Spirits of the Earth

His mind was clouded with a strange fog. This always happened when he tranced. Sleep was a wasteful thing, while the trance he could induce in himself was far more efficient. It allowed him to operate longer, and it meant he wouldn't feel tired. Drained perhaps yes, but not tired. This was a slightly different fog, it was almost starting to clear up, and he'd be able to walk in his mind freely. However, he knew there was going to be trouble the moment the fog would lift. As he predicted of course, there was something terrible that happened as the fog started to clear. His eyes snapped open, and he sharply took a breath. He had awoke from his trance. He heard of this condition in people who dreamt before. They would often try and discover something in their sleep, they would run toward something they valued, but just at the last minute they would awaken at the last minute.

Well. That was enough of thinking on such nonsense. He needed to continue walking.

The man who had such a strange way to him was sitting simply in the middle of the vast plain of grass. He was an odd sort of fellow, he was dressed in a rough brown leather jacket, with a pair of thick brown wool pants, heavy leather boots in his...trademark brown, a black belt surprisingly was around his waist. The man topped the whole getup off with a large brown fedora, faded slightly from thousands of years of weather and sun. All of his clothing was very similar in that aspect, they were worn and weathered but they were still very strong.

The man's face was rather...rough looking. He had a strong jaw, a broad face, crooked nose from being broken so many times, and there was the fact that he was missing his left eye. A large scar ran from his scalp, down past his eye socket, cheek, and ending near his lip. He had a grizzled chin, covered with a rough bit of facial hair. Not fully a beard or moustache however, but enough to make his chin feel a bit like sandpaper.

The man was a stranger to this world, at least in his mind he was.

His one good eye looked skyward. It was...odd. There was white, only white, except for a small black hangman's noose as a pupil perhaps. He was very...very strange looking to say the least. The man glared slightly at the sun as he got to his feet. He could remember worlds with three suns, and the heat that bore down on him was intolerable. This sun however, seemed to be just far enough away for him. There was even a cool breeze that flowed along the grasslands, which was nice to say the least. The man surveyed the land, his eye like a hawk as he observed everything he could possibly look at. He hungered to say the least, and he would require some food. He never thought to bring anything with him in a satchel that hung at his side.

The question now was...what was within range to eat? A few birds flew overhead...a couple of field mice...and quite a few bugs. Those would have to do then wouldn't they?

First was the bigger things. The birds that soared above him. His left hand clenched, covered in fingerless gloves which strained as he formed a fist. He calculated the movement of the birds as they flew, just waiting for to enter the right area. Something strange was happening to his fist. A long blue rope was forming in his hand, one that seemed to crackle with a strange and intense energy. The birds moved...and finally he whipped the strange blue rope. A lightning bolt crackled forward from the tip of the rope. His aim was true and as it hit one of the birds there was a rather rattling thunderclap. The three other birds in the sky fell to the earth and he retrieved them. Each of them was dead, and he began to eat them. It was a gruesome thing, nothing was wasted, everything was devoured, and it mattered not what it was. The tiny birds were not a filling treat, and he moved on next to the mice. They were perhaps a bit more lucky than the birds. The man simply used earthen spikes to kill them, pinning them through the head with the rocky spikes. They were quickly scooped up and devoured. The bugs were easier, he simply fished them from the earth using a small piece of twine. He seemed to be able to push it into the ground, and when he pulled it up, bugs were caught and stuck to it. He tied several ropes to his belt, and decided to continue on his ways.

It was almost like a snack for him, he picked a bug off of the ropes and popped it into his mouth. They mostly crunched as he chewed them alive, ignoring the fact they were bugs. He had eaten worse things than this. They actually had some good protein content, at least he assumed that much. He never had time to research this sort of thing, he had been quite busy with...other research matters.

A dreadfully grim smile crossed his lips as he thought about it. There had been some good times. He snapped from his thoughts as he thought about something he wanted...a drink. As if he could find it out here fo course. A white rope was produced as he began to drag it across the ground. If there was one thing he knew, there was quite a bit of dew on the grass. The rope was to suck it up, to allow him to drink it at his leisure. Yes he could have simply created water, but it always had a strange taste to him. This however would not be as...funny tasting.

The rope was brought to his mouth and he opened his lips and let the water drain into his mouth like a faucet. Perhaps he was cheating just a little bit, but still, he was sure that no one would care. Since the plains held only him, to his current knowledge, who would be there to judge him?

The rope was discarded, the simple thing simply disappearing before it hit the ground. Then he decided to see what he could muster up. "Hello!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs, hoping to hear an echo, but knew it was nothing more than a futile attempt. There was nothing to bounce off of after all, so it would be useless. Still...he wondered if any game would be scared up. He had been wandering these plains for a good week now perhaps, he was even sure he had gone in a circle few times, but really...he wasn't actually sure he cared. He wanted to avoid really big cities, he wasn't sure of these people yet. They were so different from the people of his own realm. He had to be careful, very careful with how he acted here.

The plains...all around her Oinnanai saw the beauty that her Goddess gave to the earth. The green grassy surroundings were alive simply through the grace which the sun gifted each living strand, allowing growth and beauty. The space, oh the space! No mountains, nothing to block the sunlight that shown down in brilliant beams! It was a beauty that only a Lumenari could fully appreciate! This would certainly be the place to praise Her goodness and might.

Great Holy Mother, Goddess of all good and just. Your light shines upon this green earth and grants such lowly beings your blessings. Guide us with your wisdom, your beauty, and your strength as we, your blessed people, struggle to spread your word to all creatures under your blessed beams!

"Lumaenai, Lumoundai, Suraimaenes lumos" Shine with us, Shine for us, Be our light she muttered softly, reaching her hands into the sky to soak the rays into the tips of her fingers. As Her High Priestess, Oinnanai traveled across this earth to spread Her great words and reunite all of Her children under one covenant. Nothing was more important than following the will of the Great Mother and proving to others that Hers was the way of truth. In he travels, Oinnanai had seen many wonders, as well as many evils the world possessed. Yet here she stood, unwavering in her faith. Not even the darkest of evils had been able to destroy the burning light within her soul. Despite her seventeen years, Oinnanai's wisdom had grown monumentally in her childhood, and rivaled that of an old crone. Her golden eyes could stare into a person's soul and read their deepest secrets. Perhaps not in exact words, but in feelings and understanding. She had been trained since infancy in the arts of the Priestess; she was born to be Her High Priestess and nothing could shake her from her path of truth.

This was her joy, and her curse. For sometimes the Great Mother's wishes were not those humans would accept with joyful hearts. She was a strict Mistress and tested even her most devoted servants. After all, who could honestly say their greatest faith resides in the Great Mother without it being tested? Those who stand unwavering in Her anger will be granted the greatest of joys in their future.

Simple people could never understand. The pain suffered at your Mistress's hand is both ecstasy and anguish.

Following her feet through the plains, Oinnanai did not know where she would end. Everything looked peaceful and exactly the same in every direction. So forward was her best choice. If she continued in her straight path then surely she would stumble across something important.

So she walked.

Not daring to think any further ahead than her next step.

She walked.

And behold! There in the distance sat a man. A lone figure on the tall grassy plains. This must be her next stop on her life-long journey for the Great Mother.

In a world where everything is flat, distances become skewed to the minds-eye. What looked like a few minutes walk, turned into a few hours until she finally made her way close enough to the man to hail him. By this time, the sun was slowly fading over the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant colors of gold and purple. It was a perfect time to stop, and company was always better than solitude.

"Pardon me" she addressed him, her soft voice carrying through the wind with an almost dream-like quality. Her white-blonde hair hung in ringlets down her back, over the light satin gown that draped across her slim figure, revealing pale arms that almost matched her eyes. At a glance, she might look like a ghost, but upon further scrutiny her perfect Lumenari beauty was awe inspiring; a porcelain doll that would crack under the softest touch.

"I would ask if I might share your fire this night." If he refused, then she would continue on her way until the time for her nightly ritual to the Great Mother was upon her. However, she doubted that she would be turned away. This man, while many would be afraid of his strangely white eyes, she found a beauty in them that rooted her in her place. This man, whether he knew it or not, surely had been touched by Her sometime in his life. His light eyes were proof of it. His missing eye did nothing to sway her certainty, nor cause fear to gather in her heart.

In her mind, she had found a kindred spirit.

Though the plains were flat, they were expansive by all means of the word. All he did was walk, but he never tired, nor did he ever think he would. However, the sun was warming the plains, and his outfit did cover quite a bit of him. He was sweating lightly, and he could feel that he was just a tad warm. The breeze along the grasslands was not unpleasant though, and he was quite grateful for it. He finished off his little snack of beetles and worms without any sort of grimace or disgust, he actually found them very delicious.

It was all he had out here. Most creatures were smart enough to stay away from a place where you could be spotted over vast distances. Not even a wandering wolf or baleful bear, both of which would have been a fine feast. A deer would have been quite nice as well, yet nothing really seemed to approach.

No.

That was a lie actually.

Something was out there. A speck in the distance, and he actually had to stop to look toward the strange figure that was a mere dark shape. His one eye became slightly brighter as he, in his mind, zoomed in on the figure. It was hard to see exactly what was there, or who it was, but he could tell that it was heading toward him. The question of course, was whether or not he should stay here and wait for this person. Lord knows that he didn't like a lot of people, but this was only a single person...and it had been a while since he had met someone in this strange world.

What harm could this do anyway? If he didn't really like the person, he could easily have some fun with the stranger. The grassland could easily absorb the person anyway, it would just be another missing person in a long line no doubt. Even if people came looking, what would it really matter? These people probably didn't have a universal police force, though he would probably have to keep an eye out for assassins. He muttered darkly to himself as he reached up and touched upon the empty socket. It didn't hurt anymore, he had used a fire to cauterize the entire inside so it was not more than scar tissue. The only thing that was really distressing was that he could no longer look in two separate directions.

No matter though.

The sun was setting and he decided to stop his walking. That person was getting ever so closer now to him, and he decided that he might as well get comfy for the night. There was very little in the way of fire material, but he found a way to make it work however. It wasn't a very large pile to light on fire, but it was enough. He decided to use the flint and steel in one of the small satchels on his person. A bit of dried grass caught fire in the pile of wood. He blew softly on it, coaxing the small flicker of fire to bring itself to life. The fire began to burn and he sat back, smirking to himself as he stared it for a moment.

That's when a quiet voice came to him. Female. He could tell that already. The smell of the air, and the sound of the voice gave it all away. His eye swivelled in the socket to look at her carefully. The man took every little bit of her grace and beauty and locked it into his mind. Stopping had been a most agreeable idea didn't it? Though one could have thought she was a spirit, his eye penetrated through her gown and skin. He could see her beating heart, pulsing blood, and breathing lungs. Lord help him she even had beautiful lungs.

Would they stay on the inside however? Good as question as any to him.

"Go ahead, it's as good as it will be however...this land's too sparse to have anything good for a nice fire." He could use magic to sustain it, he could make it as big a house and keep it under control, but he didn't much feel like that would be the smartest thing in the world at this point. Some worlds were very hostile to magic...others revered it and worshipped it. Both of which he didn't much care for. In his world, they were a little more...relaxed with that sort of thing.

"Question for you poppet, what is it you're doing out here? For someone dressed like you, this doesn't seem to be a place that you should be wandering around in." She was polite to him, so he figured he might as well be as polite to her as he could be. It was the least he could do after all. He was wary of her though, something about her seemed wrong but...then he remembered his own world. There was no telling what she was at this point, but she was relaxed and she was almost uncaring. "I can offer you some food, but I hope you're not opposed to mice and perhaps a small bird or two." He'd have to hunt for it, but there wasn't a person out there that could say he wasn't a gracious host now.

ooc: >_< I don't know what to write about!!!! Shizzy I'm sorry if this fails Dx

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The High Priestess allowed a soft smile to wind its way onto her porcelain cheeks, soft rosey lips lifting ever so lightly at the corners. The man's assessment that she was beautiful was certainly true, as all Lumenari women were when blessed with all the aesthetics the Great Mother could give. Her priestesses especially exemplified Her magnificence as they were Her prophets, Her messengers. They were the earthly examples of her beauty and thus were needed to show outsiders the closest material thing to Her. If they were not attractive by the standards of the Great Mother, no one would understand, at least not just from words.

Thus, Oinnanai's beauty was a gift from the Great Mother to help her in her ministry. So...in a sense, when people appreciated her beauty, they were actually thanking the Goddess and praising her work.

It always helped appeal to Oinnanai's vanity...having people look at her with approving eyes....

"I thank you." she replied, settling herself on the soft grass, opposite of his position around the fire. She watched, amused, at his attempts to create a fire. It seemed there were very small amounts of kindling on the great flat plains. His fire was a quaint, childlike endeavor and she watched him as such, indulging his efforts like she would a novice in the Solisi Temples. It was...cute....nothing more.

"May I?" she asked quietly, gesturing to the small (almost embarrassing) fire. She did not wait for his reply as she folded her hands before her, whispering a small prayer of thanks in the Solisi language before holding her hands towards the flames. Oinnanai took a deep breath and clicked her tongue. The effect was immediate as small, sand-like crystals materialized above and around the fire, shimmering in the soft glow of twilight. In a swift motion, she blew out all the air she held in her lungs and clapped her hands together with a [/i]crack[/i]. The fire sprung to life, expanding in size so much that many would feel compelled to move further away in fear of being burned.

Smiling at her work, she bowed her head once more and whispered some more Solisi words before gazing across the fire at her new companion.

"The plains are not conducive to natural fire, I'm afraid. It would be unfortunate should it fail before morning without anymore kindling to prolong its life." For a moment she gazed deeply into the flickering flames, losing herself in Her great, glorious beauty before looking up at him through her lashes.

"I must apologize." she murmured, pale cheeks glittering in the firelight as if tiny jewels encrusted her skin. "Here you have kindly accepted my company and I have not begun introductions. My name is Oinnanai, and as to my being here...well..." she opened her arms and swept her eyes across the expanse of grass that ended only at the horizon, "I follow where I am lead. Should the wind change, I shall walk elsewhere. A wanderer of sorts. I find what I need, and when I do not, I make do with the clothes on my back and what gifts I have been granted." A true disciple. If she met any unworthy on her travels, she would wash her hands of their presence and continue on her path towards the betterment of mankind. Those who did not accept would burn in the fires of Her vexation, becoming no better than her enemies the Drow.

"What of you? You, too, are alone in this plain."

"It's no skin off my back." He told her after she thanked him. At least he hoped it wouldn't be. There was very little to fear from this beautiful young woman, so he found himself almost...uncaring of what she might do. She couldn't hurt him, at least he didn't think so. There was little thought to her magical capacity, but as for physical, she wasn't a person that had any weapons on her, and he had looked very carefully for any such things. He had found none, and as such, she was safe.

Safe from hurting him or stabbing him at least.

"Go right ahead." Magic. That's what she was going to use. He sat back from the fire, expecting it to no doubt burst into a bonfire. He watched with very little interest as she set about making the fire larger. Magic was magic to him, but he had heard the strange language she muttered before hand. Interesting indeed. He was inspecting his fingernails when she started to make the crystal appear around the fire, his eye flickering upward once in a while to watch it critically before he went back to his inspection of his nails. The moment that her breath exhaled, her hands clapped, and her breath exhaled, he moved his legs into a sitting position, to stop them from burning. He did not however move away from the fire.

He didn't feel the heat as much as others did. Granted he couldn't even feel the cold of a snowy mountain, so having a fire was useless to him, but he was going to enjoy the woman's company in the very least.

"I'd have found what was needed to keep it alive." He told her roughly as he finally stopped inspecting his hand to look at her, his eye focused and centred on her, the hangman's noose that was his pupil in full effect. Already this was becoming dangerous territory, and it made him all the more wary of this woman. He felt that there was just something about her that he should be careful of.

The man carefully listened to her little speech. Religious. That was the only way to put it. Gifts that she had been granted. That was the turning point, that had given it all away. However, he continued to smile at her, giving no indication that he had caught anything. No doubt to her she didn't care that he knew, but still....it was an upperhand for him at least. It made him feel like he had something on her, that he could use to his advantage. Whether that was actually true would come to be soon enough.

"Yes, I suppose I am." He took a deep breath as he leaned back, using his elbows to prop himself up. It allowed him to watch her and the fire with a bit more ease, plus...he really just wanted to relax. "I myself am just...running. Been running for a few hundred years now I suppose. Out of time, out of thought, through the spaces between the spaces..." He gave a rather rough laugh as he thought about it now. Just trying to escape the grasp of a being who had given him life, who had made all the strangeness of his life just so she could have him. Sickened him to say the least.

"But not totally alone. I've got my thoughts, I've got my voice, both help to keep whatever insanity may be found by wandering alone for so long." Another chuckle from his lips. That would be a kicker wouldn't it? He goes insane from being away too long? He'd at least have thought himself stronger than that. For a moment he could have questioned his sanity. Maybe this woman wasn't here, maybe she was actually a figment of his imagination.

Nah, he couldn't have dreamt her up.

"Call me Nexus though. Nexus Savaros." He said finally, remembering that he should probably give his name out to her. "Like you, I'm just wandering from place to place....though, your expanse of wandering is rather limited, while mine has a bit more...broadness to it." The left corner of his lips pulled themselves up into a smirk as he thought about that last sentence. He assumed she was from this planet, from this world, which would make his statement true. She was stuck to this one planet, hell she might have even been stuck to this one continent. He...was not as much. Nexus was able to move from world to world, realm to realm, slip between the universes if he so chose to.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way." Nexus sat up and made sure to brush the dirt from his elbows. "Do you want something to eat? It'll only be whatever flightless bird or burrowing mammal comes across my path, but at least I've a few spices with me to mask any foul taste they might have." Just because he could eat bugs and garbage, didn't mean he didn't appreciate the finer tastes.

He slowly got to his feet, looking at Oinnanai for her answer.

ooc: don't hate me if this is crappy and short and full of crap >_< Oinnanai is HARD for me to post, I sowwy!

edit ooc: OMG OMG OMG! Oinnanai has a fun story now! But I'm not telling you what it is! It's going to be a surprise for you when it comes up! xDDDD but Oin is NOT BORING ANYMORE! *bouncebouncebouncebounce*


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She smiled courteously and bowed her head in acknowledgment when he commented on his abilities to keep a fire lit. "Of course" she added softly, aware that her actions and words could easily have injured his pride. She did not wish to put off her companion only moments after meeting him, that would be rude.

She did notice, however, that the man had not shied away from the blossoming flames she had conjured. He seemed unimpressed by her abilities and rather....just...perhaps she was hoping for him to appear nonplussed, and instead she got his irritation for assuming he would not be able to keep the fire burning.  This, of course, was not her intention at all! Quite the contrary! She simply wished to make the fire burn stronger to please the Great Mother and begin the evening ceremony. When the sun left the skies, her followers kept her living in their earthly flames. It was merely customary.

Not that it was expected for anyone other than a Solisi to understand the importance of the flame. They were a blessed people and it was her job as high priestess to undergo many hardships in order to spread Her great light.

A blessed job.

A blessed calling.

"Nice to meet you, Nexus Savaros. I would love something to eat if you can spare it. I know that food is hard to come by unless a herd of antelope decide to stampede through your camp." She chuckled lightly, golden eyes dancing in the firelight as she reveled in the heat the exuded from her handiwork.

"Do not worry if it puts you out in anyway. I have gone much longer without food, and would hate to be the reason you lose your nutrients" smiled Oinnanai, moving her knees from under herself to adapt a more comfortable seated position. Her sandals protruded from her thin satin dress, the gold laces tied in intricate patterns over her petite feet before disappearing under her dress where the laces continued up her leg. Her loose curls hung down her back, a few strands slipping over her shoulder and blowing lightly across her cheeks.

Sitting there beside the fire, she looked more doll-like than ever. Her flawless complexion more apparent in the twilight. She looked almost....not human....ethereal...

As if she were created rather than born.

But that was just silly. Of course she had parents...people don't just pop out of the dirt. Yes, she was taken away from them at a young age that she barely remembered them at all...but she had parents. To say otherwise would just be silly.

Gazing up at the sky, Oinnanai noted the position of the sun against the horizon and realized that she had only a few moments before her evening ceremony would need to begin. Forgetting to do so would only result in the Great Mother's wrath, and as the bridge between lowly humans and the Great Goddess, she would hear her displeasure rather than assume it existed. She would wait to see what he had in means of nutrition before beginning the ceremony.

That way she wouldn't interrupt his scavenging and be available to give some aid if he so needed it.

"How did you get that scar?" she asked while she waited, eyes drawn to his significant lack of eye, "It looks like it might be the beginning of a terrible tale."

((Nothing could ever suck when you type it Goldy! And I wanna know what your plaaaan is! I waaaaaaaanna knoooooooow!))

Fire was just fire, and he certainly could handle a lot more heat than what this fire could dish out. She was controlling size, spread, light perhaps, but she didn't seem to be making it output any undue heat. It was pleasant enough, at least to him, but he couldn't exactly gauge temperature. Maybe she was rather smart indeed. Nexus kept a close eye on what he was doing, trying to show no surprise at this time. After all, this was all about control, and he wanted to ensure that he was still somewhat in control. She may have dealt with little mortals and people who were afraid of the dark, or perhaps her fire...but he was not.

Control.

"Yeah...if only one would wander by." Nexus was certain that he could try to lure them here, but that would be...well..a most difficult task. He wasn't the best animal caller in the world, it was not a speciality of his really. He'd figure something out for him and his new...friend to enjoy. He was hoping that she wouldn't be offended by his magic. It was odd to say the least, but his magic was at least entertaining.

"Me? I can meditate for energy if I need it. Eating is...mostly for emergency energy...when I need to regain my power quickly." That was the truth of the matter too. If he wanted to, he could simply meditate constantly to regain any energy that he used. He shook his head as he watched Oinnanai carefully, taking in her beauty and studying her clothing. He had to admit that she was dressed quite...differently. If she wasn't a person of some importance, then he wasn't a sadist.

And he was most certainly a sadist.

Nexus wondered about this strange girl. What exactly was she? Where had she come from? He sighed as he thought about where he had come from. It had been far away, a planet whose name escaped him, who he really didn't care about actually. He had lost his leash there...he could remember watching a murder there, a young woman being stabbed by a rather intimidating fellow. However...he could remember smiling, and thinking to himself "Wow, that looks like it could be fun." He killed three people that night, along side the rather intimidating fellow...and then he killed the fellow as well.

It hadn't been out of wanting to right the wrong of the poor murdered girl either. It had been because he wanted to, because the man had annoyed him. A smile came to his face as he just thought about that moment. He had screamed so nicely too, the man had just cried out in so much pain. Nexus had figured out after killing the man that he was free. Her control over him had been broken finally. It had taken so many years, and travelling over so many realms and worlds but he had done it! He was free of Her!

He had danced a little jig when he had figured that out.

"The scar?" He reached up to his face to touch along his scar, up to his eye socket, lingering there for a moment. His hand dropped away and he sighed, sitting back down. Perhaps a little dinner could wait, he wanted her to listen to his little story.

"It was years ago, many...years ago. On my world, much like your world for that matter. I was...younger...much younger, and perhaps a little stupid. I was doing my...Divine job at that time." When he spoke, the word divine was like acid, he spit it like poison was on his very tongue. His face showed disgust as he thought about the whole thing. "My brother Rift was always stronger than me...in so many more ways. He had broken free of Her control long ago, and had been following me, taunting me. Whenever one of Her agents...that's us...we are Her 'Divine' agents as she calls us..." He shook his head, taking a deep breath as he closed both his eyes. It didn't matter, part of his curse. Nexus could see through his eyelid, which didn't help him any.

His eyes opened, one of darkness, and one of almost pure white. "My brother visited me as I was doing a job. I was sent to punish a man and his family for some very heavy transgressions. It was however an ambush...my brother waited there for me with the man and his family, he had them hanging like pigs from hooks in a butcher shop." He had been surprised, and impressed by the work. The family had lived for quite a while despite all the torture. "Rift jumped me while I was inspecting the bodies. We got into a fight, and eventually I figured out what was happening." Nexus fell silent as he thought about it, about his stupidity, about how he hadn't seen the plan as it unfolded right before him.

"Rift made a lot of mistakes in the fight, and I was so blinded by desire to best him that I never even thought about. It was too late though, and he pulled a hook from one of the bodies. Turns out the body had been strung up differently. He pinned me to the ground, sat on my chest as he held the hook close. It was razor sharp...I'll give him one thing, that he never let anything dull." Curiously, Nexus would ponder how that were possible despite his given powers. That was something to dwell on later however.

"He dragged it across my face, stuck it carefully under my eye and pulled it from my socket. He severed the magical connection it had to me, and put it in a small vial of vinegar or something rather to preserve it. Still carries it around with him. He tells me that he'll give it back once I join his side but..." Nexus gave a rueful laugh at that comment. "I'm done taking orders from people like him. I break the collar and leash of one, and he expects me to take on his?" Nexus shook his head as he looked toward the fire with a weary expression on his face. That story never got old, no matter how many times he told it.

Still, there were was new business to be at hand however.

He stood once more, turning and fixing his gaze upon the girl. "If you stay here and tend the fire, I'll go and retrieve us something to eat. We wouldn't want your strength to get low Oinnanai."

She listened intently to his story, a few parts raising questions in her mind, but she refused to interrupt until he was finished. It sounded horrifying, what he went through in this story. But ultimately, she had been right. It made a good tale. After all, not many people could say that they had their eye gouged out of their head by a hook...And yet, here he sat telling it calmly, almost as if it barely phased him. Perhaps he was numb to the story by this point. That was highly possible. That injury wasn't exactly hidden and he probably go questions about it all the time. Maybe told the story again and again whenever he ran into people.

Yet...at the same time, here he was in the middle of nowhere. How many people could he actually run into? It seemed almost as if he avoided people rather than embraced company.

In fact...hadn't it be she who approached him? And, yes, she hadn't really been expecting to find anyone here...but would he have even blinked in her direction if she had decided not to stop but continue on her journey across the plains? Probably not...

So...maybe it was less of a "numb" to the story, and more a time thing. Perhaps enough time had passed that the story no longer brought back any ill memories. That, or she was simply reading into things. It just seemed odd that the story was so...factual. No excitement, nothing in his voice that denoted he even cared that this had happened to him.

Would she be that strong in a similar situation?

The real question she had, however, was his mention of "Her". He did not elaborate, but it was apparent that she had a great influence on his life...on his direction. She did not sound like a person...but a more dominate figure. It just sounded as if when he said Her it was a proper noun, not merely a pronoun. A capital H.

It was very similar to the way she spoke of the Great Mother. Oinnanai considered Her a strong, influential Goddess in the world. Did this man...did he have a Goddess whom he left? This, of course, made her job both easier and more difficult. For one thing, she wouldn't need to convince him his religion was false. Yet on the other hand, convincing him that hers was correct and he should consider rejoining a faith...that was the tricky part. She would ask him about it when he returned...

"Of course, I will tend the flames." She bowed her head in his direction, the gold circlet on her forehead glittering in the firelight. It was so plain...so simple for a priestess....but that made it dynamic. Perhaps because she didn't need all of the decorative headdresses that some of the priestess's wore simple for the fact that she was the perfect Solisi woman. Should she ever have children, they would inherit her beauty and become perfect Solisi children. She needed nothing to accentuate her body, her skin, her hair...she merely needed herself. The circlet, along with the flowing satin dress accentuated her own flawless beauty rather than create it.

"Thank you for your kindness."

Once he was away she would begin her ceremony.

He'd come to terms with his loss of an eye a long time ago. He used to wear an eye patch, but then he saw no need of it. People KNEW he was missing an eye still, and a fake eye just looked...fake. It would have been a poor substitute for something that had been really nice. Telling the story though helped he supposed. At least people regarded him in a new light when he told it. Some feared him, some were intrigued by him, some had a new level of respect for him, but the story did help him with his reputation.

And on this planet, he really didn't have a reputation, at least, not that he was aware of.

Fun times.

It was true that Her was a special person. A Goddess indeed, through and through to some degree. Gods and Goddesses of his world were a bit different than most. They had true feelings, they could be hurt to a degree, imprisoned, overpowered, and most importantly...they were fallible. That was something that he hadn't ever understood at first. The Gods were fallible. They fell in love, they were greedy, they were paranoids, they were just like people...except they could control the world in ways that he never understood. The things they could do were beyond the power of any person he had ever encountered. Oh they were Deities alright...just...they were fallible.

That was a shock to a lot of people. It was also probably why he was able to break free of Her control. She was...fallible. Her control was limited, as was all the deities he encountered. They could only operate within the bounds of their home realm, at least, as Gods...they could take the power of a greater mortal, like an incarnate, but they'd never be like themselves.

If only they were forced to take the forms of lesser creatures like mice.

"Hah hah...yeah...don't worry about it." Depending on how things played out, his kindness might disappear on her. She was really a beautiful woman, though young as she was. It meant a certain amount of inexperience, which was better for him. He'd been around for ages, literally, and it gave him a certain advantage over her. However, if he was right about her being important, she'd been taught to defend herself. She had no weapons on her, no knives hidden, no daggers, and she knew magic, so that would be the answer. Magic. Fire with fire he supposed...perhaps fire with water.

Nexus was on the look out. Night and Day to him were unknown concepts in a way. He could see in both of them the same, very well, which was not something that would go well for the creatures of the plains. He decided not to make a show of lightning and thunder, most of the creatures out flying with bats and the like. Sure, a few nocturnal avians were out but Nexus had respect for the owls that flew. So he stuck to trapping prairie dogs instead. He did manage to secure himself a few handfuls of bugs and worms, which would make for a tasty snack.

A few conjured pieces of silver rope were needed to keep onto his loot of four prairie dogs. None were adolescents, which meant there would be a good amount of meat on their bones. When he started to near the fire's light, he slowed down and waited. She couldn't know really how long he'd need to be, and he wanted to study her in the darkness a bit more.

Know your company, observe them when they don't know you're out there.

Find out everything you can so you can use it to your advantage if you need to. He was still thinking like that, which amused him in some small way. She could be, without a doubt, an enemy, or she could be nothing but a harmless girl travelling the plains. The latter wasn't as likely however. She had done well for herself, and a girl of such beauty, it wasn't something that he trusted. Something was wrong with her, something about her, something that made him edgy. He hated not knowing, he hated having to be on the edge like this, to not be in full control. There were mysterious variables in the whole thing, and they bugged him

Oinnanai watched him disappear into the fading sunlight, her warm smile slowly fading from her face and was replaced by one of sheer calculation. Who was this man? The more she spoke with him the more she found that she wanted to know. It really was for no other reason than...the feeling she felt of kinship with him was slowly dissipating. She couldn't really explain why....perhaps he seemed overly fake in his kindness towards her.

But was that so strange? She too was acting in a similar fashion.

He hadn't flinched away from the flames either...should she take that as a good sign? Should she be more worried, or believe that his acceptance of flame was Her greatness filling him?

Best not worry too much about it now. He was being kind, and until he showed her any other colors, she could do nothing but accept things at face value and try to further understand him. Staring into the flames she willed to hear her mistresses voice, telling her exactly what it was she needed to do. Today, however, her words did not fill her high priestess, and she was left with a deep seated emptiness.

Sure, there were a few times when Oinnanai did not receive the guidance she wished, but it always seemed to be at the worst times. Perhaps it was the Great Mother's way to teach her children to follow their own hearts, and in this way only would they be brought closer to Her. She just wished that it had happened yesterday rather than today when she found herself seating by a man she didn't know, uneasiness slowly replacing muted excitement.

But for now she had to stop worrying. The sun was nearly behind the horizon and the evening ceremony was upon her. With a deep breath of the clean outdoor air, she closed her eyes and raised her face towards the light breeze. Standing, she traced her fingers through the air, small sparks igniting at her fingertips sending diamonds of flames through the air. Slowly she picked up the pace, the fire now following her fingers in unbroken strings through the air. It was like art, the faster the speed, the more connected and making symbols through the air, painting a story, welcoming Her warmth and light into the dark of night.

As she moved, she began to sing. First low, and then a little louder, the words in a language that only Her followers were taught. As she danced, her hair spun around her head like a crown of white flames. Her eyes reflected the light show she was producing, flashing with each passing ribbon of heat. With a final spin, the flames spun around her body, caressing her curves before disappearing into the night. Her final gesture was to kneel in the direction of the fading sun and whisper a few words of prayer as the last rays disappeared, the stars twinkling in the now night sky. Straightening, she faced the fire and clapped her hands, the flames expanding exponentially with the command of her will. Being alone, she no longer needed to worry with the appearances she had done the first time she created the fire. The night was becoming colder so she allowed a bit more heat to emit from them.

Reaching forward, she ran her hands deliberately through them, watching as the orange gold tongues licked her skin, removing her hand and watching the fire dance on her palm before extinguishing it by closing her fingers.

Now just to wait for her companion to return. She hummed softly to herself, waiting contently by the Great Mother's flame.

It was all coming together as Nexus stayed a nice distance away from her, watching her carefully. He had gotten low, with one knee in the soft grass, while the other was out of the grass, his foot planted on the ground instead. Just in case he had to get up in a hurry of course. He had no idea what was happening at this time, but he could make a few dozen guesses, and none of them seemed really favourable.

No, scratch that. Exotic fire dancer.

Double scratch that...Erotic fire dancer.

Though a small smirk crossed his face, he knew that he'd never be that lucky. No, this seemed a lot more like something sacred, and that could never be a good thing, now could it? She was a religious person then, after all, one didn't usually do this without a reason. The language she started singing was unknown to him, though it sounded...nice almost, more so coming from her. He only wished he could understand it, that he had been given the gift of many tongues, but...alas her words were nothing but pretty sounds in his ear. For some reason, this act bugged, and pacified him. It bugged him because he wasn't overly fond of religions or their followers, but it pacified him as well because he finally understood that air about her.

She was a religious follower.

Whether she was important in her religion, or just felt she was important because she was part of her religion was a whole different matter. He wouldn't ask her about it, he decided that he didn't care. She had just wanted to share his fire with him, and that was fine by him. He saw it as...a way to kill time at least. His religion had no real...fancy things to it, and his story was mostly one of being bred for the sole purpose of being a puppet. It was not a happy story to tell, and he'd probably just make something up. He did feel a slight bit of guilt however at the thought of lying to her. Then again, he felt a lot of feelings toward the young woman. Anger, guilt, lust, frustration, all just bottled up inside of him.

She had finally finished her little ceremony however, and he was thankful he hadn't situated himself in the west or the east. It obviously had something to do with the setting sun, after all, she hadn't started during the day or while the sun was still a bit over the horizon. Idly he wondered if this would be repeated in the morning.

That was a saving grace for her.

She'd stay alive, if only for him to find out what might happen in the morning.

He got up from his hiding spot and headed back to their little encampment. "I hope you like prairie dog." One of the more...interesting things would be trying to cook the damn things. They had no sticks to speak of, no way to hold their meals up while they cooked. He decided the best way to go about it was to cook them up using the string he had available. It wouldn't melt or burn, wouldn't get hot after all, and he could just hold them above the flame. It'd take a little bit of doing but he was pretty sure that he could cook them.

He did start cleaning them properly with a knife he had strapped to the side of his shin. He made sure to gut them, behead them, that sort of thing, so that it would be almost completely edible, save for the bones. The fur was also cut away from it, and he even had his back turned to her so she wouldn't see him doing this. "It's not a pretty sight, you really don't want to see this." He assured her. He'd gathered the other parts up into a small satchel, which he'd dispose of later, far away from them. Any wild animals would be more interested in the leftovers than in them.

Once they were neatly cleaned and ready, he stood by the fire, the four prairie dogs tied to one hand, around his fingers and held above the fire's flames as they began to cook. Each of them had a light sprinkling of different spices upon them, just to give them extra flavour. "I've a few wine skines with me, some of them filled with non-alcoholic beverages even if you're thirsty Oinnanai." Nexus was trying to be as kind as possible, remembering certain manners his parents had once taught him so many years ago. Trying to ensure that he didn't come off to imposing, like...She had told him. His free hand clenched unconsciously into a fist but then relaxed a moment after.

"I'll admit this, you do know how to take care of a fire."

She smiled delicately when Nexus returned, a few dead things dangling from his hands. She herself had killed small game for food before and had no issue with death. In fact, it was a simple fact in life that some animals were simply not superior enough to survive. The same could be said about humans too.

After all, she had been in charge of destroying some of those horrid Drows in her life. Their blood was on her hands...if you could even call it blood. They were the filth of the earth. Really, she was doing the world a great favor by destroying their despicable lives. The opposite of all that was good and right in the world, the opposite of Her way... and in a way, anyone who opposed Her message would face the same downfall as the Drow. They were considered "in league" with the dark, horrible, slimy, vile creatures of the underground and would be shown the same courtesy.

These images rifled through her mind when he turned his back in the attempts to hide the skinning. Yes, it was a bloody process, but she had seen much worse in her short seventeen years. How old had she been the first time she had seen one of those vile creatures sacrificed to the Great Mother? Too young for her to remember....the first time it was frightening. The next, it became more and more beautiful, knowing that the world was destroying one more creature that would oppose Her will. When she was a little bit older she had led the sacrifice.

If she could do that, skinning was absolutely nothing. So, she sat watching his back with an amused smile on her face. He was being gentlemanly she guessed...but it didn't make it any less amusing.

She nodded towards him politely, "Thank you for the meal. I'm sure it will taste delicious once it's finished." She wasn't exactly a picky eater either. She had lived off of worse things, and eating a few prairie dogs wasn't going to kill her by any means. In fact, it didn't smell horrible while it was roasting over the fire. It smelled almost pleasant.

"Wine would be lovely, as well." She added with another smile, pulling herself up to her knees, "I can go and get that if you'd like. Your hands are a bit more occupied than mine at the moment." She chuckled lightly, "And yes, I have a small amount of experience with fire. I've been trained in its sacred arts since I was barely a year old." When she spoke of her training, her golden eyes seemed to take on a haughty sparkle, one that was subconscious and habitually induced for years. She truly believed that the Great Mother was the be all, end all of the world. Anyone who didn't believe it was a heathen and a blasphemer, and she would eradicate them the first moment she could.

Of course...she would always allow them ample amounts of time to figure it out and choose the correct path.

"So..Nexus." she mused, "You had mentioned in your riveting tale a "Her." She seems a bit more important that a simple pronoun. Who is She?"

He had very little knowledge of her, and would almost be aghast at the amount of deaths and sacrifices she had witnessed. At the same time however, her stuff was ceremonial and usually in the confines of an eradication war. He on the other hand...was plain sadistic in his way. His occupation as Agent of Order didn't always constitute killing someone, and he would admit that sometimes he killed people for fun. When he did kill a person for fun, it wasn't quick, it wasn't clean, it wasn't in any way ceremonial or for a just cause in his mind. It was because he wanted someone to suffer, he wanted them to hurt, to feel pain, he wanted them to scream and beg and plead. He wanted them to know that he was in control, and that their life was nothing to him.

She might even be appalled at the sheer force of hatred and what it could conceive.

He continued to skin the dead creatures, it was no doubt lucky that they had been killed or they might be squeaking in such horrible pain. He wouldn't have minded it, but at this time, he had very little idea of what she had been exposed to. It was best for him to not do anything out of the norm. She was some important person after all. Whatever she was, he hadn't quite figured out, but in time all things would be revealed he hoped.

"It should. These things were a bit fat and the spices I have usually do a good job." Had she not been here, he'd have eaten them raw, and whole. No skinning, no de-boning or gutting, just take a bite and chew. It made little difference to him after all. Once more, that probably wouldn't have been appreciated by his guest, and it wasn't like he was opposed to cooking them. After all, you had to spoil yourself once in a while didn't you?

"Don't worry about it, you'd never find them anyway." She'd note he had no backpack, but satchels and pouches on his belt. He reached down with his free hand to one of the pouches and undid it, dipping inside. It was no doubt bizarre to see his whole forearm disappear inside, him leaning sideway trying to reach down until he found whatever he was looking for. He pulled out a couple of wine skins, ones that looked a lot bigger than the small satchel at his side and tossed them at her feet. "Red wine and white wine. The little rings at the top of the pouch tell you which one...red for red wine, white for white wine." He was at least organized.

If he could glare, he probably would though. The sacred arts. She was a religious girl then, without a doubt in his mind. He even noted that she seemed smug about it. Great. Just what he needed. To hear something like that. He wouldn't let it spoil his mood though, she wasn't preaching or anything like that...but that haughty smug look of hers did annoy him. He wanted to smack it off her pretty little face.

"Who was She?" He turned to look at her carefully, eyeing her openly as he tried to figure something about her. Were these people intelligent enough to know of other realms and of other universes? Judging by how he had seen their civilization, probably not.

"That all depends on you poppet. I don't really know your level of intelligence...or your apparent religious background...so what I say could constitute full on blasphemy to you. I've met a lot of people who have thought me as nonsense and blasphemous with my background so...I wouldn't want to have this little...whatever we have going get complicated and unfriendly." That was probably the safest way to put it for the time being. He honestly didn't know how she'd react, and the biggest thing would be having her laugh at him.

That'd earn her a one way ticket to death's doorstop.

"Maybe I'll tell you after supper, which is...just about ready." He said as he lifted the prairie dogs up so he could inspect them. Yep, they were cooked through and through, no pink meat or blood left in them. Nexus carefully slid two of the loops off his fingers and held them out to the girl. "Go ahead and grab the string, it's not hot anywhere." That was a useful little thing about some of his ropes. He could make it so they didn't snap from heat, which in this particular case was lucky.

After she had taken the two from him he sat down and began to eat the prairie dogs, ripping into one of his own chunks of cooked meat while staring straight upwards. Of course, you'd never really tell where he was looking, as his noose pupil was hiding inside the socket itself. He was admiring the stars they had in the sky, they were quite lovely. Occasionally he took a swig from a wineskin he had retrieved from his magical pouch, this one had a distinctly black, white, and yellow band near the top.

"Everything good, nothing wrong with the food?" He didn't know if his earlier comment to her had offended her in any way, at the same time though, she seemed a tad understanding, so maybe she wasn't too offended.

"Blasphemy..." she mused, chuckling lowly to herself as she gazed down at the base of the fire. Her golden eyes glittered with an odd sort of mischief, but only for a split second and no onlookers could really be sure it was ever there. "What is blasphemy? Surely, whatever it is your are guilty of from your home would not be blasphemy for me. Indeed, any type of heretic from another religion would simply be a step towards the Light. Should you have left Her for any reason, it would show itself as an opportunity to one such as I."

She gazed across the flames at him through her lashes, graciously accepting the food he offered. This one had caught her interests and she planned on exploiting him to his breaking point. Civility could only extend for so long, and she knew that truth fit in better with disdain and anger than forced courtesy.

The High Priestess wondered how far she could push him.

And when they reached that breaking point....?

Then what?

It was intriguing and she continued down her road. The food was really anything but a tasty meal, but she had most certainly had worse on her travels. With a swift look at the two wine skins he pulled out of his pouches, she accepted the white, taking a swig and contemplating the flavors on her tongue. It was not like any other wine she had had before. Honestly, there were much better to be had, but she would not complain. The wine served in the temples would always be superior to anything nonbelievers carried. It was definitely strange, however, the manner in which he cooked the meal. Never before had she seen these strings or whatever.

"The food is fine." replied Oinnanai in a curt manner that she had not initially intended, "However...this manner of cooking? It is strange magic, yes?"

She paused for a moment, a deviant part of her brain fighting with some semblance of reason before voicing her next comment. Looking down at the ground, she hid the smirk on her face and looked up at Nexus, her face pleasantly blank yet curious.

"Is that magic something that...She....taught you?"

She was one of THOSE people then. Now there was a little regret to letting her stay with him, but...still. She was simply ignorant, he could handle it. This was just...how these people were. Stupid was a word he could use for her no doubt. He hated some religions, just for their pure ignorance and stubborness to accept certain truths in the world. He wondered just what they did and didn't believe for that matter. He really wasn't planning to find out that much about her religion and her knowledge. Already she was starting to bug him a slight bit.

That wasn't a good thing of course.

She'd die a peasant's death if she was wanting to continue on this path.

He continued to eat his food in a bit of silence. He wasn't a really loud and disgusting eater, but he was somewhat noisy, if just for his own particular satisfaction. "Good to hear." He murmured as he continued his feast on his prepared dish. Despite looking so rough, he actually pulled a handkerchief out and wiped at his mouth as he chewed.

"Nn?" He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. He swallowed his current mouthful and shook his head. "Maybe for you, but it's pretty normal at this point." It was only strange if you didn't have a sort of imagination. Granted, he was cursed to have his magic manifest like this. He didn't have any particular choice in the matter. He had to create a rope, or string, thread, wire, ribbon, yarn, anything along those lines to use magic. His favourite of course was a bull whip, but that was neither here nor there at this time.

He didn't believe her curious look on her face. It was too...perfect. She was good at hiding herself, he could tell that. She hadn't been surprised, she hadn't been shocked by some of his...actions or words...instead, she had just stared, cold and calculating. Oh no, she was not going to get away looking like that. He knew...oh how he knew.

"Learned it myself. It was a bit of a surprise. I wanted a man to suffer, so I raised my hand and just...all my hatred manifest in my hands, and this large thick piece of blue rope began to drip from my hand. It felt...cold and watery...so I shoved it in his mouth. I kept feeding the rope into his mouth, and eventually he drowned on it. All I had to do after that was pull it from his mouth and all water in his body came with it. He looked like a human raisin after ward." Nexus gave a chortle as he thought about it. It had been rather amusing for Nexus really, but it wouldn't have been for him. "However, it was Her that told me my magic would only manifest in a particular form." He took the end of that particular answer to take a long drink from his wine skin, draining it of all the liquid content before replacing it in the satchel at his side.

She was interested, but he wasn't sure about what however. There was something that was bothering him, something about her that just...she was like a peach, gorgeous on the outside, ripe and sweet, but on the inside she had a worm. This would be interesting to see where this all went, if she got really annoying he'd just bash her teeth in and slice her tongue out.

It'd get her to shut up after all.

Oinnanai hid a grin from behind one pale, perfect hand. Her golden eyes glittered in the firelight; the first time she had let her demeanor slip in his presence. Something about the way he described killing...it should have sent chills down her spin but instead it just raised the stakes of this dangerous game. He was not afraid to kill, in fact, he seemed to be drawn to killing. He hadn't been caught in a fight and accidentally killed a man, he had gone into it wanting that man to suffer...

It was thrilling.

Like she had stepped up to the end of a cliff and was looking down at the ground hundreds of feet below. Some people might be scared, but she was intrigued and wanted to see if the cliff-side would crumble. If it were to fall, she would simply spout wings and watch as the rocks became rubble as they struck the earth below.

Well, not really sprout wings, but she had her own share of hidden abilities that this man could not know of. Yes, she could control fire, but the ceremonial way in which she enhanced the fire before was merely that: ceremonial. She didn't need to use the flare and showmanship that she demonstrated. The amulet that hung around her neck did more than just sparkle in the firelight as well, and she would use it if she needed. This Nexus would not get the upper hand in a fight, even should he pull that string out of his fingertips and shoot ice daggers from his eyes.

He did not know the full power of Her servants.

At least not yet.

"Hmm...." She mused when his story finished, different directions in which she could take this conversation racing through her head. "It sounds like this man truly wronged you. Perhaps it is your goal to find Her and do the same thing?" She took a dainty sip of the wineskin she held on her end, the liquid sending warmth through her throat and to the tips of her fingers. She was careful, however. It would not do to become dumb with drink and then remain at his mercy. High Priestess or not, she was a small woman and did not stand above the effects of alcohol. "Is that what brings you out to this plain? The hopes of finding her and shoving your...string...." Her eyes danced, completely aware of the dangerous path she was on, "Into her again, and again...?"

Oh if only she had known that his entire life, the very existence that was Nexus...was to kill. He was born into the world with a Goddess looking over him, teaching him and guiding him to become an instrument of pain and suffering those who weren't just and good. He had been made into the most diabolical device for killing his fellow man that was possible. She had done this with several people, and all she had to do was point and turn them loose.

She had been foolish, and let them stray too far.

The girl didn't seem at all...scared by his story, and he knew something was wrong with that. While at the same time, he wasn't really sure that he cared. She should have been disgusted, and yet...she almost seemed...intrigued. He guessed that she wasn't all that she said she was either, and that she was really something that he'd have to be careful about. She had fight in her no doubt. Why that mattered, he didn't know at this time.

"I can't even really remember what he did. I think he had insulted my hat." To a Savaros, a hat was an almost sacred thing. None of his brothers knew why, and his Goddess wasn't going to share it with them. The hats didn't hold any power, they didn't do anything special, but the Savaros loved to wear a hat...and they'd never figure out why. When she spoke again to him, it made him laugh outright. In fact the laughter was almost insulting as he did it, as if the thing she had said had been what you'd hear from a child that didn't no any better. Which she sort of was.

"Ah...ah thank you...I haven't laughed like that in a while." Nexus made a show of wiping tears at the side of his eyes from laughing so hard. "First, you can't kill a Goddess, believe me I attacked her once. Let me tell you something girlie, when your consciousness is still intact while every speck of your body suddenly gets torn apart...you feel it. She made sure to let me know that this wasn't a game, and she wasn't lying...but that is besides the point. She isn't here on your world. She's back in a different realm, no doubt stewing over the fact that her faithful flock has left her." Nexus let out a bitter laugh as he lifted the wine skin to his mouth and began to drink until it was completely empty.

"That's what pisses me off...can't sleep, can't get drunk, can't do drugs to forget...it's a slippery slope, never being able to forget, even for just a few hours about your shit-storm of a life." He growled as he put the wineskin away in the small bag attached to his hip. At least he had the portable hole.

"So what's your angle anyway poppet? You seem to have taken a great interest in me and my story." The way she spoke, the way she acted, it wasn't right of a priestess...at least not a priestess that he would have really liked to be around. A peach with a worm in it, a worm that you knew was there. The peach was delicious looking enough, but the inside...you just knew there was something bad.

Nexus however...could eat anything.

He wondered if she'd ever have been subjected to rape before. He didn't much care for raping priestesses, they never really cried, just shouted curses that God would strike him down or some other nonsense. It wasn't as satisfying. He still went through with it of course, and he did often torture them afterwards for several hours but it never had the same release as raping a peasant or a noble.

Pity that.

"My angle?" she asked, a single perfect eyebrow shooting towards her hairline. A small grin remained on her rose colored lips and she adjusted her seated position to raise one knee and rest her elbow on it to support her head as she gazed at him sideways. Golden eyes, the pools of their depths were like little suns planted specifically into her face to speak the words of the Great Mother, without her actually speaking.

"I think you misunderstand." Her smile widened and her face returned to a pleasant smile, "I do not have an angle merely a perspective. It is entirely up to you whether or not my perspective turns into an angle. But you see, I find that it's far too early to jump to hasty conclusions, don't you think?" She took a swig of the white wine he had passed her, enjoying the tingling sensations it sent through her limbs. Not a drunk feeling, nor even tipsy, simply...enjoyable. Her eyes remained uncannily focused upon his face, taking in everything from his missing features to the ones that still remained. Gazing at him she realized that his face was like an oxymoron. One side of his face was the sun, a bright eye shining out in the darkness, the other a black hole.

She determined, from this observation, that he was capable of both great, and terrible things. A personality forever split because of what was taken from him.

Or given, depending on how one viewed his situation.

"And that must have been a terribly important hat, to react so violently." she sat down the wineskin and then rested her head on her hand again, continuing to stare at him without shame, without any awkwardness exuding from her. At least, she didn't feel awkward, but perhaps her staring unnerved him.

She could only hope.

"Now." she added with a dramatic sigh and switching her position into indian style and resting her hands elegantly in her lap. "You have been so kind as to provide me with a lovely story about you life, so I feel it is only fair I do the same. You see, I feel it is important to be on equal footing. Now...hmmmm" she pressed a perfect finger onto her perfect lips, parting it slightly as she thought and held that pose, purposefully appearing slightly seductive and slightly air-headed.

The more that people continued to look at her, the more it became obvious that something was not quite right about her. And not simply the fact that she did not find his past, bloody history surprising, nor disgusting in any way, but just her appearance. When she held still she looked like a doll, an intricately designed doll that seemed to, somehow, gain life and parade around making others feel horrible about their own plain bodies.

"Ah!" her finger left her lip to point in the air, the spell her stillness wove broken with movement, "Just the story. You see, I too have quite a bloody past. Although, I don't suppose I can even, honestly, say that these creatures deserve to have blood to be shed. The first time I saw death, I held the knife and bathed in its blood. I am, after all, the High Priestess of the Lumenari and it is my duty to lead the example." She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, "I can remember like it was yesterday....his pitiful cries as we dragged him through the sunlight, dark skin becoming crusted and cracking...tying him to the alter before raising the knife..." her eyes remained closed and her hands made movements as if raising a knife clenched in both hands. She was lost in a euphoric memory. A bloody, euphoric memory.

"The sound of the blade slicing through his skin...it made him scream. Goddess yes, and I could feel Her work being done by my hands. That creature was not fit to walk the earth, neither on it nor under it. He squirmed....oh he squirmed...until my blade penetrated his heart and he shuddered and died."

Opening her eyes, she blinked as if waking from a dream and dropped her hands back onto her lap.

"I believe that makes us even, Nexus, no?" she asked, milking his name as if it were candy on her tongue.

"Now." she leaned forward, sweet smile back on her lips. Now it seemed almost creepy, the change in her persona after such a detailed, loving description of death. "Where were we? Something about an angle? Ah, yes...well...I might pose the same question to you. After all, for all I know this wine I'm drinking," she took another swig, "Is poisoned and in a few minutes I'll become paralyzed and you'll have your way with me." the grin on her cheeks widened and provided proof that the idea did not scare her in the least.

"Or perhaps," she leaned closer to the fire which seemed to reach towards her face with a loving caress, "You'll just use one of those strings and wrap it around my pale neck."

"Oh do I?" She was small, she was insignificant and she had no idea did she? Her look however said otherwise, her look said different, that she was important in some way, important in her mind. He liked that, because she thought it to be true, but the future would forget her, save for if she was 'important' in her organization. Then she might be remembered, but she would still be dead. That was the important thing, he may not be remembered in books and in tall tales of song, but he would not be dead. He could live on, and honestly, reading about your deeds or having people sing about you while they thought you were dead was quite...disconcerting.

Her stare wasn't so bad, he sort of liked her particular attention to him. Though he found it oddly discomforting for the mere fact that she seemed like a predator watching him, and he found that slightly scary. She was watching him, like he were a sheep. He himself was a predator just as she was, and yet she seemed to have the upper hand...almost.

"It's been with me for more years that you've seen." He reached up and took his fedora off, scuffing off a bit of dirt and dust with his sleeve before he placed it back on his head. The fedora, the leather jacket, the eyes, they were his signature. Well, so was his magical style, but really, it was the outfit that gave him the most he believed. People knew him by his magical style, at least on his planet. They'd probably have forgotten about him for now, he had disappeared many years ago. No matter though, he didn't want them to remember him, more so his Goddess. Nexus was very happy to be forgotten by them. This was his new world, his new life, his new world, and he was comfortable with it really.

Nexus gave a slight smile as he slowly leaned back, putting one hand on the ground and relaxing, watching her carefully. Here it was then, she'd finally tell him everything he wanted to know, everything about her. It would give him the proper insight into her life, proper insight into her capacity and her ability. He had wanted to know just what the hell she was, just what he should be careful of. Nexus desired to know his opponent, their capacity for harm against him and how they might be able to do such. Was she trained in some martial art, some weapon, he already knew she had magic capacity, no doubt she was more improved than she let on to believe, but the question was...what else could she do? What else should he look out for? While he couldn't spot any weapons on her, she could be like him and have a way to create a weapon, a great flaming sword perhaps, or a javelin of intense heat and energy.

The possibilities were endless at this point.

His eyes looked away from her, to his free hand which did not support him. He created a small red thread with a heavy coil at the end to weight it down...then he began to twitch his finger to bounce it up and down. He was paying attention to her yes, but he wanted to seem like he was bored already by the prospect of her story. It was an act, to show that he had some strength, some power that she didn't know. He didn't know what the Lumenari was, but he knew what a High Priestess was, and it spelt some trouble. She was in one of those religions. Like his own actually, and it sparked his interest in a way which was surprising. He missed the life to a degree, but he hated it because of the restrictions, because of the hypocrisy and the decadence that came with it. He hated how he was a monster, created for a sole purpose...he hated...

He hated how he was never asked.

No one asked him what he wanted, he had just been forced into it, using animal instinct and basic wants and desires to do what he was told.

Nexus listened to the little story, his eye flashing up to look at her as she did the knife movement, recreating how she butchered a helpless man. That he always found sad, they never gave the sacrifices a chance, never let them fight and sacrifice the priest. They were so willing to take the lives of others, to take the gold of others, but never willing to give their own, never willing to go under the knife.

It sickened him.

"I suppose it would." He said as his eye flickered back to looking at the little thread that sprouted from the end of his fingertip. Was he enjoying himself with this? Perhaps just a tiny bit yes. How could he not? This was all a bit of a game really, to see who was stronger of mind. She might win, he was easy to anger, while she seemed able to hold herself in check. She however did not understand the anger, the rage, the power that could coarse through him and fill him, giving him the strength to overcome. A blinding rage was actually helpful sometimes, and if he needed to ignore pain and scathing comments, it could help him.

Slowly, Nexus stood up, dismissing the string of power from his finger with a small flick of it toward the fire. The string shot into the fire and caused it to burn higher, trying to reach at her face which was perhaps a tad too close. He turned away from her, and his shoulders began to shake as he laughed. It was a deep laugh, a very mocking sort of laugh as he kept his back to her. She was just a conceited little creature wasn't she? It was adorable. He bent slightly, his hands on his thighs as he laughed more. Slowly though, the laughter was silenced and he turned around to face her.

"If I wanted to fuck you, I would. I would have pushed your face into the dirt and sodomized you when we first met. I don't need poisons or ropes to 'have my way with you' Oin." Nexus told her as he focused his eye on her, a rather terrible smirk playing on his face. It was an insult, to think he needed such an underhanded tactic such as poison to have sex with her. Threads perhaps, but choking her with them? It wasn't often his style. If the person really deserved it, he would choke them with his own two hands...but sometimes he would hang them with rope or thread. She however, didn't seem to be intimidated by the threat, she seemed almost...intrigued. Oh the things he wanted to do, the things he could do, raping her was one of the 'best' things he could do to her. It was true too, and it was one of the least debauched things that he could make her live out on these plains. There were many other pleasures, or pains in her case no doubt, that he could let her experience.

Ironically, a lot of things involved heat and fire.

"But you act like you're unafraid of the prospect, that the idea of anything happening to you is laughable. I find it...interesting." Slowly Nexus raised a finger upward and dragged his finger through the air. A strange small piece of white thread was trailing behind it. He did this a few more times until he created a wispy sort of N out of the threads, which were pulled by the wind. "Funny thing about fire, it's just a reaction, it creates a lot of things, lots of people like the heat, heat's good...but they don't always realize the light aspect. That's the good part really. Light is great, some may say the darkness is better, but oh no...the light has quite a lot of uses. This is a neat little trick I picked up back when I was young, you'll appreciate this one for sure. " His eyes rolled back into his skull as he continue to trace the N with his finger, moving it back and forth slowly. The light weight of the white thread was enough to keep it afloat, which he continued to do over and over again.

"And it's...fun." He snapped his finger, which caused the thread floating in front of him to explode with bright light white, the fire in front of Oin doing the exact same thing, suddenly bursting to a full bright white like a flash of lightning, before it completely disappeared, leaving nothing but a pit of ash and smoke, the embers and coals having gone out in the sudden burst, no longer having any fuel to burn.

Nexus on the other hand, was already on the move. He was going to grab her, force her to the ground, and show her that he didn't need to wrap a rope around her neck. oh no, he could use his fingers. He just had to pull his eye to look forward once more, he had made the flash perhaps a tad bright, he wasn't sure how protected she might be to it, and even him with his special eye could have ended up blinded. That would have been horrible, no amount of talking would have saved him there.

His only question was whether or not he should paralyse her and have his way with her first, or after.

She watched him laugh with amusement and felt her smile falter for a moment before it dawned on her that she had finally reached his breaking point. In a way, she had won the game and now waited for his counter attack. Or whatever it was he would try to do. His words proved he was beyond confident in his own abilities and that merely upped the stakes. He laughed, and she calculated, watching the each muscle in his body in an attempt to predict his movements.

Oinnanai did not stand, but it was her time to grin, no longer looking sweet but looking manipulative, cocky, and full of confidence.

She spread her arms and said, "Oh you wouldn't have to do that. If you want to fuck me, who's to say I would struggle. Even women need to fulfill their own lusts. Maybe I am simply waiting for you to come and ravage me, slam into me, take your pick." her grin widened, very conscious about how her clothing left very little to imagination. The smooth silk clung to each curve and a gold cord tied under her breasts emphasized her assets. After all, if he wanted her, who was she to deny him his human longings? And it would, quite possibly, be one of the last things he ever did. The energy emitted from a passionate coupling was like a drug, and it strengthened her. Sex was like lighting a candle, sparking a light, and She was there within. Her servants were strengthened by all acts that were done in Her name.

"Oh, I'm not worried." Oinnanai smiled thoughtfully, "No no, not in the least. You see, people tend to underestimate me." she did, however watch the N that wavered in the air curiously, always keeping one eye on Nexus for his attack; for surely that was what he was reving up to do.

He mentioned light and before she could even respond, it happened.

His attack was light.

A cackle escaped her lips as she threw her head back and laughed, opening her arms to the light that surrounded her. Foolish. Goddess this man was foolish.

The light was neither blinding, nor was it dangerous and she welcomed it in a loving caress, standing she beckoned the light, allowing it to penetrate each and every perfect pore on her perfect porcelain body. While the fire dissipated in his magic, there was still a light that shined brightly in the night. At first glance it looked like the light had consumed Oinnanai until her laughter became clearer and clearer until it was a peal of crystal, and the light formed around her and slowly absorbed into her skin, making her glow in ethereal luminosity.

Her eyes were like bright suns beneath the burning white light of her body, and her hands were surrounded by orange flames that licked her fingers and began stretching its way up her body until the white light dissipated to a soft glow in her perfectly white skin, and the fire encompassed her body. The silk dress turned quickly to ash and the beautiful, glowing High Priestess stood before Nexus, skin crawling in flames. The only article of clothing that remained was an amulet that hung around her neck, glowing with its own inner flame.

And she laughed.

"Foolish, Nexus." her voice had taken on a deeper echo that made it sound as if multiple people were talking through her at once. "Light is My domain, light is My Servant's power."

A flame whip formed out of the fire that clung to her body and it seemed to move with a life of its own. In the other hand, Oinnanai held out her palm and the same blinding light he had created began growing there like a black hole. The stars began to blink and disappear, their light filling the circular shield of light.

"Let us play."

With a swift, lithe movement the whip lashed out towards Nexus, the flames itching to gouge out his only good eye. She had not been made High Priestess for nothing.

She didn't truly understand what it would mean to give herself to Nexus. Sex didn't usually end well, and he usually liked the idea of leaving a lasting impression on his partner. If it wasn't the climax and the extreme pleasure derived from the moment, from the contact and the experience, then a permanent limp or the inability to hold anything in their good hand was enough for him. The two of them seriously were underestimating each other, and that perhaps was going to end up well. Not for both of them, but one of them was going to enjoy the fight that was coming on. The idea of just taking her was a good thing, but he wanted her riled up, he wanted her to be tough, he wanted them both to have such energy.

Or you know, to strangle her to death.

"I'm sure they do." It was an idle comment as he waved the N in the air, creating it and making the letter stand out. He had just eaten, his power was growing, and he had quite a bit to drink. It wouldn't make him drunk, which he hated, but the drink would give him energy enough to fight all night. Well...he'd probably get some sex out of all this, but the fight was going to be incredibly fun for him.

The light did nothing to her, and he couldn't be surprised really. She was a creature serving fire, and light was part of fire. He did have to admit, if he were not focused on defeating her, he'd really just end up knocking her down and fucking her. She wouldn't enjoy it, sodomy wasn't really pleasurable, and his pain was all but pleasure for him, while he couldn't be sure about that for her. Giving pain and death seemed to get her riled up a little bit, but he couldn't be sure about receiving pain. They'd have to see wouldn't they?

The voice that cut the darkness confused him. It wasn't a normal voice. He had heard something like this before, through a prophet before, it had been powerful, but intimidating? No. A vessel was easy to kill, easy to destroy and hurt, a Goddess wasn't. She however, was the former. Just a vessel. She even said so, 'My' servant's power. Whether it were an act, or a Goddess, it didn't frighten him. It actually inspired him. If she was around to watch, she'd see the fall of her High Priestess, the downfall of her most beloved 'creation.'

His heart raced at just the thought of it.

"Finally."

Did she not understand what he was? Did she not understand how he worked? Had she not seen how things were with him?! Whips and fire, they were his element, like hers! His arsenal however had a lot more in it, like darkness, water, wind, earth, and occasionally chaos. She was smart, to aim for his eye, but she did not realize his reflexes, his ability to gauge her, and his hand was already up to let the whip rake across his arm. His other hand was working to create large ropes from his fingertips. There were blue ones, black ones, and even ones that glowed and crackled. They didn't dangle like the last ones, but instead they wrapped around his fingers and fist, almost like a glove. He was already rushing her, and despite the searing flame whip that had ran across his arm, it didn't slow him, or deter him. His fist was already coming up, the one coated with the magical ropes went straight for the shield of light.

Oh how things were going to turn out for everyone. The shield could break from the attack of magic on it, but there was also the question of what would happen if he collided to it. He had met some strong shields, head on before of course, and some defended against magic, some against the physical, but both at almost the same time? It would be a testament to her skill and her power, that was for sure. Then he'd have to figure out another way through her damned shield.

She'd fall today, he'd figure a way...but she would fall.

The instant Nexus surged forward and held out his fists, Oinnanai's now smoldering eyes narrowed at her target. So far he had done the attacking; this was good. Too many times people underestimated her defense and found themselves horribly tired by the time her own blows began. From what she knew of this man she couldn't exactly count on him being that stupid, but she could certainly hope. Usually in times like this common sense flew to the wind.

He was aiming towards the shield and this more than pleased her. After all, he was coming with those strange ropes wrapped around that arm. No, the shield was not one that would be sustained through physical attacks, but she was nimble enough to evade a physical punch. What it did do, was what brought the wild grin to her cheeks. Her teeth dripped liquid flames and she truly, honestly, looked like a demon burning in the dark of the night. Anyone walking by would not see the pleasant, beautiful woman. No, they would see her naked skin, wreathed in fire and glowing with its own inner light.

If it hadn't been clear before, now it was unmistakable that she was not what she appeared. In fact, she looked like she was anything but human.

This, however, did not cross her mind and she did not ponder her creation. In her eyes her abilities were magic, and magic alone. Magic granted to her by the Great Mother Goddess who filled her faithful servants with her power. And Oinnanai was the most faithful, the high priestess. She had endured much, and that was the reason for her powers.

His fit collided with the sphere of light and she quickly moved away from the physical punch, feeling it graze her shoulder but nothing more. Instantly, the shield exploded into the brightest, most glorious light that any of Her followers had ever seen. If Nexus had thought his first attack had been bright, it was nothing compared to this. It was as if the entire world had been drawn and the artist decided to erase his masterpiece with a single streak of white. Nothing was visible in this burning globe, and only Her servants would truly be able to stand the blinding brightness.

In fact, even Oinnanai felt her eyes squint against it and she lived with this kind of light on a daily basis.

It did not hurt, no, it did nothing but encase their small camp in such a searing blindness that would leave a lesser man blind and bleeding from his eyes.

How long it lasted depended on him.

In the exchange she had transferred the light shield onto the very ropes that bound his hand in a magical casing. It was like a slimy, film that needed special mixtures to remove it, and the light would continue until he found a way to dismantle it.

A chuckle left her lips and she moved towards him, hips swaying seductively if he could see it.

(ooc: I'm kinda assuming after this point >_< I will change it if you'd like!)

Reaching Nexus, she pressed both hands on the sides of his cheeks and smiled. Standing on her toes she pressed her lips against his and attempted to pull him into an erotic fantasy. Her lips parted, hoping he would follow suit, and she breathed gentle into his mouth, nothing more than a normal breath, but with it would bring fire that would eat him from the inside.

At least, that's what was intended.


(ooc: I thought this could be a nice transition >_< he could just be like "BOOP! *strangle*" or something xD but I will change it because it's kinda power playing, assuming that he's subdued even long enough for her to saunter over and initiate a make-out session. LET ME KNOW!)

There was rage and hatred, a want to try and destroy this woman, to show her that her lust would not be something to help her. He wasn't a simple teenage boy who could be corralled and tamed by sex. He was going to enjoy it of course, while she would probably not. Dimly of course, he wondered if she would actually enjoy it, considering it would be full of pain and torture. She seemed like she enjoyed killing someone, so this could very well be something that she would enjoy too. They'd have to experiment, if she lived through this after all.

It helped that she looked like she was actually a demon now, that she wasn't really a high priestess, at least not to a Goddess. Maybe to a devil or something like that. Then again, this world was different, so perhaps Holy and Demonic were different things here.

Things were going a lot worse than he could have hoped for really. The shield had simply given way to his punch, and he had almost hit her, and then came the bright light. He stared directly into the light itself, but simply let his eye look past the light, and where there was no light, there was the world once more. The ability to filter layers out helped immensely, so did his ability not to be able to tell day and night save for there being a sun or a couple of moons above the world. Still, his eye hurt from the sudden flash, turning slightly red and hurting in his skull. That bitch.

It was stuck to his hand as well, having somehow attached to the magic along his ropes. It covered it and he had to get rid of it, and he could figure a few ways to banish it. The most being simply get rid of his magic and letting it go away. There was also the idea of covering it in darkness, but there wasn't much time. He clenched his fist and began to focus on changing the magic that covered his hand. Darkness. The ropes began to curl off of his hand and trap the light within, until it was smothered by a sphere of black rope. He should have been paying attention, as the woman suddenly upon him, and not in a way that he expected either, she was kissing him, and he got sucked into the kiss. His lips parted slightly as hers did, wondering just how much this 'High Priestess' knew about lust and sex. The question was...what was that fire in his throat? And in his stomach? Oh Gods it had been a trick.

With a renewed vigour, he had to focus on this fire and use it to his advantage. The heat, the fire, it began to form itself into a rope. The question now was what to do with it? He could expel it wherever he pleased, and for a moment he thought about giving it back to her, sending it into her mouth and choking her with fire from the inside, but it probably wouldn't help him any, it might make her stronger and he couldn't have that. He decided to let it slither down his pant leg and into the dirt, where it would sink into the ground and disappear. That was perfect, she wouldn't be able to use it against him. His lips stayed against hers, holding that kiss with her. His hands however had a different agenda. At first they were caressing her, gently feeling her body and roaming along her skin. He could handle intense heat and freezing cold, so he found her comfortable really, to a degree. Hah! Temperature jokes.

It was time to end this.

His lips slowly parted from hers as his hands were already at her throat, his thumb on the larynx to stop her from being able to breathe and shoot some sort of fire at him. he could still burn after all, his skin wasn't fireproof after all. "Goodnight poppet." He whispered softly as he squeezed with his thumbs and compressed his hands together. if she had been smarter, she should have killed him from afar, or tried to, but instead, she had gotten within his reach. It was a shame, she had a nice mouth too, and from what he could see of her body, and what he had felt, they would have had a lot of fun together. Sadly it was probably not going to happen. He wasn't sure about killing her, he wanted her to suffer, and he wanted to have her Goddess watch as well as he stood there, clothes singed, his arm bleeding, his eye red from the flash of light, and all he wanted was for her to know that it was his hands around her throat, draining the life from her.

The Savaros Victorious.

Oinnanai was filled with a certain smugness as Nexus followed suit with her kiss. Soon he would feel the fire in his lungs and by that point, it would be too late. Once it was inside of him it would grow, expand, and eat him from the inside out. It would be absorbed through his pores and turn his blood into liquid fire.

It also helped that her entire body was still encased in flames and that was licking at his skin. Unlike her, the flames would burn him in their loving caress, not soothe and strengthen. It was a lovely thought, his charred skin. By the end of the night he would resemble those same Drows that she had killed numerous times in the attempts to rid the world of such vermin. His skin, it would turn black, and he would become unrecognizable.

She lost herself in the power of the flames that she guided down his throat, disconnecting her mind from her body and following the flow as it entered him. Lost in the ecstasy of the power she was using, the High Priestess followed the flames through him and...

Into the ground?

Oh no...

With a snap she returned to her senses and felt his strong hands collapsing her windpipe, holding down the arteries to her brain. She choked and sputtered and raised her hands to her throat where he held her. In a wild attempt she focused all the power she could muster and shot it through her fingers and onto his hands, burning him, hoping that it would be enough, that it would not be too late.

But already it was.

She could feel her brain failing her, her lungs screaming for air, her vision clouding with red and fading into nothingness. The fire around her body flickered, sputtered, and dissipated with her consciousness, leaving her body smoldering. Her toes felt cold, and this sensation inched its way up her legs, but she did not collapse. Unlike most bodies, as her life force was drained from her by Nexus's fingers, her limbs became stony.

With a final shudder, her eyes closed and all resistance left her. Her hands fell from their attack at his hold and stiffened at her side. The same strange thing that happened to her legs encompassed her face until she felt, and looked, like a life-sized porcelain doll. Her strange appearance when she was alive had now taken on those same properties in death. It was as if, while she lived, the High Priestess was nothing more than clay and now, in death, she had been fired in a kiln and turned into a doll. A beautiful, unblemished, perfect doll.

In a way, she had returned to her natural state.

But her mind was very much alive.

As she died, Oinnanai's psyche flashed through her life, her seventeen years of life. She saw her parents, her temple, her training, her fellow priestesses, a woman who looked like her, except for brown eyes...

Her mind sharpened on this image. She had no memory of her. The woman's lips were moving, opening, closing, as if in a chant, but there was no sound. No longer worried about her physical well-being, Oinnanai focused on this memory. In her bones she coudl feel that something was not right, something was off, something was...missing.

A part of her...this woman....

She felt drawn to her, she felt as if she knew her. But how could that be?

A strange language entered Oinnanai's mind as she drew this memory to the surface. It was a language she herself knew very well, a language that she used when speaking to the Great Mother, a language that she herself was only privy to know as the High Priestess.

"...sun and light and fire rise" was the crude translation, "Give life, give strength, give me" Give me? That seemed strange. This woman...what was she? Oinnanai felt that this image was important, more important than she had ever found anything in her entire life.

"she is me, I am she" the woman continued in that same language. Even in a memory Oinnanai could feel the magic building around those words, bubbling over with power. Oh, such a power that she had never felt before in her entire life. Even Nexus and his strings failed in comparison, even her own powers blanched to the magic she felt. The fire, it was flowing through her, flowing around her, flowing in her. "In this vessel make her rise, give a mind, give a fire, give her me"

Oinnanai realized that this woman terrified her, knowing that she had such glorious power...

"Rise, my servant. Nerti's servant." same language, but the chanting seemed to have finished, "You will bring my will to the people, you will carry my message, in my image I have made you and the Lumenari will have their savior in you."

The Lumenari?

Goddess...could this....was this...?

In an out of body experience, Oinnanai turned her gaze to the vessel to which this woman was talking. She had an idea but...it couldn't be.

With an inward, mental shudder, Oinnanai saw herself on the table, the perfect replica of herself. But this was made of clay, or porcelain. She could see the shine, until...a fire was entering her slightly parted lips from the woman's chanting and her eyes opened...the doll came alive...

No...she came alive.

Oinnanai never had a family...she was never chosen as the High Priestess because of her special gifts...she was the gift to them.

And this woman...

Even in a memory she knew that this woman was no Goddess. She didn't know what she was, but something told Oinnanai that she was not what the Solisi believed. But...that couldn't be, could it? If she herself was created by Nerti...by the Great Mother...she had to be real! She had to be a goddess!

"Now you have me, you live for me. Lead them, lead them to me."

Suddenly, other memories flooded through her as Nerti seemed to be uploading them into her vessel. She saw the people she had been led to believe were her parents, saw her training as the High Priestess, saw her arrival at the temple where the people were overwhelmed by her perfect appearance they did not question her story. The followed her, revered her as a Prophet for she, surely, spoke directly to the Great Mother herself. Everything that she had been lead to believe about her life had been planted in her head by this woman, this Goddess. Oinnanai could not believe that she was not a goddess, not yet...she needed...she needed...

Goddess, what was real!? She didn't know!

And it seemed she would have more time to figure that out as she images faded from her mind and she felt herself pulled by her invisible navel downward and into a cold, hard shell, much like the first time she felt life flow through her porcelain features. The limbs that had once been stone now started to warm and she felt herself reconnect with the body that Nexus had tried to destroy.

Time had seemed to stand still while she was lost in her hidden memories and she had no idea how long she had been lost, nor did she know what her close brush with death had done to her.

Surely she had been dead for some amount of time, and while her body had been returned to its original, clay-like state, her body had slowly been turning into stone itself, a black, obsidian stone replacing the color that had been painted into her shell by Nerti herself. Now, as the porcelain shell warmed as she was brought back to life, the obsidian growth stopped its destructive work halfway complete and nearly half of her body was the same white, pale Oinnanai she had been, and the other was a deep, deep black. The tips of her hair had begun to change as well, inching its way up to her face and covering the far side of one cheek, as well as an ear, and a few sections of her hair. Death had transformed her from the perfect Solisi, to a blackened freak, as if the fire she wielded had scorched her perfect features, permanently scarring her for life.

If she could call this life.

With a shuddering gasp, her eyes flew open and her chest heaved as breath re-entered her body.

It appeared that even a memory held power and she had been granted a second chance.

And it was slowly that she died. She could no longer breathe, she tried to fight weakly, even burning his hand as well with fire to his hands. She had tried to struggle, she tried to figure out how to kill him, how to get his hands to stop choking her. Despite his skin sizzling, his clothes burning and smoldering, he did not let go, he would not let go. He would continue to grip her, and slowly...she was gone. However, she was turning to stone, and he should have guessed as much. He couldn't even fuck her now! If that wasn't unfair, then nothing was at this point. For whatever reason, he actually lowered her down to the ground, carefully, calmly, out of respect almost. His body gave off obvious smoke, his skin and clothes having been burned quite a bit. There wasn't pain though.

Out of a sick and sadistic twist with him, it was pleasurable. Sort of. He wasn't honestly sure what he was feeling. Nexus had an in-depth knowledge of the human body, he understood pain and pleasure though, about the receptors in the body and the centres of the brain that controlled them. They were fried and burnt, so there was almost nothing...but still...

It just felt all odd.

Nexus didn't like it, he needed help...and there was only one person who could help him. He knew that he was here too. Nexus slowly knelt away from the stony body of the young woman he had just killed. He began to scrawl in the dirt, a very ancient language of his realm. It would be useless to speak here, and writing it was very difficult. His skin was slowly healing already, but it would be...all wrong. He needed...help. He continued writing, and finally he finished with a small, strange circle at the end of his little passage.

Then he waited.

"Come on you bastard, I know you're here. Come on."  Nexus clenched his hands to his chest and closed his eyes, though it didn't really help him. He could still see, and he hated that. Of all the things...."Come on...COME ON! YOU BASTARD!" At his last curse, there was a flash of light from the strange runes on the ground. They were glowing gold. Nexus sighed in relief as he waited, as a man slowly materialized. He wore a black suit, including a tie, a blazer, and black leather dress shoes. He even had a fedora similar to Nexus' though it was a lot more professional looking with a golden rim around the base of the hat's little uprising. Curiously enough, he wore a large golden shield over his face, a mask of some sort that kept his face completely hidden from sight. His gaze looked down to the smoldering man before him.

"Ah, an Agent. My apologies Nexus, I was not sure that I was feeling the right power. By the way, your accent is terrible." The golden man said as he stepped on the runes below him, kicking the dirt with his foot lightly. "Sorry, my fingers are a little..." Nexus held up his hands, showing the burnt messes. There was a chilling laugh from the strange man, who nodded almost...sympathetically. "You killed." It wasn't a question, but a statement, as the golden faced man looked past Nexus, who nodded slightly. "She was not...a good person. I kinda liked her but...I'm tired of working for a Goddess who wants me to slaughter." Nexus' voice was a little hoarse and a tad strained, this was a sensitive subject for him but...the man before him would get the information out of him one way or another.

"And is there something I could help you with?" The tone was bored, he didn't want to be here but he had been called, and felt he should probably do something to help out. "I could...uh...no burns would be nice." Nexus would heal eventually, but his flesh would be....well he was pretty sure he'd never feel anything properly again. No pain, no pleasure, not even...would he touch hot or cold probably. The prospect was not something that he really wanted to have happen. The other man knelt down and took Nexus' hands into his, as if inspecting them from behind his golden shield. "I thought you would have learned from the lava....you might as well have been trying to mate with a fire elemental." The man sighed as he gripped the hands tightly in his own. "I will do this, but only because you have tried to live a life outside of my daughter's influence. What you have done to deserve these burns should be remembered however." A golden light was encompassing the two of the men, and when it finally died down, Nexus no longer was burned, his clothes even had been repaired, and his hat...ah his hat no longer wanted to crumble into scraps.

He did however have a new scar along his neck, one that was tender and sensitive. Nexus reached up to it and gently touched it, wincing slightly. It hurt. Things weren't supposed to hurt. He didn't FEEL pain like others did. "That's..." He looked up to find that the man was no longer there. He quickly looked around to see if he had moved, but no...the man was nowhere to be found. In the dirt, the message had almost all been destroyed, save for some select letters.

"Remember the night." It was a quiet whisper that Nexus spoke in as he stood to look at the body of the woman. She was changing...had been changing...something...she was becoming something else again, like...Obsidian? What was happening to her now? She was half and half now...with black onyx on one side of her body. This was just...strange to say the least. He watched the woman carefully, wondering just what she was becoming. This was a very odd situation really, and he could only watch as she changed.

Then...she breathed.

His eyes narrowed slightly at that. She was alive again...but of course, she had changed quite a bit. Great. This wasn't going to be very good wasn't it? Nexus couldn't call his golden friend again to heal him probably, he'd want Nexus to learn a lesson and well...he wasn't exactly sure if he'd really learned one yet.

Great.

"I should have figured you'd be immortal." Nexus said allowed finally and sighed as he clenched his fist. Why did he feel like he was being punished a whole lot now? "Are we going to have to fight again, because if so, can we call a no fire rule?"

As her eyes fluttered open the first thing she noted was the darkness above and around her. She had either been out for a few minutes to a few hours, or a few days. She was uncertain, as astronomy was not her strong suit, and the stars did not speak to her. She felt heavy, as if a great weight had been added to her chest during the time her body had been dead.

For, that's what she had been as far as she could guess. That vision, even now, she could tell had been protected by a great magic to keep it from surfacing in her conscious thoughts. Of course, this was all just speculation. Oinnanai would never truly be certain of what occurred in those memories until she found some answers. Goddess, she needed answers.

Had she really been created? Well, of course she had, all of the Solisi were created by the Goddess Mother but...not like this. Oinnanai had not been born, if the vision was anything by which to judge. No...she had been made, like a doll, to serve Nerti's purposes. Had she ever done anything on her own free will? Had she been forced into her role in the Lumenari.

It was stupid to even contemplate. Of course she had been forced. All of her "memories" were implanted to put her on that designated path. She was created to be the High Priestess, she didn't choose. Goddess it was too much.

The woman felt tears tickle the corner of her eyes and she wanted nothing more than to be swallowed by her own self misery.  Upon hearing a voice, she blinked them away and sat up quickly, eyes darting towards the sound and narrowing as recognition slowly dawned. She had not been gone long, if Nexus were still here, sitting in the darkness. And, upon further scrutiny, she noticed that he had been healed but for a long scar along his neck that looked new, but she couldn't be sure because of the darkness around her.

She blinked, startled by the sudden realization that normally she would not have been able to see much more than his outline let alone a scar along his neck. Her eyes had somehow adjusted to the night...but....that....

Closing her left eye everything faded to the darkness that she remembered. Closing her right and gazing out of her left she could not suppress the soft gasp that escaped her lips. This one could see everything in the night as if in the split second it took for her to blink the sun had popped into the sky. Opening both eyes again she gazed at Nexus, all previous arrogance lost in her gaze. Now, with both eyes open, Nexus would easily detect how her right eye remained unchanged, but the left was completely black minus a light ring around her iris which faded to a dark gray around the pupil. Now, it looked as if two people had been mashed into one, but she herself still had not noticed her own changes.

"Immortal?" she asked, voice soft and uncertain. "I...I've never died....I didn't know...I...." Standing quickly, blood rushed to her head and she tipped forward onto her knees. Her arms shook where they supported her torso and her hair fell into her eyes. Sitting back onto her knees, she reached up and went to brush her hair from her eyes and froze.

Black.

Her entire arm was black and shined eerily in the moonlight like animated rock.

Panicked, she raised her other arm and saw that this had remained the same.

"What...what's happened to me...." she breathed, eyes wide as she held both of her hands before her face. Forgetting Nexus was the enemy, and missing his comment about fighting, she looked up at him. Confusion emitted from her every pore.

Then...

"Nerti." her eyes hardened as she spoke her Goddess's name.

Her awakening was as confusing to her as it was to him. It was sad to think that he had pretty much been ass kicked by the young priestess. If he hadn't been smart about how to stop the fire from killing him, he'd uh...well...he'd have ended up back in Heiroth and would have had to explain to his brothers what had happened. He sighed to himself, almost wistfully as he thought about his brothers. They weren't here, and they wouldn't be probably. It was kind of sad really, he wished that his brothers were here to help him with a bit of fun.

Alas, he was but a single brother in the line of the three Savaros. Well. Four. Hm, he should really think about finding that girl again. He had heard about her, from Feris, but he hadn't actually met her, neither had any of the other Savaros men as far as he knew.

He was actually rather glad that the woman wasn't really wanting to fight him. He could have sworn he saw her eyes moist around the edges. While he sometimes hated the vision he had been gifted, he was rather okay with it right now. She seemed to be going through quite a few of the different emotions it appeared. There was surprise he noted, she even gasped. When she looked at him though, she didn't appear so...well, arrogant. She looked timid almost, she looked lost...she looked...different. The hangman's noose in his pupil seemed to grow slightly as he focused it on her.

Things were very different now. She looked...very odd, being half and half. It was funny looking really, he swore he could remember hearing a story about people cut  down the middle of different colours.

"Yeah, I'd take it easy. I remember dying for the first time. Dragon stuck his armoured tail spike through my heart." He rubbed his chest, right over where there was indeed a scar lingering on his skin. It wasn't exactly a fun experience, he really couldn't recommend it to anyone actually. Getting killed in such a manner wasn't as fun as some of the others...he could really remember a few better ones actually.

Still, dying in a hot, no pun intended, passionate kiss with a young girl breathing fire wouldn't have been all that bad. Still, dying with sexual energy unreleased was a terrible blue balling experience. He shook his head, shaking the thoughts from his head as he decided not to think too much about that. At least he knew not to say anything too bad at this time. One of his thoughts was to ask if she still wanted to have a romp, but this probably wasn't the best time. Great. He wouldn't be one to 'handle' his problem, he was a Savaros, they prided themselves on not having to do anything so...desperate.

"Your guess is as good as mine poppet." His eye was upon his gloves as he absently tugged a thread from it, shaking his head. Despite having had his clothes restored, there were still problems once in a while. A sad thing really but...he didn't want to waste energy and magic on repairing his glove. More so since he really didn't know what he would have to be doing with this woman. Fighting, fucking, or fleeing.

Hah!

"Yeah...sure poppet. Nerti." The word was unfamiliar to him, but it sounded more like a name. For a moment he actually wondered if...ah. Could it be her Goddess then? That would be surprising, if her Goddess had decided to...turn her half...midnight black? That honestly didn't seem very Goddess-like. Then again, he had worshipped and worked for a Goddess who usually wanted him to rape, kill, torture, or psychologically damage people. She hadn't done him any favours by creating him either, but at least he wasn't some strange half and half creation now.

He could be thankful for that.

"You want something to drink?" Nexus was pretty sure she didn't want to fight now. He reached into the pocket at his side and took a wineskin from it. He had taken some rather nice whiskey, after popping the cork from it he took a drink and coughed. It was a little bit of a sudden burn, and he found it ironic suddenly as he had just been 'drinking' real fire no more than half an hour ago, and now he was trying to drink more of it.

Oh how hilarious some things could be.

Oinnanai was only half listening to her fireside...well, it wasn't much of a fire now was it, and he wasn't really a companion...but there you have it; fireside companion. Something strange had occurred to her over the last few minutes and it was mind boggling enough to try and sort it all out. Her brain was fuzzy, like trying to pick out a single hairball from a fleece shirt, or capture a drow who had managed, miraculously, to elude his hunters. But...

Could she honestly continue to hunt them? Hadn't she just seen that half of her body had been transformed into the midnight black pigment that defiled their skin? Would she find that the sun burned rather than refreshed?

Her life had been turned upside down and the poor girl wasn't even sure if she could call herself Priestess let alone solisi...

But then...

Had she ever truly been a Solisi?

If the vision was anything to go by, she hadn't been born at all! Instead she had been placed upon this earth with false memories embedded into her psyche so that she believed herself human! It was a riot! A humorous joke! Why would Nerti make a vessel that had to pretend to be human? Would it not serve her purpose better if Oinnanai had been made and known to be one with the Great Mother herself? But she had chosen not to....Oinnanai had lived for Goddess knows how long, always believing herself 17 when in truth? She could be thousands, if not millions of years old but had nothing to show for it. Just a decorative doll that would prance around for her amusement, looking into fires like some soothsayer whore while She spoke to her and gave her direction.

Direction for what?

In her distress, Oinnanai had picked up a rock on the surface of the plain and had been rolling it around in her midnight palm, staring at it blankly as her mind sifted through each plausible explanation. Now, her fist closed violently and the rock shattered with the strength of her new arm.

With a start, her consciousness flooded her mind once more and she stared dumbly at the dust where the rock had been. In her transformation...when she had thought herself dead and then heard Nerti's voice speaking works of power to give her life...

With eyebrows raised she went to pinch the skin on her black arm and found that it was beyond her power to do so. In fact, she wasn't even sure if there was skin on that arm to begin with! And when her flesh touched the strange new addition to her body, she found it cold beneath her fingertips like rock itself. She had...well it seemed ridiculous to believe so...but it appeared the black substance that was now her skin was rock.

But that was silly!

"Hit me." she ordered Nexus quietly, interrupting his offer for something to drink. If she had been paying attention she would have found that the man she fought apparently could not die, and it was probably better she did not know this. It would have pissed her off, royally.

Looking up, one gold eye pleading, the other darker and cold as night she offered her blackened arm. "Hit me, Nexus."

What was he supposed to think about all of this?

She had become half a golem, that's all he could think about. More so when he saw her pick up a rock and crush it with her bare hand. Nexus was strong, all of the Savaros were, but to see someone do THAT...he wasn't THAT strong. Instantly he noted that he would not let her do ANYTHING to him with that hand. If a rock could be crushed that easily, he could only imagine what would happen to any part of him. Not even thinking sexually, she could easily break a bone, crush his skull, there was a lot of painful things that could happen. Even crushing his private area.

Blue balls couldn't happen with no balls.

A rather disgusted shudder ran through his body. He even watched her and looked almost in horror as she plucked at the black skin and saw that...it didn't pluck. It didn't pull up and snap back, it was just...like solid rock. Oh god. Horror began to run through him as he realized that...this transformation could be exactly half and half. However, her grasp of the language was still fine, so her tongue couldn't have become half stone right? She would sound very different and weird. Still...what if it was all...down there as well? What if it was all...

He could look.

The realization just dawned on him. He could LOOK. She was naked as the day she was born. He didn't want to. For whatever reason, looking at her there just seemed like a terrible idea. Like all of his hopes and aspirations would be ruined. So he decided it would be best not to do that. It would be very smart of him no doubt. She might get really angry and break something important with her new body.

Nexus stood up when she told him to hit her. He sort of wanted to actually, perhaps he was a little enraged, a little angry, and a little frustrated. A whole lot of frustration was building in Nexus, and he was sure if he hit her...that might all go away. Maybe he'd knock her down and find out just what she was about but...Nexus knew that she didn't want him to hit the soft side of her body. He balled his hand into a fist and took a deep breath. This was going to hurt. That's all there was to it. This was going to fucking hurt and he was an idiot for doing this.

He took her arm with one hand and lowered it slightly. However, if he was wrong, and he could hurt her blackened arm, he would break the damn thing to show her who was boss. He held it tight and punched with his other hand, bringing his weight with him into the punch. There was the satisfying sound of bones cracking, and it was only when he felt an extreme wave of pleasure run down his spine did he realize it was his bones breaking. Nexus was a unique creature, pleasure from pain, unless it was very life threatening, and this was nothing. He held his hand and took a deep breath, stepping back from Oin. This was so god damn unfair. Now his hand was broken, he was still horny as hell, and now even if he could 'handle' himself, he had just broken his main hand.

"Ahh great fucking Light...why did...I agree to this...damned..." There were more curses sputtered as Nexus retreated to the fire and sat down, staring at his hand. He could see into it, he could see the bones beginning to heal, slowly, but...Gods be damned this was a stupid idea. "Any other...bright damned ideas you want me to do while I'm still in an agreeable mood?" Nexus asked, slightly sarcastic as he case his gaze at the woman's face. Ah he should have just slapped the dumb girl's face and been done with it...instead he just haaaad to go and punch her arm.

This night was not very fun anymore.

When his hand came in contact to her arm, she could feel the pressure he exerted, sure. It sent her rocking back from the force, but that was it. She felt no pain. She felt nothing but what seemed like a light breeze on her left arm...a cooling sensation. She did not feel bones cracking, skin relocating as it tried to stretch into a new position. She did not feel the onslaught of a bruise rising underneath the skin, attempting to turn perfect porcelain into a blossoming sunset.

If she had been standing, the force of Nexus's blow would have been enough to make her stagger. By all means it should have hurt!

But it didn't.

And then....the sounds of bones cracking had not come from her...no....and the way Nexus cursed up a storm made her realize exactly what had broken. Goddess, hitting her had broken his hand. That could not be normal. It was as if she really had been turned into stone....

And really, that was the only conclusion she could actually come to. Perhaps Nerti had made her to self destruct after death? But that couldn't be right...she had turned into an ebony stone....but not all of her. It looked as if it had started in her left toes and fingertips and began spreading from there. Half of her body was covered in the stuff, but it hadn't quite reached her face. If she looked up, part of the underside of her chin was black, and behind her left ear...but other than the strange alteration in her eye, her face looked the same as it had before the ordeal.

Unfortunately, looking over her body she realized that the clothing she had been wearing was not gone, leaving her perfect....well...half perfect body for the world to see.

No.

For Nexus to see.

"Fascinating..." she murmured. Flexing her strange new body and grinning up at him. "I wonder what it would feel like if I hit you this time." she held up her fist, realizing that it had a sheen in the moonlight.

Glancing up at him, she laughed. Not the haughty laughter she had been inclined to use before realizing that her Goddess had created her for a specific agenda. This was merely an enjoyment, a giggle that reminded her audience that she still felt seventeen but had never actually been able to act it. It didn't matter if Oinnanai was really one hundred thousand years old, mentally she had been lead to believe she was seventeen.

"I'm just kidding of course. Did you want me to look at that? Set the bones? Something?" she offered for multiple reasons. One, it gave her an excuse to get closer to him, flaunting her naked body with every movement forward. It was a tease, she did not actually plan on doing anything, but seeing him squirm still brought her a large amount of enjoyment. As she slipped closer to him, she held out her unaffected right hand, expecting him to shrink away from any of the rock side after that display.

At least she had moved a little.

That was the only comfort he could take from the fact that he had just broken his Gods damned hand, and now was aroused. This of course, had not been one of Nexus' finer moments in life. Nexus actually had a lot of these moments in his life, showing that he was a bit of an impulsive person. Courting a half fire giant for example, that had been a dumb move. Challenging a man who had a force of fifteen expertly trained Night Blades was also a very impulsive action. Oh yes, over the years, Nexus had done his fair share of bloopers and blunders. This was now one of those that would get added to the list.

He couldn't actually remember why he kept a list. It seemed like a good idea, that he could use it to learn from his mistakes but he just ended up making more of them anyway. Maybe because he could look back on them and laugh, or share them in a bar with some drunk people who would find it hilarious.

Yes, that was an answer that he could live with.

Now that he had thought about it, he had done this before. Granted, the creature he punched was a rock golem, but at this time, he was pretty sure that's what was happening to her. After he killed her, she changed into a golem, or had started to at least. Why she was alive again, he didn't know, why she turned into rock, he didn't know either. What he did know, is that she was young, beautiful, and had broken his god damn hand.

"Oh yeah, real fuckin' fascinating." Nexus scowled in return as he held onto his broken hand, looking at her accusingly. It was her fault, it really was. Then she said something that made his scowl turn to a glare. "Do that and I'll teach you what a good skull fucking is." He muttered darkly. He didn't care what she thought of his foul language, or the foul imagery that he conjured up with his words. He was pissed off, and a bit horny at the same time. They were not good combinations, they were especially not a good combination for a man like Nexus, who had a lot of pent up rage, and had very few morals and limits.

The laughter also hurt a little bit. Like she was mocking him. Maybe she was trying to make him angry and kill her again. He almost wanted to as well, he really wanted to hang her for a few hours and see if she'd die.

"Just you never mind. The hand is already healing." He told her as he flexed it once. There was some cracking noises, and the visible emotion on his face though was not pain, but pleasure. It felt GOOD. He wasn't going to deny that. It felt really good, and he wouldn't be able to explain it to anyone. No one would understand, at least, very few people would. However, the hand wasn't red anymore, the swelling had decreased a little bit. It'd be a bit stiff, perhaps later a little dull and tingly, and then by mid-afternoon it would be better. The curse of the Savaros was a bitter one, it meant that they were to endure. The regenerative properties of a Savaros were extreme and impressive. Things that would be fatal or deadly to some, were akin to flesh wounds in their minds. Their bodies were meant to survive, were meant to continue...they were meant...

To endure.

"huh." she muttered, watching his healing hand intently. It indeed was healing quickly and of its own accord. He obviously wasn't muttering and incantations under his breath. It was interesting to realize that her companion might just be like her: not really human. After all, she had never in her life met anyone who could heal up like that....whose body, after being burned by fire, could magically have no trace of the incident other than a scar that was certainly not formed by her flames.

It bothered her.

A lot.

Who was this man who could do things that normal beings could not? Who was this man who appeared to be enjoying the pain she had inflicted rather than shrinking from it? If she didn't know any better he was a person who found pleasure in pain; an anguisette. But...how many people could she honestly say were true anguisettes? Not many...those who believed themselves to be were usually lying to themselves and pretended that getting spanked meant they enjoyed pain.

No...this man was true to the word. His hand was broken, he glared daggers at his assailant, but ultimately there was sheer sexual bliss behind his gaze.

Or she was just crazy. That was highly possible.

"What are you...?" she asked, eyes boring into him as she stared openly. Her face was pinched in scrutiny as she tried to work it all out in her mind.

Everything that was happening to her this night was making her head spin.

(ooc: this...really failed xD but I couldn't really think of anything else to say T_T )

If she was bothered by this little bit of new information, she might be very uncomfortable with any sort of knowledge that he had. He didn't much enjoy imparting wisdom that people didn't need to know, these ignorant fools were all happy to believe things like the stars weren't like the sun of their system, or that the universe didn't revolve around the planet. He had no clue what these people did know, but he was sure that they were all ignorant country bumpkins compared to him. A funny thought, that a man so...simple in his ways, almost predictable, was actually fairly intelligent. People made the mistake of thinking he wasn't, which always led to their downfall.

Nexus was truly a masochist, a sadist, and a pervert rolled all into one person. He enjoyed pain, it was all pleasure to him in the end. He enjoyed giving pain out to people, he loved to see them cower and flinch, to see them shy away from a knife or hot coal. Nexus enjoyed watching people suffer and feel pain, to see their muscles tense, to hear them scream, cry, and plead for mercy that would never come.

Nexus was a man who had given up being a man long ago, if that made any sense.

He noticed her stare, her ever increasing stare, her eyes showing that she was trying to work out what the hell he really was. If she hadn't figured out he wasn't normal from his eyes, or from his strange magic, then she was really behind on things. He had to give her some credit, his 'kind' probably weren't seen here. They usually operated out of one particular place...and well, this wasn't it.

"A Savaros." He told her as he continued to flex his hand, more out of need to feel the acute pleasure race up his arm and down his spine. He had to hold his hand still finally as he looked to Oin, with a small smirk on his face. Oh if only. "Think of me as a metahuman. I'm bigger, faster, stronger, I don't require a lot of sleep, I can eat anything I want, anything and live, I'm resistant to extreme temperatures, I heal faster, I can see in the dark as if it were day, and generally, I'm just better than a human ever could hope to achieve." Arrogant and cocky? Sure, but he could afford to be. He really was all of those things, he had those powers, he was a step up above being a human.

And he loved it.

((It was fine Goldypants! You know I luff your posts no matter the size!))

She listened to his explanation, silently happy that he didn't just end on the "I'm a Savaros" and expect her to go all doe-eyed and fawning. Of course, from what she'd seen from him he'd probably be more likely to tear her limbs off, or have his way with her if she ever decided to get all....clingly.

Ick...even thinking about it made her skin crawl. She may have realized that she was not who she thought she was...probably wasn't even human, but she would never humble herself to another human being. They would humble themselves to her even if they didn't know it. After all, if she decided to use this Nexus "Savaros" it would be on her terms, and she had the power in her ebony hand to crush his sorry excuse of a manhood. Of course....she probably had the power to do that with her regular hand.

Ha!

Even her mind felt more liberated.

Well....maybe not. It had to be the shock of finding out that you couldn't die...or at least died and came back to life with no more than hearing some ancient spell being mumbled in her memories. It must have been an awesomely powerful spell for such a residual effect.

And then he started spouting something off about being a "metahuman" and she could not contain her laughter. It started out as a soft snort, developed into a chuckle and before she realized he was still talking, laughter bubbled through her lips and she clutched her side where a cramp began to form. She had never met anyone so...so.... pompous.

"Really..." she replied once he finished, completely and utterly uncaring that her outburst might be considered rude. Turning around and fishing through her small satchel which had thankfully remained intact during the fight. It held a change of clothes and she found it a prudent time to cover herself once more.

"If you recall....I was the one you had thought you killed but really, transformed into something much more powerful. So please, save me the lecture on "Savaros"" she didn't care that she had been the one to ask, "because it means nothing to me. In fact..." she pulled the white cloth over he head and the silken fabric slivered down her mismatched skin. "I suppose you might say that whatever you are, I'm made from the same mold." her porcelain lips stretching into an introspective grin, "Of course..." she let her finger slide down her neck and rest just above the valley inbetween her breasts, "I'm almost positive that I have more power over you than you'd like to admit."

Nexus knew that to her, the term Savaros meant nothing. Perhaps he was arrogant and cocky, but in his world, people knew what a Savaros was, and what they did. They looked upon them in fear, some in adoration, some strived to become a Savaros, a justice dealer for the Goddess, while others did their best not to get on her bad side. This place was different. No goddess of order or justice, no agents of justice...he was just...some arrogant ass here.

He was quite alright with that.

He wasn't of course, alright with her. He had some form of grudging respect for her, she had lived after all...even though he had killed her. Usually people he killed stayed dead. Sometimes they came back as zombies but that...that was a different story all together. A story he really didn't feel like telling. Not that she would ask. She'd have to be a mind reader, and if she was...well he was surprised she wasn't recoiling from his thoughts. His mind was a strange cesspool of decadence and wicked ways. Granted, she was probably stronger than he was now...but her physical strength would account for nothing. She was still flesh in some places...and she couldn't survive everything. He viewed her as a target, as a mark, as something to kill, but mostly it was just wild fantasy.

Her laughter didn't help anything. She had asked. Sure the way he had put it was rather pompous and arrogant, but he couldn't help it, nor would he want to. There was a rage and a fire in his one eye, but he continued to talk and ignore it. She'd get hers. If she wasn't careful...she would really...really get hers.

"Yes. Really." Nexus spoke with a steely tone through gritted teeth. Why he was putting up with her, he really couldn't figure out. Maybe because he wasn't sure how tough she really was, maybe because he was...worried if she got in close enough she could crush his windpipe. The stone was strong, instead of brittle like one would except it to be. After all, it looked like she had been cooked by fire into stone, and that should have been...brittle to some degree. Apparently not.

Gods damn her.

His eye followed her finger as she spoke, a slight grin on his own face. "The same mold you say? Well, I think I got the better deal here, Rocky." He told her as his eyes flashed up to her face. "You can think whatever you want...but after you've become that...statue portion, the things you're good for aren't appealing. I bet you just hate not being in any sort of control..." He did too of course...but she was used to the power, to the fear of being a High Priestess, where people would worship her. It was pathetic, and it made him want to try to strangle her again. "As for killing you, I had. You were completely dead to this world. I succeeded...don't much care that you came back but...whatever." He lay back and pulled his hat down over his face. He was done with this. Of course, there was the whole matter of being able to look through his hat with no problem...and his eyelid. And there wasn't any darkness because he could see through the dark.

Gods be damned.

"Made from the same mold. She doesn't even have the eyes." Nexus muttered to himself, snorting slightly at the very thought of her even being considered on the same level of him. "What a fuckin' joke."

Oinnanai watched Nexus, absently fiddling with a long tendril of hair that lingered just over her right breast. His words hadn't phased her. Of course, if she had killed him and he had managed to come back she wouldn't have been leaping for joy either. In fact, it just helped solidify her belief that somehow....she and this bizarre man were very similar. Maybe not in their appearance, or how they had come to be, or even the world where they were from....but....

It intrigued her.

It also made her wonder just how long she had been wondering the world under the pretense that she was just a 17 year old girl...after all....everyone in her order knew of her, whenever she met a Solisi there was no question in their eyes about her...so how could she only have finished her priestess training a year prior? It made no sense. Her memories, clearly were not a true reflection of the time that had passed.

That could have been the Mother's way of ensuring that Her creation didn't gather too much pride and compromise the mission.....it could be Her way of keeping Oinnanai in check....

But she would not let that happen anymore. She needed answers. No, she demanded them, and would stop at nothing to get them. Even if it meant that she would have to go to the underworld and travel through Drow territory....

None of that really mattered right now, however....

With a grin, she made her way over towards Nexus and knelt beside him very deliberately so he could not mistake her movements as any form of attack. Leaning forward, she moved her hand alongside of his cheek, moving she flipped his hat away from his face and gazed seductively into his eyes, her warm flesh side of her body pressing gently against him.

"Now....you wouldn't want to get rid of me so quickly would you? After all....you can't truly believe that my....alterations... have made me undesirable...?"

At least she wasn't acting so high and mighty anymore.

It looked like being killed and coming back made of half stone changed a person. Nexus couldn't feel pity for her, at least, not a whole lot of it. Did he feel sorry for her? Well...maybe not sorry, but he felt as if they did have...some things in common. Like he had been manipulated by a Goddess...and she had as well. Both of them had been lied to and tricked, both of them forced into a life that wasn't their choice. He had to admit...they were...they were the same in that regard.

It's probably what was keeping him around.

It also helped that she was all...without clothes, despite him not looking at her. He didn't want to see her naked body, not yet...not when it was all...weird. Not that the idea of rutting with her didn't intrigue him of course, didn't hold some value to him. She seemed like she would be an excellent fuck after all, so inexperienced, tender, yet...animalistic. He had felt that in her kiss, so full of emotion. Ugh! He was getting excited at just the thought of it, so he pushed it out of his mind as best he could.

And there she was suddenly beside him, kneeling and...touching his face, she touched...his hat even. This girl was not very bright now was she? People didn't just touch the hat of a Savaros without a VERY good reason. She apparently had one as well, but he could only glare at her.

"Little girl, unless you have plans to follow through with this little...seduction of yours, I would just sit back, and try not to bother me." He avoided her question as best he could, but his fists were clenched, and his jaw was set, trying to stop himself from just...knocking her over and ploughing her like a fallowed field. He had to keep his head on straight here, or else his hat would fall off.

She chuckled seductively at his remark, her face still mere millimeters away from his face. Every breath she drew brought with it the smell of his skin and the heat emanating from both their skin made the space between them hotter...humid...drawing on their breath.

Little girl...he considered her a little girl? It was laughable! Completely and utterly ridiculous. Her eyes had been opened in the moment her created heart had ceased to beat. Even now she found herself unlocking memories from a time she could barely remember...a time that had been folded to fit into the mold of her 17 year old form. The Solisi were no prudes. In fact, even in the more recent timebend, she could vividly recall the night with Umati. What a perfect example of a Solisi....his skin so perfectly ivory, his eyes a light amber....his hair such a beautiful brilliant shade of orange that when the sun was high the tendrils blended in with Her rays....

It had been enjoyable. She had fulfilled her purpose by securing his allegiance to the Great Mother Goddess. He had left with the taste of the High Priestess on his tongue and the feel of the Mother's warmth from her fingertips.

Could she please a man? It would appear so....

But this...why was she here leaning over a man who could not accept Her warmth?

It was a stupid question that she knew the answer to the moment it formed. This was not for her, it was not for him....it was for no reason other than hoping that the Goddess who formed her would come down from the heavens and explain herself. That She would see her High Priestess, molded specifically for the job, allying herself with a man of such wretched darkness that She would send the fires of her wrath. Then...then Oinnanai could ask her questions. No, demand her answers.

"I am not little." she murmured from her still position above his lips, "In fact..." without a moments hesitation, she brushed her lips against his. Her face, untouched by the dark stone that now consumed some of her limbs, felt hotter than normal flesh which was so starkly contrasted by the coldness from her blackened half.

Her lips moved back an inch, "I begin nothing without intent on completing it...."

Ancient was a good way to describe Nexus. Though he didn't realize just how ancient he actually was. His soul was so old, and yet his body and memories were barely a fraction of that time. Then again, even in that short amount of time that he had existed in this body, in this form, he had done so many things, witnessed so many events, and caused so much that it was a small wonder he thought himself so...old. He felt old, he had lived more than most people could live in a hundred years.

Now here he was with this...young thing, who was trying to suddenly seduce him.

Half of his mind wondered why she was trying this, her interest in him had been non-existent and then suddenly she was trying to get him in bed with her. The other half of his mind wondered just what she could do to him, and how far that blight extended around her pelvis. If all went accordingly, she'd still have three working areas for him. Though, he did enjoy breasts too, so make that...four working areas. Ugh. Stone tits...he didn't really enjoy the idea of having sex with half a statue.

"You are to me." She was so close to him...those lips almost...touching his...he was at a loss. Was it a trick? Was it a trap. The feeling of her lips against his spoke volumes. She was so hot. Literally, her temperature was quite great, a lot greater than normal flesh should be. She said something afterwards but all he could do was push her back suddenly. "I already called in a big favour to heal my wounds once, I am not going to let you burn me again." He told her as he waggled a finger. He may have loved sex, but he was not going to let it trap him like this.

"Nice try though. You have no desire to fuck me, so it's obviously just a trap to try and kill me again. Fool me once..." He let that hang as he scowled at her. She was a tricky one, and he'd have to be very careful not to give in to her little ways. Though her Goddess may have abandoned her, and they had so much in common, she had JUST gotten her faith tested. People didn't just get over that sort of thing, seeing all the lies, they would try to rationalize it, they would try to fight it, figure it out, work through it. Usually a person didn't just go 'Oh, my whole religious life has been a sham. Well better get my brains fucked out by this random guy who tried to kill me.'

Nexus was not going to let himself get burned again. It had been an absolute bitch the first time, all that fiery pleasure coursing through his body and no release. He wasn't going to let that happen again. Maybe he could figure his way out of here and get to a cheap prostitute. It was only a grassland, how long could it be?

Her eyes widened when he pushed her away, surprise written on her still milky cheeks. Never, in however long she had been on this earth, had anyone denied her....no one had rejected her advances...and blackened or not she was clearly still beautiful! Perhaps in a different way, but her face remained unchanged, and wouldn't normal men beg for the chance to test-drive the changes? How could he sit there so coolly with his own bizarre appearance and push her away?

"Kill you?" She asked flummoxed for a moment before laughter escaped her rose-colored lips, "Kill you?" repeated the High Priestess incredulously. "Don't you think that I would have tried again if I really gave a damn about that anymore?" Her grin turned into a sneer, "Do you think that killing you will do anything?" Despite her voice being low, it carried with it a weight that she had never heard escape from her own lips before. Her fingers, clenched into fists, shook next to her legs where she knelt on the floor. Her skin, where it had not been consumed by stone, began softly glowing. It started at her core, the skin beneath her clothes pulsing with its own light and then it extended towards her fingertips.

"I should kill you because you are an affront to Her light...an abhorrence...you shouldn't exist in this world." bitterness seeped from her very pores and the glow gained strength. "But what am I? What have I become? What have I always been? I want answers, Nexus! I want answers, and I want to lose myself in something...someone...so beneath Her servants that She will deem it prudent to come down here and answer for herself!"

The light around her brightened to a brilliant, dazzling white for a second before breaking and fading to nothing an instant later. For a moment she was silent, staring absently at the ground by her knees. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she chuckled.

"Broken....so broken...."

Looking up at Nexus she opened her arms as if revealing a prized cow for market. "No....I have no plans on killing you...on trying to kill you....that right is no longer mine. In that regard you are wrong. I had every intention of fucking you."

Was it painful to reject Oin? Oh you better believe it was. He had so much pent up energy and rage, that a good hard and rough sexual experience with her would have made it all better. Feeling the soft flesh, the hard stone, a new experience for everyone involved. Did he want to end up having sex with a black widow or a praying mantis though? Not particularly. While his stamina was great, hers could be extra supernatural now, and in the end he could lay there weak and defenceless as his body recharged and rejuvenated and then SNAP! Her hand breaks his neck and he's dead.

He had to be very careful with her.

She was laughing at him again. He really hated her for that. Made him want to break her jaw off and reach down her broken throat for her bitter and rock encrusted heart. It'd make him feel better, and if she came back again, she'd look silly with only half a mouth. It would certainly do her good wouldn't it? Oh great, now she was glowing again. This woman was one brick too short of a good time. He went back to looking at his hands as she started to talk about her Goddess and her light and...how he shouldn't exist.

It was kind of nice to know that she so despised him that she believed he shouldn't even exist. It meant he was doing his job, now wasn't he?

He got his answers though. Every single one of them.

"Don't much care for that then. The idea that you want to fuck just so your Goddess can come down and you can get some answers. I've done a lot of stupid shit in my time, but that would take the cake." Nexus slowly got to his feet and stretched. "It's obvious the bitch doesn't care about you. Maybe she's grown bored with you and replaced you. After all, a real Goddess would have stopped me long before I even got my hands around that pretty little neck of yours." Remember the rage, remember the hate, remember who the fuck you are. Nexus Savaros. She was just a bloody woman, like all the others. He already proved his strength over her...so why didn't he assert full dominance?

You couldn't rape the willing though.

"And it was never your right to kill me. That's the thing with you fanatics. Always think you have the right over life and death." No wonder her Goddess didn't care. Or maybe didn't exist. He didn't want to get into that kind of argument at this time though. Nexus' hands were upon his hips as he began to scan the surrounding area. Should he leave? Would she follow? Should he force himself on her? So many questions, so many...questions that he wanted answered. "I'll tell you this though, you should have just stuck to talking dirty instead of telling a man that you want to screw him so a Goddess will descend from heaven."

Oinnanai sat back on her heels, an amused smile hiding the initial feeling of shock at being rejected. The whole situation was humorous really....who was he to feel high and mighty about his morals? After all, hadn't he explained a bit of himself and his past? Hadn't they fought before? Two strangers?

And yet here he sits giving her a speech on ethics and stupidity?

Oh well....she could probably still pass as a High Priestess who got into a battle with the dark. She could cover her blackened arm with sleeves and gloves, and her eye? Well...that would have to be a token of her battle. If she truly wanted to quench her lust, it would be only too easy. The Solisi weren't exactly the brightest when it came to their religious leaders. Being the high priestess had its perks.

Convincing them wouldn't be hard.

But would she want to? Would it serve any purpose to continue pretending? Would she even be pretending? Yes, she had seen that she had been created....yes she felt betrayed that she had been lead to believe that she was a normal Lumenari....but did that really change anything?

Time would tell.

"It's ironic, hearing a speech about morals coming from you, Nexus." She replied levelly as she began standing and brushing off pieces of earth from her dress and reaching down to gather her pack. "You know, I never pegged you for one who would be particularly choosy about where he found pleasure for the night. Perhaps I've misjudged you." She looks back at him with her normal side, grinning. "Perhaps you really are a...gentleman."

The pack was in her hands and she flipped it onto her shoulder before turning to look at the large, brilliant moon that glimmered above the plains. It really was beautiful, the night. She had missed it before as she did her nightly rituals, lit her fires, waited for the fiery morning sun....now...there was no fire, no flames...just the darkness penetrated by florescent white beams....

She had every intention of leaving, but now she just stood there. Her pack hung from her shoulder and Oinnanai did something she had never done before; let the night encompass her.

This had nothing to do with morals or anything like that. This had everything to do with one thing...intelligence. Yeah, he was a terrible man, he raped and murdered, he tortured and hurt anyone that he wanted to. It was his way though...it was what he did. But this girl? She was an immediate sign of trouble. She was something else though at the same time. She was like him...but....not like him. She was still very much not like him though. Ugh. This was...blasted confusing.

All he knew, is that if she...did actually reign a Goddess' wrath upon him...it would be the end for him. But even still...it was so tempting. It was so very tempting.

And it would be a new experience, she seemed verse but innocence, dirty but clean...she had a particular...sort of way about her. Her hips swished, her lips were plump and seemed to have a slight shine to them, and she appeared to be so...wanting of him. Inviting him to her arms...to her body...

BUT THE GODDESS.

Nexus didn't like dying...it sometimes hurt...and he really didn't like the idea of it. Who liked to die after all? No one. It meant he'd go back. To that bitch...to that...Goddess who thought she was better than him. Who thought she could rule over him.

"I'm not being a gentleman. I'm being smart, keeping you from killing me." Nexus told her with a slight glare. He was not a gentleman. He was an ass. He was a monster. Though not to her. He might have just been...a heathen. That wasn't hurtful though, he had been called a heathen before...he...it actually kinda hurt to be called that...but he didn't know why. He didn't get hurt feelings from something like that...from something so...trivial.

This was different.

A flash happened in his head, and he saw...he saw a conversation that he didn't remember having. It was with a golden haired man who's eyes shot golden light from them. "What you had is lost now. What you remember is gone. But it will still be there Nexus. Somewhere deep...I will leave it with you. To get it back...it will take you so very long...and there will be hardships. You will face many trials, many tribulations, and many...many hardships...but my son, you will leave. If you are lucky...if...you succeed Nexus...she will go with you." A one sided conversation of course, but it was still a conversation in his mind. It took only a second for him to remember it...he didn't even remember...had that been Vec? It reminded him of Vec but...the two were definitely different from each other.

And she was still there.

"And in this world, you will find something you did not expect. Something...so different. Do not be afraid of the light. Fight though Nexus, fight and live."  It whispered in his ear, the voice of the golden masked man. The Vec that he knew. And he shuddered slightly. Don't be afraid of the light? He hated Vec sometimes. Why he remembered these words before they...went separate ways he will never know...but he stepped up to Oin, one arm around her waist suddenly...and suddenly kissed her.

Don't be afraid, but fight...this he could try to manage.

The moonlight was hypnotizing, so much so that Oinnanai didn't hear or even sense Nexus's sudden movement. His arm wrapped around her waist and somewhere, distantly, she felt herself pulled against his body; lips warming her own. Her mind, still lost somewhere amidst the moonbeams and starlight, could not fully comprehend what was occurring. Even so, her body responded, lips parting to accept his kiss, body clinging to his.

Something wasn't right....something was off....

She couldn't place it, not for the moment.

Oinnanai... a silent voice echoed a warning in the back of her mind. Slowly, so slowly, she began to come back to herself. She had planned on leaving...she was walking away....she had given up on the strange man who had brought about the reason for her doubts...the man who had killed her. And then...he had rejected her, he had refused her he had...he was....

Kissing.

She didn't comprehend his sudden change. Warnings flared and forcefully she pushed him, attempting to break the touch that had jolted her out of her revere.

"What....what are you doing?" She gasped.

Well, at first it was a rather good kiss. She was warm at least...very warm...and she clung to him, her lips opening to accept his kiss...the two of them interlocked within this embrace. They were an incredibly strange duo...he had killed her...spurned her advances...and now he was initiating his own passionate embrace on her. Maybe it was because of control. She wanted to have sex with him at first so that she could call her Goddess down...so that she could bring wrath upon his head. There was no control there...it had almost been that he had no choice.

Not now though.

Now he was in total control. He had everything in his grasp, everything that he wanted, if he was going to have a Goddess come down and smite him, it'd be on his own terms. It'd be of his own desires. He'd have his hat at least, and by the Gods if she showed up he'd invite her to join them. He didn't care if she suddenly pulled his atoms apart or blasted him with intense light...it'd be a fucking story to tell wouldn't it?

Of course, not everything was going the right way, as she was pushing him away suddenly. The kiss was broken and he could only grin down at her. "Fighting fate, revering in the light, and most of all, kissing you." But now I'm in control you crazy bitch. For Nexus, that's all that was important. That's all he wanted. To be in control. It wasn't fair that he had no control over his life, but now he did, now he had his control. Now he was able to do things as he wanted. And right now he wanted her.

The sudden change of events left Oinnanai off balance like a tight rope walker tripping over her own feet; the pole she used for balance tipping precariously to one side. She couldn't right herself, not while her mind remained in chaos. Nothing was making sense anymore and Nexus's sudden change of mind wasn't helping. Not to mention she, herself, wasn't even sure what she wanted anymore.

She was sure, however, that this was not it.

The situation left her feeling helpless, like a little girl. How could she fight someone who was so obviously inhuman? Not so much a someone but a something. It didn't matter that she was the one who came back to life, no, it only mattered that he hadn't been the one to die. Not to mention, he had miraculously been healed of all wounds in the time she had been dead. It was wrong, all wrong...every bit of it.

How could she have been so stupid? She had been upset about the Goddess's reasonings, about being created but...but....did that actually matter? If she was truly a follower, would it matter if she had been born or not? Shouldn't she, the high priestess, be above doubt?

No, perhaps not above, but she couldn't give into it. Not when this man, this thing was such an affront to Her light.

It was all too much. She needed a vacation, a time to get back on her feet, to understand, to soul search, to ask the Goddess Herself what it all meant. But what she didn't need was to give into her childlike desires to annoy Her. After all, if She were to show Herself, who's to say that She wouldn't smite Oinannai as well?

Now something needed to be done...she needed to do something other than just stand here while he pressed his lips against hers....no no no no....

But she needed to stay calm. She had learned that to be calm is to remain in control in order to hear Her words, follow Her path...Now she just needed...just...

It struck her. Fighting would do no good, not in this situation. But melting into his kiss...oh that would be what he expected, it would be what he even wanted and there could be no questioning her motives. But first....first the reassurance.

"Ahhh...." she breathed and then leaned forward into his kiss, letting her body speak for her. Her arms snaked around his neck to pull gently on his ears. Only, she didn't let go. Her now black hand tightened its hold and she pulled with all of her strength, hoping to hear the sound of tearing flesh and feel his ear detach itself from the side of his head.

At least he could still catch her off guard.

He caught himself off guard for that matter too. That was the whole point though wasn't it? To be caught off guard, to mix things up and to make it all strange. While he wasn't sure where this path would lead, he was sure that it would be interesting as hell. He'd already summoned a God, he'd already killed a few people while here, and he'd met a crazy bitch who became part rock. This was not...this was not something that was normal. Even now he had his damn tongue in her mouth. He felt slightly disgusted, but slightly intrigued by her. After all, he'd never had sex with a half rock woman.

One could only imagine what Nexus would be able to do if he were able to read minds right now. He had no idea there was some moral dilemma going on in her head. All he knew is that they were locked together for the time being and that was just plain fine with him.

As she pressed into the kiss, he couldn't help but feel more relieved by the whole thing. She was relaxing into him, accepting him when he had denied her before. Strange how he had changed his mind so fast wasn't it? Not that he cared of course.

At least...at least until he felt something was wrong. Though her arms were around his neck, her hands were on his ears and...one was strong. One was REALLY strong. Oh the coy little bitch! One hand he could easily pry off his ear, but the other...no the other was...well, he just had to pull out of her grasp. He placed his hands on her side, and let his magic work for itself. Thin silver strands snaking from his fingertips to encircle her body. If this was how she wanted to play then fine. The pain and pleasure that filled his body was not good. It meant he couldn't die from this, but it meant that it was a rather serious wound none the less.

He pulled from her grasp, one ear tearing off of his face while the other could easily get out of her hand. He had to let out a small scream of pain and annoyance. As he stepped back, the silver strands extended further with him, glistening in the moon light. Blood ran down his face, and he could only grin at her as he held up his hands, letting her see the silver strands. "Some of you is rock...but some of you...not so much. This is razor thread. One good tug...and guess who loses more flesh. Stay...fucking...still." He made sure to say each word carefully, and was prepared for if she even dared to move. "If I even see a muscle twitch..." No more playing around. No more games. The thread snaked about her, connecting to itself just in case she wanted to move. He'd dismember her with a quick couple of pulls, and that would be the end of it.

Whatever she had expected -shouts of pain, flinching, a quick punch to the gut- Oinnanai had not expected Nexus to pull away from the ear that she was attempting to rip from his head. Of course, ripping his ear off had been the sole purpose of her endeavor. So why did it raise her eyebrow in curiosity? Because it just wasn't...natural.

Like that mattered at this point. What the hell was natural anymore? She was made for crying out loud and he was some type of thing. Whatever her life was anymore, whatever it contained, it definitely wasn't natural.

But still....helping a psychotic bitch rip off your ear wasn't exactly a sane reaction to the whole thing. If anything, you'd try to pry her fingers off, or probably just haul out and punch her in the face. Yet here stood Nexus, pulling back and allowing that small little piece of hearing-aid cartilage, not just allowing but aiding, to be ripped from his head.

She couldn't help but grin when he let out a cry of pain -hopefully agony- and a bubble of giddy laughter rippled through her lips. Now, instead of just insane, she was acting like a teenage school girl being asked to dance by a cute boy, or perhaps just given a pony. Instead, there she stood with his ear dangling from her blackened thumb and forefinger. In fact she held it up almost tantalizingly. Teasingly.

But she had not expected his speedy response, nor the silver threads that now caressed her like a long absent lover.

"Ahhh...." she responded when he explained what they were. Her smile only grew larger, but she obeyed in the fact that she stood deathly still, the soft patter of blood dripping from his detached ear echoing through the silence.

"Clever boy." She chided, still remaining perfectly still, still grinning mischievously, "Trapping me in these....razor threads? Interesting choice, to be sure." Her eyes smoldered, "What now, captain? You have me where you want me and I...." her eyes darted to the fleshy ear in her hand, "have a generous piece of your face."

Pain was good, and to a man who feared no death, for a man who knew that death would not be final...pain was good. He could always sew his ear back on if he needed it after all. Maybe to him, it'd be just like his missing eye. It wouldn't stop him from being what he was, and it wouldn't hinder him. He was an Agent of Law and Justice...well, he had been anyway. In some ways that still affected his life, but not right now it didn't so much. Right now he was just Nexus...a man with a stupid bitch attached to his ear.

If he thought that he could have gotten out of this with his ear intact, he would have done it, but he had quickly weighed all the options...and sewing his ear back on was probably the best option at this point. Necrosis was not his concern.

Her teasing little laughter was making his blood boil and rage...but he had the upper hand. He always had the upper hand. Goddess or not, rock or not, the control was his to have, and he had it. The little silver threads were his upper hand. She could pull on them with her rocky arm...but the movement would definitely kill her, and then...maybe she'd complete her little cocooning transformation and become a full statue. What would happen if she came back though after that? Well he'd have to run...and hopefully get away from her.

"Yes...don't you though?" He began to walk around her, letting the silver threads fall upon her even more. It was like a child playing with a maypole, getting closer as he wrapped them against her tighter until his fingertips brushed against her body and the silver threads fused together, they clung to her like wet clothing now. He reached over and took the ear from her, careful not to disturb the strings that would surely kill her. With the ear now in his possession he put the ear into his pocket. He'd deal with this later.

"We could have just had sex and then gone our separate ways...but now..." He sighed and shook his head. Revenge would be a waste...she was a fanatic, it would prove her points no doubt. He could control his rage though, he could control himself, and he'd have to do just that. "Goodbye you crazy, sexy, half golem bitch." With an exasperated wave of his hand he back up a few feet, keeping his eye upon her. When he was sure they if she somehow broke free he'd be able to run from her, he turned his back on her and began to walk away.