words aren't enough (Fiend~)

[Anonymous]

The ocean was a new thing to Elios. Much like the cities had been, but... it was far better than all the cities he'd seen combined. It seemed to move on it's own, back and forth in a rocking motion that he couldn't tare his gaze away from. He knelt slowly, and extended a hand to the water as it surged forward, drenching his boots and his hand. The water was warm. He smiled slightly, idly wondering what life forms and creatures could possibly dwell beneath the surface... he'd probably never know.

He straightened again, shaking the water from his hand as he stepped backward, his wet boots gathering up the sand as he went, but he paid that no mind. He turned his back to the water, gazing up at the coast, and the forest, where he had grown up... he'd never even dreamed of something like the great expanse of water five years ago. Streams and creeks were as good as it got. He sighed, about to go back the way he had come, when he spotted what appeared to be some sort of... old building.

It looked vaguely familiar. Like something he'd seen back home. Without hesitating he strode off towards it, the sounds of the waves crashing against the shoreline ringing in his ears, and the breeze whipped his hair over his shoulders. There didn't appear to be anyone else around, but Elion felt that... itching feeling that he was being watched. That tingling at the base of his spine. He tried to dismiss it, but couldn't ignore it.

He made it to the steps of the crumbling building, stamping his feet to rid his boots of the wet sand, it looked as though it was some sort of old church... he pushed the big, decaying wooden doors open with some difficulty, stepping through carefully. The doors shut immediately, plunging the elf into semi-darkness. The stained glass windows didn't provide much light, but.. Elion could almost see enough. Religeon was another new prospect to him, the Elves worshipped two gods, and that was all. It appeared the people here had several... he did find that odd.

He strode up to the altar, placing a hand over the long burnt out candles. Frowning slightly, for the wicks... felt warm. Even if the candles felt old. He let his hand fall away, and probably would have left then, but there was... a sound from somewhere beyond the altar. Elion slid immediately into a better stance, pulling his bow from his back - like it would do much good in the darkness - out of habit, an arrow already in his other. He remembered the other night a few days ago with Vincent. The last time he'd heard a sound in the darkness it didn't exactly have a very good outcome. He was betting on this being a similar case;

"Who is there?" He called, his voice gave away his uncertainty, and he inwardly cursed. Taking a careful step backward, maybe this chapel wasn't exactly 'abandoned' after all... the Elf had a bad feeling about all this.

[Anonymous]

What had drawn Toxin to this slowly dissolving building?  He couldn't explain, not that the demon would ever explain himself to anyone... he would quite happily blame it on the rain a few nights ago.  He hated being wet.  Didn't have to involve water of a magical origin, he just hated being wet.

The creak of the doors opening brought Toxin's attention down to the elf now wandering around the church.  He shifted on the rafter beam, trying to keep the newcomer in his sight, and winced as the rafter creaked.  He hadn't exactly planned on revealing himself to anyone, not around here.  His gaze lingered on the bow and arrow, yet...judging by the way the elf's eyes were flicking about, he couldn't see very well in here.

Toxin cracked a smirk.  He'd been in here nearly all day, his one good eye had plenty of time to adjust to the gloom.  Swinging a leg over so he was straddling the beam, the demon scooted forward a bit, both wings extended to help balance him.  "Up here."  He didn't bother giving his name, just waited to see what the elf would do.

[Anonymous]

Elion jumped slightly at the voice, and glanced up, before dragging his bow up to aim at the offending... whatever it was. He frowned a moment later. He couldn't see much, but the figure was half-bathed in light, not that it showed the Elf much. He could see what looked like a bare shoulder and arm... an arm with something dark on it. Gloves? He couldn't be sure... The owner of the voice clearly wasn't human, if the wing protruding from his back was any indication, or the emerald hair that seemed to glow in the partial light.

What worried the Elf the most, was that eye. It was shrouded in darkness, like the rest of it's face. But he could see it, emerald and bright from where he stood, and that unnerved him - where was the other one? He pulled the arrow back further, the string creaking under his hold.

The being seemed to be content up there, purchased on one of the high beams above. Elion didn't even have to wonder how he had gotten up there, he could only guess that somewhere in the gloom behind him there would be another wing, perhaps just as battered as the one he could already see. Despite the hair, wings and that eerie green eye, it looked... remarkably human.

Elion was about to speak, but he stopped himself, catching sight of something else... odd. What looked like a horn seemed to be protruding from the thing's skull, that was his decider, this thing wasn't human. Nor was it giving off an aura that Elion liked feeling... the muscles in his arms were beginning to ache from standing so still with his bow drawn for so long, but he didn't dare lower it, didn't dare let down his guard.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice stronger than it had been just a few moments ago, "Or..." He paused, "what are you?" He would shoot if he had to. Not to kill, of corse not, but just to show it he wasn't afraid to. Even if he was - he did a good job of hiding it, "Doesn't seem like a very comfortable place to be, does it?" He said, stumbling over a few of his words, he really didn't like speaking common, not one bit.

[Anonymous]

He refrained from cackling, because he really wasn't in the mood to deal with being shot.  That smirk grew a bit wider though, Toxin was amused at the guy's reaction.  He seemed spooked.  And it didn't seem like the guy was all that familiar with Common.  Too bad, it was the only language the demon had ever spoken here.

He leaned to the side a bit, into a shaft of light from one of the windows, wrapping his legs around the beam to help him balance.  He wasn't going to come down just yet, not until the elf put the bow and arrows away.  "What indeed... just an imp."  He leered down at the man.  Pretty fellow, young looking though.

[Anonymous]

It leaned into the gold sunlight even more, giving Elion a clearer view of what it looked like, but the more the Elf could see, the less he was liking his situation. Part of him was telling him to just leave, but another... he didn't want to. He wasn't a coward, despite what others had said to and about him in the past. He knew they were wrong. Once again, his gaze was drawn to the black marks up the thing's arm, and he knew now, those were not gloves. It was as though he'd been splattered with the black ink he used to write in his books...

An imp. From Elion's recollection, Imps were small beings. Demons... but small. Demons were something he hoped never to really find here. He'd been told they were creatures from myths, creatures that were not native to this land. Not like the Elves, his muscles were almost screaming at him now, and he... hesitantly... lowered his bow, the arrow still held in place but no longer aimed at the green-haired demon above him.

"You do not look like one." He said, voice echoing through the almost empty building they stood in. "I was always told that they were... small." He frowned, and squinted, not dealing exceptionally well in the gloom. "In any case, this would be the last place one would expect to find a demon, yes?" It was a chapel, wasn't it? A church, which meant affinity with the light, and demons were not known to reach for the light.

[Anonymous]

That grin widened fractionally, amusement at the elf's words.  At least he was no longer pointing the arrow right at him, though Toxin had no doubt the guy could shoot him in an instant.  "Small?  Hah.  Whoever told you that was wrong."  Wrapping his legs a bit more securely around the beam, he let himself slide over the edge, and hung there.  Looking much like a bat, probably.  Still, being upside down didn't bother him, at least for the moment, and as soon as he had a decent hand hold on the beam above, he let go with his legs, and quickly dropped to the floor, his tattered wings remaining folded the entire time.  Once upon a time, he had been able to fly.  Now, there wasn't enough left of his wings.

"This place?"  He waved a hand at the ruins, and chuckled.  "It's dead, man.  Dead."

[Anonymous]

Wrong. Elion blinked, giving up on trying to get a view through the gloom and frowning to himself. The library at his home had been large, and... supposedly written by the scholars of old who had ventured out of the forest to do as Elion was now, document what life beyond was like. They'd only ever encountered one demon, an imp, who was... supposedly only a few inches tall. He felt an odd feeling in his stomach at just the thought of something as that being untrue. Because who knows what else he'd read that was false?

He looked up at the sound of the creaking wood, just in time to see the demon drop from his height, without the use of his wings, and fall... gracefully to the decaying floorboards, level with Elion. The Elf still didn't lift his bow, though he didn't put it away, either. He had a better view of the demon from here, his wings seemed shredded beyond repair. Elion felt a twinge of sympathy. He couldn't imagine what that was like, to have wings, but to have no way to use them.

Elion glanced at their surroundings at the imp's words. True enough, it looked dead. It looked as though it had passed that stage, actually. "What are you called?" He asked, shifting back an inch, "Where do you come from? Demons do not walk on this land without some reason for being there." He knew that much, but... who was to say the scholars had been wrong about that, too?

[Anonymous]

At least the elf wasn't pointing the bow and arrow at him again.  He studied the elf's expression, subconsciously turning his head to the right to get a better look at him.  Definitely a pretty one.  Probably'd be all scandalized if he said anything.  And for the first time since seeing him, Toxin wondered what he was doing out here, in the middle of...well...nowhere, and all alone.  Looking for trouble?  

"Toxin."  He crossed his arms over his chest, the fingers of his right hand rubbing against the dark skin.  He scowled at the next question.  "I was summoned."  The tone he put on the last word was the same a decent person would put on some filthy swear word.  "I fucked up when I tried to break the last summoning, hence why I'm still here."  He gestured around him, but it was clear from his tones he didn't mean the broken down chapel.

[Anonymous]

Elion watched the demon before him carefully, and it appeared that this demon - Toxin, as he called himself, was doing the exact same. the Elf also had a much better look at the Demon's arms. Yes, it did look as though he had spilled ink over his arms, if it weren't for those marks, or his wings, one would assume him a human. Elion shifted again, glancing over his shoulder at the door. A breeze outside blew past, and the door he'd left somewhat ajar slid closed with a series of heavy creaks.

He told Elion how he had come here with little hesitation, and the Elf found that odd. His frown deepened, for he didn't understand what Toxin was saying. He knew how summoners brought Demons onto the earth, and from his words, Toxin seemed to have been summoned... against his will. Though Elion didn't entirely understand. He looked puzzled, "Fucked up?" He repeated, blue eyes leaving the demon and glancing at the beam he had fallen from just moments ago. With a hesitant sigh, the Elf took a step forward, carefully. Before he took another few, coming to a stop almost two feet away from the Demon.

"What happened to your wings?" He asked, They resembled the wings of the fruit bats that roamed the forest skies at night, though, Elion knew they wouldn't work nearly as well. "May I... feel them?" He asked, they looked the same, but he wondered... did they feel the same, too?

[Anonymous]

He raised an eyebrow at the elf's question.  "You're sheltered.  Fucked up...means I made a mess of things."  He resisted the urge to touch the pendant he wore, having long ago resolved not to call attention to the damn thing, ever.  Being bound to it royally sucked, and the only reason he hadn't smashed it was he really had no clue what would happen to him if he did.  

He tensed for a moment when the door creaked shut, expecting someone else to jump out at him.  When the elf spoke up again, he jerked slightly, his good eye snapping back over to the elf.  Not having a full field of vision really sucked.  Goddamn summoners.  He was silent a moment, considering the question and request, then figured it wouldn't hurt.  "Got torn up in a fight.  So I can't fly anymore.  The other guy can't breathe anymore."  He grinned, a hint of vicious delight in the expression.  Unfolding the left one, he spoke up.  "And sure.  Just don't pull on anything."  The rustle of scales was clearly audible in the quiet, ruined building.

"What's your name, anyways?"

[Anonymous]

He blinked at the jerky manner in which Toxin moved, before he understood, yes. This demon was definitely half blind. He idly wondered if the same thing that had done that to his wings had done the same to impair his eyesight. Elion managed a slight smile at the demon's words, though he knew he probably shouldn't. He'd take it as cautionary... He rather liked breathing. There was... something in his expression that unsettled the Elf, but he tried to shrug it off...

Though, he unfurled his bat-like wings for Elion to feel, and the elf slung his bow back over his back, figuring he'd probably have no use for it. Toxin seemed... incredibly welcoming for a demon. He slid the arrow back into his quiver and reached out tentatively at first, running hesitant fingers over the scaly length of the wings. "It must be... " He paused, scrambling for the right word, "...irritating not to be able to fly anymore." Elion had never done so before in his life, he wouldn't ever be able to tell how it would feel to have been able to fly once, and have the wings to prove it, but be robbed of that opportunity. At his question, the Elf blinked, his response was almost automatic, "Elion Bellas, son of--" He cut himself off, reminding himself that he wasn't in the forest anymore.

He didn't need those grueling introductions anymore. "Elion." He said, simply. His hands still moving over the Demon's odd wings, they didn't feel like a bats nor a snake, but... something in between. His fingers drifted further up, involuntarily brushing over the chain of the pendant around Toxin's neck, and that touch sent an odd shiver down his spine, but once again.. he shrugged it off.

[Anonymous]

He shrugged at the question.  "It was years and years ago.  I got used to it."  It was the honest truth, too.  The only aggravation it caused was when others assumed it meant he had a weakness.  He quirked an eyebrow at the way the elf - Elion, he corrected himself - cut his words off mid-sentence.  Curious.  "Elion, then."  He'd have smirked, or perhaps said more, but that was when those curious fingers brushed against the chain, and Toxin's heart beat shot up.  He whirled and grabbed the elf's wrist, and with a grin that was more fangs than smile, said, "Don't.  Touch.  That."  He remained like that for a moment, then forced a more natural grin, and let go.  

It was a reaction he couldn't quite help.  And one that wasn't going to help him, rather, it called all the more attention to the stupid pendant.