Measures of Mercy [M] [Lion]

[GoblinFae]

She shook her head violently. "I cannot lie to Master he always knows and he always asks. Better to tell than to be punished for more indiscretions. I have already caused him enough pain and trouble with my absence now. I deserve whatever punishment he finds fitting to ensure I learn. Master is too kind and forgiving when it comes to his slaves. I must not take advantage of my Master's goodwill."

[Lion]

"Then he must have the nose of a hound if he can smell leaves on you.  As pathetic as you are, I guess I shouldn't have expected you to be clever or smart enough to avoid retaliation altogether."  Theiryk glare up ahead of him until the branches soared upward in a twining web of leaves, vines and branches.  From the smell there were no rival clans in this area so it was safe to linger in for the moment.

[GoblinFae]

Navarre growled angrily, dropping her arms from around his waist and gave him a small shove in the back. "Don't talk of my master that way! What do you know? Just because no one has loved or cared for you the way he has me, doesn't mean you get to be so cruel. I don't care what you say about me but leave him out of this!"

[Lion]

Theiryk stepped back after she pushed him.  He said nothing back thought his eyes narrowed at her and instead he gave her a smile.  "But you're the one that let go..."  He gestured his head to the emptiness below her and beamed wickedly at her having nothing to hold onto.

[GoblinFae]

She scowled at him wanting to slap that smug grin off his face but too far away to do so. Her nostrils flared with her anger and increased breathing as Navarre took one tentative step forward. That step led to another then another as she discovered her balance.

"And your point is?" Her arms still occasionally jerked up to catch herself but, Navarre was starting to find the tree at least for the moment was not quite as scary as she thought it would be, especially if it meant she could get close enough to Theiryk to give him hell for his comments concerning Kreios.

[Lion]

"At least I don't have to hold your hand anymore," he sneered at her, snickering as well.  In an about-face and started to walk away from her, running up a vertical branch that was at least seven feet higher up and he motioned her to follow him.

[GoblinFae]

"Weren't holding my hand to begin with," she snapped back. It took her a bit longer but she was soon following him to the best of her ability. Her anger dimmed some as curiosity took rise. As Navarre attempted to copy Theiryk's exact moves and steps, her mind raced with questions.

"How did you learn to climb trees? Did your master teach you?"

[Lion]

He was sick of the references to his "Master".  "NO!' he snapped.  "My father taught me.  It is in my blood.  I am a Wild Elf.  My master only taught me that misery loves company."

[GoblinFae]

Navarre gasped, taking several fearful steps backwards and nearly knocking herself off the branch in her haste to get away from him. Krieos had drilled into her mind that her kind was the lowest of the low. The only breed of elf worse than an Avariel was a Wild Elf and he had assured her that none of their kind existed anymore outside of legend.

"You're lying!" she shouted fearfully, her eyes darting to and fro. "You can't be one of them. They're nothing but fairytales and nightmares!"

[Lion]

"Right, I'm just an orc with a rare skin disease that turned me pale instead of black and green," he murmured with a roll of his eyes and made sure she saw the gesture.  He laughed and climbed up onto the high branch until he sat at the crest, climbing up into a netting of vines and smaller branches that looked as if they were weaved together. 

"Come here!" he barked at her.  "We've gotta dress those wounds before they infect."

[GoblinFae]

"No! You'll poison me!" She remained frozen where she stood wishing desperately she knew a way to climb down. Navarre stared hopeless towards the forest floor, feeling dizzy at such a height. "I trust you even less than before! If you are what you say you are then I know what you'll try to do to me! It's why you sent me to those men, isn't it? Have them break my spirit so you wouldn't have to, so I'd be your perfect little pet! I won't let you!

"I have someone I belong to," she spat angrily like a wildcat. "And it's not you!"

[Lion]

"I think I'd prefer to see you turn blue from having my hands around your throat than for me to poison you," Theiryk muttered with a grim smile.  But it soon faded and he emerged from the nest of vines to walk down to her.  "Come here.  Now."  He extended a hand to her.  "I'm not going to poison you.  I promise."

[GoblinFae]

His threat and grin made her even more wary of his presence. As he approached she took equal steps backwards until her back was flush against the trunk of the tree leaving her nowhere else to go. "No! It's a trick. If not poison then you'll do something else. You only promised one thing. Fool you may think me but I know what tricksters your kind were er are."

[Lion]

"I'm not going to hurt you," Theiryk sighed, with no small amount of exasperation.  "Give me you're hand. I'm going to help you.  That was my offer and it remains still.  You'll fall if you don't.  There's nowhere else to go."

[GoblinFae]

Very slowly Navarre reached out her hand placing it gently in his. Her eyes looked so conflicted as she looked up at him, waiting for him to suddenly strike her or shove her to her death. 'It was what anyone else would have done,' she reasoned. His interest in her made no sense otherwise. She was sport for him, or so she believed.

"When can I go home?" she asked abruptly, her eyes nearly filling with tears.

[Lion]

Theiryk took her hand in a firm grip, a little stronger than wrap might have been necessary, but he yanked her along with him all the same, pulling her up the branch and into the net of vines.  He instructed her to lay across them.

Around him was the semblance of a temprary home, so to speak.  There were many items of interest, collected jewels and necklaces and pelts and small articles of clothing, and decanters and bottles off to the side.  "Home?" he asked idly, narrowing his eyes at her as he fashioned bandages from strips of cloth.

[GoblinFae]

"Where I belong?" She obediently laid back albeit very nervously, half-expecting the vines to give out and send her to her death. When that did not happen though, Navarre relaxed enough to look around warily, taking interest in the various trinkets around her.

She did not understand what she was seeing and asked him about it. "What is this place?"

[Lion]

Theiryk ignored her question about going home.  He didn't have any answer for her and soon he was dabbling a bit of a reddish serum over the cloth of a bandage.  "It is a sanctuary of sorts.  Tenporary of course.  I never stay in one place for long.  You should turn around, remove your shirt please."

[GoblinFae]

Navarre pulled her knees up to her chest as she watched him work. "But, then you'd see. No one should see...There is nothing that needs treatment there," she said changing from uncertain to determined in the blink of an eye. "If you're insistent on fixing what you caused then go ahead but I'm not removing my clothes for you."

A hand pressed over her chest, pressing the tattered fabric closer around herself. She feared his reaction to her damaged back. For though he had already seen it, it had been just a glance. Navarre had been told she was a hideous monster and that her deformity should be kept hidden always. She believed that if Theiryk saw it again he would fly into a rage and break his promise to her.

[Lion]

She was testing his patience, she truly was. It was apparent in his face as Theirk sat across from her.  "How do you expect me to dress your wounds if you will not strip.  Please.  I said I would not harm you and I won't.  But you're walking on eggshells, Elf Girl.  The sooner I clean them the better.  You want to look good for your Master don't you?"