her way back to Essyrn and to the deserts to make a name for herself, and it was during a night gone wrong she realized the truth behind her agreement..
and she died, but was reborn, and it was also around the time her name as 'the lady of the desert' had become real.
There were more glimpses, more memories..
Her first kill..
the meeting of Castor Bain, the serpent mark, the falling of the temple, the killing of Carnavus, the first round of making love to Radimir...
and her first confessions of love to him, even up to this moment in time, the ritual with Kalla and the tribesman was but a flash, and she was returning to this moment in hand, no longer feeling he rbody, it had grown too heavy, as if lead. So she didn't feel the snakes being drawn across her belly. Though Radimir's words cut through the void in a soft commanding whisper...
so she obeyed, and her body began to feel even heavier... and her body began to fade away... until it got to a point she was looking down at Radimir leaning over her from her perch within the air.
For a moment, she simply observed it in light fascination. But then recalled her task and let herself grow light, she let herself slip up and float away, until she was as far away as the clouds, and her entire world went white.
Radimir could feel his stomach squirm with the kind of turmoil she had endured throughout her whole life. She deserved so much, to be happy, to be loved, to be able to live what remained of her life in peace, but fate had other plans and always gave the worse servings of the slice of life. Had his life been any better? Was there any sense in comparing himself to her? Their lives intersected only at this moment, but Radimir was not one to believe that things happened at random and that life wasl ittle more than an assortment of various events. One lived through tribulation to learn, to hope, to eventually achieve the triumph they worked so hard toward. Radimir wanted that for Zarrah, for her to finally achieve what triumph she at last strove toward.
For Radimir, he couldn't be sure what he wanted, he couldn't be sure he would live long enough to find out. He'd always been prepared to die; he'd trained himself since the day of his induction into the Order when he came of age. He would die with honor in battle, in the heat of blood and steel. But he knew that if he died, his father's legacy would die with him... Adurim... His heart twisted at the word, oh how he loved and hated the man he knew has his father. Hated him for his tyranny, for his arrogance, that his word was law and there would be nothing that could change him. And yet he was still his father, he'd raised him to hold himself high, to walk tall and to to carry on the Order after his death.
The Order of the Viper would die with him, and his father would never forgive him for it. More importantly, he would never forgive himself. It wasn't because he was told to, but because it was apart of him, it was his life. Could he really just abandon everything he'd ever known? It wasn't that easy or simple to answer and Radimir knew even for Zarrah, leaving the desert had it's own consequences as well. There were many questions to be had, questions only his father could answer if only his specter would cease his belligerence. And that it seemed was not something that would happen anytime soon.
Radimir could think on that later, when he had more time to make up his mind. The weight of his legacy still pressed heavily on his shoulders but for now he'd have to make himself feel as light as air for Zarrah's sake. She would need him now, to watch over her, to bring her back from the otherside. He didn't know what she'd see, what she'd witness, but once he felt that her consciousness was free of her body, Radimir gently turned her palms outward and leaned over her, watching her face.
"You're falling now," he said, unsure if she could even still hear him but trying anyway. "But gently. Falling back to the earth, but the ground is different, things feel darker, the world is moving in shades as if you are underwater. The world takes the shape of what you are most familiar with. Beware, the spirits of the dead may yet claim you. Don't fear them, don't hurt them. The one that seeks you most will find you. Prepare yourself."
She fell, her body diving like that of a skilled hawk, and into a world like a dark ocean she landed. It looked foreign to her, yet she recognized it all the same, and tried to keep her eyes and ears open to Radmir's words. They moved around her like a void, as if the world around her spoke. So she listened, keeping her eyes ever wary of what was to come, but for now, the world seemed tranquil and at peace.
But not for long. The world she would find herself in was a world within the natural world and there lurked beings and creations that yearned to break free of the barrier between the light and the darkness. And here they would feast upon those that clung to life and yet somehow found their way into this dark world. Around her, there was no sun, but a trembling wave-like light that fluttered over the silhouettes of trees and thickened vegetation, filling the Plains.
Eyes lurked from the shadows and there were wild sounds all around, howling, screeching, like a jungle come alive. These eyes spotted Zarrah from so far away. Only one pair, broken and bleeding stepped a little twoard where she lay, one she would find with a familiar chill. "Zarrah...I've been waiting for you.
OOC: nice description of the light. A neat concept X3
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The moment the word's caught to her ears, she felt the world grow dimmer and cold. She turned around, though a moment ago she had been laying and now she was somehow on her feet. And could smell the souredness of rotting flesh and blood. Even in this delusion, his body nothing but a grotequest and gnarled shadow with bleeding, beady eyes, she could tell who it was.
"Carnavus.."she hissed, balling her hands into fists. "I should have known you would be here."
And at her revelation, the world curdled, the skies pulsating with dark, ink like matter that threatened to snuff out the band of light that moved across the skies like a sea.
Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you here?"
"The greater question is, why are you?" Carnavus said, dragging his rotting body from the darkness. He'd lost a considerable amount of weight since the crows had come to feast on his flesh and he was nothing more than sagging flesh and bloody bones, even an eye had been scratched out and his hair was tattered and plucked from his scalp. He looked every manner of a creeping corpse, perhaps even a cannibalistic one.
"But I think it was only a matter of time before you would respond to Adurim's little charade. Even in death, the man must honor his contracts. I admire such diligence but in your case, it's more than a little upsetting that it's taking so many tries. You may have killed me, but there are things you must know that have allowed me to survive what pathetic fate you had in mind for me, in a convoluted manner of speaking. But you're here at last and now you're mine!" And with that Carnavus lunged forth, his gnarled boney hands reaching for her throat.
Zarrah glared daggers at the man. He finally appeared as hideous as his heart.
"Talk is cheap. What does Adurim's little mark have to do with you? You're dead, though I suppose you've been waiting for me."S he smirked and eyed him up. "A pity, but it will be most rewarding to kill you twice."
Though when the man lunged at her, she moved, quick as the winds as she melted in the shadows, the world slowing as she moved all around Carnavus, but not against him, before everything returned to normal and she was standing behind him. Her heart was drumming in her ears. What.. what just had happened? Had she evaded him somehow? For she had once been befre him, now she stood behind. NO matter, now that his back side was exposed, she felt herself connect to the world, though when her rage came out, the gnarled shadows began to broil and make the world tremble all about.
Radmir. she tried reaching out to him. What do I do? How do I react within this world?'
At this point, there wasn't much Radimir could do for Zarrah other than to make sure the snake didn't move and that she woke up when she had dealt with the demons that hounded her. He didn't know what was going on in her mind, what images played with her in the world that surrounded her. He laid a hand on her head and cast his eyes out to the white snake on her ankle and saw it began to move upward, shifting up toward her calf and snatch hold of her flesh, sticking her hard with its fangs, pain she would no doubt feel in the spirit world.
As she dodged around Carnavus, the corpse crouched low to the ground and his form wavered and blurred, blending with the mists rising from the ground, sulfuric and humid. He smiled as he felt her creeping up on him and turned around to suddenly vanish into the shadows and moved in a blur, his shape diverting and multiplying as he moved. Suddenly there were ten of him and they all surrounded Zarrah, all smiling, all laughing, all closing in.
Zarrah felt desperate and hopelessa and angry as Carnavus's laughter echoed all around her. Her eyes sought about, for something...anything when suddenly the mark on her leg moved. SHe let out a noise, spillng forward before a surge of blood bubbled up from her ankle like ink. She turned around, watched as it floated upwards from her wound into the air, as if the very air itself were moving, like the ocean; and it was then she was reminded of her plight.
SHe had to focus.. focus. These were the demons she was to face, and what better way than to tap into her unrealized energies from within. So while Carnavus was laughing in a splintered array of images, she sought a power within herself, then reached out, connecting to her pain, to her blood, and they all turned into sharp, pointed needles and flung towards the images of the man who was surrounded her, closing in on all directions.
OOC: Just to make it clear, she changed the blood into dagger- needle things and flung those at the Carnavus's all around her.
IT'S A CARNIVAL OF CARNAVUSES
Amidst the laughter and evil glares, there was a sudden cry in the air when the blood needles stabbed into all the forms and flutttering images of Carnavus and they all were thrown back and bled black blood. All the images carefully vanished and Carnavus retreated back into the darkness of the woods, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Zarrah stood there while a ghosted cry howled through the darkness. Her eyes darted about, observing the area, then the trail of blood. To her, that was a clear enough sign as any to pursue her enemy, and if she could destroy Carnavus in the world of the waking, she could certainly kill hm off in the realm of the spirits. Narrowing her gaze, she rushed forward, the world lightly bending by her will. But where had he gone? The trail of blood eventually vanished,a nd Zarrah herself found her way into a puddle of darkness. To one side there was still the trembling of a navy-bluish light, that pulsated and rolled around like the deep depths of the ocean. But to her other side, it was nothing but darkness, and she hesitated before taking a few steps.
If the trail of blood stopped here.. Carnavus had to be somewhere inside. Drawing in a breath, she found herself racing forward, running deeper and deeper into the dark until she felt nearly swallowed by it and the faint light of the spirit world had all but left her line of sight.
But where was he? Where was Carnavus? Her eyes were ever watching, cleaving through the darkness, seeking out her prey. Where was that bastard who had ruined her whole life?
Carnavus melted into shadow, his blood having seeped into the ground and the soil absorbed it as if hungrily and he soon was nowhere to be found. As Zarrah kept searching for the prey she so desperately desired, another shape emerged from the darkness, large, powerful, more menacing than the slimy coward that was Carnavus and he pulled out two jagged bladed daggers and leapt out at Zarrah, aiming to sink them into her back.
Even in death, Adurim was swift and would finally get his revenge.
Zarrah was so keen on hunting after Carnavus, she had almost not spotted Adurim forming in the shadows behind her. It was so dark here, it was nearly impossible to catch him, but out of ther corner of her eye she noted the glint off his dagger as he lunged forward and she gasped, whirling around just in time to have the dagger sink into her leg, rather than her back side as she let out a scream of pain. Sockign a fist hard to his face, she then quickly punched his dagger arm away and rolled agaisnt the darkened ground in order to escape before clutching onto her bleeding leg with gritted teeth.
She took a hold of the dagger, yanking it out of her flesh in one grunt before lifting it up and pointing it towards him.
"You snake! I should have known you'd come for me from the shadows," Zarrah hissed, violet eyes dangerous as they planted firmly upon the man.
"I should have finished you off when I found you that night! You've stolen my son from me! You've destroyed my temple! And I've come to put it all right in the end. You should know you can't escape punishment even in death. I know of your curse. But you should know that if you die here...your soul shall be trapped here forever, there will be no awakening for you," Adurim growled at her before flying at her once more.
There was an unusual unearthly glow in his eyes, reddened as they were, and something embedded into his chest, his clothes torn and chains surrounding his form. But he moved just as swiftly as when he was alive.
Zarrah bared her teeth at the man, her grip tight on the blade.
"You've destroyed those things yourself!" she growled, swinging the blade at him, aiming for his chest.
"Manipulator of manipulators! But I won't be caught in your weaving web, you widow of death," Adurim said under the rotted maggot covered mask. He tore the cloth away, reveal nothing but holes in his cheeks and serpents crawling through his face. He smiled with fangs, scales growing on his lower jaw much in the way Radimir had described it, becoming one with the serpent himself.
He smiled and laughed as the blade tore at his chest, opening it up and more vipers spilling out of his chest and grabbing some of them and throwing them at her. He spun around and clashed daggers with her, steel sparking in purple light.
Gasping, Zarrah drew back and tore her blade through some of the falling snakes. But she had to get out of here. As blade's struck to blade, she grunted, glaring daggers at him.
"Talk is cheap," she hissed, and kicked him solidly against the chest before pulling away and staring up at him as he began to transform, appearing ever more like a snake.
Her eyes narrowed, unimpressed. this world was a spirit realm, and as she turned to close her eyes, she felt something call out to her-
and a black horse came thundering through the darkness. Smirking, she grabbed onto Nieti and tore away, both of them making haste across the dark. At least this would buy her some time as she tried to figur eout how to defeat Adurim.
But the world would not so easily bend to her whim. And as she ran on the black horse, which puffed and fluxed like smoke as it moved, leaving traces of movement that transformed into hands that clawed the ground, the ground groaned and bent like the rusted hull of a ship capsizing after going belly-up. The ground began to break under her feet and the Lord Viper didn't have to give pursuit, appearing before her more menacing than before.
Zarrah gasped as the world beneath her broke away, and she was free falling as the Lord Viper appeared before her. Her eyes widened, but she tried to clutch on, tried to remind herself this was another realm, and soon she was floating up and away.
"You should have been dubbed Lord of Rats," Zarrah spat, taking the blade she had stolen earlier and threw it at his eye.
He should have been prepared for the ground breaking underneath him but as it were soon Adurim was falling and he twisted around and turned so that he was walking on air. And he looked up in time to see the dagger coming at him. But it was too late and the blade pierced his eye, sending him realling back. He cried out and plucked the dagger from his head, the eye coming out, violet blood seeping from it's place. He grit his teeth, staring at his eye with his good one. He frowned, suddenly at a loss as he stood in mid-air.
He soon realized it was not a real eye but a small ruby that had been put in its place. He hadn't remembered how he'd lost it, but as he stared at it for a moment, he realized that the jewel bled red blood, much like a real eye. And soon it took to flame. A violet flame that burned out blood until it stood charred on the dagger, a carcass.
"What...what is this? ...I-I don't understand. You! You're Zarrah...are you not? What...what is this place? Where are we?" he said, his voice genuinely confused.
Zarrah sneered at the man.
"As if you don't realize your own hell," she stated, noting his moment of weakness and it was time to strike now.. or never. Drawing back her fist, she tore after him before leaping his way, throwing a punch clean at his gut, then another towards his face.
As she attacked him, Adurim made no move for resistance and he slumped to an invisible ground and clutched his gut. "Stop...please," he begged, feeling pathetic and confused. "This is not my hell. This is....your hell. Something was wrong, horribly wrong. I don't belong here. I don't understand how I came to be here... The only thing I remember is Carnavus..."
Zarrah watched while her face twisted in confusion as the man easily fell beneath her attacks.
"And you expect me to simply buy that excuse?" she growled, but at the idea of Carnavus... knowing he was a cunning man, made no difference here. Adurim had dug his own grave, after all. Might as well fill it. So summoning a blade of twisting darkness, she pointed it at him.
"You should be remembering your son, and your own cult that fell by your own foolishness." She stepped closer, pointing the tip of the blade towards his face. "Get off the ground," she snarled.
Adurim stared at the pit beneath him, saying nothing and thinking of exactly what she was thinking of. His son. Radimir, he remembered him running from him in fear...what had he'd done? His cult was destroyed? By what, who? All he could remember was something piercing his chest and wrapping around his heart. But what? But when his heart was gone, it was replaced by something else... a lodestone.
Adurim paid Zarrah no heed when he looked down at himself and inspected his chest, pulling apart his torn tunic and finding a hole where his heart should have been. And inside of it was a broken stone that he plucked from the hole and watched it crumble in his hands. It fell through the ground like dust and into the pit beneath them. "Where is my son?" he said softly. "Is he all right?"
Zarrah wasn't sure what sort of trickery this was, but her eyes narrowed as she stood impatiently before the man.
"He's safe and far enough away from you," she growled. She tightened her grip upon her blade. "You and I aren't even in the waking world. And you.." here she snorted. "If you haven't already figured it out, you're dead. But I'm not here to make idle chit-chat. You've cursed me for the last time, Adurim, somehow marking me with your poison even through the grave." She didn't need to gesture towards her leg for the ghostly symbol of the snake to be prominent. "And I'm here to stop you, to finally put you to rest. And I'm doing it with the help of your son."
"I-I can see that now," Adurim muttered. "My body isn't usually in this bad a shape. But....you words are curious to me. I've 'cursed' you? I've no recollection of such a thing but upon seeing your leg, yes I do remember doing something of the kind. But I see now that a lot of what I've done was not by my choice. I should have rested somewhere else when I died, but instead I am here in your nightmare. And why? To...to kill you it seems, but I won't do that... That was a time long past. I...I retract the curse." Adurim extended his arm and a white snake coiled up and out from the black pit and back into the deathly paleness of his flesh rising up and into his chest. "You may do it now....kill me if you must. But tell my son - thank you. He always was a clever one."
Zarrah's eyes narrowed, her body tensing as she was reluctant to believe Adurim at first, but the moment the curse was lifted, she gasped. Her eyes widened as she stared at the snake that had once been on her skin and had lifted and sunk into his. She wasn't sure if this was some sort of figment of her imagination, some sort of test, or if it was just this easy. Her eyes then narrowed as she lowered her weapon, the world around them still moving like liquid shadows.
"So retracting this curse is as easy as that?" she stared at him skeptically, but part of her could not help but feel sorry for him. He seemed so lost and confused. "And how am I to believe you now, after all you have done to both me and your son?"
"Nothing is easy or simple," Adurim said, trembling for reasons unknown. "The curse calls for blood. And if it cannot have yours then it will have mine... The serpent lady will get her sacrifice." He made a face, pained as he felt the soul serpent pierce into where his heart should have been. Tears fell from his eye and seeped into the scratches and holes in his cheeks, worm-eaten and rotted.
He bit his lip as he felt the poison seep into him. "Zarrah....I'm not asking you to trust me." He cried out again, feeling the venom seep into his gut. "I only ask of you one thing. Take care of my son...The evil that took me could just as easily take him. For it was not I in my own mind that attacked you in the night. I see now that something else had taken me over. I should have passed on, but he snatched my soul from it's passing and took hold of me and made me hurt my son. I love my son...he's my blood, my child... Please protect him, guide him back to the path. Rebuild our way again. For we were not always the disciples the Serpent God...but his slaves to feed his everlasting hunger...We'd forgotten what we once were...but we cannot escape the pact we've made..."
Zarrah's eyes went wide when she realized Adurim had taken on the sacrifice, the poison himself. ANd as he explained, she began to realize what may have happened. Though it was hard to swallow, for Radimir's sake, she tried to believe him as she moved forward and placed a hand upon his shoulder.
"Who snatched your soul?" she wondered. What other presence was this? "Who forced you to do this?" But as soon as she asked, she felt as if she already knew the answers.
"I can only think of one name," Adurim cried out once more, more tears falling from his last good eye and he could see the poison seeping through his veins in black vile liquid. "It was the last name on my mind before....Carnavus." At once, he felt the poison constrict his lungs and he arched his back in pain, gritting his teeth when he fell to the side. "It's too late now. Protect my son." And the light faded from his eyes then and his still form began to steadily drift away like particles of sand.
It was odd to witness his death and actually feel pity for the man. Had Carnavus really been controlling him this whole time? ANd if that was the case, what sort of magics was he dabbling in? When she was underneath his power before, it was more out of his power with money rather than any sort of curse or magic. But she wouldn't hold it past a man like Carnavus to find a way. Setting her jaw, she frowned and stared down at Adurim's corpse before slowly rising.
"Rest in peace," she told him, then turned to glance at the world around her. She felt cold. Somethign that was peculiar since this realm wasn't a reality, but the subconscious. She wondered how Radimir was fairing, but realized her journey here had only begun. She still needed to figure out where Carnavus was hiding. And if she knew that snake, he would show himself at the most inopportune time.
So, she started her journey again, one step at a time, the world around her wavering, glowing, pulsating; like some sort of dream that was yet to be.
The world did bend to her whim in a sense. It was primal, raw, open and vulnerable to the violent forces of her emotions within and reactive to whatever stimuli that came without. Adurim was right in his assessment that this was her hell not his, for it was tailored from her own mind, and the demons that lurked within it. And those were never too far behind.
As she moved around, her eyes continued to study the world around her, but at first she felt nothing. It was as if a sense of peace had settled around her, and she paused a moment to consider what happened. Radimir's father had finally 'died' and through his death, she was saved. Did that mean her journey here was over? But somehow she felt as if she had to do something...
Carnavus..
she had seen him in this world. She lifted her gaze, feeling the weight of a stare behind her, but when she turned around she gasped when a long strip of darkness came in, shooting through the midsection of her belly like a knife. She dropped to her knees, grasping at the form- and it was onl then she recognized the face, despite his distortion.
"C-Carnavus!?"
Her brows furrowed in ragea s the man smiled back in reply, and she took her finger nails and tore them across his face, pushing him away but it was to no avail, the darkened blade was already inside her, and she could feel the darkness already beginning to seep into her veins. And before she could cry out ot Carnavus, he disappeared in an echo of laughter.
Radimir saw the white emblem of the serpent had curiously vanished from her leg and let out a sigh of relief but there was also a great deal of confusion swirling around in his mind. He didn't understand how she managed it, but it was obvious then that she'd somehow come into contact with Adurim. And as much as it alarmed him, knowing that the curse was removed, the weight of the sky lifted from his shoulders.
But how had she done it? Killed his father in the spirit world?
It was a question, however, that could not be answered at this time and when he saw her form tense suddenly in reaction to what happened in the spirit realm, he immediately reached for a poultice he'd prepared while she was under, fashioned from the juices of the same devilsweed used to induce her into slumber and immediately began to take slivers of it and place portions of it on her face, dotting her brow and cutting it across her cheeks and another on her chin. The salve would seep into her skin, cooling her and heating her from inside at the same time, trying to summon her, pull her back if possible.
He only hoped he could do it in time.
In the realm of the sleeping, she was dragging her body across the void, on her hands and knees, clutching at her black bleeding wound, while in the realm of the waking, blood began to seep out from her nose, trailing down beside her lips like a thin river of red.
OOC: Short post is short. Sorry? *still sleepy! and blames that!*
"Zarrah..." Radimir said as he saw the blood dribble from her nose. He immediately inclined her head back just a little and stuck a piece of cloth in it, as he continued to administer the salve, chanting words to bring her attention. "Zarrah, when I count to five, you will open your eyes. You will have returned to your body, you will have come back to this world conscious and real. One-two-three-four-"
Zarrah sat up, screaming out in pain as if the sword from the realm of the sleeping were still jutting out of her body in the realm of the wake. She clung to her stomach, still screaming, crying bloody murder when suddenly she realized where she was, who she was beside and stopped. Her lips trembled as she looked at him, eyes wide and frantic with fear.
"R-Radimir?" she said, her hands trembling as she reached for his face, touching it lightly before hot tears bubbled within her eyes and began to stream down her face.
Few things terrified him so, but when Zarrah awoke screaming in sheer terror, Radimir couldn't help but lean back in alarm. She set his nerves on edge, but if was soon replaced with relief when she spoke to him, reaching for him. "Zarrah!" he breathed, leaning over her and caressing her face, "I was afraid you'd never come back."
As Zarrah leaned towards him, she winced, clutching at her side again as if the sword dream pain were real. She groped at her side, gasping and peered down, noticing, even through her tears there was no harm to her before she grabbed onto Radimir and held onto him tights.
"Gods.. Radimir..."s he pressed her face against his shoulder, her tears seeping into his skin and clothes. She shook her head slowly. "I thought..." She drew in a breath, pulling away from him as she peered into his eyes. "I thought I was about to be killed."
And it was only then that she wiped her nose and stared down with wide eyes at her fingers, as there was now red blood upon them, and a smear of it under her nose.
"Don't worry, I had you all along. I wouldn't have let you slip away...but it's always a very real danger, even with someone watching over you on the outside," Radimir breathed. His eyes softened at her trembling and reached up a cloth to wipe away the blood from her nose. "Don't worry about that either, that happens too I've heard. It's the devilsweed. Stay under too long and it starts to suffocate your brain so to speak, and cause massive nosebleeds. This will fade away."
It was the only logical explanation Radimir could come up with at the moment, of course nosebleeds could be from all sorts of reasons, but the devilsweed certainly did that after a time. "What did you see? What happened? Was my father there? Did you kill him?"
Zarrah took a moment to collect herself, but her heart was still beating a mile a minute. At his series of questions, she lifted her head, uncertain which to answer and which not.
"I did see him." she said, then looked down to her ankle. The mark was gone. "He... he willingly took the mark away."
"He-he did what?" Radimir whispered unsure if he heard her right. But her expression only further solidified his suspicion and made him frown as he sat down beside her, feeling his chest suddenly hurt and a tear streamed down his face. "He...took the curse away and...gave it to himself."
Zarrah kept her head lowered, feeling the guilt of the situation, especially when she looked up to face his tears."
"Yes," she said, confirming what he believed. "We were fighting, he was trying to harm me.. and the battle suddenly changed course and well... it seemed as if Carnavus might have been controlling him. Even after death."
It was hard to believe, but someone like Radimir couldn't deny such a claim by her as far-fetched, after all they'd been through. "Carnavus...but he's dead. I saw you kill him. How could he have been controlling my father?... Was there a...lodestone of some kind?"
Zarrah frowned. It all happened so fast, she couldn't recall.
"No, I don't think so. But it doesn't mean we can't rule it out."S he sighed. "It makes me uncomfortable to think Carnavus is capable of such things.." her frown grew deeper. "Especially through the grave." She lifted her head, inspecting Radimir before moving to brush some of his blonde hair from his face.
"How are you fairing? You must have some relief to know your father wasn't truly a criminal. He seemed so confused when whatever spell upon him was broken and at first, it was hard to believe or trust him. but then he lifted the curse and well... I witnessed his second death."
[He did have a lodestone. It was inside his chest where his heart should have been. Just in case you didn't remember]
Radimir bit his lips for a time, frowning and only coming back to attention when she brushed his hair out of his face. He cleared his throat, feeling it ball up and choke him from the thought of what his father had done. Sacrificing himself was something he would have never done while he was living, and yet, he knew it was what he'd done while under another's control. It was too much to be borne and he could barely speak because of it. "I'll be fine," he said at last when he found his bearings. He wiped away tears that ran down his cheeks and looked over to her.
"I'm just glad you're okay." He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek, overcome and gripping her face with some possession. "All our curses are related in kind to the Serpent that we kneel before. They are sacrifices of sorts...and for Adurim to take it back But the fact that he did it for you...for me. Never mind. Did he say anything, before he died?"
OOC: I went back and re-read it now XD was just buying sometime before I had to dig up the old post to ensure I didn't make a mistake. Besides, Zarrah would be still confused and muddled over everything that happened, but yeah XD TIME TO MAKE HER REMEMBER THINGS AND BE USEFUL NOW XP
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Zarrah pressed her lips together and thought it over.
"Your father did mention he felt he had been tricked. That Carnavus must have been responsible and he-" here she paused, drawing in a breath before turning his way and studying his face and his serpentile eyes. "He also mentioned that he cared for you. That he loved you , and he felt ashamed." She thought over the rest carefully before continuing. "It's funny, he asked me to take care of you." She smirked at that. "You serpent worshippers must be too easily trusting." Shaking her head, she turned back to him, glancing into his eyes. "But he did care for you. I'm sure of it. Even when I was angered, I could see his concern when his mind had returned. He seemed.. so lost, so sad. It was a pity really, to die and not be in one's own mind."
"Say.." Zarrah looked up at Radimir more curiously. "You mentioned a lodestone... what does a lodestone look like? Your father.. he... his body was decomposing and he pulled something out where his heart once was. It looked like it could have been a stone, but then it crumbled away into nothing more than dust."
OOC: and the if I remember, I'll have Zarrah say somethign about continuing on with the um, Serpent order thing XD something about not escaping a pact, blah-de-blah (sure that will bite them in the butt at some point X3 )
Radimir's tears came all the more at the mention of his father's last words and he felt humbled because of it. His eyes glittered with tears as he looked at her and then down, unable to hold her gaze for very long. "He said that?..." he laughed and wiped his sore eyes. He had to look up at her now though, at the mention of the lodestone again.
"Black crystalline. Almost volcanic in appearance. I've seen them used by the priests to fill bodies with spirits of the dead. At least I think that's what it was for. They are used to help control the spirit, to latch onto it. The heart is generally where it is place.... So then it makes sense,"Radimir went on. "My father's heart was removed from his chest when he died. I guess somehow Carnavus managed to place a stone there to control him. But...the stone just ensures the control of his soul, not his mind. There must have been something else that came out of him, something to control his mind. Was there anything else you found?"
[his fake eye remember!]
OOC: Wow, I re-read most of this stuff but I don't recall the fake eye XD Guess i'll have to go back and re-read it again T_T I'm sure it was there, I re-read it before I went out to visit my sister :T Then I got excited cause my dog got to go for a car ride *_* HE LOVES car rides X3
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Zarrah frowned.
"These lodestones... are they usable by someone, even after death? It seems.. peculiar that both Carnavus and Adurim are dead, but Carnavus was still able to have control over him, though I'm not sure what broke the spell." Then at his last question, her eyes began to read through the air, thinking it over.
"I'm not sure. I think so but... there was something else I need to tell you,... Radimir," Zarrah shook her head, her mind going over a million things a minute.
"It was... Something your father wanted me to tell you." She looked into his eyes. "He still wishes for you to carry on the order. Something about making a pact to your Gods. It sounded like something that could not be bargained with." She tried to think it over, as well as his question, but a lot had happened while she was in the dream world, so it was a lot to fish through so she simply sighed and tried to remember.
OOC: *bides times* >> also if this post makes no sense.. ugh. My brain just stopped working half way through it ^^;
Radimir thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure but I see no reason why it shouldn't be possible. The practices of the priests are guarded even with the Order. But I'm sure that provided somebody prepared ahead of time, it could be done." He mused on that thought some more. It was an alarming thought to entertain that one could still make another their slave even after death. He had underestimated Carnavus then. That his reach didn't end at the grave. That he could still hurt Zarrah even in death.
At her next words he froze for a moment. "A pact?" But it was evident so much had happened that the information was hard to collect. "My father wanted me to carry on..." He was silent then, trying to discern what he meant. "We havee to leave here, We've lingered too long in the Plains. I do't care about what he said anymore. He was a fool...and this way of life should die with him."
Zarrah frowned and took Radimir's hand firmly as she looked into his eyes.
"I know you are upset with him, but you should still heed the warnings from those of the dead."
"Zarrah, please. I know you're trying to talk sense into me. But there's just too much to be had in this moment. My father was a tyrant and died a tyrant's death. If there's any relevance whatsoever, it'll come to me in time. But now's not the time. We've done what we came to do. You're better now." His temper was flaring, thinking about his father, what he'd done, what he'd said, what he'd tried to do. What he wanted him to do all seemed irrelevant now. He was free...that was the way it should be.
Then why did it feel like the sky had fallen on his shoulders?
Zarrah frowned. She had been trying to recall what else had happened, but abandoned those thoughts as she stared at the fuming Radimir. She approached him, gently placing a hand upon his shoulder as she tried to look into his eyes.
"Yes, we've accomplished what we wanted to do. We should be grateful for that." And she forced a smile for him, hoping to ease the mood, even as more blood continued to lightly trickle out from her nose.
"I'm more than grateful for that," Radimir said, looking up at her with solemn eyes. He reached up and wiped her nose with the cloth again, turning it over to get the unbloodied parts. "Careful, don't move to fast. Do you feel lightheaded? How do you feel?"
Zarrah hadn't noticed her nose had begun to bleed, and took the clothe from Radimir and simply held it to her nose.
"No.. I just feel.." but then an intense pain flashed through her head. She winced, clutching onto her temple with her one free hand, but it eventually subsided, and the clothe she was holding was nearly soaked through with blood.
He grabbed onto her harshly when she was struck by something unseen. "Zarrah? Zarrah!" he cried out, shaking her, gripping her shoulders harshly. "What the hell was that?"
Zarrah's eyes seemed to roll a minute before she winced and looked at him.
"Gods, stop shaking me, Radimir." and she winced again,t his time, a pain much less intense came over her as she growled.
"My head just hurts." She rubbed at her temple. "Are you sure this is just the result of devil's weed?" she said, even coughing out a little blood.
"It's one of the symptoms,"Radimir said, coming down to earth yet again and relaxed his hands from her sides. He chewed on his lip in thought, not knowing what to say exactly. He felt like two hands were placed on either side of his head and slowly crushing his skull as he stood there staring at her.
He shook his head and moved down to clean up the supplies he'd left on the ground. "I don't know if it's just the devilsweed. It-it could be whatever touch is left from the spirit world, leaving it's mark on you. You don't go through those kinds of things unscathed. It's apart of you, and yet another world altogether from my understanding. Why? Did something happen?"
Zarrah studied his face.
"Well, no blows to my head, but Carnavus had sunk a blade into my abdomen, right before you had woken me up." She said, looking into his eyes, then she peered down at her belly, moving clothing aside. Her face twisted in-disgust, as another mark was there. but then she sighed, realizing it was just some sort of internal bruise. But it didn't look pretty, with a yellowish ring on the outside while the middle looked like an internal festering of blood... or she hoped it was just some ugly form of a bruise.
"Gods, that doesn't look good at all," Radmir said as he leaned down to inspect her belly. The coloration alone was disgusting, it didn't belong there at all. But at the mention of being stabbed before she had awoken, he didn't know if he had done her a kindness or only made things worse by doing so. "I don't think this is something to worry about in this moment, but if we can, we should see a priest about this when we head north. A healer of some kind. Spectral wounds can be just as devastating as real ones."
Zarrah frowned, but nodded her head with a sigh.
"I suppose you're right. For now I'll just have to deal with it. It feels sore, but if that's all I came out with from that battle.."s he smiled up at Radimir. "Well, then I suppose I can count myself as lucky." She pressed a hand softly over the wound before hiding it away beneath her clothes. "Though perhaps we should move away from here.."s he said looking around, hugging her arms around herself as she shivered. "I still feel... as if the other world's presence is around me." She stared up at the sky. The sun was waning. She frowned and looked back to him. "Perhaps we ought to travel a bit more before the sun sets?" And her horse, Nieti, seemed to agree as it gave a sputtering snort through it's nose. It had been chomping on some fresh grass with Radimir in a nearby field, and had become anxious when Zarrah's spirit had left this world to the next, and found relief when she had woken up to interact wtih Radimir. The horse was nuzzling against her side and Zarrah peered over to her with a smile.
"Well, dont you seem happy to see me," she cooed, petting the horse's long nose.
[I thought it had bee nighttime and the sun is just now rising? Unless it took that long, in which case, no worries.]
"Only been away a better part of the day and already your hose missed your presence. You two were made for each other," Radimir said as he smiled at the pair. Nieti could sense, much like Thorian that thin fabric that separated the two realms that each existed within the other. All it took was an elevated level of consciousness for one to realize it, to see the unseen.
But that moment of thought passed when Radimir moved over to Thorian and saddled the horse once again, putting the supplies back where he'd found it and even collecting some of the devilsweed just in case and mounted his horse.
OOC: You're probably right. I just assumed they did this during the day, but yeah XD
D: my memory has been horrible as of late
B|
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Zarrah smiled over at Radimir and copied his action, mounting Nieti only after she was finished petting her on the mane. Once on the horse, she drew in a long breath, took a look across the valley with a warm smile.
"It's funny.. this is the first place I've been outside of the desert and I feel as if I might miss it when we press on."
Radimir smiled at her assessment, riding alongside her, keeping pace though Thorian had the itch to run. "The Plains do that to people. It is peaceful when you don't have to run from insane cultists and the Raiders that roam the plains a little more to the north. I would spend more time here if we could, but the longer we stay, the harder it'd be to leave."
Zarrah smiled at his words.
"I'd have to agree. The plains are beautiful, definitely a nice change of pace from all of the heat and sands of the desert." And she turned towards Radimir, admiring the way he sat skillfully upon his horse. "Thank you." she said after a time, her eyes still studying him. "For helping me get rid of that mark. Without you well.." she laughed softly as she looked down to her leg. "I'm pretty sure I would have been damned."
Radimir kept his eyes ahead and then looked down at his saddlehorn. He nodded to her. "What did you expect me to do? I wouldn't let you be lost in some dark world, with nobody and nothing... I would follow you to the very ends of the earth. I love you, Zarrah. I want you to be mine and only mine."
Zarrah stared up at Radimir, the dusty colors of sunlight catching as mulitple colors of gold across her dark hair, and sparkling in warm oranges against her violet eyes. And slowly, a smile crept across her lips.
"Perhaps some day that will happen," she said, and before he'd have a chance to stop her, she pressed her heels into her horse and Nieti understood her perfectly. It was time for another race. And so the dark mare tore off across the field, neighing with her head held high, a horse's laughter in the wind.
Radimir watched as she kicked her heels into Nieti's side and the horse bolted off, giving him a grin. He lingered behind, reining in Thorian's desire to chase after the black mare. "But that some day will never come will it," he muttered to himself before he kicked his heels in and the blood bay bolted off after her.
The wind whipping through her hair and the horse thundering beneath her legs gave her the most exhilarating feeling. Like the rush of the wind that lifted a bird, she felt free, as if she were flying across the plans, and lifted her arms up, keeping them outwards, and was pretending, as she closed her eyes, that she could fly.
Radimir admired her form as she rode on and he smiled as she outstretched her arms. He laughed, almost childlike, but if only he didn't when at he felt Thorian maneuver around something that made him lose his balance in the saddle and suddenly, he fell off, hiding his head rather hard on a rock and everything went black.
Zarrah had been laughing as well, feeling proud, feeling free, that was until she heard something tumble to the ground. Turning around, she spotted Radimir as nothing more than a heap upon the ground. Gasping, she called out t him and turned her horse around. "Radimir!" and pressed her horse's side, rushign to where he had fallen before dismounting and quickly moving to his side.
She took him into her arms, shaking him lightly, her mind frantic, her voice full of concern. "Radimir!?"
Radimir had struck his head hard enough to break skin, and with that leave a trail of blood spilling forth from his head. He was still, motionless, and completely deaf to Zarrah when she called his name. Her moving him only made more blood pour forth from his head and soak her hand and arm, but he remained still and unresponsive, completely numb to the outside world.
As Zarrah held him, her hand holding his head, she felt something warm and wet on her hand. She lifted it, her eyes going wide. Blood. She released a quivering breath, staring down at him as she frantically brushed his hair aside and saw the wound. A hand clasped over her mouth, tears bubbling in her eyes before she steeled herself, drawing in a cautious breath and tried to remained calm. But one last time she tried to call him, tried to bring him back.. "Radimir.." she whispered, the words soft as a song, gentle as the wind. Her fingers traced lightly over his face, eyes scanning his lips, then rising up back to the mark.
This wasn't good. She had to clot the wound,a nd fast. Hastily, she took her skirts, the fabric ripping, but coming caught. Giving a frustrated grunt, she used her teeth to tear the rest of it off, and unwound it as it had bundled, the moved forward and pressed it to the wound, staring at his face and asking one more time, "Radimir?" before working swiftly to bind the clothe to his head.
Turning around, she gave a whistle to Thorian, and as the horse obeyed, she made quick work to heft up Radimir with a groan.
"Don't you worry, I'll get you help," though her voice came out sounding more distraught than she wanted, and when the stallion approached, she hobbled over to him, resting Radimir over the back of him befre looking to Nieti. She knew the horse would follow, and quickly slipping onto the saddle, she held Radimir close to her and gave a snap of the reins.
"Thorian, let's go! Follow the road fast and true. We have to get your master help." And witha neigh, the horse bolted down the unseen path, skirting over tall grasses as they thundered forward towards an unknown destination. She either needed to get him to a river, or to find a town, and she had to do it fast.
He was as limp as a ragdoll when at last Zarrah found the strength to move him up onto Thorian's saddle. As stricken as the stallion was, the horse knew better than to panic. He knew his rider would pull through, but apart of him couldn't help but feel as if this time was different. Radimir never took this long to come to, not from all the moment's he'd been hurt before. His heart was racing as he ran toward the river, the same river they'd followed when they were leaving the desert.
Thorian knew by the sounds that there was a settlement nearby and rode even harder, hoping they could get their in time. He let out a worried neigh, one that even Nieti responded to and rode hard enough to get ahead of Thorian, as if to lead him toward a faster path.
When they reached the town, she was frantic. She asked the first old woman she found for help, and once a medicine man's small house was pointed out, she rushed over towards it. Here, the river had turned into that of a swamp, with wooden docks lining most of the city, forming wooden streets all around that were framed by wooden houses raised up on posts above the land, and above the swampy marsh lands beneath them. Guiding the horses forward, she found the last house on the right, like the woman told her and gently knocked on the door.
A foreign voice replied a moment later," Come in." Peering over at the horse, she tethered both to a nearby post before lifting Radimir off the back of the horse and moving him inside.
The old man looked up at her with slanted eyes, incense burning all around him and a crooked pipe resting at the ends of his lips. He peered at her for a time and watched her rest Radimir down on a bed of pillows tha the had gestured for her to do.
"He's hurt." she gestured to his forehead, but the old man simply nodded, blowing curdles of smoke through his nose.
"Yes, I see that," he said with a rub to his chin. "It'll need stitched up, and some salve. Though incense of dragon lilly reeds might help him heal and to rest his mind." He peered up at Zarrah and gestured for her. "Gathe rme some down by the docks, then come back when you've got a fist full. I'll work on mending his scalp."
Not exactly one to simply trust, she hesitate a moment before rising, brushing her dark hair aside. "How do I know what it will look like?"
The old man looked up at her and smirked, more smoke puffin gout from his nose. "It will look long and stringy, and have orange flowers. It is easy to find."
And with that,s he made her way down the wooden road, making quick work to pull up the long bladed leaves from the dragon lily reed before hurrying back inside. "Here," she said, settig them nearby, and then taking a seat near to where the doctor was working up stitching Radimir's head.
"How is he fairing?"
The doctor said nothing at first, but the peered over at the reeds, then at a smoking pile of ash laying ontop of a bronze plate on the table. "Put the reed there." he said simply. "We shall know how he is soon."
Zarrah stared at him a moment,but obeyed, and the river weed just about snuffed the smoke out, but soon was carrying with it a sweet scent through the room. This only made the doctor smile as he pulled another stitch through Radimir's skin.
[I think we should cool it on the doctors xD Not every town has a medical professional, especially not in medieval times, and not out in the middle of nowhere]
Radimir resided in restless unconsciousness with no recollection of what was going on around him. He breathed restlessly, chest heaving so at least his body remained alive as sweat coated his form. Somehow, some way, his clothes had been removed and replaced with a meager loincloth as he laid down on the bed of pillows.
His dreams were powerful, laced with the toxin of smoke and hallucinogens that made him toss and turn until at last he could take the slaughter and torture no more as he awoke with a sudden jolt, opening his eyes to the gloom of the waterside hut. He breathed hard, certain he was still dead, and that he was about to find his father in his own private hell.
"Where - where am I?"
OOC: Ok fine. Yeesh, I'm making so many mistakes it's not even funny |8*
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It was just he and the medicine man, who sat there, cross legged on the floor, chewing at the end of his pipe as smoke swirled from his nose. But his eyes were closed, his head slummed forward as he was in a state of meditation. So he said nothing when Radimir came to. And he was the only one in the place, Zarrah was no where to be seen.
Slowly he sat up, feeling his strange surroundings in the darkness and saw the man just sitting there, smoking his pipe as if nothing were amiss. Radimir said nothing, but from the state of his attire, and the strong smell of incense in the room, he was most likely some esoteric healer or something in that vein. He got up, carefully crawling across the wooden floor until his knee hit a creak in the wood and the old man opened his eyes, turning only them but not his head.
"Off somewhere?" he asked.
"I-I...don't know how I got here. Where is my companion?"
"Out."
"Where?"
"She'll be back soon," he said laconically, and went back to smoking his pipe, closing his eyes once more.
THe day was almost gone, with colors bleeding over the waters of the marshlands, the reds of the sun set captured in the tall grasses and building sides as she walked along. She had gotten them some supplies as he slept, and found meager ways to make a bit of coin. But they'd have to find something more substantial soon. She was also famished, and had procured a few things of smoked snake and rabbit, and was munching on some of it as she headed back towards the healer's hut. It was a small town, perhaps only a few streets wide and quaint. And there wasn't much as far as shops were concerned, but a few vendors remained on south side of the town. She had just enough coin to spare for some fruit for the horses, and was outside feeding Thorian and Nieti apples when Thorian let out a chuff, eating it hungrily and nuzzling worriedly at Zarrah's side.
"Do not worry, he will be fine," she told the horse, leaning forward to gently kiss his fur before peering over at the door of the building with a distant stare.
Inside the man heard the approach of food steps on the wood walk way and the muffled soft sounds of a woman's voice tending to the horses.
"Ah, that must be her now."
Radimir sat back on the floor, watching the old man, the door and all of his surroundings along the waterside hut. There wasn't much to it aside from the smell. And when he looked down he could see marshy reeds from underneath the floorboards, and the spaces inbetween. Waterside, he remembered, this town was called Waterside. A small fishing village, where the river flooded most of the Plains.
When the door finally opened, Radimir shielded his eyes from the fading light and when they adjusted he looked over to Zarrah, his breath leaving him.
OOC: 78 pages |8*
Slowly moving towards 80 XD
Zarrah stared back at Radimir, breathing a sigh of relief to see him awake.
"Radimir, you're awake." And she moved over towards him, careful at touching him, and only tracing her fingers nearby his face. Her eyes tried to study his as she asked in a soft, low voice, "How are you feeling?"
Radimir smiled gently, his lips curling even at an almost contact and he moved awkwardly toward her, falling onto his side. "LIke I was dead," Radimir said with a laugh. "It cerrtainly felt like it. But who's this?"
"Well, you did fall off your horse," she reported with a subtle smile. Then, glancing him over, she opened her lips to speak and peered over at the healer.
"This is Morteem," she said, gesturing to the man with the pipe. "The local healer and herbalist of the town." She lifted her chin up to study Radimir. "I wasn't sure what to do with him, and was elated this small area actually had someone with some experience on wounds."
Morteem grinned at the pair. "And I was lucky to assist. It has been many moons since I've had much luck on work. And it will only cost two gold for the entire assist."
"Cost, of course," Radimir said with a grin despite himself. "Thank you, Morteem, I'll remember you in the future." Radimir felt his head, where the stitches were expertly placed and felt his skull was still sore there.
"Don't touch it," Morteem said between puffs.
"I'm sorry?"
"Don't touch your head. The demon has not left the wound. There is something else you must do before you leave."
Radimir felt something cold and uncomfortable drop into his stomach and he frowned. "What do you mean?"
Morteem got up from his spot of meditation and the old man, well-aged and brown, like a fine wine with long scraggly hair moved over to a small stool he had by the hearth, the smoke-port opened from the top of his hut. He took out a small sand-bag contraption, a wooden structure with a small bag attached to a string. He set out a wooden board just underneath it and gave a nudge to the hanging bag as it moved. He then pulled out a tiny, sharp blade and snipped the bottom of it and out came an array of colored sand that began to make a design on the wooden board underneath.
"The wound that heals without is not the same as the wound that heals within," Morteem murmured, watching the sand bag's design. "You must face the demon in your mind if you wish that wound to heal properly. And to do that, you must bring me an item from the Dagun's Drop, a small crystal stone deep in the heart of the cave..."
Zarrah remained silent as the man spoke. She too, had believed she sensed something unworldly ever since her time in the altered plane. But again, she said nothing, that was, until the man mentioned the need of a stone.
"Radimir can stay here," she stated, turning to the pair. "I can fetch the crystal myself."
There was no sense dragging him along anyways, even as she had a feeling that they might not really have a choice. "He needs to rest up, after all, from that injury."
"No," said Morteem, even before Radimir could open his mouth to protest. "He must venture to the cave. For it is his wound to heal, yours will show just yet. You go and retrieve the stone, Zarrah, you will not return alive, and Radimir will not heal. You will only hurt him by going alone...I sense something strange on you. Something dark lingers on you yet, does it not?"
Radimir looked over to Zarrah, unsure what to say. By this time the sandbag was nearly empty and he watched the strange abstract design it made in on the wooden board.
"You have been touched by the Spirit Realm Zarrah, and in more ways than one, haven't you?" said Morteem looking directly at her with keen eyes. "Three lives for your soul."
Radimir furrowed his brow and peered at her once more. "What the hell is he talking about?"
Zarrah's face turned hard as stone as she looked at him dead in the eyes.
She heard Radimir question it, but the only answer she gave was to Morteem.
"Two lives, but who's counting? Just explain to us what we have to have done to get Radimir healed. SO he has to do this alone, then it is of no consequence to me. I can wait here and help him supply. Just tell us the specifics." And she hoped the stupid man wouldn't press the other issue about her again. If so, she might have to cut his tongue out.
Morteem saw her urgency to speak of what he initially pointed out, but she had no idea the importance of his question. That she might aid Radimir more if she divulged her most precious secret. No one became so quickly guarded unless the secret truly was of such grave importance. "Radimir will not go alone, but neither will you. You may aid him on this quest, but you cannot touch the crystal. Those that have been touched by the Spirit Realm would suffer greatly if you did. But because of your experience, you may help him face the dangers of the cave. For there, the fabric between worlds is tattered and worn and one may not say just how much one has bled into the other."
Zarrah's face twisted at the question.
"Why would we go to such a dangerous place? And how is it that he's become suddenly connected to it?" Though part of her knew the answer, she didn't want to believe they'd have to find themselves as another victim of fate, against the world, or in this case, against the other world, where it was apparently bleeding through into our own.
"One must go into the heart of danger to find their true self," Morteen replied calmly, even sadly. "It is there we either find ourselves or find ourselves lacking. Our demons are both inward and outward. There is the beast we face without, physical. Then the impression it has left on our mind. For Radimir I sensed something filial...paternal. If you do not face your demons, Radimir, it will eat you alive. And you may face a fate worse than death. For you Zarrah...you may not like it, but we have more in common than you know. I've lived many lives...like you. I should have been dead more than a thousand years ago."
Zarrah cringed at the man's statement. A thousand years? By the Gods, she hoped she did not live that long. The extra chances were to extract her revenge..
though her face fell as she realized.. she already had it. Now what was to become of her?
She still had two chances left...
Though she wanted to ask more questions, she held her tongue, her eyes burning fiercely.
"You still have not told me how you seem to know so much." It was as if fate plucked them off the traila nd lead them here, and the cruel fate of nearly having Radimir killed from falling off his horse, the source to draw them all together. "Now that my friend is awake, perhaps you can enlighten us more than just riddles." Her gaze grew more stern. "And forgive my lack of patience, we have dealt with too many riddles for our life time within the past week."
Morteem grew irritated at her response, but if he did he did not show it and just puffed at his pipe once more, staring into the hearth. Long minutes passed before he turned to the design of the wooden board. "Life is a riddle unto itself, Zarrah," he carefully explained, looked saddened by the thought. "I used to be a farmer. Had a little plot of land in the Plains, but Raiders came and destroyed everything I had, slaughtered my family, made me watch as they raped my wife and daughters. They left me for dead, but something happened, something pulled be back from the brink of death for reasons I still do not understand. But I knew I had been touched by something, given another chance - several in fact, to exact my revenge. That was what I chose to do. I found their camp, and killed them after biding enough time, finding the skill, letting the anger eat me away. But once it was over I felt cold and empty, there was nothing left to live for. That was well before your time, when the plains were wilder and stranger. Moments when I should have died, I realized the curse I'd let myself fall into. I delved into all the ancient secrets I could find, practices lost to the web of time, but I found I'd only made all my lifetimes bleed into one. I don't know when I will die, but I sit here waiting for that moment to come. I've asked others to favor me with death, draw their blade into my heart, but I've awakened every time. I sensed the same kind of emptiness in you Zarrah...something drove you, but the way you walk, speak, carry yourself tells me you have touched by something like myself. Perhaps not the same, but nothing is as it seems in the Spirit World."
Zarrah was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable as this man spoke. She didn't want to touch on that subject, didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to revel in the new freedom her and Radimir had finally claimed. But it seemed it was not to be. She let her anger burn within her, retorting in a snap, "Enough of the stories. I get the idea," she siad curtly. "This mission, you speak, is to help my friend. Please, just tell us what must be done so we can be off! We have wasted too much time here already."
"Zarrah!" Radimir cried out, and immediately cringed because of it, feeling the sound make the wound on his head throb all the more. But that didn't stop him from reaching out and grabbing hold of her arm and looking at her with narrowed eyes. "Please apologize to the man. He's trying to help us. We're not in the desert anymore...not every man is trying to hurt you..."
"It's all right, Radimir," Morteem said, taking another exhaustive puff of smoke from his pip. "The crystal you seek in the cave has no name. I don't know what it looks like, or where you will find it inside, but once you come across it, you will know it, you will feel it. Especially you Zarrah. I need you to find this stone for me to help me with what I've been searching for all this time. A final death."
"You want me to find this stone to help you die? I don't understand. I thought it was supposed to heal me."
"No...that will come when the time is due. The power of the stone will finally unlock me from my mortal state. That's all I ask."
Zarrah was taken back. Shaking her head, she looked away.
"I think I need time to think on this." And she pulled her arm away from Radimir's grip and stormed out of the hut, pausing only at the end of the wooden road that over looked the swamps. There was too much going on inside her head, too much to digest. And she couldn't help it..
though Radimir was right.
She always found it hard to trust.
Radimir was left in silence after Zarrah's parting, his head still reeling over all that was happening, so quickly, so much. His head was pounding from the fall he'd taken and he looked over to Morteem who pointed to the hearth and the fresh pots that were sitting beside it, and a bowl of fresh stew. "Help yourself. You must be hungry after all you've been through," he said with a nod, continuing to smoke.
Radimir did help himself, eating slowly and thoughtfully, wondering why they'd ended up in the company of such a man, and why he'd been so insistent that Zarrah could relate to him. He'd recalled something about her saying not to be afraid, not to be afraid if she died.. He considered asking Morteem to elaborate, but the man was content in his silence.
And after several minutes of watching him, Radimir decided so was he.
After a time reflecting on times long past, and reflecting on their journey out of the desert.. to a free life, a different life.. to something real and free...
She found her way back to the small hut of the medicine man, but didn't enter it. Instead, she stayed outside, tending to the horses, offering them each an apple as she still pondered over what the man had said...
and wondering why all of her ghosts were coming to haunt her now...
but not only hers...
it seemed Radimir's as well. Her fingers curled behind Thorian's ears, resting against his mane as she sighed. Perhaps it was time to face those ghosts.. but could she bring herself to admit that part of herself to Radimir? She stared down at her arms, noticing only then the faint gold color to her flesh. She leaned in to expect it, but the cawing of a black bird drew her face away. Turning towards it with a start, she sighed. She needed to stop being so jumpy. But that hard of her would be hard t break. Even with someone like Radimir.
Nieti prodded her side and she turned to her own horse and stroked her mane, still not ready to go inside yet to deal with either of the men inside.
He'd eaten and napped sometime after Zarrah left. He awoke in complete darkness, the hearth of the fire having gone out long ago and he could faintly see the outline of Morteem still sitting in his chair, but his pipe was loose in his hand and the old man was snoring lightly. He wouldn't disturb him save from taking his pipe from his hand and safely putting it aside on another stool after dashing the ashes out of it. Radimir found his clothes, what remained of them anyway and dressed, tightening his belt around his waist, and finding at least his weapons were still intact.
He wondered what kept Zarrah, but made no voice of it as he moved over to the door, opening it slowly and stepping out into the evening gloom. He saw Zarrah there beside the horses and chewed on his lip. "How was your walk?" he asked quietly, leaning against the hut wall, watching the darkness play on water.
Zarrah remained silent, keeping her eyes on the horses. A wind carried between them, the shadows stretching even longer before she slowly raised her head.
"I just needed to get out of there. I had a lot on my mind." And as she spoke, her hands lightly ran through Nieti's long mane.
"I get it. So, I guess your walk was good then," Radimir said, nodding and keeping his eyes to the water. After a time, he pushed off the wall and walked over to Thorian where the horse chuffed at him disapprovingly as if to say: "Stop falling off my saddle! I can't be carrying you to safety all the time."
Radimir laughed and kissed the horse squarely on the nose.
Zarrah felt only somewhat at ease at Radimir's mood, but Nieti could sense her tension, and how it was focused towards Radimir. So when Radimir was paying attention to Thorian, with love and kisses, she leaned forward and bit Radimir on the rear.
Radimir never screamed so loudly in his life and turned around, glaring daggers at Zarrah's horse with eyes ablaze and his hands balled to fists. "I'll fight you hand to hoof, right now!" Radimir cried out, storming forward. But as he turned around, Thorian seemed almost laughing and leaned his head down to snap at Radimir's behind as well. He jumped again and away. "Traitor!"
Ok, so maybe horses biting at Radimir's rear was enough to break the mood. Zarrah found herself having trouble keeping back a laugh, though she did so the best she could, but a grin won, stretching smugly across her lips as her eyes sparkled in mirth.
"I think they're both just resentful," she said, toying with the last apple she had, spinning it around in her hand and observing the red flesh before glancing over at him. "I informed them we'd have to make another journey on your behalf. I don't think either are very happy about it. They just got here and rested up, and barely had a chance to enjoy the apples I got them and already we must be off again."
But to nowhere where they were actually free. For each moment felt as if they were trekking deeper into some sort of trap, some sort of mess that would not be easy to get out of. Perhaps it was only destiny that they find themselves in trouble yet again. She glanced down at the apple before tossing it at Radimir's head.
"Here, catch."
Radimir rubbed his sore behind and glared even at Zarrah for a time until he leaned back against the hut wall. Waterside...this was a nice settlement, strategically located in the swamp and keeping away from the raiders of the Plains. Nobody bothered anyone here and nobody asked for anything else except to be left alone. He wondered why he'd remembered this place. This little village had been a refuge for him once, and fate would have it be so again.
"Thanks," he said, gesturing to the apple. He played with the peeling for a while, scratching at it with dirty fingernails, thinking. "You know this village...Waterside as I remember it, was never meant to be a village. It was started up by two brothers, fishermen who wanted to capitalize on the swamps, back when nobody else wanted to live out here. The story goes that the brothers brought their families when they realized the catches were good. But soon the families got too big to feed and each brother felt they deserved more than the other. And they started fighting, trying to sabotage the other's traps. Until one day, one brother caught the other in the act, and started fighting on the docks they'd built. They fell into the frigid waters of the night and drowned. I guess they weren't very good swimmers for being fishermen. Their families moved on from here, all except their children who weren't going to leave their homes behind and that was how Waterside started. The name didn't catch on until a few years after that, trying to brush off the memory left behind by rival brothers I guess. It's quite sad if you think about it."
Radimir took a bite of the apple and smiled in approval. "Ripe, crisp. Oh, gah, I think I just bit a worm."
Zarrah gave him a clever grin.
"Haven't you learned by now to always check the food you are given?" And she waltzed right on up to him, taking the apple.. and biting into the safer, less worm infested side with a smirk.
Radimir eyed her solemnly, the dropped his gaze to his hands, plucking dirt out from under his nails. "I guess I just took it for granted," he said. "I take everything for granted. And that's why I lost everything that I had. I didn't know how to appreciate it."
Zarrah stared over at him curiously, her expression falling at his words. She stared down at the apple, then moved forward, gently placing a hand upon his.
"We've all been like that in our lives. It's hard to see past our own obstacles to what's really important." She knew that feeling well herself. It wasn't easy getting over the hump.
"I think I am the obstacle," Radimir said with a frown. "I didn't want to listen to you back there, when you'd awoken. I remembered everything my father had said to me...it was too hard to take in, too much be borne. But I know it'd be important to him, and I'd hate myself for not knowing, for not taking him seriously in his last moment. For forgetting he was my father, and that I loved him dearly." A tear passed from his eye. "We should go to the cave as soon as we can, get this over with and see just what Morteem had in store for me. The longer we delay, the wider I feel the wound inside me growing."
Zarrah placed a hand upon his shoulder, as she stepped in closer to him.
"It was too easy to demonize him to give yourself reasons to rebel against his cuase and press on. Even so, our enemy lies elsewhere. It will take time for your own internal wounds to mend, but they will in time." She smiled at him, her violet eyes searching his. "We all have our own demons. ANd none of us are perfect." Her smile went a bit crooked at that statement as her eyes wavered with emotions.
His frown softened and even turned crooked at her, finding her gaze at last. He gave a nod and stepped closer, hand reaching up to cup her face and used his thumbs to gently brush at the skin just underneath her eyes. "Thank you," he whispered. "For being there. And I hope my presence helped you any, though I don't know. Sometimes I think you'd get so much farther without me. You're stronger than I am, maybe I'm just holding you back."
"It is not you who is holding me back," she informed him, eyes reading into his more deeply. She pressed her lips together. "I'm chained to my ghosts, and it seems only I might am able to battle them, for only I can see them. We all have ghosts of our own. Yours are just becoming realized and mine..." she kept her lips open as she thought it over, then released a breath and closed her lips. "Well... we're here to help you now, aren't we? There was.. some talk about a cave?" and she smiled and raised a brow at him.
Perhaps she thought he didn't notice it, but he did. Radimir put his mind behind it though, the fact that she refused to talk about her own ghosts, beyond what they'd already discussed, things she didn't want him to know for reasons unknown. Perhaps now wasn't the time to press it, and perhaps that moment was never come, but he was ready to move on, ready to leave Waterside and head to Dagun's Drop as Morteem had asked them and nodded to her after offering a smile. He pressed his thumbs against her cheeks one last moment before leaning down to kiss her brow.
"Let's go before the daylight's completely gone, then."
Zarrah smiled and nodded at him.
"As if we have any other choice," she said, a playful sparkle to her eyes. Though it was injest, by now the pair of them could laugh a little at their plight. It seemed nothing ever would come easy. And certainly the path to Dagun's Drop was anything but. The road was winding, and eventually wove it's way through a steep cliff by a chasm. Zarrah was cursing.
"The path is too narrow for the horses. We'll have to leave them here." Glancing around, she noted a nearby tree and moved to tether Nieti to it, though as a wind picked up, sweeping her black hair from her shoulder, she stared up at the sky, studying the dark clouds as they rolled in.
"Looks like rain."
Radimir looked up at the sky, remembering the last time he'd seen rain, which was quite infrequent in a life in the desert. He smiled but it quickly turned into a frown when he remembered the cave and saw Thorian move uneasily. He looked to Zarrah. "Leave the horse's untethered," he said. "They won't go anywhere and will run if there is danger. They'll survive together. But they'll be all right." Radimir was the first to step down the path after giving a final kiss to Thorian's nose and the horse nodded for him to go on.
Zarrah nodded, and untethered Nieti.
"Take care of Thorian, alright?"
And stroked her long nose before turning to face Radimir. ANd once he was ready, she followed behind him into the darkness. The path he was narrow, and she was moving near to Radimir, eyes searching as far as she could, but the path wound before them like a snake. She let him lead while she pulled up the rear, but after a time, even the path behind them was as crooked as the path forward.
"I wonder how much farther."
The path was getting far too narrow for his liking, but Radimir pressed on. They had to if they were going to complete this quest. Yet in that moment, he felt his mind wander as darkness fell and he pressed to the cliff wall, just how long it felt to live a thousand years, waiting for someone to come along to bring you the only solace you would ever find - death.
Radimir should have focused more because in that moment his footing slipped and he teetered off the edge just enough to lose his balance. His hand shot out to grasp the ledge and he could feel the brittle rock under his palm loosening as he tried to hold on.
Zarrah gasped, and her hand shot out, grabbing onto Radimir just in time. Her heart was beating heavily within her chest,a nd after a time,s he slowly helped bring him up to rest upon the cliff side with her.
"Gods.. Radimir..." she said, then clung to him. "Be careful where you step." And then she looked down into his eyes. "Should I lead for a time?"
"N-no," Radimir breathed with a sigh and stood up, pressing himself against the cliff side after nodding to her that he was okay. "I...I was thinking about what Morteem said. I got distracted, but I'll be all right now." He pressed to the wall righted himself as he continued down the path, when he saw at last there was no more room, he saw there was a sliver in the cliff, a hole in the wall large enough to slip in to. He carefully pressed himself inside as the entrance finally widened in the end.
Once they were inside the actual cave, Zarrah released a held breath and glanced around. Light came in, reflecting from outside in the plains, but it would still take some time for her eyes to adjust.
And though she had remained quiet when Radimir had spoke early, she piped up with a question.
"So what were you thinking about back there? You could have given me a heart attack. I thought you were going to drop to your death."
Radimir's eyes adjusted a little more quickly than Zarrah's but the contrast was no less sharpand he saw the cracks in the ground before them. The only solid path was that shich seemed the most unreliable, a narrow bridge crossing over a massive pit at the center of the main room. Radimir paused at the mouth of the hole and stared down into darkness. "I was thinking...what it must be like waiting to die all that time...life no longer has any meaning for you. All you want is death. It's a sorry state."
OOC: D: 80 pages! Can you believe it?
ALso.. this is the lamest post for an 80th page post >.>
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Zarrah turned to Radimir, her face scrunching at the question.
"What do you mean? Are you talking about what the old man said?" And why?
"Yes, what else would I be talking about?" Radimir asked as he kept his eyes ahead of them. He took a brave step across the precipice leaping over to the bridge, testing the ground before finally standing up and taking careful steps. "He said he was given a second chance at life, and when he'd accomplished what he'd aimed to do, he tried to die. I was just thinking about it. Go on living without renewed purpose, without anything to do or care about. What is there left to live for?"
Zarrah followed him over, and frowned at his words. She hadn't thought of her own second chances that way. They hadn't been any consequence towards her until it was brought up now. Still, she had two more chances and well... she'd just have to see what would happen until that time She had no idea what sort of bond she had made, so she remained silent and simply followed behind him.
Radimir sensed the tension in the air caused by the subject that he'd brought up. He frowned at the thought that Zarrah still had things that she could not tell him. What was she afraid of? That he wouldn't understand? That he would reject her and cast her off as Castor had done? He loved her, knew it down to the core of his soul that he did, and pained at the thought that she could not trust him with even the most sensitive of her issues. But he supposed with time she might, however long that might be.
Radimir made it to other side of the narrow stone bridge and found crystal dust and sand billowing from underneath him. The pit brought in an awful draft up through the tunnels and dragged Radimir's hair into his eyes. He brushed it away and stepped forth into the darkness.
Zarrah kept close, holding her breath as her eyes adjusting to the dark. It smelled of bat dung and other cavernous musk, but it was wet.. and nothing in the deserts had ever quite smelled like it.
"Where do you think we ought to go?" It looks as if the cavern splits up ahead."
The atmosphere felt strange here, heavy on his shoulders and the air cold and thin to breathe. He could almost feel where the fabric between worlds was thinned and tearing. As they were poised at the split tunnels Radimir glanced back to Zarrah. "We split up," he replied with a frown. "I'll take the right. You take the left."
Zarrah frowned at the idea, placing a hand upon his shoulders and coaxing him to look into her eyes.
"Is that a wise choice?"
Then she looked back into the cave.
"It feels dark in here.. like ancient magics.. something.. not quite like where I've been."
"No, but it's the only logical choice," Radimir admitted. His eyes were troubled but there wasn't anything else he could think of that didn't mean spending more time in here than they had to. "Unless you have a better idea." Still he smiled wryly and nudged her to move to the next tunnel. "Don't worry, we'll be all right. We've gotten out of worse jams than this."
Zarrah placed a hand on his shoulder, staring at him in the eyes.
"But do you not think it's odd? That I'm asked to help you but we have to split up? From what that old healer was muttering, you'd think he'd want me around you like some sort of protector or guide." She shook her head, sighing. "Even still, you are right."S he frowned, her eyes never leaving his.
"Just be careful."
She was right, he knew it. And though he couldn't deny her point, part of him knew it was futile to try and say anything else. They had to split up to cover more ground. Radimir could only hope he was prepared for whatever it was he was going to face in the caves. He just nodded to her and slipped passed her into the tunnel he was to explore.
The cave path was chilly, and the darkness, nearly blinding as she crept along. She moved silent, and still as the shadows, her soft leather boots being placed in careful steps as she moved along. Violet eyes cleaved into the path before her, and it wasn't long before she was groping to find her way, that was, until she spotted something unusual up ahead; a warm glowing light affixed to the wall. It was beating, pulsating, almost like the rhythmic beat of a heart. It intrigued her, moved her forward, placing her into a trance as she began to approach, reaching out a hand and wanting to touch the beautiful warm light, as if it was calling out to her...
A similar light found itself coming toward Radimir, but he displayed a caution unlike Zarrah and slipped off to the side as the orb ball floated past him. He crawled passed it and paused just as the path dropped down into a darkened pit. There was nothing underneath him that he could see, just a brief ledge along the side of it that he crept toward.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, and he could feel his head throbbing as the spirit orb finally disappeared behind a stone, making the wall ripple like black water. Radimir pressed against the wall, panting and sweating as he stepped along the ledge until he was well over the pit and solid ground was once more beneath him. Gods he hoped Zarrah had been smart enough to avoid the orb.
Zarrah had become to transfixed and fascinated by the light, that she felt as if she were being drawn into it, like a calling. Faces began to take shape, a certain man with metal hands looking back at her, imploring her with his pale eyes.
"Zarrah.." she swore it spoke. "Zarrah, I need you help. I'm sorry..."
"Castor?" she found herself surprised at this. Was it really him? And as she reached a hand out to touch him, she felt herself falling and let out a yelp. The vision was torn from her as her body fell into a hole int he ground, and quicka s lightning, she thrust a knifed hand otu and stopped herself from falling to far as the knife sunk sharply intot he wall.
With sweat glistening across her skin, she remained paused against the side of the wall int he pit in which she fell, catching her breath as she peered up to the world above her. Shit...
How the hell was she supposed to get out of this? She supposed she'd better start climbing...
And what the hell was that vision? Why was she thinking about Castor Bain NOW of all times?
But even if she could climb fast enough, the ground began to shift over her, the pit slowly but surely closing up and over her until it was nothing more than solid ground. Darkness illuminated underneath her, shadows escaping to the far corners, as orbs began to float up beside her and invited her to let go into the chamber below the pit. "Zarrah," the voice of Castor rang out. "Let go."
Zarrah's eyes darted frantically all around. The voice sounded as if it was coming from all over. But it couldn't be.. it couldn't be him.
At his instructions to let go, she peered down intot he darkness. She wasn't crazy. The pit beneath her would swallow her whole. Cursing between her teeth, she sucked in a breath and felt her arm's straining as she clung onto the sides. She had to think of something.. and she had to do it quick.
Hands reached up from the darkness, hands of blood and bone as they groped for her feet, trying to pull her down into the pit. The voice thathad been Castor's turned deeper and growled at her. "LET GO!"
Zarrah's eyes went wide in a panic. The voice was not Castor Bain's, and below her... she could only sense a dark, sinister force calling her forth. She kicked away at the hands seekign to grab her, and with renewed force, began to pull herself upwards towards the surface, towards the covered darkness above, calling out to someone... anybody.. realizing only one person was there that could help..
"Radimir!" Too bad he was too far within the cave...
and Zarrah clutched on desperately, kept on climbing, hoping to reach a top.. if there was a top.. maybe it wasn't real? But who was to say what was and what wasn't?
WHat sort of cave was this that played with her mind? It was almost as if she was passing into a sliver of the other realm she had been in before...
Radimir heard the echo of his name in the caverns, the resonance still echoing even inside of him. He stilled his path, wandering through widened careening passages and was knee deep in water. He turned back at the echo and instinctively ran back to where he'd come. Yet it seemed different, the halls seemed to change. He couldn't tell for sure in the darkness, but he could have sworn he'd gone left when he'd meant to go right and suddenly stood before the very pit that was closing up before Zarrah.
He looked down and could briefly see her face. "Zarrah!" he cried out and dove for her, reaching out to grasp her arm. "Take my hand."
Gods..
To hear Radimir's voice, to seeh is face was a welcome sight. And she didn't need to be told twice as she reached out and took his hand, holding onto it tight as she was pulled out from the bowels of the cave and latched onto his arms, a moment, her arms feeling tingly with strain.
"Thank the Gods you were here..." she said, looking him clear in the eyes. "This place.." she slowly shook her head. "The man hadn't lied when he said there appeared to be tears in reality here. I.. I heard and saw things already, and they aimed to trick me." She shook her head, before smirking. "Thank the Gods I also have some semblance of sense left." And her eyes tried to read his. "Did you find anything?"
He pulled her up with some difficulty and helped her get to her feet at the cave. Radimir was sweaty, panicked as his eyes looked around when at last the pit began to close itself over as if it was never there in the first place. "He was right. The orbs must be lingering souls, spilling through those tears, souls that cannot find rest. The passages shift and change when we turn back. I came through a water filled cavern earlier but it could just as easily vanish when we return. C'mon, let's just get the damn crystal and get out of here, I don't want to be here a minute longer."
He took her hand and pulled her along the same way he came, and just as he thought, the stone began to shift in on itself and close before them. "Shit! Run!" he cried out, pulling her along as he ran, the halls closing in on itself.
Zarrah ran close at his heels, boots hammering against the stone flooring, and her heart hammering wtihin her chest. Just before the opening closed up, the pair had just made it on the other side, and Zarrah needing to leap as she stumbled to a halt against Radimir's side. She doubled over, hands to her knees as she attempted to catch her breath before she looked up at Radimir and smirked.
"We'll have to be more careful. This is a world that moves, and nothing lays the same."
Rising, she frowned as she looked over at the only opening left available to them. Another narrow path, though this one held several glowing fragments against the walls and ceiling, many more than what she had seen before. Sighing, she looked towards him. "So... ladies first? Or do you want to brave the narrow passage first?"
"What kind of man do you think I am?" he sneered at her. "Ladies first of course." He chuckled and smacked her on the ass as they ventured forth. The fragment seemed to watch them, their every movement and seemed to collect behind them as they walked, dragging and bouncing along, following them.
Zarrah shot a stern gaze Radimir's way for the slap, but she then smirked, which erased any threat from her features. However, as they moved along and the fragments began to collect behind them, Zarrah frowned.
"Ever get the feeling you're being watched?" she said, gritting her teeth as she peered back at the fragments bouncing along and following at their heels along the path. "Gods, it's as if they're lost little puppies or something." She rolled her eyes and moved faster. "Come on, it's best not to dawdle."
Radimir nodded in agreement. As they ran further down the narrow passage, he could hear the sound of the orbs bouncing like muffled echoes as they pursued them just as fast as they traversed. The sound of water rushed nearby, falling water, rushing quick and brutal.
The passage opened up out of the cavern revealing a large waterfall spilling out to a large pool below that swirled in its torrent. Three more falls fell out far off into the darkness, beyond their sight. The orbs clung to them, making light, airy noises of sudden attachment, bundling at their heels. The path before them lowered down to a ridge or rock that swooped down the side of the cavern opening.
Radimir stepped softly down onto it, leaning in closer to the wall and seeing that the orbs that followed them, thrust forward to light their way, showing that the path dropped off toward a robe bridge that connected toward another ridge similar to the one they were standing on. Radimir approached the rope bride, the tendrils rotted and looking weakened with so much as a foot of weight was put on it.
She raised a brow at the rope bridge.
"The thing looks about ready to break," and she placed a hand upon Radimir's shoulder, a gesture that told him to hold back.
"I'm not sure if the damn thing will hold our weight, but I'm willing to bet we need to get to the other side. But how much are we willing to risk? The fall beneath looks fatal." Zarrah frowned.
"IF you want, I could test it." then she paused, turnign to look at him. "Do you still have your whip?"
Radimir nodded to her assessment an unhooked the whip from his hip. For all it had been through, he was thankful he at least still had that to hold onto. That and his sword. For he'd lost much in their tempestuous adventures, the likes of which had taken him to this well of souls. As he handed it to her, he gave her a small smile. "Be careful with it," he said and handed it off.
"What do you expect me to do with it?" Zarrah said, and gave a teasing press of it to his groin before turning away and examining the bridge. Sucking in a breath, she took a hesitant step forward, both the rope and wood groaning beneath her boots. But another few steps out proved it was possible to walk on it, and a smile itched across her lips. She peered back at Radimir.
"Perhaps there might be a way across. Give me sometime. This bridge is very rotted. I might be able to make it across with patience."
Radimir waited, for what else could he do? The bridge could not take both of them and he just watched with aching anticipation could barely support her weight. Mist began to rise up from the pool, gliding over the bottom-most slats and ropes, obscuring her footing.
Each step was taken with caution, and the further she moved out, the more and more her steps became obscured beneath the foggy footing. And each time she stepped, albeit slowly, the rope bridge would creak and groan, even a few places, the rotting wood would lightly crack, like thin ice, and crumble away. She found herself gripping onto the rope portion until her knuckles grew white and the wooden portion would stop crumbling and cracking, she would wait to regain her nerves. Then she'd continue. She was about three quarters of the way over when she mis-stepped and with a gasp, found half of her body plummeting into the unknown.
But with a quick sharp snap, the whip cracked out from the falling darkness and latched onto the rope bridge above. It clung to it tightly, the entire thing bowing at her weight as she found herself dangling over death itself, her eyes wide as she peered down into the void that could have swallowed her, then back up to the rope bridge with a nervous laugh. But her victory would be short lived as her smile began to fade as the sounds of the ropes on the bridge began to snap, and the entire left side of hte bridge gave way and Zarrah was cursing out as teh bridge twisted and clung to the right-side of the rope, and she, nearly losing her grip upon the whip that held onto the dangling left side while she swung backa nd forth from the aftermath of the settling from the fall.
"Radimir!"s he called out, her heart pumping heavily within her chest. "I'm starting to think this was a bad idea!"
and as her words echoed all around her, she readjusted her grip, looked around, reassessed her situation and drew in a long breath before beginning to attempt to climb upwards. Once at the top, where the remaining rope on the bridge was, she allowed her legs to rest down carefully ont he sides of the wood planks that dangled underneath. It had some tension, so offered a bit more support than her simply dangling off the whip, and so once she felt secure enough, she began to unbind the whip and glanced over towards her destination, sighing and trying to regrow her nerve to continue.
But she didn't have a choice, and so slowly, ever so slowly, she began to crawl her way across, boots perched over the thing sides of the wooden planks, and her hands, clutching desperately to the rope, all the while the whip remained in her hand. The end seemed so close.. yet so far away.
"Zarrah!"
Radimir had cried out her name, but the echo of the cave carried it far out and away that the very sound of it seemed foreign to him. His voice changing and flexing and bending in shape and sound as it reverberated off the great cavern walls. He rushed to the edge, lingering on the side of it, helplessly as he watched her dangle. But there was nothing he could do to help her save trust in the strength of the whip that it should hold her tightly. When at last she climbed her way up back onto the sturdy side of the bridge, Radimir remembered to breathe in that moment and gave a smart grin as he watched her shuffle slowly toward the remaining length of the bridge.
"Don't scare me like that," he said, waiting with a distant heartbeat for her to reach the other side. Once she did, Radimir stood on the ledge and looked down into the darkness below. He was quite hesitant, seeing as she had his whip. But he knew that though she fell through and manage to clasp on with it, if he tried to do the same, there was no doubt in his mind that the bridge would not be able to hold onto his body weight. Once was all it would take.
Yet with no other alternative across, Radimir braved the first step, grasping on to the stronger right side, where the rope looked slightly less rotted. The bridge creaked and groaned as he inched his way toward the middle. His confidence grew with every step, but his caution did not fade. "You made this look easy," he muttered as he inched his way further.
And at that very word, the wood underneath him broke and the bridge snapped completely in two. Radimir cried out as his arms flailed for the right side of the rope. He grabbed onto it tightly, as the old rope began to creak and fray little by little as it held his weight on the right side. The wood too, no longer held and snapped off so that all that remained to hold him was the fraying rope. He doubted that if he climbed now, he would reach the top in time.
"Radimir!" Her voice echoed desperately across the void. Her heart was pumping well up into her ears as she clutched the whip until she was white knuckled. He seemed so far away, just too far for her to do anything to help, but she remained at the edge, her mind in a whirl as for what she ought to do.
"Radimir, can you climb any closer towards me? YOu're too far away for me to help,but if you can get a little bit closer, I can offer you the whip!"
Radimir grunted in the effort to hold on against the quickly fraying rope. It didn't help that his own grip was sweating with nerves, making each hand start to gradually slip. "I-I don't know!" he called up. He tried however, anyway, pulling himself up a little bit at a time. Every movement had the rope creaking and breaking apart. "It's not gonna hold!" he said, feeling his heart batter against the cage of his ribs. "It's not gonna hold in time for me to reach you.... Zarrah, there's no time. I...."
He looked down into the darkness, barely seeing the darkness and mist of the water below. Faint light glittered up from the jagged rocks that invited him below. He looked back up to Zarrah, tears in his eyes. "Zarrah..." he murmured. "I...I'm going to try to jump. You be ready with that whip! As soon as I let go of this rope, throw it down and hold on!"
He couldn't waste another second as the last threads struggled to hold him, breaking apart at his weight. Radimir swung his legs upward, to give him some height as he let go at last and reached upward, hoping to reach just the last length of the whip.
Zarrah's own heart was hammering inside her ears. She felt herself begin to sweat, her mind in a whirl. But she had to focus.. she had to! Radimir's life was on the line. SHe nodded at his words, knowing full well they had precious time to waste.
"Don't worry, I'll catch you.."s he spoke, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. And as she heard the snapping of the rope, and saw Radimir leap her way, she threw back her arm and snapped the rope down with all of her might, it struck at the air, but was it long enough to catch Radimir? She could only pray.
Radimir had vaulted a few feet high enough and his hand outstretched, palm sweaty, fingers sore and raw at the skin, but he felt the leather tendril of his whip in hand. And he gave everything to hold on with all his might. He gave a cry when the tensile leather stretched at the addition of his weight. "OH ZARRAH!" he cried out with a painful laugh. He grabbed on it, though he could feel it slipping at the leather. "I'm alive! I'm all right! Oh GODS! NOW PULL ME UP!"
Zarrah sunk down all of her weight intot he rock beneath her, and once she felt Radimir's weight, her face exploded into a smile. She didn't waste any more time, and began to pull him up towards the surface, a few quick pulls at a time. Then once he was near, she reached down, grabbed him by the arms and dragged him clean into her lap where she held onto him fierce.
"Gods.." she breathed, her heart hammering within her chest. "Gods.. we made it."
Radimir would have climbed on his own but it was Zarrah that managed to muster the strength to pull him up. He held his whip as hard as he could and when she wrapped her arm around him, Radimir breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly, just thankful to be alive. At last he let go and crawled up beside her. "Not just yet. We've still got to get the stone. Now the mist is getting thicker."
OOC: THIS IS POST 7000 FOR ME
*sparkles*
I found it only appropriate to give it to the thread of mine that reached the top ten board, first :P
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Zarrah nodded, smiling at him before looking around them. He was right,t he mist was getting thicker, and the visibility, not so great. Rising to her feet, she helped Radimir lean against her, knowing what strain he must be feeling from the climb before her eyes looked around the area.
"I see a path cut into the rocks behind us. Probably another series of labyrinths in this cave." She frowned at that but what could be done about it? SHe turned to him and nodded. "Are you well enough to go on?" And no sooner did she ask that did the whole world sweep over in a peculiar wind, one where the fog lapped at them ad began to shroud them in it's white, murky darkness.
Zarrah grit her teeth. NOw what were they to do? It was dark in here before, nearly blinding, and now, what little they could see was cut off by this mysterious mist.
"No time for physical inspections," Radimir said with a nod. He collected his whip and bundled it before snapping it back onto his belt with a click. The rising mist obscuring their view made his nerves climb on edge and he felt the wall for the path. "Let's go." Not wasting anytime, he stepped slowly up the stone path carved into the rock. They rose higher up, following the steps. Algae made the footing slippery but at least it was better than hanging by a thread.
They soon reached the very mouth of the waterfall, the force of the water rushing before them. Slowly the mist was rising up by their feet. In the waterfall, a passage opened up beside it, just beside the rushing water and Radimir crawled up inside it.
[Yay!]
The place felt eerie and strange, with a light seeming to come out from the water itself. At least it gave them some semblance of direction, and quietly Zarrah followed him through the waterfall path. It was slick, and she found herself needing to steady herself more than once on the algae slick stone, but the farther they moved from the waterfall, the grittier the ground had become. And the air was growing colder, and darker.
"This place is so strange.. and dangerous." Her eyes inspected the floor and walls and all around her before glancing towards Radimir. "I wonder how far in this path leads..."
Or when, if at all, these walls might change and the mysterious mist may follow them, for it almost appeared as if it were seeping up now through the stone path.
The mist poured in through the mouth of the tunnel and Radimir couldn't see anymore than ten feet in front of his face. He kept a hand on his sword just in case as strange sounds echoed from one end of it. It sounded as though it was a chittering rattle, as if teeth or pincers were snapping together in rapid succession.
Radimir kept going after a moment of hesitation. The sound got louder and there was some rustling included. And Radimir stopped short when it seemed as if two headlights suddenly shone upon them. They blinked and more glowing eyes were riddled underneath and all around the first two. The brightness stunned Radimir momentarily, sending hims stumbling backwards.
The creature came forth and revealed itself through the mist. A massive centipede-like insect with glowing eyes and massive incisors with large spider legs in the front and smaller legs along its body.
Upon seeing the eyes in the dark, Zarrah's body tensed, and found no breath within her to even ask 'What the hell is that!?' before the creature emerged, revealing itself in the light with a thousand god-awful legs, a pair of hungry looking pinsors snapping continuously before a pair of drool, slicked incisors.
Her mouth then fell open, her legs finding the strength to take one small step back.
"By the Gods.." she began, then grabbed onto Radimir's wrist and yanked him along with her as seh began to turn tail and run. "Run, Radimir! Run!"
Radimir was barely finding his legs when she grabbed him up and began yanking him in the other direction. He scrambled quickly to keep up with her, but the only way he could presently see was to go back the way they came, out to the waterfall. But no-
"There!" Radimir cried out toward a slit in the wall, where the light from the monster's eyes shone bright enough for both to see. It was thin enough for them to slip into and yet small enough to keep it out. Radimir ran quickly for it, shoving Zarrah inside of it first before following her. He shoved his shoulder in, shuffling through the tight space.
"Gods be damned!" Zarrah swore between her teeth as her body scraped against the inside of the narrow pass. "That creature is bigger than Hell." she shook her head and kept on moving, but paused to peer over her shoulder, grabbing onto Radimir's hand as she did. "Come on, we need to move in a little deeper. I'd hate to see how far in that creature's legs might be able to reach."
The crevice in the tunnel wall was steeped in darkness and Radimir didn't know just how far it could go, or if they could squeeze in any deeper. He sucked in a deep breath and was able to turn his head to see one of the spider legs of the giant insect stick through the opening and tried to fish them out. "Go in!" Radimir cried out as he shoved Zarrah further into the crevice, feeling the hair stick out on the back of his neck. The leg scraped against his arm, far too close for comfort.
Thankfully the opening widened a little on their side, enough for more breathing room. Radimir pushed them both through until they were safely on the other side. But just where, he had no idea, vision encased in darkness. That was until the same orbs that previously followed them began to dribbled through the crevice, lighting their way, bouncing along and chiming happily, and completely ignored by the creature that pursued them.
Spilling out on the other side, Zarrah's eyes groped through the darkness, but when the orbs returned, she had to shield her eyes from their light momentarily before her eyes adjusted and she began to look around.
"As strange as this place is, I'm glad there's some sort of lighting. Come on, let's see what we can find. There's got to be a way out of here, and there's got to be some sort of direction so we can find what you are looking for."
The orbs bounced happily at their feet and illuminated the greater cavern that was exposed before them. Radimir looked up and around seeing the height and the pathway carved up into the rock. Thankfully there was no mist here to obscure their way.
"It seems we have some help as it is," he said as he saw the orbs bouncing up toward the ridge, spiraling up and some gathering at their feet to push them along.
"This place is so strange," Zarrah said, gritting her teeth. "The quicker we find ourselves through this, the quicker we can leave. So let's hurry." And as her eyes followed the orbs, she frowned up at the ridge they lead them towards. "I wonder how we're supposed to get up there.."
Radmir viewed the orbs' path and got up and around to a pile of boulders that had some vines trailing up to the first part of the ridge. He knelt down and threaded his fingers together to give Zarrah a vaulting start. "Here," he said. "Jump up and grab those vines."
Nodding, Zarrah used his hand and jumped off of them with a grunt as her fingers dug into the viney-lattice work. She tensed her muscles, then once she had a good hold, she began to climb towards the top. As she reached the ridge, she waited a moment to let the burning in her muscles cool before peering over the side down towards Radimir.
"Think you can get up on your own?" she inquired, shouting down towards him. She'd hate to have to explore this place on her own, but perhaps she'd have little choice?
"Yeah! I'll be right up!" Radimir looked to the boulders and vaulted up to the highest point shortly before using his nomentum to jump up high enough to grab onto the vine. After calming his swing, he began to scale upward and crawled up beside her, dusring himself off. "Let's go, the orbs are getting away."
OOC: Can't let those orbs get away now 8D
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Zarrah smirked, impressed. She had forgotten how lithe and acrobatic he was. She gave him a once over before nodding, then turned and moved towards the path just behind them. It would have been blindingly dark had the light orbs now hummed and floated around them like lazy stars floating in the air. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she wasn't about to stop, that was, until the path ended and she was staring down at the bottom of a cliff.
"Now what?"
Radimir paused beside her and watched as the orbs began to throw themselves without reservation from the cliff into the darkness below. Up until now they'd been following the orbs and now they were falling into nothing. Radimir stared down and peeked just over the edge as one by one the orbs continued to fall. "We jump," he said, feeling no qualms about it. "Take a leap of faith."
"Jump!?" Zarrah backed away from the edge of the cliff-side. "You've got to be crazy. We'll die."
"What other choic ehave we got?" Radimir argued still staring below. He looked up at Zarrah and bit his lip. "I'll go first and then you if you hear my voice echo to you. "
Zarrah's hand shot out as she took a hold of his hand. For a moment, she said nothing, but squeezed it lightly.
"I should go first.."s he spoke softly under her breath. "You don't have another chance if you fail this mission, and from what that old man said, if you don't rid yourself of this plague on your heart, you might never rest from it."
And well, he didn't have more htan one chance like she did.
Though she'd rather not waste it on a moment like this-
wasn't there some other way down!?
"How can I be rid of it if I don't take a chance!?" Radimir argued and stood closer to her. "All my life I've never made a proper sacrifice, not in the truth of what I really feel. If I die, then so be it, but I won't let you hurt yourself for me. You've gone through so much as it is. Please." But he didn't hear another word of any argument from her before he wrenched her grip from his hand and leapt over the edge after the last orb.
"Radimir, NO!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the darkness. HSe reached out for him, but stumbled to a halt at the end of the ridge. Gods.... no....
Was he...
She held her breath.
Was he dead?
As he dropped down into the pit, Radimir vanished from sight. Air rushed through his face and hair, blinding him as he fell. But it was a chance would take, though what he would find below, surprssed him even more. Down below from the ridge a light splashe could be heard, as light as the drop of a pin. Radimir darted several feet from below the surface and opened his eyes to the soft glow of the orbs trailing through the water and some lingering around them. His head was pounding from the impact and his nose bled, but he was otherwise alive and well. The pool was deep enough to swallow a city.
He came up and broke the surface, catching his breath and looking up into darkness. "Zarrah!" he yelled up, treading water. "Zarrah! Jump!"
Zarrah's hands had been gripping together, pressed against her chest, her entire body tense. The moment she heard Radimir's form break water, she released a breath, her lips almost smiling as her eyes widened as she peered out over the side. At his words, she could have jumped, and then in reply she shouted, "You expect me to be crazy enough to jump?"
THough a moment later, that was answered by her backing away from the cliff-side, shaking her head before steeling off her nerves.
ANd then she jumped, feeling herself falling, wind rushing all around her, not knowing how long the fall would be; as it felt like her heart and stomach were floating away from her inside the air. And then it happened, and she plunged, crashing into the waters and disappeared beneath.
A moment later she was gasping for breath when she resurface, coughing as the air rushed into her lungs painfully and her body stung all over from the fall. THen to Radimir, she turned to him and suddenly splashed him in the face with her hand as she smacked it against the water.
"If you're trying to kill me,t his is certainly a good way to go about it. But now where are we?" And her eyes studied the area around them in careful interest.
Radimir's laughter echoed through the cave and he just grinned at her as the orbs gathered around them once more. "I'm just glad to have you with me," he said and saw through the surface of the water the orbs plummeting through it and leading the way to a small tunnel underneath. Radimir took in a deep breath before diving under to follow them.
Zarrah rolled her eyes at his comment but once the orbs revealed the path, she followed, drawing in a breath as she swam down into the deep waters then disappeared into the underwater cave. Her lungs began to burn. She just hoped there was an end to this soon. then there it was, an areA sparkling above them mystically in fushias and pinks. What was this place? It looked beautiful, so she swam towards the top, breaking the surface and taking in great gulps of air.
When they entered the new cavern, Radimir was in as much awe as she was. He pushed his curly waves out of his face and soon swam for a ledge that tucked out in the water, pulling himself up and helping Zarrah along with him. He saw the room was filled with all manner of crystals that fluxed and glowed. All except for oneaand it was this crystal that all the orbs gravitated to.
Zarrah watched in silent fascination, and then her eyes gravitated towards the one crystal not illuminated. She pressed her lips together.
"Do you think that might be what we've come here for?" she whispered.
The question was answered for them as the orbs bubbled around the crystal. One of them managed to bounce high enough to make contact with the crystal. And as it did so it was immediately sucked in and each orb grew more and more eager to do the same.
Zarrah approached it, a hand lightly running an inch over the air above the orbs that moved nearer tot he crystal. Then she frowned.
"Since this is it, what are we supposed to do with it?"
OOC: I have no idea 8D
Radimir reached out to grab Zarrah's shoulders and pulled her back toward him a little. As the orbs filled the crystal, the stone began to pulsate and energy coursed through it like blood through arteries, swirling around each other and moving at remarkable speed. Soon the last orb disappeared and the stone glowed brightly. Radimir stepped forth and was about to grab it when suddenly it felt as if he was punched in the chest by an invisible force, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him on his ass.
The cavern was filled with Carnavus's laughter and his shadow, large and rotted loomed and flashed around them in the flickering crystal lights. Radimir felt as if someone was squeezing his head and before his own eyes only was the image of his father about to smash in his skull. Radimir screamed in both horror and pain and flailed his legs at the empty air above him, but the pressure kept growing more and more powerful.
"Radimir?!" Zarrah called out, her eyes wide with fear. She backed away from him, uncertain what to do, when Carnavus's laughter cut through the void. Her eyes narrowed as her blood seeped with poison.
"Carnavus..." she should have known that even in death he would not stop his pursuit.
"Show yourself!"s he demanded, her voice echoing against the cavern, but it seemed as soon as she made her demands, the laughter and his voice faded. Zarrah growled through her teeth before dropping to her knees at Radimir's side.
"Radimir!?" she could see he was in immense pain. "Radimir, what's wrong!?" And she placed a hand upon his shoulder.
At Zarrah's demand to show himself, the pain suddenly ceased and Radimir was left exhausted on the floor as if someone drained the energy out of him. He coughed harshly as the voice rang out. "You'll never escape me, Zarrah. Even in death you'll always be mine! The only difference now is that now I can reach you anywhere I want," Carnavaus growled. "Now lets's see how you worm your way our of this one!" The walls began to quake and rocks fell from the cieling but there were shrieks and cries moaning all around them. Men made of stone began to break away from the walls.
Radimir reached up to touch his companion, to let her know that he was all right. "Get the stone! Just get it and find a way out of here!"
Zarrah's eyes widened at the sight, but then at Radimir's words, she turned back to him and questioned, "What!?" But without further hesitation, she reached a hand forward, and the orbs around the stone turned into a gel-like water, so her fingers easily slipped through and she grabbed the rock. Yanking it out, she gave a pull on Radimir's hand.
"Come on! I don't think we can stand a chance against men made of rock. Come on!" And she moved to pull him to his feet. "MOVE!"
She didn't need to tell him twice. Radimir coughed as he was yanked to his feet and the stone men emerged from the walls and growled as they moved to surround them. Radimir knew they couldn't head back the way they came as there was no real way without encountering the stone men. He looked up and saw above them was a small sliver of light from where stone had fallen from the cieling. Another soon followed it's path. He moved and saw some vines crawling up the side over the crystals and pushed her to start climbing them. "You have the stone! I'll keep them at bay!" With that, Radimir cracked the whip and slashed it out at the stone men, a few of them keeping at bay in confusion. But at least it was enough to buy her some time.
"What, are you crazy?!" Zarrah tried to protest, her face twisting in confusion, but upon seeing his plan, she shook her head and turned around and began to climb up the vines towards the light.
He supposed he was crazy. But he knew it better to leave himself behind than to risk them losing the stone to the power of Carnavus. Radimir cracked the whip with lightning speed. But the stone men were slowly but surely learning the futility of such a weapon against flesh of stone. They could feel no pain, and had no need to slow down because of it.
Radimir whirled and cracked the whip at stonework. One of the creatures got close enough to smash him to the side. Radimir's breath flew out of him until he regained his bearings. He couldn't hold them off forever and immediately scrambled for the vines on the wall, weakly gabbing them and starting to scale.
At the top of the vines, Zarrah was surprised to catch not only a crack in the ceiling, loosely covered in rubble, that fell down upon her in light crumbles of rock and dirt, but what held it together appeared to be some sort of white-webbing. Frowning, she brushed it away without a thought, digging out a big enough hole for her to fit into before peering back down at Radimir.
She breathed a sigh of relief to see him still alive, and then shouted down to him, "Hurry!" before she disappeared to the world above.
He was relieved himself to see her finally make it up and out of this cavernous hell, but he wasn't sure he would be so lucky. He was exhausted and out of breath from the knocking around one of the stonemen had given him. His grip felt slippery on the vines and he nearly fell down once more as he climbed up as best he could.
He was almost there. He could feel the morning light just above him, the dust of dawn nearly in his grasp as he reached the top. But it was a bittersweet sensation. The breath of him was yanked out as the vine was suddenly yanked from the wall and snapped like lightning from the ceiling above. Radimir gave a yelping cry as panic set in, feeling as if it would all be for naught in that moment. He didn't know it consciously then, but he'd screamed out Zarrah's name as his hand instinctively reached out for his whip.
He swung it up and out with a deafening crack just as he was falling and he hoped against all hope to the high heavens that Zarrah would catch the end of it.
Hearing her name, Zarrah whirled around to duck back down into the hollowed world below, barely catching the sound of the whip and barely catching the end of it. And it had hurt, and her muscles were burning as she grunted and pulled upon the whip, slowly pulling Radimir towards the top.
Radimir gave a hoarse yelp when the whip stuck straight, catching him from the deadly grasp of the stonemen below. He cried and when Zarrah managed to pull him close enough to the ledge, he grabbed it on his own and pulled himself over the edge.
Zarrah gave Radimir some space, peering only once down below.
"That was a close one." Then she blinked and looked back up at him "Are you alright?" She noticed his bruises with a frown.
Radimir was incredibly shaken, even more so than when the bridge had given out from underneath him. He was trembling, breathing heavily and looking at her with sore, reddened eyes, finding tears had fallen from his face. He didn't know what came over him or why, but he suddenly began to sob, very softly, and buried his face in his hands.
Catching the tears in his eyes, Zarrah moved swiftly to his side.
"Radimir?" Placing a hand upon his shoulder, she tried to look into his eyes, but it seemed his face was plastered into his hands as he sobbed, so she drew her arms around him tight, and just held him close.
"It'll be ok, Radimir," she spoke gently, her voice barely a breath. "We'll survive this, we have to." And she smiled subtly and nuzzled her face against his hair. "Because you still owe me. You said you'd help me see the world."
As soon as the arms went around him, Radimir melted into a heap and his sobbings quietered but the tears did not stop. He pulled his hands from his face and his arms went around her. He pressed his face against her shoulder and the tears continued. His body quivered and he gripped her hard against him.
It was the weight of everything that had happened that crippled him, finally to pass over his mind and heart. His father, his home, his faith, and the fact that in some way Carnavus had been somehow the cause of it all. Radimir gripped her harder and just laid there. And the only one that had been there to carry him was Zarrah. He loved her more then and turned his face up to her and peered at her with reddened eyes.
"You're right...we have to go on," he whispered. His father would have wanted him to do that most of all. To carry on. "Let's get back to the old man," he whispered.
Zarrah kept quiet and just held him to help sooth him. She felt awkward for it, not being that well versed in this sort of thing, being primarily she had lived on her own with nothing but her body to use to trick or kill men. Now that she had someone to rely on, it was... different, though not necessarily a hard pill to swallow.
When he mentioned moving on, she nodded, though as she looked around, it was hard to tell which direction to take.
"I'll be happy to get out of this place," she said with a dry laugh. "Though which path should we take? It doesn't seem like anything we do here is easy." The way out, included.
Radimir took his eyes out to the dreary light around them and the blank emptiness of the grasslands that surrounded in every direction. His eyes were sore and burned when the air hit them and he turned them back to Zarrah. He smiled and when he gathered the energy to stand, stood with her, helping her up. His wounds were little debilitating, the bruises along his back and ribs were making him sore and stiff in movement, but he wouldn't stop, even for a second until they were well and out of danger. And had completed the task given to them.
They had the stone, that was what mattered most and they were both alive. Radimir put an arm around her for support and eventually turned his head up to give a loud whistle. There was a soft, distant neighing in response, the sound of Thorian not too far from where they stood. They were on the edge of some plateau and had to find a safe way down before they could ride back to the fishing village. Radimir could feel his head throbbing a little, but no longer did it feel as if he was thrashed with a stone or the ground.
He limped toward the edge and found a small path that was carved out from the rocks, spreading wider at the base but still hanging over a deadly edge below.
Seeing as they were both in ragged condition, but she fairing far better than he, Zarrah took the lead and helped guide Radimir down the path, to where she was smiling at the welcoming sight of Thorian as the beast pawed at the sweet grass. She approached him, stroking her hand across his nose before peering back towards Radimir.
They had come such a long way, and it seemed they were only one step closer to ridding themselves of the demons that chased them... but at what costs?
"It seems he's missed you," she commented, as the horse nuzzled at her side, then gave a happy chuff and stepped forward to sniff, then nibble at Radimir's hair.
Radimir was brought back to reality by Thorian's nuzzle against his hair. It wasn't long before the horse began to wiggle his lips against his cheeks and face in a strange form of kissing. When Radimir failed to respond, the horse took his head and threw it over his shoulder, pulling him back against him and soon Radimir's arms wrapped around his neck. He hugged his horse and pat him until he was able to look at the horse's eyes. He climbed on and motioned for Zarrah to climb hers. "The sun is just rising now. We should be able to make it before dawn," he said with a small smile.
Nodding, Zarrah drew her own horse close, whom she was thankful to Thorian for keeping her company, lest the horse had wandered off and they'd be down to just Thorian. Either way, She took this moment to stroke her own horse as her eyes drifted off towards the horizon. Though she made no.noise, she mounted her horse and began to set out on the unmarked trail.
Radimir quickly mounted Thorian after she did and followed her down the narrow path, going back the way they came. His mind was lingering on the glimmers and shades he'd seen within the darkness of Dagun's Drop. The journey had seemed risky - for it was. Too risky that it had been a miracle they even made it out alive. He wondered on the words of the old deathless man that had asked them to come here, to bring them a stone, to heal him...to help him die.
What lesson was there to be learned in that fact? Radimir didn't understand how that would help him heal, that the throbbing in his head would subside and his mind would be well. But the journey to Dagun's Drop had not been for nothing, for he considered what'd he'd already lost...and what he might lose yet as his eyes lingered to Zarrah who rode ahead of him.
He'd never sacrificed himself for anyone or anything. His pride was his strength, his mountain. But he realized several times within the caves that he would die to protect her, to help her and save her... And with that thought, he found some comfort.
"The night's quiet," she spoke, her voice barely above the hissing of crickets buzzing inside the tall grass. The sun had just about faded, the sky turning into a deep wine color and casting the pair of them in deep, orange hues of light. Zarrah peered back at Radimir, and catching something in his gaze, she smirked and raised a brow, inquiring, "What?"
[wasn't the sun just rising?]
At last they made it to the plains and Thorian was thankful for the softness of the grass and the soft sound of crickets and grassbugs. Radimir blinked at Zarrah when she spoke, not realizing he'd left his eyes lingering on her for a good long time. "I...um," he stumbled over his words and turned his eyes straight ahead, nudging Thorian to trot along a little faster.
"I was just thinking. How lucky I am," he said. Another breath, eyes to the sky. "You never told me why you said what you said. When you told me not to be afraid if you died. What did you mean?"
Ooc: lol. Umm.. I just had surgery so don't judge! Lol. And since its too painful to edit posts via my phone, just ignore that particular detail XD
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Zarrah's eyes were playful as they latched upon his, though his inquiry was unexpected, she tried to keep her cool composure, though it appeared forced. Turning away she simply shrugged.
"I just meant it would not be so easy to kill me." She peered up at him again, the playfulness having returned to her eyes as she smirked. "Many men have tried, and all of them failed." Including Carnavus...
Radimir was brushed off by the forced playfulness of her gaze. He smiled back, but felt a little bereft for it. Instead of pressing the issue, since he knew she wasn't going to extrapolate on it, he just smiled back and continued to ride beside her. "I could have succeeded," he replied softly. "But your beauty stayed my hand. You're a lucky woman."
Zarrah's smirk tugged leftward as she glanced coolly his way, eyes lingering upon him and not missing his attempt to smile through his disappointment. But she didn't press it and rose her chin higher, "And so it is how I stated it.... No man can kill me."
"Then I suppose it makes my sacrifice for naught. If no man can kill you, then I guess I was foolish to try and save you," he said with a playful smirk of his own.
Zarrah smiled back and went quiet once more. They still had some ways to.go.before returning to the village, and she continued to enjoy the silence, and the fact she was able to.dodge his question again.
At her silence, Radimir frowned at her, but said nothing further. He rode on in his own silence. Though she said nothing, she already answered him with whatever he might have asked. It was enough for him. Radimir nudged Thorian's side and he bolted off ahead.
The pair remained silent for the rest of the journey, and as the sights and sounds of the waterside town finally came into view, Zarrah slowed down the pacing of her horse. By now, from the long day's events, she had all but forgotten the name of this village, just knew where it was. Dark clouds were rolling in, sweeping winds through her hair. By then, Zarrah had halted her horse and called out softly his name, "Radimir..." And the winds howled between them, all but erasing her voice as her eyes sought him. "The.. time still isn't right for you to know all of my secrets. It's why I won't talk about what has all happened in my past."
After all, he didn't know that much about her past. Caster did. And for a split second, her eyes swept across the reeded path, as if expecting she might find the other man from her past-
But even she knew he'd be nothing more now than a ghost.
[It is called Waterside]
When they reached the village at last, trudging through the marshy plains, Radimir was just happy to see civilization once more. To finally be around life, real life, not crystals and spirit orbs and stone men that wanted to see their demise. They had the crystal from that dreadful place, had seen things they'd never forget and Radimir ventured onward, feeling as if he could sleep for days. The horses were corralled in a raised stall, atop the water.
Crickets resounded loudly through the reeds and light was barely rising above on the horizon. But if it was difficult to tell if it was morning or evening. But Radimir didn't care. All he wanted to do was get much needed rest. As he helped Zarrah down from her horse, he peered at her through the gloom. For now the matter of her past was gone from his mind, Radimir put both hands on either side of her face and leaned his forehead against hers. "Let's get some rest," he whispered softly.
Zarrah smiled at his words and let her hands rest over his.
"Yes, but I have a feeling we won't be able to rest until we pay that old man a visit," she said giving him a knowing look. "But once this is all done and over, we'll be able to continue our way into seeing the world."
And back to pretending nothing was wrong...
Radimir nodded to her, knowing their journey wasn't yet finished though he wanted very much for it to be. They took the stone from the saddlebags and wrapped it in a cloth that Radimir cradled against his chest like a newborn child. He walked with Zarrah back to the old man's hut, which seemed even more quiet in this darkened place between dawn and dusk. He slowly opened the beads and passed through, looking for the familiar ancient figure through the shadows.
Zarrah's hand went out and held onto Radimir's wrist.
"You... go ahead. I'll just wait out here. I... just feel strange when I'm in there. I'll explain it later." Maybe.
And before he could protest, Zarrah slipped away.
Radimir had never felt further separated from Zarrah than when she slipped away from him in that moment. He said nothing more and ventured inside, finding the figure of the old man when he delivered the stone. He just watched him smile and close his eyes, laying back at last when his body began to whither away like desert winds on stone statues that had stood the test of time and were now being drifted away with sand.
Radimir didn't know it, but he had tears across his cheeks and he sniffed, saying nothing and just watching the old man's body turn to dust and the orb withering away with him. And he felt empty inside, alone, just as he'd always been.
Zarrah stood over by the horses. She wasn't sure why she couldn't see this to the end. Something about it kept her quiet, kept her hushed. The dark magics that had promised her three times at life- three chances...
How could she explain? And what would it mean to Radimir if she did tell him? Leaning her head against Nieti, she contemplated climbing upon her and just riding away. But her legs felt like lead, and instead of running, she tried to bury away her feelings, instead.
Eventually, Radimir did emerge from the old man's hut, and as he did so, he felt lighter, freed and his head no longer pounded. Though he was still dead tired, he had a feeling he could sleep tonight without fear of nightmares or the touch of evil. His father was gone, at peace, and somehow, so was he. He made his way back to the stables, not knowing where Zarrah had gone, but was surprised to find her there all the same.
He smiled at her and took to brushing Thorian lightly. "He passed. I'm glad for him. I can't imagine the burden of many hundred years," he said quietly, mostly to himself as he tended to his steed.
Even though she knew the man was dead, Zarrah's heart went out to him. To see the expression, so clearly on his face, even now, after it had been - what, nearly a day since they had met him and gone on their journey..
Still, she felt a kinship and turned her eyes back towards the hut.
"So he really is gone?" she repeated, and part o fher felt the need to see it for herself. She kept her eyes upon the hut before declaring, "I'd like to see the body now." And then she added, as she took a step forward, "Alone."
This was something personal to her, something not even she could understand- and the one man that tried to explain it to her was dead. Nothing more.
Making her way back towards the hut, she entered into his place to hwere the in-scents were fading and his body- just appearing as if he were asleep.
Hesitantly, she approached, and knelt down beside him, studying his form with interest. Yes.. he really did look as if he were just sleeping..
but was he dead? A touch to his skin confirmed he was stiff with death, and chilling already. But even still, as she lowere dher head.. she had to wonder..
would he just awaken tomorrow with the fall of the moon?
[I'm pretty sure I wrote his body faded away like sand. That's all she'd find when she enters.]
Radimir wouldn't have made a move to follow her even if she invited him. He was moved on his own right by the passing of the old man, and coming to terms with the loss of his father had been a hard one. The man with the iron fists had torn him to shreds, that he could be sure, but in his heart burned no move toward vengeance. All he could do was feel sorry for the stranger, the stranger that would find no home, no love, no reason to be but blood and death.
OOC: Sorry.
When Zarrah opened her eyes from her moment of reflection, she realized what she had seen was not a body, but a pile of sands. Sands from the desert.. the Moraki, which was still a distance away. A part of her ached for her home she left, but another part of her was glad that life was all behind her. But even still... she reached forward to ghost her hands across the sands...
The desert would always be apart of her.
Bowing her head, she softly sang for the man's soul, and when she was done, tears wet her eyes. Another moment more, and they'd be drying and it would be time to move on again...
She emerged from the hut, her countenance, grey. She wasn't sure how to digest the loss of a man who had been cursed much as she- but to see what her body would become, nothing but the sands, was strangely calming. She supposed it made sense, for that's where the whispers and promises came from- and to a body with chances, it would go unto dust once the pact was met- and be nothing no more.
Approaching Radimir, she said nothing at first as she reached for her horse.
"We should go."
There was nothing more for them here.
Standing beside their respective steeds, he supposed was respite enough and Radimir nodded to her, wordlessly mounting and bounding off away from Waterside in the night. With the old man dead and the quest accomplished, Radimir felt lighter with the prospect of having that finished, but now weighted with the though of having to face the uncertain future. Where would they go, what would they do, what reason kept them travelling together? Radimir could not answer these questions and kept his eyes to the stars, mapping their way north.
It was barely a day's travel, but Zarrah was exhausted and asked Radimir if they could make camp. Once one was established, she scouted the area and found a nice river nearby. Smirking over at Radimir, she only told him simply,
"I'm going to the river to bathe." And gave him just one knowing looking before she finished tethering her horse and making her way to the stream.
Removing her clothing, they fell into a heap within the grasses, and now, standing naked beneath the setting sun, she stepped out into the cool waters and enjoyed the sensation of it against her skin.
He couldn't have agreed with her more that they stop finally as the sun began to set on the horizon. As they stopped, Thorian chuffed and was growing hungry and bit at the long grass, tired and snorted much needed relief when Radimir patted his steed and took off the saddle and bags from his back. He did the same for Zarrah's horse and patted them down before he began to make camp. He was glad to Thorian and Zarrah's mount had taken so well with each other and she teased him with a flick of her tail.
Radimir set up a small area for a fire as he rolled out the blankets and set them before the fire. He knew the dangers of setting a blaze in an open area like this, but they were flanked on either side by tall grass and it was enough to give them cover at least. The clouds did not look promising as they hung above them however. So he worked instead to set up an extra blanket to shield them from the rain, constructing a cloth lean-to with rope and wooden stakes.
Once he was done, he turned toward the river where Zarrah was bathing and followed after her. "Zarrah," he said. "I made camp! Zar-" And his eyes fell upon her naked form glistening in the moonlight.
She turned at Radimir's voice and he might have caught her smile, though it was dark and the twilight reflected beautifully within her eyes. But she said nothing, and simply stepped out into the waters before the deeper areas clothed her form.
He let his eyes take her in in that time and he felt his breath leave him then. Radimir stepped forth into the water, then remembered his own clothes and quickly slipped out of them. "I feel grungy too. Perhaps it would be wiser to bath together. It would certainly be quicker."
"Quicker?" Zarrah quirked a brow at him as he grinned, the twilight dancing in her eyes as she did so. The twilight also danced across the dark water's surface as her body moved through it slowly, so that the ripples splayed and cut their reflection.
Radimir could hear the roll of thunder passing over head, obscuring the moonlight for the moment and he took his time in becoming accustomed to the water, keeping his silence and focusing on getting clean himself.
Glancing up towards the sky as the clouds rolled in to mask the stars and moonlight, she then peered from the heavens back to Radimir. By now, she seemed just a wicked form of shadows, her body, glowing faintly in the darkness as she too, focused on letting the river waters clean her not only her body, but her mind as well.
"Seems as if there's a coming storm," she said, rising up from the waters, back to him as her black hair suctioned to her back like liquid midnight as waters sparkled and rivered through it.
"There is. You can feel the chill in the air," Radimir replied thoughtfully. He washed his hair, the waves turning dark from the water. When his eyes fell upon her, his breath left him in a quiet sigh. He trudged through the water to step behind her. "But I don't think we'll be cold do you?" Radimir placed his hands on her hips and slid them up along her sides where they reached her hair and gently combed his fingers through it.
Zarrah turned towards him as a heavy wind came past, and blew soft, wet pieces of her dark hair about above the waters. Her eyes met to his, and they shined in what was left of the snuffed moonlight.
"No, I don't think so at all,"s he told him, her own hand caressing his face.
Radimir chuckled at her as he pulled her hair across her shoulders and shivered underneath the wind and her touch. Some stubble was growing along his cheeks and lips and would be scratchy to the touch. "Do you know of any ways in particular we can keep warm?" he whispered against her lips, grazing them but not kissing them. His hands slid down her back and stopped just before the rising mound of her behind, spreading his fingers out against the cool skin there.
"I am not sure," she told him cooly, and peered back at him through lowered lashes. "But I do know body heat shared can become as hot as the desert sun."And it was here she cupped his face, thinking back to when they first met in the desert, and found herself hesitating against his lips.
"Do you wish to kiss me, Radimir?" she inquired softly as a gentle wind caressed them and was followed by a rumbling purr of thunder. "Do you wish to share my heat?" And it was here her own hands moved towards his back, and felt up the muscles there with slow and steady ease.
Radimir kept his breath just before her lips and he gave a thoughtful sigh. "I wish to share more than that," he murmured against her. "I want you to feel the fire you deserve. For we are children of the sun, you and I." He grazed her lips again, his hands sliding further down, feeling the muscle of her ass and gripping their softness regardless. His lips leaned in teasingly, kissing her with seeming innocence. "Do you want to kiss me?" he asked in turn, pulling but a breath away.
At his teasing kiss, she felt her lips twitch in reaction to it as she smiled and looked from his lips to his eyes.
"But of course," she told him, barely breathing the response as her hands smoothed upon his back, resting upon the tight muscles of his ass. "A kiss, and much more." And it was here she leaned forward, hoping to claim a prize of his lips as she leaned into him, her breasts pressing to his bare chest.
Thunder rolled loudly up above them and the vibrations pulsed through his body along with the racing of his heart. Her lips, so close, and yet so teasingly far away. He resisted her kiss for a moment, teasing her a little longer. It was only when he felt the first few droplets of rain coming upon their heads did he lean forward and kiss her then, hotly, his mouth devouring hers. "Zarrah," he moaned lightly. "We should get inside the tent. It's dry..."
"Dry?" She laughed against a kiss. "Why not remain out here? We could make love against the rain."
Radimir shivered visibly at her words. "I don't want to get sick, catch a sneeze or a cough," he smirked at her, and kissed her hotly. Despite his words, he still didn't move to walk out of the river and instead, wrapped his arm around her waist and he buried his face down along her neck and shoulder, sucking on her skin.
"The only thing you might catch is my fury if you don't fuck me out here, Radimir," she purred. And she felt heated beneath his ministrations. She even craned her neck so he could more easily taste her skin as her hands slid up and felt over the muscle of his back as she sighed in contentment.
"I've suffered that before. And lived. You don't frighten me, Zarrah," Radimir playfully growled as the rains over the grasslands poured down on them more powerfully. His lips traveled down to her bosom and already his swelling member prodded against her flesh. His hands slipped down her body, touching her all over, feeling her flesh and clawing at it with his fingertips as he sat on his knees.
Lightning illuminated their form as her body melted at his touch. She felt the fires of desire become stoked as his member poked and prodded between her legs. She easily caved to it, letting it slip between her legs, but not within her sex as her hands raked up and down his back before one slipped into his hair as he nursed at her breasts, and she just let him work as slowly, ever so slowly, she opened up her sex for him. And once they were joined, she moaned and clung onto him, gripping his shoulder and hair as a roar of thunder muffled her cries.
They joined so easily, moved in unison with one another like their bodies were one and Radimir had knew from lessons passed that satisfying a woman like Zarrah was a man's hard earned task. He worked at her, pistoned in and out of her in every position he could possibly conceive of and came several times to the sensations of her sex nursing on his. He kept her back to the bank of the river as he made love to her, moving faster and with need, taking her lips into his, biting them, sucking on them, pulling them, kissing her roughly and trying to make her feel as many sensations as he could as rain poured down on them.
How many hours had it been? Just one? Two... perhaps even three, as the pair writhed beneath the rain as it fell in heavy sheets upon them and pocked the waters and muddied it with it's fury. And only did the lightning come, seeming to light up the skies and their forms each time their bodies changed positions. One time she was knee deep in the mud, another, he over her and holding her legs up as he stood, then she, over him, dominating him and riding him like wild. It wasn't until he was over her again and she half drowning did she finally sing- and a strike of lightning helped amplify it, as again and again, she was pleased by him and it was only made sweeter by the fall of the rain and the dangerous roar of thunder that shook the very grounds as they made love.
Radimir leaned over her by the time she had orgasmed and he with he once more, shielding her from the rain with his body. He smiled at her, feeling as it if was exactly what they both needed. "Now, let us get dry," he breathed against her cheek. He kissed her again, softly, gently, despite the shivers his body suffered from the rain. "A tent sounds quite pleasing by now. Though anywhere with you is more than pleasing."
Zarrah smiled. She was tired from their quest, and just let herself lay there, her hair fanning out in the shallow waters around her.
"Yes... but let me clean myself of our sex, first." ANd she stood up, water gushing down her body as she moved to clean herself off as best she could, before she joined him and moved out of the water and elsewhere to help him make a tent for the night. It seemed the storm had outlasted them- something that actaully made her smile as the rains poured down upon them mercilessly as they attempted to put up a tent and fought the winds.
The tent was already erected when they arrived on the scene and the horses were frolicking with each other in their absence and Radimir could have sworn he caught Thorian amidst a dismount at their approach.
Radimir allowed Zarrah to enter first and followed behind her, closing the flap. He shivered and reached for his blanket, throwing it over his shoulders and trying to warm up from the rain.
Once they were both inside, Zarrah shivered against Radimir, clinging against him for warmth as they settled in for the night. Though it took some time to.calm her.teeth from chattering, she eventually settled in for the night. The only problem was she could not sleep- not with the guilt of her secret looming over them. So as the winds howled, she fought.internally.with what to do with herself, for if their relationship was serious, Radimir would find out sooner or later about the truth of her curse. And how was she to explain that she had two more lives to spare before she'd die?
Radimir had fallen fast asleep, though it wasn't a deep one and his eyes seemed half open as they gazed out to the side of the tent. "Zarrah," he felt himself asking. "Why won't you tell me...? Do you not love me?"
Zarrah felt herself tense and cringe when he spoke. But even as she frowned she knew there was no way out of the truth. Sitting up, she peered down at him for a good long while in silence before she answered, "It's because I care.for you that I'm afraid to tell."
"And you're positive I won't understand..." Radimir concluded. His back was still to her as he remained laying on his side. He didn't need to be told twice. But for some reason it still hurt to know that she could not trust him with all her secrets. Perhaps it was better not to know.
Zarrah's frown deepened.
"That's not fair, Radimir. It's just that..." And she sighed as.she hesitated over her response. "I've been cursed and its not something I can easily tell or explain." Though the more she thought over it, the more she frowned. "Remember the old man we had just helped from the village?" And here her eyes desperately sought his before she'd explain. "Our curses are one in the same..."
Radimir only partly turned his head to peer at her in the dark of their tent. He didn't know what to say, except that he knew there was some truth to the man's allegations. The old man had looked at Zarrah as if she were familiar, but she had been so standoffish, had paid no attention to him. But what was more was that she did not trust Radimir enough to hold the truth and he sat up to face her. "So what are you saying? You cannot die like ordinary people? You need some orb to finish you off?"
Zarrah frowned. She didn't like the tone Radimir was giving her.
"I wouldnt know..." She said through a cringe, all I know is I was dying once, but my.desire for.revenge was heard by something and that something has saved me from death once before. I... There, was some voice I heard that promised me three chances before my soul would be offered unto his." She laughed weakly at the thought. " I had nothing to live for except the hatred that consumed me. So I agreed and so I was gifted with several chances to escape death before my real.time would come."
Radimir sat up and peered at her with solemn eyes. He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. By her tone, he doubted she was lying to him. For what reasons did she have to lie to him about that, he didn't know, but one thing he did know was that he believed her and gave a nod of affirmation.
"I believe you," he replied. "It seems farfetched. But after all that's happened to us, I'd be a fool not to. So why couldn't you want to tell me?"
Despite Radimir's grip, she found herself removing her hand shamefully from his as she frowned and looked down at the.ground.
"Because, only in life we can ever be together. And once death claims us, what we have will be no more. Though I suppose most would not concern themselves with death, I have seen it twice and know what a fool I was for allowing myself to sell my own soul back into the slavery I so.abhor."
Radimir peered at her with solemn eyes at her words. The tent seemed darker than it had been before. And he could only see her through the lightning flashes from the storm that raged on outside. "I don't care," Radimir said at last and reached a hand up to her face. He let the coolness of her flesh pour in through his fingertips and he gave a shuddering breath.
"There's got to be a way to break your curse. A way to save you... I-"
At his words, Zarrah pulled her face away from his hand and found herself flinching, though it was more a flinch of shame than anything else.
"Please... it's difficult enough realizing the consequences of my actions are not my own, and for now, there's no real fear of an end, as neither of us are in danger, and I still have two lives left to live but..." and here she hesitated, gritting her teeth as lightning lit up the tent and she was able to see Radimir's face, even in the palest of lights while it was brief before her own words failed her and she felt her eyes moisten with tears.
"Let us just forget it for tonight," she said softly, her voice barely above the volume of the winds.
Radimir frowned at her sorrow, caused by a sensation he could not help her with, or what aid he could provide might simply not be enough. When she managed the gumption to look at him, he reached a hand up and gently brushed away the light tears he saw glistening in the dark. "Okay," he nodded to her. He put it behind him then and kept his hands on her face, but it was only for a moment before he leaned forward and kissed her softly, sweetly and sat back. "Perhaps we should sleep then while the night is still young."
She nodded rigidly, and though the pair attempted to return to slumber, she found herself unable to rest. So it was over an hour later she rose again and left the confines of the tent as she paced about through the pouring rain. It seemed the rains were unrelenting, and about as dogged as her mind was as she could not get herself to think of anything else but her fate, and after a time, she cried out angrily and withdrew her blade and struck at a tree; then did it again and again and again until her arms were swore and her hands, nearly blistering. And it was there she dropped to one knee and let herself sob, the rains masking the tears that were so clearly there as the winds howled all around her.
Sleep did not come easy for Radimir either and he heard her screams all the while he simply stared at the cloth ceiling of their temporary housing. He didn't know what he could say or do to calm her down and simply watched her from afar as she hacked away at an innocent tree for no reason. She needed to endure her torrent of emotion; for he couldn't always soothe the wounds that burned so deep inside, to wipe away the scars that marred her mind and heart. He watched her from the dark, and said nothing.
It was only then did she return to the tent, exhausted as she lay, panting and in a sweat, ad it was only then sleep finally claimed her, but her dreams were uneasy, and peace only came come morning, when the rains had ceased and the morning birds were calling. She opened her eyes and simply stared at the tent all around them, breathing soft and slow. Well, for now it seemed, she at least survived the night- now it was just a matter of time to see what sort of path destiny would cut befre them today.
Radimir had risen before Zarrah, having fallen asleep some time before she came in and tried to sleep herself, just a few minutes really and stood up before the tent. He had clothed himself and peered up around them, noting something strange. "Zarrah...come here," he said softly. "Tell me what you see in the distance to the south... That black cloud so low to the ground. Does that look like...a sand storm, to you?"
Rising, she joined him at his command and peered at the sky to where he gestured. SHe furrowed her brow.
"I'm not sure, but skies like that don't bode well. The weather here in this place seems unfortunate. All of this rain, now this? I suppose we should move on, or seek shelter somewhere until it passes. Come, let's get the horses."
Radimir nodded to Zarrah's command and immediately began dismantling their camp. The clouds had a nasty look to them, furious, angry...almost vengeful. When he was all packed up, Radimir mounted Thorian and saw the storm was much closer than it had been when they got up. "We'd best get moving. Maybe we can make it to the next village over before it reaches us."
Zarrah mounted her horse swiftly and followed Radimir's lead, but even her mare sensed the tension in the air- not just from her mistress, but from the storm roaring towards them from the distance. And through the plains it tore at them, tossing Zarrah's long dark hair wildly about, and that of the mane of their horses.
"I'm not sure we can make it to a town!" she called over at Radimir, fingers gripping the reins. "Do you see any sort of cave or some form of shelter we can take? I'm afraid this storm might be upon us quicker than we think!"
Radimir shook his head. "I do not see any. But we must try to look for real shelter," he called out to her. "I see hills rising in the west! Perhaps there is an inlet there!"
Zarrah nodded, the wind wildly tossing her hair.
"Then to the hills we shall go! Come on!" And she pressed her boots sharply into Nieti's side and the mare gave a cry and jerked forward, hooves tearing into the ground.
"The inlet seems so far away!" Zarrah cried over to her snake eyed companion. "I just hope we can make it." And peering over her shoulder, she flinched as a bright bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds and struck the ground, igniting a small fire in it's path.
"See those bolts of lighting?" she said, cringing as another one bolted wildly out from the black clouds. "Seems we have more to fear than just the winds." And she gestured towards the trees that were now nearly half bent over from the force. "I'd hate to see what else this storm brings." And she pressed her heels even deeper to her horses side, whispering apologies but pressing the beast onward as the horse huffed and sweated but continued on their course, tearing up more ground as she went.
Thorian pounded the ground in growing anxiety. Radimir rode him hard and he pounded the ground that both horses left a combined cloud of dust - mediocre in comparison to the dust clouded the swarmed behind them in their wake. It was rapidly approaching, carried by vicious winds that whipped all around them. Radimir could feel himself sweating despite the gusts of wind.
They couldn't outrun the storm and he could feel fear crawling within his heart, gripping it in a cold clutch, beyond all hope.
The lightning shook the ground and frightened Thorian. The horse cried out in fear, but Radimir would not let him quit or slow down. He couldn't. Not when there was still so much longer to go.
Out running a storm was madness, but the cyclone that suddenly struck out from the skies made Zarrah's heart leap into her throat. It looked like a sand cyclone, though it was black as night and moving wild and fast.
"We have to get over there and quick!" And she tried to press her horse even faster, but the alcove seemed only to get further and further away.
As Zarrah and her mount pounded the ground, Radimir suddenly felt himself falling further and further behind as both Thorian tired and the storm crept up on them all that much faster. There was no escaping their doom and in the midst of their escape, Radimir gave one final glance to Zarrah as she rode on in the distance before he and Thorian vanished in the black cloud.
OOC: I dunno if you had plans for them you know, probably dying from the storm, but I took some liberties and if the new character tossed into here doesn't wokr, lemme know XD
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The eye of the storm, the fury of a woman- both of them were one of same. She had been exiled for going against her 'leader' and 'lover's' command, and now wore the terrible scar across her face as proof. But the hate simmered inside her, and the powers of the storm, now commanded at her finger tips, proved that she was very much still alive, and alot more dangerous tha before. For she was preparing the world now for her chaos. How she had come to be in the Serha Plains was besides the point, but it was a great place to do her training. So while she revealed in the beauty of the dark cyclone, she noted the horse and rider being drawn in.
With a smirk, she gave a wave of her hand and the cyclone had disappeared. And what Radimir would find was himself, (and now a very spooked horse) were just a few meters away from a pair of lady's boots. And Valeska's smile was wicked, her one eye, milky and white while the other flashed at them dangerously before a sort of purr escaped her lips as she studied Radimir and his own unique eyes.
"Eyes of a serpent," She wrinkled her nose. "How unique." And the tone was patronizing.
Radimir had blacked out as the storm passed and when he awoke, his eyes fluttered open to the sight of a disgustingly haggard woman before him. He coughed and spat out pieces of sand that had made it into his mouth and his horse was dazed and shaking off what sand had collected on him somewhere off to the side. He sat up and scurried backwards in the dirt and peered at Valeska.
"Who are you!? What have you done!? Where's Zarrah!?" Radimir growled and was tempted to reach for his sword, but his hands were stuck beneath him. Instead he peered up at the ugly woman with caustic eyes. "You made that storm. Why?"
Valeska rolled her eyes, her expression souring.
"So many questions, yet not thankful your alive. Though you look like a man of the dessert. What do you know of Essryn?" And she, of course, simply ignored all of his senseless questions. Really, she was just playing around, but the desert intrigued her. Perhaps she could find use for this stranger, or in the very least, just use him as a temporary guinea pig for her magics.
"Oh, and if Zarrah is your horse, she's right behidn you." And she wrinkled her nose and gave a forced pitying smile at the man. Perhaps he was just not the brightest?
"A woman, my companion... Then she has outrun your little storm," Radimir said, finding his strength and dusting himself off. He shook the dirt from his hair and stalked over to his horse, pulling Thorian to his feet and peering all around them. He mounted his horse and would not give Valeska the satisfaction of an answer before kicking the animal and riding away.
Valeska's face twisted at the man's rudeness.
"Apparently, no body ever taught Snake Eyes any manners."
And with a wicked grin, she conjured a ball of lightning and struck it in his path, forcing horse and rider to an abrupt halt, lest the blue blaze strike them down. not that she cared either way. As long as she was getting their attention.
"So he's after a woman..." and she formulated a plan as her eye sparkle with dark glee. "This could be interesting.." Perhaps she could find this 'Zarrah' woman, first.
As the lightning spark exploded the ground in front of him, Radimir pulled Thorian to a halt and he skirted around, shooting daggers at the woman. "What do you want!?" he growled, scowling at the woman. Not that that would do him much good.
Valeska bared her teeth in a dark smile.
"Who ever said I was done playing? Now halt your horse or I'll strike him down. Though that would be quite a pity, considering how pretty he is."
Radimir's eyes grew wild at the threat and he turned Thorian round to peer at her dead in the eyes. "What do you want?" he asked with gravel in his throat. He spat at her and vaulted of the stallion's back, stalking back to her.
Valeska gave a satisfied smile and half purr. It was always fulfilling to watch men obey, though as she had been focusing her attention on Radimir, a dark force was stalking her from the tall grass.
Valeska approached Radimir, eyeing his body over with a hungered look before her eyes met to his as she stood, just a foot or two from where he now stood.
"I was asking about Essyrn. Are you familiar at all with the Cult of Storms?"
Radimir didn't like the way she was looking at him. He didn't like this situation, and he didn't like her at all. But his dislike wasn't going to help him get back to Zarrah, and get away from this woman. She claimed to have made the storm that swept him from Zarrah, and if that was true as he suspected it was, then simply running away wasn't going to do him any good.
"I am not," he said plainly, narrowing his eyes at her, hoping to kill her with just a look. "What is your interest in them? I suspect you believe they reside in that desert hellhole."
Valeska gave a leer and tilt of her head.
"I've been told one exists, and that a talisman of the Gods resides in such a temple.." She thought back to her master- her teacher...
He had only granted her so muhc of power, but the item she was looking for could open the door to so much mre. IN fact, because of her powers of the storm, she should have much easier access- if the relic she desired still existed.
"Have you ever been to the glass desert? The Seraj Isa?"
"Even if I did, I wouldn't take you there! The desert chooses only the worthy to live. And you'd best try your luck there," Radimir growled. He was tired of this useless conversation and stepped back toward Thorian. He pet the animal, who chuffed uncomfortably. "Begone from me, Crone! I tire of your useless words. I must be on my way."
Valeska's finger tips crackled with a warning threat of lightning.
"I am not a patient woman, nor a forgiving one,"s he said, her voice more serious, more dark. "You will take me there or I'll-" And just then- a dark figure emerged from the thrush, and Zarrah moved twards her like a shadow, though when her blade tried to connect with the woman's face, a bolt of lighting sent Zarrah back into the grass.
It all happened so quickly, Radimir had whirled and tried to maintain a hold on Thorian while Zarrah had thrown herself from the grasses, or what remained of them. Sand flew everywhere and by the time it cleared, he stared in awe at her fallen form. Then his savagery turned to the stranger and he threw out his whip, slamming it against her back and side with expert precision, the whip cracking like a bolt of lightning itself.
Valeska let out a cry as the whip struck her, and in the same motion, let out a tremendous burst of wind from her form, that would knock anything down within her past. With her fists, now shaking at her sides, she turned to face Radimir and let electricity charge across her as he stalked towards where Radimir had fallen. One thing was clear, she was pissed. Slamming a fist into his throat, she yanked the man clean off the ground and sent a small surge of lighting through his form.
"Not so hot now are you, pretty boy?"
Radimir gagged and grunted with exersion at being thrown around like a useless limp ragdoll, but there was little he could do about it. He growled and groaned, trying to cope with the pain. "Kill me, witch. It would be an honorable death!"
"Kill you?" And she laughed at the idea, lightning tickling across the milky-white blindness of her eye. "I prefer torture." And using what strength she had, she hurled him to the ground and struck a bolt of warning at his legs.
"Then get on with it, you cretin. You bore me with your idle talk," Radimir growled. "Zarrah! Get out of here! Run!"
At the mention of Zarrah, Valeska's face twisted and suddenly, a fist met tot he back of her head. SHe was down in seconds, eating dirt as Zarrah stood over her form like a dark shadow. And she was pissed.
And as Valeska was spitting out grass, she gave a cackle before she grinned and turned around, slamming her boot into Zarrah's leg, which made the dark haired warrior stumble back, but not before catching Valeska by the boot for support. Jerking the blonde crazed woman forward, her foot slammed into her face, and Valeska went flying back to the dirt.
"Do you always attract crazy woman?" Zarrah asked, turning to Radimir and offering him a hand. "Quick. Call Thorian. We need to get away from this bitch and fast." But no sooner were the words spoken did Valeska throw herself onto Zarrah's back and screamed, attemptng to choke her.
The woman was insane and in the wake of being dropped to the ground, Radimir scrambled for his horse, running toward Thorian as the beast neighed wildly. He threw himself onto the saddle, trying to turn around in time to see her strangling Zarrah in the grass. Radimir drew his whip and when he was in range, cracking the whip in an attempt to wrap it around Valeska's neck and drag her off of Zarrah.
The whip met true and Valeska was gasping as it bond to her throat. Loosing her grip on Zarrah, Valeska struggled against the whip only momentarily until Radimir had her yanked off his companion on a strong pull.
Now free, Zarrah scrambled off the ground and withdrew a thin blade and placed it against the other woman's throat.
"It seems you've met with the wrong company."
Though as Zarrah's knife was kept to her throat, the woman summoned a surge of electricty that sparked across it's surface. Cursing, Zarrah dropped the blade and found one of Valeska's boots kicking her away. Rolling over, the blonde tried to loosen the whip from her neck. These fools would pay!
Radimir gave a savage pull to the whip and dug his heels into Thorian's side. The horse neighed furiously, terrified and thrilled all at once as he stepped a few paces away. Radimir's eyes burned with a torrent of rage and he whispered word in his serpent tongue and from the soil, the sands shifted with the emergence of several snakes that darted for Valeska's exposed flesh.
As the snakes burst from the sandy dirt, Zarrah jumped back and continued to back away, eyes wide and upon the thriving pile of snakes.
Valeska, who was struggling against the whip that was burning at her necks, turned to Radimira nd hissed about as nastily as the snakes,a nd as the beasts came at her, she kicked one away before pulling out her blade and lobbed two of their heads' off in one go. And then she turned and attempted to cut at Radimir's whip- but she'd soon find Zarrah's boot to her arm and with a cry, Valeska dropped her weapon to the dirt.
The remaining serpents jumped up at Valeska and clung to her clothing, no matter how she swung around. But the force of her own rage drew Radimir from the saddle, yanking him down toward the ground and he plummeted with a cry, releasing his hold on the whip. She was stronger than she looked, damn her, but Zarrah was distracting her enough, giving Radimir time to try and climb to his feet and scramble toward his sword on his belt, brandishing it and dashing toward her.
When Valeska would look up, a blade was at her throat, and slowly, her head raised to look at Zarrah. She could see why the man with serpent eyes kept her. She was a pretty thing- dark hair and skin, sun kissed from her time in the desert. Perfect. Another desert dweller. Valeska chuckled.
"You will stop this foolishness at once!" Zarrah demanded, gripping more tightly her hand over the blade. And she turned to Radmir and gestured towards him. "Find some rope."
"Rope? You aiming to tie me up?" the woman inquired, just as a crackle of lightning hissed across her skin and shocked the end of Zarrah's blade. Though the dark hair woman was taken off guard, she kept the blade pointed at their captive.
"Something like that," Zarrah sneered.
"Perhaps!" Radimir seconded. But he soon had a better idea and he raised his sword and slammed the butt of his hilt was cracked against her skull to knock her out.
Valeska fell over- unconscious. Zarrah blinked and turned to Radimir, smirking at him.
"Thanks."A nd she gave a flip to her dark hair. "Couldn't have done that better myself." And then turning back to where Valeska lay, she tilted her head and gave the blond woman's side a kick. "But what do we do with her? And what sort of mage is she?"
Radimir bundled his whip back to his side and sheathed his blade. "I don't know for sure but she said something about finding a Cult of Storms in Essyrn. And something like that. She is a weather witch, I suppose you'd call her. She made that giant sand storm that came our way in the plains. I'd sooner leave her here than drag her with is. Let her die in the sands."
Zarrah hardened her gaze.
"That could be problematic. But why was she attacking us? Did you do something to upset her?" And she gave Radimir a once over.
"I did nothing of the sort," he growled. "I was only trying to get back to you. Though where and how did you get here so quickly?"
Zarrah gestured towards the plains.
"I landed somewhere over there." And she winced, her arm and hip still aching for it. "Though I think I hurt my arm in the fall. Maybe my hip." Shaking her head, she peered at Radimir before glancing around, then looking back down to their blonde haired prisoner.
"Yes... I think leaving her here is the most wise decision. But if she was attacking us for no reason, rattling on about something crazy, who's to say she won't come after us again?" Zarrah frowned at this logic. "Let's get to our horses. I'm not about to let some crazed woman drag us back to the dessert." And her eyes went to Radimir. "Not when we had just gotten out." Giving a whistle, she looked around waiting to see if Nieti would come, and whistled and whistled a few more times with a frown.
"Nieit.. she isn't coming.." and she turned back to Radimir.
"Do you think something's happened to her? Perhaps she did not survive that wicked storm."
Radimir took his eyes to the south from whence they had once been imprisoned. They journeyed so far, worked so long to get out of that forsaken place where there was nothing more for them there. Zarrah had had her revenge, now Radimir's father had been put to rest. And just when they made it to the Plains here they were on the very edge of the place which they had tried to run.
But when Zarrah called Nieti and she refused to come, he perked his head up in alarm and he knew that they had to go back to look for her. "Come, mount Thorian! He will find her," Radimir said as he climbed onto the saddle of his horse. "Zarrah! Keep whistling for her. Kyaa!"
He kicked Thorian and the blood bay steed barreled south at the command of his rider, whinnying loudly in search of his companion.
Climbing on the saddle behind Radimir, his horse tore across the sandy plains. And Zarrah continued to whistle, eyes seeking desperately through the fields until something laying in the field caught her attention.
"Over there!" and the second they began to get close- she knew it was Nieti, and the black mare lay on her side, breathing long, sharp, labored breaths.
Thorian skitted to a halt, nearly passing the sweltering form of the black mare. Immediately Radimir pulled hard on his reins and stopped quick enough to leap off himself. He pulled a waterskin from his saddle bags and gestured for Zarrah to pull her up. "I think we got to her in time," he murmured, though inside he was afraid that they hadn't. He cupped water just underneath her mouth and let it pour and allowed the horse to drink to her heart's content.
Fear chilled through her veins as Zarrah remained crouched beside both man and horse. Even Thorian seemed upset, and bucked it's head and let out a cry as he smelled the fear and blood coming from the other horse. Nieti lifted her head after she had drank much from Radimir's hand, but nudged her nose into the hair and chuffed and chuffed, before letting out a soft cry towards her mate.
Zarrah took this time to observe the wound on her side and cringed.
"This doens't look good."
Radimir frowned at the wound and nodded in agreement. "But we can do more for her if we can at least get her to stand. She will die faster on her side," he offered and got up from his spot in the grasses and grabbed her reins and tried to gently coax her up. He blinked hot tears and only now realized it.
"Zarrah, help push her up, please!" he begged. "Thorian, please tell her it'll be all right."
At the sight of Radimir's tears, Zarrah realized she had a few of her own, and was standing in shock for a good long moment before his voice pulled her in. Moving to the black mare's side, she helped sooth the horse with her whispered words, and used what strength she could in hopes to get Neiti to stand, but the horse kept struggling against it, the wound in her side shooting up pains well through the horse's ribs.
Zarrah grimaced, but continued on. If it could help her survive, it was well worth the effort.
"Come on, Nieti,"s he whispered, stroking the horse's long cheek. "Stand up for me girl. Do it for me. Do it for Thorian."
Though it all seemed hopeless, eventually Zarrah had found the extra strength to help guide the horse to her feet- though it seemed Nieti wanted to collapse back onto her legs, she remained standing, but in a hunch, as she let out a gentle whinny of pain.
Radimir's eyes were red and he exhaled a breath of desperation. He knew the wound was grave, possibly fatal if they could not help her stand. Her insides would collapse in on themselves and she would suffocate as well as bleed to death. Radimir waited back a while from his efforts as Thorian moved his head down to nuzzle against Nieti. The horse gave a soft whinny and Radimir's eyes watched their silent conversation as their noses touched and wiggled.
Radimir looked at Zarrah then to the wound. On his belt, he plucked a small bag that had been filled with sand. His lips spoke softly in the serpentine tongue of his people. Pouring out some of the sand in his palm, he played with it for a time, drifting from one hand to the other before suddenly taking it to his lips and blowing hard on the sand. The wound was suddenly doused in it and Nieti roared on pain and reached down to nip at Radimir as he took his hands and plunged them into her side, pulling out the shard of glass that had been embedded deeply inside of her and as he pulled it out her wound began to close.
Zarrah watched in awe as Radimir not only plucked out the item causing her horse pain, but whatever it was he had chanted and sealed onto the sands was helping to seal her horse's wound. Her eyes wavered with stalled tears before she glanced over at him and smiled.
Stroking a hand down her mane, she rested her face against Nieti's cheek, all the while Thorian nuzzled against her.
"She'll be ok, Thorian,"s he whispered, petting his nose. "Little Nieti will be just fine."
Nieti frankly was still quite pissed at Radimir for sticking his hands into her side, but with Thorian there to comfort her, she didn't seem to mind so much. She stood at last and Thorian gave a happy neigh before he nuzzled Radimir and bit him affectionately and nibbled on Zarrah's hair. "She all right, yes," Radimir said, rubbing his arm and smiled at the black horse.
"Now let's get the hell outta here before that bitch wakes up!"
Zarrah nodded.
"Shall we both get on Thorian to give Nieti a break? I'd hate to see her become too strained when we need to make a run for it."
"Then we can walk on our own. Thorian, come." Radimir took what water was left in the skin and took him by the reins. "Come on! I don't want to go back to that desert... I don't want to get shocked in the ass by that woman!"
Zarrah moved hurriedly at his side, her heart racing well into her ears and her legs aching as they continued to move across the plains until the woman was out of sight- out of sound, and it was only then she peered up at Radimir.
"Do you think she'll follow us?"s he asked, her voice barely but a whisper as she gently stroked Nieti's long face.
Radimir had thrown his cloak over his face, to protect himself from the fierce winds that were picking up from all around them. Despite such however, the sky was relatively calm and he pulled Thorian on, though the animal started to get antsy. He turned back to Zarrah. "Possibly," he called after her. "It's just as well that she could be following us all ready. We must hurry."
At the sudden rise in winds, she grit her teeth and felt her body chill to the bone. That woman seemed to be able to control the weather, and if the winds were picking up; it could very well mean she was on her way.
Picking up her pace, she pulled Nieti along and tried to sooth her as they walked, but it seemed fruitless for it did nothign to help them both as they anxiously moved across the plains.
The winds were savage and ripped across the plains. The grasses parted as if a great invisible creature were stepping on them, passing through them and snapping them in its passage. "We have to get to lower ground, Zarrah!" Radimir called out to her over the howling gale. "So we can at least evade the wind!"
Zarrah looked left, then right, before peering back desperately to Radimir.
"But how? We're surrounded by plains on all sides."
"I...I don't know," Radimir said, uncertain. "I just have a bad feeling about all this."
Zarrah pressed her lips together as the wind grew worse and worse.
"Radimir..." And just as she found herself pausing against the winds, the entire ground began to shake. Her eyes went wide as she fought a hold on Nieiti.
"RADIMIR!" she cried out- but what could be done? And in a flash, that crazed woman from earlier was but a few yards away, her form seeming to rise up from the earth as a wicked tornado hissed and tore all around her body. Zarrah didn't need to say what she was thinking before all of them were lifted off the ground in one violent and crazed motion of tearing and powerful winds.
And it was only when they were back in Essyrn did she realize where they were as Zarrah pushed herself up from the sands she had been tossed to.
"The Moraki..."
And as she lifted her gaze, the blonde haired woman stood over her, her form nearly blinding her as the sun's rays danced past her-
and then she felt Valeska's boot to her face as she was kicked into the sands.
"Call me impatient. Call me a bitch- but I will get what I want- and the two of you will take me to the glass desert." And with a laugh she peered down at Zarrah and her bloodied nose. "After all, I can't be getting my hands dirty. Just think of your being here as practice for my powers as they grow."
And Zarrah watched with bitter eyes as a few remnants of lightning snaked across Valeska's body. This woman was crazy. But it seemed as if they were already falling right into her plan.
And to think...
her and Radimir had been so close to escaping the desert. So close to seeing the world.
The storm came too fast for them to escape. The horses screamed in terror at being lifted from the ground and Radimir was no better once the tornado struck them. They were thrown high up into the air, flailing and dropped quite unceremoniously onto the hard gravel-like sand. Radimir coughed up sand and found his lips had been cut from the impact, small dribbles of blood falling down into the dirt.
Thorian rolled onto his legs, shaken from the fall and immediately ran over to Nieti, nuzzling her with his nose.
Radimir climbed to his feet, dusting himself off and wiping the blood from his face. "I'm afraid I just don't know the way," he said, lying and scowling at the woman. "So you'll just have to kill me. We're useless to you." He didn't care what it cost, he wasn't going to bow to this woman, no matter what she demanded.
Valeska approached Radimir with more than violent rage within her eyes before she paused just before him, chewing on the inside of her cheek before her anger over took her and she back handed him across the face.
"I wouldn't kill you for your insolence." And she turned from him and placed a blade to Zarrah's throat. "But think of the consequences it could have on her."
The fire burned in Radimir's eyes that he had only known once before, when he found the torn corpse of his father. He grit his teeth and watched Zarrah's eyes for the longest time. But only a few heartbeats later did he clench his teeth together. "I don't know the way," he repeated. "I've never ventured to the Seraj Isa. It doesn't matter if you kill me first or her, we can't help you."
Valeska, growing impatient, pressed the blade in enough to draw blood.
"But you are from the desert." That much was obvious. The pair of them did not look Adelan enough, and she could see the way they hesitated- she had to guess they were exiled from it- or of some such.Perhaps they had bad luck int he games of the merchant princes?
But Radimir didn't have to concede. It was Zarrah now, who spoke up. ANd she proudly leaned into the sharpness of Valeska's blade and announced,
"I will take you there."
There was no sense in fighting it. This woman was dogged. It was best to please the beast now and think of a plan to escape later.
Radimir's eyes widened at Zarrah and he swallowed hard on a dry throat. Words could not come to express his sudden dismay, but it didn't matter it seemed as they were now both resigned to this fate, slaves renewed and all hope gone.
"Good, I knew you'd see things my way," Valeska purred. But then her wicked smile fell to something more cruel. "Now walk."
And walk they did, a cruel long stretch of sands until they ended up in Essyrn. Though lingering not too far away were their horses, who kept a vigilant watch of their masters but also.. a safe distance.
Essyrn was alive this day, with colorful flags flapping in the desert winds, set atop of glistening lime stone buildings. Zarrah was elated to finally be in the city, knowing full well tehy'd have to stop here for supplies, before beginning their trek south. Though as they stopped at a well for water, she stole a glance to Radimir, her look apologetic, but what could they do?
Radimir was looking at the ground as they walked and soon the vision of Essyrn came closer and closer into view and he felt a knot building in his throat. Never in a thousand years did he ever think he would come to this place again. It seemed like an eternity since they both last laid eyes on it, since he saw Zarrah running from him along the rooftops, since he saved her from the flames of the ruins of Carnavus' manor.
Radimir's stomach knotted and he felt like he was going to be sick. If Zarrah hadn't looked at him again in that moment, Zarrah when he found the strength to meet her gaze again, surely he thought he would have puked his guts out all over the sand. Her gaze, despite her acquiescence, stilled him, and reminded him of his pride, of his dignity, of their combined will to survive.
As the gates of the great desert city-state opened before them, Radimir stilled himself for a moment before turning to Valeska. "We will need food and water, and for the horses as well. Even with the storm you sent after us, we were running low on supplies. Our waterskins are nearly empty," he managed as steadily as he could.
Valeska rolled her eyes.
"That much is obvious. BUt your horses.. both of them..." she began to say, speaking through her teeth. "I suppose we could put them to use- they've been following us for miles."
And it was here Zarrah stole a glance back to Nieti and Thorian, tucking back some of her dark hair as the desert winds swept through.
"They will follow us to the ends of the earth," the dark haired woman commented.
"Well isn't that perfect," Valeska said, her eye sparkling darkly. "Because that's where we're going. Now come on. Let's fetch those supplies." And she snapped for the other two to obey as she strolled off into the heart of the Essyrn.
They were alone for the moment as Valeska went on ahead and Radimir gave a small sigh of relief. "Zarrah, what are we going to do?" he asked gently. "We're trapped between a rock and a hard place and I only know that it's a certainty that Valeska will probably kill us once we take here there!"
Zarrah frowned at such a thought, but even she had come to that conclusion as well.
"She has no other reason to keep us alive if we help her. It's evident she's mad." Shaking her head, she turned to Radimir, her eyes speaking volumes where her words could not.
"The desert... that's my territory. Let us wait to see what happens there," she whispered, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
Radimir was ashamed he didn't feel as much confidence as he wanted to when she uttered those words, when she squeezed his hands. But he did not allow it to show in his expression and he only swallowed hard on a dry throat and nodded to her. "Let's get those supplies then. I can only imagine the kind of havoc she could wreak in a crowded market. Something tells me she'd enjoy it too."
Zarrah gave him a tentative grin.
"Perhaps we ought to let her..."
WHo knew, if she caused chaos, it could be a great distraction for them to escape...
"But for now, we should focus on the task at hand."
And it was then Valeska shot a glance their way, and Zarrah only gave her a stern look back.
"I think that's as sound a plan as any," Radimir agreed before following Valeska through the crowd. He knew they couldn't have made it more obvious to her that they were conspiring, but at least they would comply for now.
It was obvious indeed, and Valeska prodded them along.
"No more whispering. Come, the pair of you." And her eyes went from one to the other. "Help me buy the necessary supplies. I'm not the only one of us who has to survive the deserts."
Radimir glowered at the witch, but knew his gaze would really achieve nothing, save to get them both into deeper trouble as it were. They wandered through the market, with what meager coins they had and Radimir felt himself sweating even more under his clothes and not just because of the heat either.
Zarrah gave Radimir one last knowing look before moving back to helping Valeska. Might as well concede, and shopping was hardly a punishment. At least they weren't being forced into doing anything terrible just yet. But Zarrah wasn't a trusting woman, ad though she was being helpful in her shopping agenda, she kept her eyes ever alert and remained nearer to Radimir when she could.
But a familiar person caught her attention as she gasped and backed away closer to Radimir.
"Yahseer.." She frowned, glaring over at the man who hadn't seemed to notice the pair of them infront of the little shop. "It's one of Carnavus's sons." And she whispered it so only Radimir could hear her.
Radimir wasn't a man accustomed to living in fear, or trepidation, though as a former assassin, he wasn't completely blind to the realities in which he lived. He knew there were ways he could escape, completely vanish within the crowd to get away from Valeska, the shadow stalking not just too far ahead. But every way in which he might save his own skin, the only requisite would be to leave Zarrah behind. And there were just some things he just wasn't prepared to do.
At her call, Radimir came to attention and raised his brows at the man she indicated. He was tall for an Essyrni, perhaps just an inch or so from Radimir's height, and lean and sharp as a sand tiger. Radimir's eyebrows shot back down. "What about him?" he replied in an equally low tone.
"Just... keep an eye on him. We have our hands full already with this crazy bitch. I don't want to add a crazy son in law to the mix." ANd she made a face. "Well.. ex son in law." She supposed.
Radimir gave a nod to her and ushered her to move along through the crowd a little quicker. Radimir cut his eyes behind him, spotting her ex-son-in-law and caught his eyes for the briefest moment. They narrowed, but otherwise made no motion toward them as Radimir turned back ahead of them and disappeared behind a textile stand.
"Cover your face, Zarrah," Radimir instructed and tore a piece of fabric from the top and a headband.
Taking the cloth, she swathed it about her head and turned away.
"He can not see me.." she whispered, fingers moving up the veil and turning it so that it kept most of her face concealed.
"But what of her?" she inquired, gesturing towards Valeska, who was prowling the wares.
"Forget her. She may be strange, but I doubt she'd want to draw more attention to herself than necessary. And yet..." Radimir did not voice his doubts, but he knew Zarrah could assume them herself. "Let's just move on for now." He pushed her through the market, wary of the eyes at his back.
Zarrah's eyes wavered in thought for a moment, before she recalled a small detail about Radimir.
"There might be a way for us both to escape," she whispered and turned to him, halting him just beside her. "Remember that time in the cave? When you pretended to be my other lover?" She asked, violet eyes searching his. "What about using that sort of illusion magic here? I'm sure we could easily rid ourselves of both and try to get out of this god forsaken desert for good."
Radimir's eyes widened. Why didn't he think of that earlier? Of course! It would take a lot of energy, to focus that magic, in that short span of time. Valeksa... His eyes shot to where he last saw her, mingling with the crowd and wondered if she would sense that spark of magic. But with the walls closing in on them at all sides, he knew they couldn't afford another second of hesitation. "Think about someone else, to look like anyone else. And then kiss me," he said softly. He pressed his mouth to hers without another warning and felt the blood rushing through his body, his hands heating as they wrapped around her waist.
And he willed his form to change, and hers with it, with their lips connected. He felt his entire body grow warm, and she would to if the magic worked right. His eyes were closed so tightly until at last he pulled away, parting lips with a light smack and opening them. And he gasped, which quickly then turned into a grin when he saw someone else in front of him.
Zarrah felt a bizarre feeling wash over her, one that tickled and felt like a hot breeze washing across her body, and when she opened her eyes, she too gasped, for she saw the image of Castor Bain before her, and he? Well he'd see the image of a simple, laundry woman swathed in black.
His hands were real, flesh, free of the confines of Cynwulfen. The magic would not last long and it was best if they moved quickly and so Radimir grabbed her hand and tugged her along. He ducked around a vendor, and into an alleyway that curved around to the other side of the street.
Zarrah's heart had leaped all the way into her throat,a nd she nearly choked on it as Radimir pulled her along. She hadn't thought of Castor for so long, and to see him again- even in a mirage, made her feel unsettled. Clinging onto her black robe, she mindlessly followed after him, not daring to look back.
They made it far from the market area, running off throught the myriad of alleyways until Radimir was sure they reached an outer wall. "We can rest here a bit. All ready I'm out of breath," he said, leaning on his thighs before looking at her. "How about you, You okay?"
Once they were alone, she too doubled over to catch het breath, but when the question was pressed, she raised her gaze to him in a questionable manner before she slowly, carefully approached him and touched his face, looking squarely into the eyes of her former lover with some mild but obvious disdain.
"Why him?" She asked him softly, while cupping his face.
Radimir stiffened. "What? What do you mean? What do I look like?"
A painfilled look consumed her eyes as she looked at him and caressed her hand across his lips.
"My last lover." And she paused to raise her eyes from his lips. "Castor Bain. The man with metal hands."
Radimir leaned back from her touch at her words. He stared at her blankly for the longest time before covering his face with his own hands, this time staring at their flesh. "I...I didn't mean to," he said softly. "I would never..."
Zarrah turned away, tears stinging at her eyes.
"We should keep moving," she whispered. "That crazy woman might see through our disguise..."
"Ye...yeah," he nodded abruptly and took her hand in his once more. It felt strange to know that he took on that monster's appearance. He hadn't planned it. In fact the face he imagined was rather generic, ordinary and yet somehow...perhaps in a corner of his mind he still vied against him. Perhaps in his mind he still wondered if Zarrah really loved him, despite everything they'd been through.
Zarrah would say no more to him. She knew these streets well enough to help guide them as far away from that crazed woman as possible. But with viewing Castor once again, a man she had so fervently tried to forget, was unearthing emotions she had thought died away with his fading memory. Perhaps the wounds were still too knew, but either way, she had to focus on helping them evade this crazed woman who drew them back to this world that plagued her with so many terrible memories.
And to think...
they were so close to escaping Essyrn, too.
[Lol. They will never escape!]
At that moment, Radimir could feel the magic begin to fade and his heart raced as they neared the city wall. It rose higher than Radimir remembered and he stared up at the stone and mortar and clay and held his breath. "Come on, we have to find a way up," he said, the magic gone from his face.
Zarrah's heart was pumping loudly in her chest, and when she turned around, she was surprised, but relieved, to see it was Radimir's face staring back at her.
"We could climb the wall," she told him through a tired smile. "I've seen you use those muscles before. I'm pretty sure we could at least try." And at such words, it was evident, though she was teasing, there was some method to her madness, as her hands groped at the mortar and she began to find a hold- and up and up she went.
Radimir stuck his feet into the mortar, pulling himself up using the same footholds and vaulting up with some struggle. "I'm not trying to look up your dress. I'm sorry."
If he was trying to make the situation any less tense by being funny, Zarrah didn't see it that way and simply ignored his crude remark. They had one shot to try to get away from that woman before all hell might break lose, and she wasn't about to let herself get distracted for one second. Though her footing slipped but once, she remained agile with a strong footing, and continued to carefully finding her footing as she moved higher and higher until she reached the lip of the wall. Pulling herself up onto it, she peered over the side and waited silently for Radimir to catch up. Though as she watched him,s he couldn't help but peer out over at the city. And to see it from such a height was breath taking. Too bad they couldn't truly enjoy it.
But despite it all they were back to where they began. Radimir stood beside Zarrah, peering out toward the horizon and felt his breath slip away frim him. Doubt hung around him like a crushing prison and he quivered for a moment before leaning toward the wall's edge and finding his way down.
Zarrah dare not breath, or speak another word, and they descended into silence, and once the wall was scaled, they crept through the desert.
"The sun will be setting soon. We would do well to find a caravan and tag along, though it would not be wise to linger. That woman..." She made a face. "I'm sure she could sniff us out if she isn't on our trail already. Come. This way. But try to keep as quiet as you can."
"What? How would you even know where to find a caravan?" He asked softly, following after her. It was probably foolish of them to have fled the city with a minimum amount of supplies, not to mention leaving their horses behind.
"This is Essyrn," she whispered, her eyes going to his. "And I have traveled many times with many men."
Her body could easily secure them safe passage.
Radimir felt jealousy burning in him at that statement. He knew what that entailed and it angered him, but he did his best not to show it. "I will follow you then," he asked.
It was then she noted a gaggle of women heading their way from outside of the desert. It wasn't hard to figure out who it was- the laundry ladies. And Zarrah could not help herself but smile.
"Seems like some old friends' are approaching." But she hesitated to approach them. Was it wise to draw them in when there was such a dangerous woman in the city? And as it looked, the women were heading to the city, not away.
Radimir paused, standing beside Zarrah as he too observed the women. "Perhaps it's best we just follow where they came from. There must be a watering hole not too far from here."
"There is," she told him with a smirk. "Where do you think they clean their laundry? Come on, why don't we dawn another look again and make our way there." And here, she wrapped her arms around his arm. "We could pretend to be lovers," and she gave him a leerful, playful smirk seeming to have all but forgotten about the awkwardness of when they had done this before- and somehow... it seemed he had become Castor Bain. Though perhaps she just wished to forget it...
All of it. After all, it had truly broken her heart. Thankfully, Radimir had been there to pick up the pieces.
This time the magic came easier, flowing into his fingertips in a tingling sensation that made him shiver just in the slightest. "Very well," Radimir said, with a brief but trying smile. He focused the image in his mind and soon, gradually, his skin became paler, his features grew softer, less regal than they were, his lips thinner, and his body became slimmer, pulling his magical clothes tighter in around his form.
"Wonderful sort of magic. Come, the sun is beating on my without mercy. I need reprieve," he said and scampered down toward the small, oasis not far from them.
"If I knew magic, I'd ask you to show me how to perform that trick sometime, but as it stands, it seems I'll only be good at one thing." She gave his arm a tug and they were off to the oasis with haste, and once the smell of the water and shade of the palms reached them, she found herself breathing a little easier as she got down on one knee and scooped water up with het hands for a drink.
"It is not difficult, but requires the utmost concentration," Radimir said, standing behind her as she drank. Perhaps she was only jesting, but it was a thought he hadn't considered before and didn't shove it aside so easily. It was a sacred tradition, his father's teachings, but with what happened to the rest of the cult, Radimir was all that remained of his line, of his culture...
"I could teach you," he said after a time.
"Teach me?" she asked, wiping away the dripping waters from her lips. "How? I do not know or possess magic."
"It is not like most magics," Radimir said. He tried to choose the right words carefully. "Skills can be taught, practical skills, much like how one learns to wield a sword or a bow. There is a great deal you can learn that is not the sort of magics I am adept at. Those were passed from my father to me. But I can teach you illusions, poisons, focusing your will and channeling it outward. I can even teach you to wield a whip."
Zarrah smirked.
"Who says I don't know how to wield a whip?"
Radimir gave a shocked expression for a moment before grinning slyly. "Well I meant besides the bedroom," he grinned. "I know you know more than you let on, forgive me."
Zarrah jut out her chin, still smirking.
"The bedroom and other things," she went on. "But I'm much more... proficient at sharp, pointy things. Like knives."
But as she continued to study his face, she went on, "So about these illusions and other spells... I'm a fast learner. Think you could train me while we're on the run?"
"With enough dedication, I can teach you," he said with a smile. "If you are willing and able to learn."
"Oh, I am willing," she told him with a leer. "And I am told I learn very.. very fast."
"I see. I was hoping you were an astute pupil." Radimir smiled. "You're in good hands. Trust me. I would never lead you astray."
A sudden bolt of lighting flashing wickedly and most randomly over the city of Essyrn made Zarrah nearly jump out of her skin.
"The one eyed woman..."s he murmured, and turned to Radimir.
"Come on, let's get as far away from here as we can." And she turned her back to the city and began to run.
Radimir felt his heart fall into his stomach and turned to ground mulch when he saw the lightning. He scrambled to his feet and immediately bolted after her.
"I don't know where we can hide where this woman won't find us. Perhaps my old home? In the canyons...." she said through panted breaths as they ran.
"It is better than running and getting us skinned alive by that mad woman," Radimir said as he slid down the side of a dune and pulled Zarrah along with him. He tumbled in the sand, slinking into the shadows. "Which way? How can we get there quickly? Our horses are still trapped in the city."
"This is the fastest way. Through the dunes and keep east."
Radimir moved along to her, sliding through the sands, as the distance between them and coming storm grew and grew. Clouds brewed above them, storming clouds and lightning slashed across the sky. The people of the desert, hadn't seen a storm proper in ages and many glanced up at the sky as it gently began to rain.
Radimir could only assume it was from the mad woman after them. And he wasn't going to take any chances looking back. So off they ran through the dunes, cutting between shadow and light.
Zarrah grit her teeth at the sound of rain.
"We have to move faster! If we stay here low, in the sandy valleys, we'll drown!"
Radimir could only imagine trying to escape a flood in addition to the mad woman on their trail. He nodded swiftly and ran faster as the water started to get heavier, falling from the sky.
Running would be futile. Who could stop the rain? The sands of the desert could merely bow down before them as rivers were soon rushing down the dunes and forming a swelling girth of water that appeared to spring up from no where. And within minutes, Zarrah felt herself being pulled forward in the current as she turned to Radimir, snatching onto his hand and refusing to let go. If the wild waters were to take them, it was best they go together. Survival or death, they'd do it here together.
But Radimir refused to die, refused to be dragged down beneath the rising swell. As Zarrah clung to him, he pulled her back, pulling her up with him with as much force as he could muster. The shadows he heard a voice whisper into his ear. It struck him as familiar, comforting even and he pulled Zarrah up to safety. Rains striking the desert were rare, but with what sun remained, before the storm brew over completely, they might escape yet.
Radimir dragged Zarrah along, staying above the crest of a dune, running along the edge of it as if it were a knife and on either side of it were ravines of death. He ran harder and faster than he ever thought he could, running toward the light, toward the sun. The clouds grew darker, heavier, pouring down the storm, sweeping sand and mud in howling wind.
"FASTER!" Radimir couldn't hear even himself as they ran on, but he fought to reach that last inch of sunlight, one that covered just on the other side of the dune before them. Radimir jumped, clinging to Zarrah like she was the last anchor keeping them alive. They landed hard on the sand, tumbling downward and Radimir fell hard into the stark shadow cast by the opposing rays of sun. And when the rains nearly reached them, he clung to Zarrah, whispering ancient words of magic, words that cast them away into dusty darkness.
Zarrah clung to him, her throat soar, her body aching and her heart pounding inside her head. And she didn't even have the chance to register what was happening as suddenly- everything went black.
Radimir awoke with pain radiating all throughout his arm. He landed in something wet and cold, that resembled a pool of some sort, and the sound of flowing water moved through his ears. He tried to sit up and he yelped, feeling his arm throb in protest of any movement. He must've landed on it funny as he soon decided it wasn't broken, but extremely sore. Any movement was greatly detested.
He opened his eyes to darkness, save for what appeared to be the soft glow of crystals in the corner, filled with fading energy and he sat up. The cave was familiar somehow. The rushing water, the sensuous lighting. Radimir turned over and saw Zarrah there and it came back to him. This was where he had deceived Zarrah into making love, and his face burned with shame.
He stood and kicked the water at his feet. "Zarrah? Zarrah?' he said, unable to make out her form nearby.
At his words, she said nothing, but remained a still form crumpled in the corner, in the shadows that hid her well.
Radimir's foot collided with her form in the dark and he nearly stumbled over her. He caught himself in time and scooped her up into his arms, taking her into the light and inspecting her for wounds.
Other than a few bruises and minor scrapes, Zarrah appeared alright- but unmoving. But the subtle rising of her chest indicated she was at least not dead.
Radimir set her gently on the stone when they reached the upper part of the cave. He saw her scrapes and her bruises but first he took his cloak and bundled it underneath her head. He didn't wake her and instead tended to her scrapes as best he could.
It was while Radimir tended to her that she awoke, groggy and confused. She only saw movement, a figure before she spoke up through a coarse breath, "Castor?"
Radimir smiled at her, though it was small and he shook his head. "No, it's me. Radimir," he said. "We're safe from the storm, for now."
Not fully realizing what she mumbled, she sat up more and blinked.
"What? What did I say?" But realizing it probably was nothing, she sighed and looked around.
"Well doesn't this place look familiar.." she said, a hint of sadness in her playful tone.
"I'm sorry. It was the only place I could think to transport us to in order to get us out of the storm. The deserts flooded quickly," he said.
Zarrah simply gave a shake of her head.
"No... I guess being back here beats dying. So you have no reason to apologize."
But even still, she sighed again as she looked around at the place she had once called home and the memories made her throat and chest tighten as she gave a hard swallow and a second sigh.
Radimir didn't know if he should mention his many wonderings, knowing this was where she and Castor had made love, and often. A part of him burned to think of it, but he was curious, especially to know how he fared in comparison. But he wondered if asking that kind of question was appropriate after a life or death experience.
"We cleaned it out, but at least there is water, yes," Radimir said and drank from the clean spring where the water had come from. He invited Zarrah beside him and cupped his hands before her, offering her water.
Zarrah remained silent and looked at his hand.
"We almost drowned. I'm not sure I want water," she moaned, and dug a hand into her hair as she frowned.
"It's like my life is a curse. The desert always haunts me." But with a sigh she added, "But at least we're alive."but the words were hollow.
Radimir's silence was agreement, and he sat back and instead doused his face with the water, cooling himself off. He too, thought, they were free, that they could finally escape this place and make a life for themselves. And somehow they ended up back to all the places that connected them. Radimir felt shame then, for his actions, what he did to jeopardize what she had with another man. Though he was a man that did not love her, he interfered all the same.
What good could he have brought Zarrah? He promised to venture off with her, to help her, save her from the darkness that surrounded them. And yet here they were once again, insects beneath the burning glare of gods gone mad.
"It's my fault," he said, looking out towards the raining waters that continued to pour forth from the outside of the cave entrance. "I ruined just about everything good you had going for you, didn't I? I mean...when we met, it wasn't exactly under honest pretenses. It was all a lie..."
At those words, Zarrah looked up at him, a curious and confused sparkle to her eyes before she looked away, staring down at her own shadow and saying nothing to that- just digesting over those thoughts, those words.
Radimir didn't know what to say either, except perhaps. "But how I feel about you, that was the only true thing I know. Maybe at first it was a fascination, but...I-I....I can only know it now to be real. That...could never be a lie. I would die before I would deceive you again."
Zarrah shook her head when he was done talking, and her hand rested over his before her violet eyes raised to meet his. She studied them and their uniqueness, and that of the shape of his face before her palm raised to caress his cheek.
"That doesn't matter now. We all have things in our past we hate ourselves for."
It was, however, unfortunate he had done that to her. And part of her still had a bit of hatred towards him for it, but in the same breath, what she had with Castor...
Though she felt a connection to him, it was he who chose to leave, and in the path way of their lives, she had come to accept it could never be. But even still, she had to wonder how he was doing, and if he'd ever escape his curse- as she was still battling with her own.
"Lest we grow old, and become men filled with regret..."
He remembered his father's words as they rolled off his tongue. "We will escape," he said at long last and gripped her hand with a sudden determination. "I will take you out of this place if it's the last thing I do. If one of us must be buried in sand, it will not be you."
Zarrah studied his face. She saw the sincerity there, the passion and gave him a small smile as she squeezed his hand.
"Do not forget my curse. If situations are dire, you should be prepared to let me go. The only one of us who will get buried is you. I can not die. Not yet."
And as she thought about the other thing he said, she shook her head.
"And we are free," she pressed, eyes flaring. "We are free as we make ourselves. Storm woman be damned. If we want to stay in the desert, so be it. If we want to conquer it, then let's do it all ourselves. THis is not the time for us to remain weighted by our past. There is a reason we were brought back here.. and i'm sure that fate will show it's face soon enough. We just need patience." And though she trie dto smile and appear strong about it, there was stll something sad about her violet eyes.
Radimir smiled. She was right after all. Her condition gave her the chance to be patient, taught her there a were second chances. His life, watching everything crumble around him, his father slain, it'd been hard to cope with. Even now he still had dreams about him and he knew also that Zarrah was still haunted by Carnavus in many ways. Yet, somehow they were still here, together, alive.
He leaned across to hug her still wet cold form and braced her to his chest. Whether it was love or desperation that kept them together, it didn't matter as long as they never parted.
SHe tensed at his embrace at first before joining him. SHe rested her head against his and soon whispered, "Let's try to leave here again." And then she smirked. "But tomorrow. I am tired, and could use something to eat."
When evening came, Radimir stayed up, watching the moonlight coming down from other black sky. There were a million starsthis night, but he couldn't bring himself to watch them. He was too busy watching the sands surrounding the cave, and for the woman that hunted them.
Whatever storm had come had seemed to pass, and only the winds were left behind, like a scar. But while Radimir was taking watch, feeling uneasy, Zarrah felt the same. She tried to rest but when she awoke to see the fire had gone out and Radimir was missing, she moved to slip outside and watched him in silence as she too, looked up to the horizon, and to the stars.
Radimir wished he knew what lay in store for them. He wished he could say everything would work out, but there was no telling of that future. One thing he knew, he would not leave her side, not unless their paths truly diverged.
He looked across to Zarrah. "You can't sleep either?" he asked, forcing a small smile.
"No," she told him through a breath. "Although this place had been my home for many years, and we've been gone but months... It makes my skin crawl." She frowned and looked down at the rock ledge they now sat.
"There are too many memories here. And I wanted to leave them there, forgotten. But it seems my ghosts only laugh at me in the night."
"You should laugh back," he murmured. After a moment, Radimir looked out to the stars again. "Remember that story I told you when we first met? The one about the phantom that wandered the desert searching for her long lost lover, and killing men that were not him."
She said nothing, eyes distant and thoughtful. But at his query, she nodded.
"Were you the one that inspired that legend?"
"I just might be. There are many stories about me but most call me the lady of the desert."
"A fitting name for a spectre so beautiful."
"I'm pretty sure yyou'd say that even if it were lady of bacon."
"Well, you do have some meaty thighs."
She smirked.
"But of course. You can't kick was if you don't got the muscle from experience."
"And a nice round bottom," he snorted, examining her form appreciatively.
She rolled her eyes.
"That also comes with the territory." And though her eyes sparkled some with mirth, her expression sobered.
"I... had a lot of men agree. Some lucky enough to survive until morning.... others... They didn't last the night."
"I lasted for several weeks. I think I did pretty well. What do you say?" he said, smirking at her, a hand running gently along the outside of her thigh.
She gave a small smile.
"Well.. you're different."
"More tenacious, maybe."
"I don't know, maybe you're part animal? Or reptile. Those eyes of yours... can you honestly keep a straight face and claim to be a man?"
"I've never been anything else. I feel as any other man does, I think," he said. "Do you see scales on my flesh? Am I growing claws and fangs?"
She studied his features then told him simply, "Yes."
Baring his teeth and flicking his tongue at her, Radimir quickly leaned forward and trapped her lips with his. He pulled away with a loud smack. "Is that detrimental to my case?"
She nodded.
"Of course." but as she smiled at him, a part of her looked sad.
"Why the solemnity, Zarrah? What is troubling you?" Radimir found himself asking.
"Oh? You'd ask that as I smile?" she went on, dropping her gaze and letting a few fingers stroke up his arm.
"Yes. This is not the first time that it's happened. So it makes me curious. Why are you so somber?"
Sighing, she told him, "I've just got a lot on my mind. And here in the desert are too many memories."
"I think I understand. I know I do in fact," he said, then looked to the stars again. "To think a sandstorm swept us up and brought us back. Perhaps for reflection. Perhaps to start over. I don't want to stay here anymore than you do. I still want to leave. With you hopefully."
She pursed her lips in thought.
"I do wonder it's purpose... Though I fear the answer might be as simple as we're cursed to remain."
"Is anything ever so simple? I won't refute it. But I do wonder what the gods have in store for us. I wonder if it was my destiny that my clan be destroyed the way it was, but that...man" -carefully avoiding the word 'monster'- "If that is what was meant, then I can only wonder as to why. Should we be rebuilt? Would you join me as my queen?"
He was only teasing, but he still glanced at her as he asked the question.
She kept her eyes to the sky.
"Rebuild..." Though she spoke it, it was not a response. He had much he lost, and she? She felt like the phantom she was. She turned to Radimir, and smiled a little.
"If anything, I'd be queen of the desert."
"Would you settle for that as your destiny?" He frowned a bit.
Studying his face, she smiled a bit more.
"The answer used to be yes."
"And what is the answer now?"
"I suppose... It could be anything now but that. Living as a ghost... Doing what I did for revenge.... I suppose there's no reason for it."
Radimir leaned in and kissed her cheek, lips lingering softly as he wrapped arms around her. "Then it's up to you to find your answer."
She smirked, raising a single brow at him.
"Of course... Wasn't it always?" her eyes sought his before her smirk turned into a smaller smile.
"I think... Perhaps I'd like to not make plans. To just... live each day as it is. I.... couldn't say I have ever tried that- and.... It might help me to consider this life as less like a trap and more.... well, as a thing worth living for."
"Good," he said with a nod. "I'm glad." He gave a soft smile and retracted back to himself, resting elbows on his knees. He looked up to the stars. "That sounds just fine to me. Destiny has only ever brought me heartache."
"Oh? So who was your first heart ache?" she asked, teasingly before leaning in beside him.
"The night is cold.. perhaps we should rest. Tomorrow is another day."
"No one. You are my first."
Radimir stood and walked back to the cave, dimly lit.
Once in the cave, she found herself recalling the memories of her and Castor. Though this time, she began to feel less of those burdened emotions that had once gripped her heart.
"It's a bit of an ego boost, but I'm glad to see my place was left untouched." Her smile grew a little. "Seems if I had been here... The Lady of the Desert would still be leaving her mark."
And caravan's and hunters- none the wiser.