Taming of the Prodigal Son (Rhi-Rhi!)

[Anonymous]

(ooc: Continuation from THIS THREAD: //http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3520 )



Closing the door to his bedroom behind him Echelon made his way over to his bed and began to strip his massively warm clothing from his body. The heavy fabrics slid to the floor pooling around his feet as he continued to gaze off absentmindedly, the sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

When at last he found himself standing in his room with nothing but his gauzy undergarments on he sat down on the bed with a sigh, pulling the mask off his face with a gentle tug. His smile was without humor. As if drowning in his own black thoughts. His faint smile held a touch of sadness, and he looked up towards the only mirror in the room and silently stared at himself.

In one quick fluid movement he was up and reaching for the mirror, grasping the cold hard glass in his delicate hand. He started suddenly, staring at those features he loved to hide from the world, those features that twisted into an image of ugliness in his mind. Those features that had ruined him, and tormented every waking moment of his life. And now he stared down at that delicate face, the perfectly straight nose, large turquoise eyes lined by sooty long lashes and wished he had never been born.

The sound of glass breaking broke the silence of the room. The mirror lay shattered at his feet, jagged pieces showing the disfigured face that Echelon saw of himself.

Putting away such useless emotions he reached down and slipped on a moonstone colored mask over his beautiful face, tying the white ribbons around his glorious head of long vampire-red hair. He kicked aside fallen garments he had tried on earlier, not a care to pick them off the floor yet and made his way to one of his six wardrobes, throwing the old wooden doors open with a clatter and searching inside for something new to wear.

Each of his wardrobes held garments for his five favorite colors: red, blue, gold, black, and white; with the final sixth wardrobe and dresser for his more colorful and gaudy pieces that were decorated in a number of different colors. He had each of his costumes that he had designed and made himself organized by color so he could find what he wanted quickly and without making too much of a mess. However, as he stepped accidentally onto a fallen pair of black pants, he wasn’t too neat when trying on items, his room always seeming untidy with clothing, shoes, masks, and other unmentionables strewn about the place.

Pulling out a long flowing white silk robe that matched perfectly with the undergarments of silvery white he slipped it on casually and adjusted it around his shoulders. The mask seemed a bit plain, maybe too ordinary but when he was alone to himself in his room he liked the comfortable feeling of lightweight and sheer garments clinging to his body.

Satisfied with the outcome, he pushed his mountain of clothing off his bed (he’d put it away later) and threw himself back first onto the bed, his hands resting just under his head. His eyes traveled slowly over the rest of the room, to the frivolous masks of various shapes, sizes, and color hung about the wall with care, to his pile of clothes he had tried on earlier gathered on the floor like a volcano had erupted in here. His eyes darted over his vanity table off to the side that held his perfumes, trinkets, and other fun frivolities he liked to paint his face with. Yes it was all a wonderfully overwhelming sight to behold. No wonder the servants left his room alone. It either frightened them or they had no idea how to even begin to clean it for him. And he rather liked his things untouched by the hands of strangers.

Suddenly free from thought or worry the boy inside vanished, replaced by another more mild and yet mischievous character…

[Rhindeer]

[Whoo for being in two places at once! XD Technically. I'm just assuming this takes place a while after the other thread he's in.]

Dread filled every ounce of Xastre's being as he made his way up to the new prince's room, as instructed by Yuri. Oh Gods...why him? Why couldn't Yuri send someone else to do the job? Xastre had seen first hand the havoc the kid had wreaked on the castle, which included a broken (and probably priceless) chandelier among other things...and he'd heard murmurs about the whole incident, mentionings of the boy's rather eccentric behavior. Ah man. This was going to suck, but he knew good and well why lord Yuri had sent him to do this. It was because of his age. Because he was only a year older than the precious prince. So Yuri, as much as he respected dear Yuri, had sent him away on a mission from hell--to babysit the prince and "give him a good smack" when he got some crazy idea...like...destroying the castle. Yuri certainly didn't have the time--he hardly had time for his own son, who was currently napping with Delith--and someone as important as Tarlaka, commander of the military, couldn't be expected to waste valuable time on him when rebuilding the military was highest on the list of priorities.

So, Xastre was elected. Because he was good with tantrums, Yuri said. Tantrums? Yes! He was good with dealing with the occassional tantrums of a five-year-old, but that was a far cry from the wild behavior of a teenager! Never mind that he was also a teenager...because he didn't act like one, as he'd long since learned that thing called responsibility.

Oh well...he could do this, he thought, absently cracking his knuckles as he made his way up the stairs and toward the prince's room. All he had to do was keep him from tearing the place apart. Easy. Yeah...and if the prince tried to use his own authority to override Xastre's instructions, well, Xastre could just bark back that he'd been given these orders by the regent himself which, thus, technically put his word above the prince's, right? Right.

Because even a prince had to answer to the ruler.

With that firmly in mind, Xastre took a deep breath and approached the prince's room, raising a gloved fist and knocking loudly. After all, it wouldn't be polite to bust into anyone's room, much less a prince. As Xastre had well learned...it sometimes made for some, erm, awkward outcomes.

"Prince Echelon..." he called through the door, then trailed off, blinking violet eyes suddenly. Er. Wait. What the hell was he supposed to say? He'd feel really stupid, too, if he wasn't in his room and he was just talking to a door, but he'd been told that that was where he was by another servant and, well, servants knew <I>everything. Finally, he shook his head, earrings dangling from his pointed ears, and ran a hand through his short, spikey blue hair to straighten it out--plus, he was just sort of stalling, pausing a few seconds as he thought about what to say. Then he tried again, a bit reluctantly. Might as well just be blunt, he guessed; he wasn't some stuffy royal guy, just a high ranking servant under Yuri, so he didn't feel any need to be all formal. At least, not in private. And this was private. Hah.

"Prince Echelon, open up. Lord Yuri sent me to...have a talk with you."

There. That worked.

So, now it was just a matter of waiting. Which was exactly what he did, arms folded over his dark blue, silk-clad chest, one booted foot tapping the ground anxiously.

This was going to be hell. He just knew it.

[Anonymous]

"Prince Echelon, open up. Lord Yuri sent me to...have a talk with you."

If it wasn’t for the mask covering his face at that moment, one would have seen a flash of amusement come over him. His lips trembled with the need to smile and counting silently to himself in his head Echelon sat up and stared at the door.

One. Two. Three.

He sat up unexpectedly, reaching down and grabbing a pair of white slippers. He threw them on with haste and quietly stood up, creeping towards the door and putting his ear against it.

Hmm, indeed. That voice sounded familiar. He had heard it before he was sure during one of his nighttime strolls through the castle unseen.

Carefully he lifted the peek hole (no bigger than the palm of his hand) and took a quick look at who it was, his mask the only thing being revealed to this stranger.

Hmm. Blue hair, violet eyes, and a face that look like he had a stick shoved way up his…

Echelon dropped the small window on the door abruptly not caring if he had been seen, and yelled out a soft, “Just a minute!� before he began to pace.

And he paced knowing full well he had but only a few short minutes before the patience of this noble looking fellow disappeared and the man forced his way in. Then stopping suddenly hands clasped behind his back he went over to his vanity table fishing through an assortment of books until he found his journal and lifted it into his open arms. Time lapsed but he wasn’t too concerned with keeping this gentleman waiting.

“Let me see,� he said whispering to himself as he flipped through a few pages. “Who is working for the regent…�

His journal held notes of the occupants of Serendipity castle: Who came and went, who lived here on permanent basis, and who each person be it servant or nobleman, wife or child. After all he was a creature who stalked these halls, must know who comes and goes at all times.

Aha! Smiling a little devilish smile to himself Echelon turned a few more pages before the sketch of Xastre appeared with Xastre’s entire profile written downâ€"well at least from what he knew about the guy.

Let’s see. Young man one year older than Echelon at eighteen, standing at least 5’11â€? and extremely well built physically. Spiky blue hair, violet eyesâ€"niceâ€"and…he wasn’t too sure about this fact, the guy was an elf (or part elf) because of his ears, but that wasn’t really important. What was important was that this Xastre was born into a noble house, and was the Regent’s right hand man.

That fact didn’t settle quite peacefully inside Echelon.

Closing his book a little too roughly than he wished he threw the journal down onto the bed. Then moving quietly he made his way to his bedside on his knees and lifted a heavy amount of tied bed sheets and old clothing twisted into the shape of a soft pleated rope, and carried it over to his window.

Throwing the shutters open he grabbed the makeshift rope and tossed it all the way down to the bottom of the tower room he was in. Saluting the man on the other side of the door goodbye (even though Xastre couldn’t see that he did), Echelon firmly clasped the thick fabric in his hands and began to climb his way down, finding the fresh afternoon air exhilarating to his young body.

[Rhindeer]

Just a minute, eh?

Okay. Xastre could wait a minute. After all, what the hell, he wasn't in that big of a hurry to tangle with the little hellion. So, leaning his shoulder against the wall (but not on the side where he'd get a door smashed in his face when it opened) he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And, guess what? He waited some more.

Frowning and rubbing his shoulder against the wall to scratch it, he finally stood up straight and glared at the door. Some minute. At least ten or more had passed since the guy had said "just a minute", though probably more because he hadn't kept track. Argh. Princes, always thought they could keep you waiting, even though he hadn't known any before. Well, Xastre was done waiting. He had a job to do, and chances were, the kid was just messing with him now. At first, Xastre's assumption was that he needed to powder his nose or get dressed or finish doing whatever it was princes did alone in their rooms (...er, no, not going down that route, Xastre) but certainly none of that took this long.

He was being played.

And if there was one thing he loathed, it was being played.

Walking around to face the door again, he banged hard on it with his fist. "Are you done yet? I'm coming in," he warned before reaching down and turning the handle. Then he paused, giving the boy a chance. No answer. Weird. Shrugging, he flung the door open and stepped inside.

...To find the room empty. Er, well, it was quite full, filled with clothes strewn all over the place, more than Xastre could ever wear in his life and looking like a tornado had swept through, but...no prince.

And then he saw the open window.

"Shit!"

With a start, he bolted forward toward the window, seeing the knotted together sheets and blankets and clothes that created a makeshift rope out the window, and he peered over the ledge first before climbing up on the windowsill. Hah! So he hadn't gotten far! He was still climbing down! "Echelon! What are you DOING?!" he yelled down at him before, with a sigh and a vehement curse, he turned around and started climbing his way down after him. He could have tried to haul the prince back up, but he wasn't going to risk yanking the makeshift rope and causing the guy to fall and break something. Erm, yeah. That would be an awkward thing to try and explain. So, instead, he climbed down after him. He'd just get down there, chase the guy down, throw the brat over a shoulder, and...lock him in a closet somewhere. Yeah. That sounded like a good plan...

Desperate to make it down before him, when he was still a good six feet off the ground he planted his feet on the wall, released the rope and jumped awkwardly out to the side to avoid taking the prince down with him. Which was probably a stupid thing to do, but he didn't know how fast of a runner he was. He landed on his feet, though the impact made him stagger and fall, the wind momentarily knocked out of him as he landed hard on his side. Moving quickly, he scrambled to his feet and stared disapprovingly up at Echelon, arms crossed over his chest and head tilted up to watch the prince.

Yeah. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Hurry up and get your ass down here," he said firmly. "Damn. What the hell were you thinking? Oh, wait, you weren't, huh?"

Yeah. He had known this was going to suck.

[Anonymous]

Echelon had stopped his descend when the other man came down after him. Looking up at the man’s backside, staring at the back of his pants in mild curiosity he had watched as Xastre had made an almost effortless jump to the bottom ahead of him.

Echelon inclined his head towards Xastre, the man behind the mask keeping silent as he stared at those deep violet eyes. This was rather interesting. Not many people ever bothered with Echelon this much, nor stepped out of their box to perform with him. This man was making some serious effort to try to catch him! Xastre was resourceful, improvisingâ€"Echelon made a mental note to add that to Xastre’s profile in the journal. And yes, the man had really surprised him. He thought Xastre would have given up on him once he saw that Echelon was long gone not wanting to talk. Everyone else had always acted that way, always keeping Echelon at arms length. For the first time in his life Echelon felt…hopeful. There was something to be admired there. In those deep pools of liquid lavender. In the other who looked up at him like he was standing in the pit of hell himself.

A tremor of an emotion Echelon never felt before started to form in the pit of his stomach that reached up to the tender places of his heart. Something that felt alive in him for the very first time. Something real. Yes, it would be worth it just to play with him a little bit more.

Then when Echelon had absorbed enough of the other man for his mind to remember he threw back his head and let out a great peal of laughter. Oh yes he had made Xastre angry. And yes Echelon was sincerely amused for the first time in his life. His laugh was marvelous, catching. And he made his way back up the rope with a little more spring in his step, grabbing the rope and twirling it around his arms so the man below him could not get a hold of it and follow him up. He paused once more and saluted Xastre, a little mocking gesture before he began to swing back and forth, running along the side of the castle until he built up enough momentum. Then when at last it seemed he was going to go flying off, he let loose his grip on the rope on the downward descend, letting the fabric slide through his hands carefully. The boy was falling towards the ground, the fabric making a sharp zipping sound as he kicked off the side of the building and went flying through the air in a summersault.

Echelon landed a few feet from Xastre’s position, posing a little for effect, then glanced back, laughed some more and made a sprint towards the garden.

Not looking back to see if Xastre was following or not he made his way through the maze of the garden and finally came to the place he was looking for. Echelon glanced around before walking steadily towards the giant water fountain placed in the very center of the garden. He made his way to the rim and with a swoop of his robe skirts sat gracefully as if he hadn’t just run the quarter of a mile to get here. Smiling to himself he basked in the afternoon sun, one slender hand playfully splashing the water and flower petals that floated on top.

[Rhindeer]

...Aw, shit.

Xastre could only stare, mouth agape, as Echelon saluted him and started making his way back up the wall. With the rope. D'oh. He had the sudden urge to slap his forehead and hang his head, because man, why hadn't that possibility occurred to him?! Stupid, stupid! Then again, he hadn't really thought a stuffy royal guy like a prince would have the upper arm strength to climb back up! Down, sure, anyone could do that!

Heaving a sigh and knowing that his little doom prophecy had been officially fulfilled, he started to turn, ready to go back inside and do the only thing he could do, which was try again. Great, now he'd have to go all the way around to the front of the castle, march his way up all those stairs, go down all those corridors, and then find the guy's room again...if he was even still in it and hadn't climbed back down again by that time! This was just lovely. Yeah. Locking the prince in a closet and lecturing him through the door had never sounded better right about now. Then again, with Xastre's luck, Echelon had probably rigged his whole room so that he had escape hatches everywhere.

In any case, he was just so glad that Echelon was having so much fun, because he sure wasn't, and as Echelon laughed he only twitched. Oh yeah, brat, laugh now. You've won this round. But just you wait...

That was, of course, before Echelon started to swing back and forth. Xastre paused, blinking and watching him. Er...what was he doing? He wasn't going to do anything stu--

GAH! Flying prince!

But Echelon landed easily, even posing, the show off, and then...he was off.

"Wha--hey, wait, you!" Too late. He was gone. And Xastre's shoulders slumped.

Obviously Echelon did stuff like this often. His obvious fitness had surprised him, but it was both a good and a bad thing--good because now he didn't have to sweat so much about the guy injuring himself, but bad, so bad, because if this was something the prince had a lot of practice with...and did it often...it meant he really had his work cut out for him. He couldn't keep him from going crazy and destroying stuff if he couldn't keep him in sight!

With another sigh, Xastre took off after him through the garden. He lost sight of the boy and ended up (unbeknownst to him) going a different direction through the labyrinth than the route Echelon took, but all paths eventually lead to the center and unless Echelon was made of pure, unadulterated evil and decided to hide somewhere within the garden...he would hopefully head to the center like any normal person! Xastre crossed the fingers of his right hand and jogged through that garden. Ugh...please don't let this be some giant goose chase...

A quarter of a mile later, and panting lightly, Xastre found his way to the center where the pretty fountain lay, and he also found Echelon, seated on the rim, looking absolutely relaxed as he played with the water. Of course. But truth be told it was a pretty big relief to see him there, because it didn't mean the prince was a sadist! Yay! Running a hand through his hair, which had started to flop over into his face, he took a deep breath and started walking toward him, cautiously like a man approaching a skittish (or feral) animal. "Are you quite done yet? Okay, just...stay still, dammit. I just need to have a word with you. Stay there, alright?"

As long as he was sitting pretty like that, he wouldn't have to haul him back. He looked...harmless enough right now. Seated.

[Anonymous]

“What do you seek, you wretched mortal man?� Echelon said with quiet emphasis.

Echelon let his fingers dip into the water as Xastre approached. He stilled himself removing them, shaking them off and turned his silent masked face towards the other, and stared for some time.

The man had done exactly what Xastre had hoped he’d do. The sight of seeing him here with Echelon made his heart leap into his throat. He could feel the wave of excitement rushing through his blood. The curious feeling of the unexpected. Oh, yes there was no going back now. Echelon had decided to make Xastre a permanent playmate of his. Xastre was simply too amusing, too unpredictable for the young prince to simply let go.

Echelon rose in one fluid motion, turned to face Xastre and walked slowly back into the icy cold water his robes dipping into the clear liquid. He stepped back another step and then squat down, his one hand teasing the water below swirling circles as one might write on the ground. He cocked his head a little to the left his gaze penetrating the man before him.

Then without warning Echelon threw both arms into the fountain and splashed Xastre with a giant wave of icy water. His laugh was deep, warm, and rich. And he let the sound of it trail off before jumping up and flipping backwards, his hands gripping the wet bowl on top of the mermaid statue in the center of the fountain. He propelled his body up, his feet slamming into the water bowl on top with a loud splash. And that is where he stood, the lower half of his body soaking wet while the top half of his robes billowed in the breeze, lifting soft strands of his red hair from his shoulders. His feet kicked up water towards Xastre and his arms unfurled at his sides towards the other man as if inviting him to join him.

“I am Woe,â€? Echelon said finally regaining his composure and standing stiff as a board, hands at his hips. “The God of Desolation and Misery. I may grant you your truest heart’s desire, yet that wish will come at a price.â€? He bent down and looked at Xastre again. “What do you offer me? Noâ€"wait! But this you ask yourself: Is your request worth the price you will have to pay for being in my presence?

“So then, what do you request of me? Your request will not be denied.� He let his words linger on the tip of his tongue, his hands reaching out to Xastre as if he wanted to embrace him.