|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:31:59 GMT
Role Play with Adam Best Western Inn Jan 6, 2007 0100
Orbb: Frost had settled upon the grasses causing each footstep to crackle within the lush pasture he strolled through. With each step he drew closer to his place in the world, his escape to solitude, his sanctuary. Sighing as he laid foot upon the familiar but feint path, his breath crystallized before him, like a plume of smoke in the early night. Pulling back the vines from the cave entrance, he made his way inside.
With almost ceremonial type reverence, he took great care in striking flint stones to light candles. The natural white candles adorned the wall in the farthest reaches of his personal domain, bringing to life a mural of runes and simple cave drawings. Upon lighting of the last candle, he bowed his head in respect to the knowledge held there. Stepping backwards from the wall, head remaining lowered, he positioned himself three paces from the wall. Kneeling upon both knees he places both hands upon the twin hilts of his scimitars, announcing in Drow the name of each as it was drawn. “FANG” he announced in soft deep tones, drawing forth his left sword in a downward sweep. The smooth arch of this motion ending with the blade crossing before his form. Bowing, in his knelt position, he laid the scimitar upon the moss ridden earth. Repeating this same ritual with the name “VENOM”, he places the blade just before the first near the wall.
After ritual and recitation, he drew up his blades in the same ceremonial fashion and sheathed them. Standing, he moved back towards the entrance room of the cave. Lighting a lantern, he laid out his swords upon the table. Removing his shirt, he replaced the x patterned leather straps before moving outside once more. Kneeling, facing outwards from the cave, he closed dark lids over violet eyes and started his time of cleansing.
Dina: She had been walking all day. Following the almost familiar path thru Wallachia. Heading closer to the one place in all her 400 years of wandering she had ever felt safe. She came up the rise and looked down seeing the castle of the ruler. She had met Vladamere but once. So long ago, she probably wouldn’t recognize him in a crowd. They hadn’t been properly introduced, but like all others gathered for that Solstice Carnival, she had seen him.
She turned to the left and exited the road to enter the dense winter stripped forest. Wolves glanced at her from across the distance of the woods. She was no threat and the memories of scents passed from generation to generation gave her the feel of ‘friend’ to them.
She found the little used path, that really was no more than a deer trail, and followed it easily enough and with more silence than anyone else, save perhaps another elf, would make.
As she rounded the small hill, she smiled. The Drow had exited he cave and taken up a silent vigil before it. She moved a ways away as she settled down within line of sight of the elf, had he bothered to look. She recognized the tenseness of his shoulders, the set of his jaw and the shirtless meditative position he took up. Softly, after several moments to be sure he was calming, she whispered. If the wind was right, he would hear her, though perhaps not her words. If the wind was against her, she would be none the wiser.
Mirroring his position, setting her pack to her side and removing her cloak as she slid to her knees, she spoke, “I have returned, Master.” As she said it, she smiled. ‘Master’ had not been the last thing she had called him as they had parted those near 400 years ago. Far from it. THAT word, she murmured silently to herself. It had been so long that she feared uttering it out loud. “__________” (My Dark Angel). The Drow words, not spoken for centuries, fell from her lips so easily as she gazed at him, that it frightened her heart into skipping a beat. Surely after so long, if he even remembered, he wouldn’t see her as that any longer.
She closed her eyes to ride out the meditation time. Despite her initial thought of just relaxing, she soon found herself lost in deep meditation… unfortunately to the extent she lost touch of everything around her…
… including Orbb.
Orbb: Orbb remained still, unmoved externally by all the noises about him. One did, however, catch his ear and they, in turn, involuntarily twitched. Given who it was, he knew she would honor his time of total clarity of thought. Drawing in a slow breath through his nose exhaling just as slowly from the mouth. Upon his final exhalation he allowed violet eyes to search for the source of her voice, her name for him.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:32:21 GMT
Orbb: Finding her, how could he miss her, blending in among the trees and grass about as well as a bon fire in a dark room. A faint, easily missable smile graced his lips as he saw her in her meditative state. Though deep, his voice carried over the distance just enough for her to hear. “Forever welcome, my Snow Spider, even when I cease to be.” Standing, he moved within the cave, silently grinding the herbs to brew a soft spearmint tea.
Dina: She felt a soft breeze stir, her memory recognizing his voice though only two words struck her audibly… snow spider. He remembered. She smiled softly and opened her eyes in time to see the curtain of vines fall behind him. She shivered as the coldness once more assailed her body. Not bothering to put her cloak on, she just gathered the things she had and walked the final 200 yards to the cave.
She saw the candles first. Surely they were new ones, but she was remembering when they always burned there. Then other things came into focus. The bookshelves were fuller than she remembered. And while she knew what was in them, she said nothing now, same as she hadn’t so long ago. She saw the bed in the corner and quickly averted her gaze before more memories confronted her. Setting her things on a char at the table, she walked over to Orbb at the workbench along the other wall.
Moving in silence as if she had never left, she took the bucket of water and moved outside to fill it from the river after removing the thin layer of ice from the surface near the bank. As she reentered the cave she set the bucket on the bench and filled the kettle. She then moved to where he sat fanning the first flickers of a fire in the cooking ring of stone. Silently she held the kettle to him and watched him set it on the rock to heat up. The two then moved as if it hadn’t been 400 years since they had seen one another. Orbb went to task moving things about and Dinh’Cara went outside once more, returning after 15 minutes with a small rabbit.
For nearly an hour they moved and ate as they always had. When all was done and cleaned and she settled with another mug of tea, she finally spoke. “It has been a long time, _______. Almost too long.” She looked down into her mug as if it held the answers she had come seeking.
Orbb: Mortar and pestle, both of marble and well worn, ground their tea herbs. Chores he’d found himself doing since she had gone, he once more found himself taking great pride in her doing. He remained silent and observant to many a trivial new habit of hers. Culture of other lands and people, changed even the most disciplined if they couldn’t practice the old ways.
Soon the meal had finished. Now, almost certainly, she would speak of what brought her back. He wasn’t unhappy about seeing her. Quite the contrary. He was overjoyed at her return. Nodding his agreement to the statement of it having been so long, he spoke. “Aye, my young Snow Spider, the cycles have changed, sands have flowed and the seasons changed. But no matter the time, I won’t forget the simplest of pleasures we shared.” Taking up his tea, he sipped it watching her reaction.
Dina: She blushed. Had she had to bet on her reaction before he spoke the words, she would have lost, for that reaction had last happened so many centuries ago that she couldn’t say. She took a sip of the at and spoke looking down to hide her face. “It has been a while,” she added almost unthinking, “for many things. How have you been? I saw the castle. Does Vladamere’s line still rule here? Do you still ‘solve problems’ for him? I am thinking mercenary work is becoming boring.” She rose then. The scar on her left arm flashed and he would notice it went under her shirt top and traced up her neck partway. The line was still jagged and relatively fresh. “If you still have connections, I am willing to find work anywhere, doing anything.” She put her back to him as she fiddled with things on the workbench.
Orbb: As always, he listened to every word though as she moved and the scar became visible on her left arm, he slowly set his tea down. “Aye, I still solve problems and now the daughter of Vlad rules. He still lives though he rules another Kingdom known as Camelot.”
Standing, he moved behind her, he spider silk hair contrasting with his scarred dark chest. Reaching out, he laid a single finger, his middle finger, feather light upon the start of the scar. His words were filled with vengeance as he spoke, though beneath that tone also lay a sign of concern. “Who did this?” Slowly his finger trailed over the scar, ivory brows furrowed. As his hand found the end of her scar, he cupped his palm over her shoulder to turn her to face his gaze.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:32:35 GMT
Dina: She closed her eyes at his touch. As he turned her she heard his voice growl with both rage and concern. Her eyes were cast down then closely she straightened to gaze at him with eyes of a maturity deeper than the 400 years of absence had given her. Something, or perhaps many things, had happened to her. Lessons learned the hard way glared as hard in her eyes as if he had witnessed them himself. “My heart, Master.” The title came out like a child admitting there were wrong to the parents and expected ‘I told you so’ to come next. “I broke my own rule. The one you taught me above all others. To never let my heart cloud my judgment.”
She stepped from him and pushed the shoulder of her shirt back up from where he had pressed it down to trace the scar. “My old Second in Command. I allowed us to get too close. I knew he wanted power. I knew he wanted to lead the next attack. He wanted the glory, the promotion, the recognition.” She growled walking over to stare out the vines to the desolate landscape. He hand slammed fisted knuckles into the stone wall as she dropped her voice. “I awoke to him attempting a ‘self-promotion’. I killed him. He will never be promoted now, though he got his recognition. I passed the brigade to another and left. I am losing sight of my focus. I shouldn’t have been so easily caught off guard.”
Orbb: Watching her move around him, he remained silent. Her fixing of her shit was a twist from the past, though due to the topic of conversation, he thought nothing of it. Pursing dark lips a moment, he turned and silently removed from the table a piece of wood. Moving with the stealth hundred of years had taught him, he slid the piece of wood to her throat and barely tapped her flesh. The feel would be almost indistinguishable. “Well let us narrow the spectrum then. Threat or no?” His chest pressed tight to her back.
Dina: A gasp of surprise fell from her lips as she was once more caught unawares and lifted her chin slightly in reflex as she slowed her breath and thought. She tok a moment to find all her sensations. She tasted the mint of tea in her mouth, but also the taint of fear seared on her tongue. She smelled the breath of him on her neck and back. The rabbit, sweet and spicy. She heard the crackle of the dire and their heartbeats slowly coming automatically to pace one another till they thudded softly as one. She closed her eyes to see herself as she stood with him at her back and also felt the length of his body pressed shoulder to hip against her own body from shoulder to lower back. She knew the object at her neck to be warm wood and not cold steel. Yet in the blink of an eye that it took her to realize all this, she also realized something else… his question was a trap in itself. So she called his bluff. “If I say you are no threat, then I forget my place, insult you and more than likely will not think anything else beyond the instant of my death. Yet if I say you are a threat to me, then I would be lieing. ‘___________’ (Dark Angel), as it was over 400 years ago, I trust you with my life. So the answer itself is a question… Are you a threat or not?” Her hands remain unmoving at her side as they stand there. She then opens her eyes to once more stare out the vines as the blood on her knuckles pools enough from the abusive contact with the wall, to drip to the stone floor of the cave entrance.
Orbb: Smiling, he nodded, slowly removing the rood from her throat and dropping it to the ground in front of her. Moving from her with a step, he spoke softly as he turned his back to her to go about mixing a paste for the masochistic injury. “I will only harm you if you attempt to harm or kill me.” Slowly he ground the herbs, softly humming as he worked. Breaking from the hum almost as soon as he started, he spoke softly, “My Spider, take up a candle and place it unlit upon the floor, would you?” The herbs he ground began to have a scent of most medicines… stinky.
Dina: She nodded bending to retrieve the small thin strip of wood. Placing it on the back of the work bench, careful not to touch Orbb, she moved to the ledge where the candles were stored. Taking one, she moved to the center of the room and placed it in the small cleared area there as she removed the cups from their tea and the cloak she had been sitting upon. She moved her pack and removed the small blanket from it and tossed it unthinking on the bed, digging to find her extra shirt she had been looking for. She was about to change into it since its long sleeves and high neck would cover the scar he had seen and make it definite he wouldn’t see the others on her back. She looked around for a place to change realizing in all their times together, she had never feared what he would see of her.
Orbb: Undoing the straps that held his blades, he carefully laid each scimitar, sheathed, upon the bench he often worked upon. After assuring their place, he spoke, his tone simple, “I taught you this drill long ago. Perhaps it will jar within you the spark, the focus, you held long ago.” Reaching for a vial, he poured it in with the herbs. The paste felled and stank of vapors. “Stare at the wick. Picture upon it, your flame, all that is you. Then hold that flame there until it brightens the area of darkness around it. Nothing and no one exists outside that flame. No pain, emotion, distraction… nothing.” Drawing from his belt a dagger, he scraped up some of the paste. The green speckled mass on the blade looked almost like a jam.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:32:42 GMT
Dina: She quickly shoved the shirt back into the bag, grateful he hadn’t seen her hesitation. “Yes, Master.” She murmured and moved to sit before the unlit candle. She took a deep breath as her legs curled to sit cross legged before the candle. She stared then at the wick. Her hands rested on her thighs as, back to Orbb, she tried to let every other thought, sensation and object fall from sight, from thought, from her, as she stared.
She closed her eyes then as she forced her tense body to relax. Her hands rose up after a moment and coiled her hair into a ball at the base of her neck. She was getting hot. Her eyes opened as her left hand slipped to her pocket for the leather thong she kept for the purpose. Finishing tying her hair up, she tried once more to concentrate on the flame, unaware the other marks from the same battle came to view partially on the back of her neck, now exposed as Orbb would walk up on her. She was struggling to concentrate but soon her body stilled enough to try in earnest to do what she had been told.
Orbb: Turning now to her, dagger with the paste in hand, he looked to the other scars laid to view. After but a moment he noted her tension, her struggle for the basics. “Spider, why is it you struggle with the very foundation of what I taught you?” Crouching, he slathered the goop upon her knuckles like a brick layer with mortar. Violet eyes moved from her wound as the stinging would surely begin from the paste in the open cuts. His eyes watched hers, intent on finding the spark of his former pupil, and love. Shaking his hear he slowly rose to his feet once more. Moving around to the opposite side, he sat, cross legged before her with only the candle as separation. “Since this is too hard, we start over.” Reaching out, he slapped the candle to the side. “Look into my eyes, see yourself within them, reflecting back.”
Dina: She bit her lip, but remained still as the sting of the paste ran through her hand and up her arm. She heard him as of her struggle and as she pondered the answer, he had sat down mirroring her. But when he slapped aside the candle, she jumped slightly. Her eyes went down as his body tightened. She suddenly felt like it was the first decade all over again. When she and he were no more than student and Master. As she finally began to look up at his eyes, her gaze traveled over his body. She remembered every scar she saw. Remembered the stories, even remembered being there for one or two of them, fighting at his side as his companion and lover.
As her eyes looked up to his, she gasped slightly, barely audible. And the stiffening of her body would have gone unnoticed by many, but he knew her too well.
She closed that part of her mind that mourned losing him, the part that felt she would never have him again. As she took a breath, her body relaxed and her gaze leveled with his as she concentrated on his violet orbs to see nothing but herself there.
Orbb: Sitting there his eyes barely blinked, unmoved from hers as their gazes locked. His body relaxed in that gaze, muscles loosened and his breathing calmed. “My Snow Spider, you have lost so much, and gained much, too. Sleep for a time, when you awaken, perhaps you will be more at home once more.” His eyes never left hers as he sat there still. Swallowing, he drew a deep breath slowly.
Dina: “I don’t want to sleep, Dark One.” Her gaze went down to her knuckles. She reached to touch the still slightly swollen hand, careful not to touch the paste he had put there. She slouched then, her straight backed posture slowly reduced to that of someone trying to look small and insignificant. The words of refusal gave him the idea that while resting may be welcomed, sleep, as it had been where she had nearly died, was most definitely not something she would embrace willingly.
She reached over, ending up stretched out on her belly fully, and retrieved the candle from where it had come to rest nearly under the bed. She set it back before her and straightened her posture again as she spoke, though this time did not look up at him. “Besides, you gave me a task. And you don’t like those who give up.” She tried once more to focus, with determination to make him proud of her once more.
Orbb: Looking her over once more, he gave a slight grin. There, right there, was that woman of determination. Standing slowly he nodded and moved close to her. Leaning down he pressed his lips softly to the top of her head. “I don’t know what happened, and I won’t pry. Know and trust that none I watch over do I allow harm to befall them. Especially those that mean something to me.” Moving now from the candle and room, he went into the entranceway and sat on his bench. Taking some oil, he prepared to treat his blades.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:32:46 GMT
Dina: She closed her eyes momentarily as he kissed her head. He still cared for her. Those words were enough for now to make her open her eyes once more and straighten with renewed determination to try again at the simple exercise. As he sat across the room working on his blades, she looked at the wick of the candle and concentrated on nothing more than its invisible flame and tried to call it forth from her own mind to light the room.
It was nearly two hours later when there was an increase of pressure in the cave, like a storm building. Suddenly the candle seemed to explode in a blinding flash of light and then a smile lit her face. As Orbb would look up he would see her with her palms resting on her knees, silver eyes bright from the reflection of the flame and a subtle smile of satisfaction on her lips. At some point in the intervening two hours, she had allowed her hair to fall and the snowy cascade fell over her shoulders and down her back causing her already soft coloring to seem harsher somehow. Her hair and eyes seemed to nearly glow ghost-like around her darkened features and skin tone. She never looked up but concentrated to make the flame die to an average size for the wick it encompassed and held it steady and unwavering as her teacher looked on.
Orbb: Clearing his throat, he nodded to himself. And at the whisper soft breath of his scimitar as he unsheathed it. For the next two hours the slow scrape of steel over stone mixed with frustrated breathes and steady ones. Feeling a tingle within the air, he raised his eyes from his work in time to witness the birth of her spark. Or should he say, rebirth? Smiling, he gave a nod of approval. His tone as sedate and soft. “Remove the candle, and call your flame back to you.” Nodding once more he went back to his blade.
Dina: She nodded without looking up and reached for the candle without moving her eyes from the target. A moment before her hand touched the candle, the flame went out. But it didn’t merely go out, it seemed to crawl up her arm as if to light her up from the inside. She stood and moved to the back of the cave to replace the candle on the shelf. In the back recess of the cave, away from the firelight, the dark corner usually seemed to ‘swallow up’ those who moved there. But this time it was the ebony darkness that was ‘swallowed’ as she stood there watching him. Her body had changed a bit over the last 400 years, but it was for the better. The short chopped hair she had had when they met, had grown to the middle of her back. It was now a crystalline white fall that dropped nearly to her hips when unbound. Her small framed body had grown in height a few inches, but it was how she had ‘filled out’ that was most noticeable.
Her muscles were toned. With her arms bare nearly to her shoulders, he could tell she was used to wielding her sword. The gracefulness he had promised her so many centuries ago, had arrived with more pronunciation than he could have guessed. Every movement, even the movement of standing completely still, seemed to belie the fact she was indeed of both words; both High Elf and Drow. She stood there a moment more recalling the times they had spent in this cave. She had learned nearly everything from him in this small corner of the world of theirs. She learned to fight, to mix herbs, to heal and even to love.
She wondered how, in the light of the lesson taught today, how many of the old lessons would occur again… swordplay, her lore, poison making, or even love play?
She began walking back towards him as she wondered what he would ask next of her.
Orbb: Watching in silence, he remained in the natural rhythm he’d grown accustomed to, sharpening the sword “Venom”. His eyes remained upon her. Slowly his eyes trailed over her figure moving towards him. “You’ve done well, My Snow Spider. Very well.” He smiled. As she drew close, he laid the sword upon the bench as well as the stone. “I’m glad to see you just needed reminders of your lessons. Perhaps after you rest, we might sharpen your other skills.” Looking to her eyes, he lost much of his speech. He’d remembered those eyes holding him in campfire light, in this cave, almost wherever they seemed to find themselves.
Dina: She smiled then. “I don’t need sleep, Orbb. I am fine. What else do you want me to do? I am up to it.” Her stubborn look was back. She had benefited from the meditation, even if she didn’t realize it or admit it. “I am not so old or weak that lessons need to be one a day as they had been in the beginning.” She hadn’t raised her voice, but the meaning was clear. She would not close her eyes willingly.
Orbb: Orbb chuckled softly, his eyes locking with hers. “Well you spoke of losing focus,” he said. His voice was soft, caring in its tone. “Tell me what you would like to learn. After all, you did go through my tests before I let you leave.” Slowly his finger ran over the wood of the arms on his chair, a reaction he always had when he held back his thoughts.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:32:51 GMT
Dina: She paced then, like a caged cave golem. She wrung her hands as she moved. Realizing her actions, she began to move with purpose. She straightened up the work bench then headed to the bed. She was unfolding long disused blankets and straitening then when she finally spoke. “I need to find purpose, Dark One. I left you and moved out from Wallachia killing anywhere there was a man to kill.” Her back stayed to him as she spoke. “If the money was right, I cared not if the man was Prince or pauper.” She stopped and looked at the neat blankets on the bed, but didn’t turn yet. Her voice dropped as the sound of the lost child he had first seen her as, filled her words. “I don’t know why I keep going, Orbb. I don’t have focus or reason or purpose anymore. And,” she sighed, closing her eyes, “the last two people I have tried to love in the last 200 years, have tried to kill me. How can I get past the fact I am fit for nothing more than dealing death any longer?”
Orbb: Watching her pace, he furrowed his brows. She was so uncertain compared to the woman who left his tutelage so long ago. Leaning heavily back against his chair, he continued his study. Pressing the blankets, folding and tucking them in, he silently thought to himself, *What became of you, Dina? What has destroyed your purity?* Slipping from his chair, he walked up behind her. Gently his fingers trailed over her shoulders. Leaning in, he slowly took in her scent. “Many, many things are in this life. Not just death. You must find that which you enjoy. Something that makes you feel alive once more.” He ran his fingers back up and along her neck and just beneath her ears.
Dina: So lost in self pity was she that she startled at his touch. But after she settled, she craned her neck slightly allowing his hand to run over her skin. Her voice drops to a bare whisper. “I don’t think I have felt alive since we were together last, Dark Angel. I have not allowed another man, since you, to get even half as close. And those who DID get close, did so because ‘I’ wanted it. I wanted them to think they had won. Just before I killed them.” As her final words died in the silence of the cave, she stiffened. She closed her eyes expcting to feel his touch leave her skin and his presence to leave the cave. She had used his teachings and become a Black Widow. She lured her men to bed then killed them simply because she was paid too. Surely that would make him turn her out.
Orbb: Orbb listened in silence. His fingers caressing her cheek as his other hand trailed over her unscarred arm. As he thought on her words, he took in her scent, his lips nor even an inch from the back of her neck. “We are Drow. Our ways are our own. Your beauty and grace are your tools.” Sliding the back of his fingers over her cheek to her lips, he leaned in closer to her ear softly whispering, “Death is the only constant for the life of an assassin. All else is our own decision.” Covering her lips with his fingers to keep her from speaking, he whispered, “Honor is still yours. You need to see it for yourself.”
Dina: She shivered as his hands roamed over her. Despite her desire to stay tense, to worry about her failures, she felt herself begin to relax. With her eyes closed she tilted her neck to give it to him bare and exposed. It was a deep sign of trust and she knew he would understand both the significance, and the offer. As he spoke of her downfalls being reality and necessity, she back to speak. Suddenly his finger was keeping her silent. She moaned softly, parting her lips and gasped fighting to still her thudding heart. Her left hand reached back and touched his leg as her body relaxed against his. As he spoke of her needing to see honor and worth, she nodded silently in understanding.
Orbb: Gently his fingers moved down over her lips to her chin, turning her face to his, touching his forehead to hers as he moved around her. “My Snow Spider, I’m glad you can relax once more to my touch.” Keeping the contact, his eyes remained shut. Breathing in deeply, his fingers once more caressed her cheek as he whispered, “I’ve missed you, Din. Welcome back.” Smiling softly as his fingers caressed once more over her cheek. To say he fought urges would be an understatement.
Dina: She opened her eyes as she turned, resting her head against his, her hands on his hips. As he closed his eyes and spoke, she closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of his breath on her skin as he confessed liking her reaction. When his voice dropped at his welcome back words, she opened her eyes once more. It may have been over 400 years, but she knew she was right. “Something is wrong, Orbb. What is it?” She felt him tense in her arms like a taunt pulled hunting bow. He wanted to do more, to say more, but something stopped him. It pained her to want to know, but she had the feeling it was something lacking in her own being. It had to be something in her. In her reactions, her confession, or just her confession of lacking skills. Whatever it was, she silently vowed she would overcome it. Anything was worth having him look at her as he once did, touching her as he one had and wanting her as badly as she wanted him.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:33:03 GMT
Orbb: Feeling her touch, her breath upon him, everything about this night that had once been right, now was wrong. Slowly opening his eyes, he whispered to her. “Life carried you from me long ago. I felt a void within this cave, within me.” Looking to her eyes he continued. “I worked to avoid the feeling of letting you go. I had succeeded, and found my nearness to death… comforting.” Slowly he stepped back from her, his fingers hesitant in breaking their contact. Looking down, he thought on his words, of what had taken his life on the path he had taken. Raising his eyes to hers he whispered softly, “I… joined with a woman. She showed a spark similar to yours. It isn’t your fault that I feel this now, but I feel… confused. Mainly because she doesn’t seem to show me any want, really.” Looking down, he took a slow breath before looking back to her, searching her eyes.
Dina: She stood in shock as she heard he was taken by another. That was why he seemed so distant. It wasn’t her. “Oh… I understand.” She turned to the bed once more and ran her fingers over her lips. She covered the action by running her hand up into her hair. She bent and began folding the top blanket from the bed. The one that belonged to her bed roll. “Forgive me, Orbb. I didn’t know. I can build a tent outside easily enough. I don’t want to be a burden. If I can just have a couple days to recuperate, I will move on. I don’t want to be in the way.” As she stood from where she had shoved the blanket into her pack, she turned to him. The glow on her skin gone, and missing too from her eyes. “I am sorry for her not treating you well. If you were mine, I would never fail to let you know that you were wanted and needed. We were happy once, Dark One.” She picked up her pack and stepped in front of him dropping her voice to a soft whisper to keep from letting the ache in her heart be heard in her voice. “Remember, Orbb. Remember what happiness is.” She then closed the last space between them and without warning kissed him.
She had been taught by him, long ago, to take what she wanted. To act on her gut feeling. For 400 years it had done her well. Made her rich and taught her the skills she needed. She somehow knew that one way or another, this, too, was right. If his woman didn’t please him, maybe he would find one who did. And if it was her, all the better.
Orbb: Orbb stood there as he was kissed. Every nerve was on fire. Swallowing down the lump in his throat he looked to her eyes. “No. I want you here. None before or after you have been within this cave.” He spoke in a soft tone, but it held great authority. Reaching out he took her arm, his eyes looking to her as his hair went over a good portion of his face. As he looked into her eyes he spoke. “She told me she wished me to rule equally with her. Therefore, anything you desire, just ask.” Smiling softly, he thought about it. This was the first he’d ever used his new found status. “Welcome home, My Snow Spider.” With that, he nodded to her as if self affirming what he said.
Dina: He grabbed her arm so firm and sudden that she almost cried out. His grip spun her back to face him. She looked into her eyes as her pack hit the floor and her free hand went automatically to his chest for balance. Face to face once more, she watched, caught in his eyes as he spoke again. *Rule as her equal…* he said. Her jaw dropped and as she spoke, her voice was shaky. “You are a King?” She wasn’t sure what to say. She looked down and nodded. “I only need to stay a few days to repair my gear and rest. I will not ask for anything else.” She was at a loss. Suddenly the name ‘Dark One’ didn’t seem good enough. She looked back up at him. “I am happy for you, Highn… I mean, Orbb. I am sorry you are not happy in your new position. But surely it is better than servant or assassin to the King’s beck and call.” She had vowed to herself to make him happy once more. But knowing now that his companion was the Queen made her doubt herself again. Money, power, and above all else, ‘true’ freedom; these things she couldn’t compete with. “I desire things that NO King can give me. But if I may stay, that is enough.”
Orbb: Shaking his head, he spoke softly as his grip upon her arm loosened. “I am lost in the part, never meant for leading. I used to like what I did, back when we’d kill those that deserved it.” Slowly his fingers moved over her arm as he let her go. “I would greatly appreciate you staying. I meant what I said, I’ve missed you greatly.” Slowly he moved towards the wall of knowledge, staring deep into the flame of one of the candles. “Just like all the rest. You treat me differently finding that I’m King.” Growling slightly as he thought on it. None had treated him the same. Many feared him back when he used to kill. Now, though, it was different. Closing his eyes he lowered his head, his hair falling to veil his face. Slowly he drew his breaths, trying his best to relax.
Reaching down, he smoothed out his shirt. Adjusting his attire was one of the many ways he showed he was in thought and growing tense from it. Silent he remained, fidgeting, thinking, almost unmoving. Sighing once more he spoke, his words but a whisper and directed to himself. “Venom… pphhaa… just a tool. Not a man. Remember that.”
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:33:07 GMT
Dina: She bit back a growl and realized she had done as all the others. She walked up behind him as he spoke the mantra the Drow males lived with every day of their lives growing up. *Tools, not men.* She reached out and touched his shoulder lightly. “I remember those times, olath ssinssrigg, (dark love). And I will always see you as I did when I left here so long ago.” This time she turned him to face her. Her eyes softened as she spoke. “I do have one thing to ask of you. I want you to teach me again. Show me the things I have forgotten. And allow me to do the same for you.” She smiled reaching to press his hair from his face and smiled. “And you are more of a man than any I know.” She winked. “And I have known many.”
Orbb: He tensed when he was touched at first. It surprised him and he had almost reacted in a violent manner out of instinct. He offered no resistance to being turned around, but as she raised his eyes to meet her, then brushed his hair back, he melted. Swallowing hard, he nodded and gave her a slight smile. Hearing her ask him to teach her made him smile completely. “What have I forgotten?” He whispered, his eyes of violet searching her soft silver eyes. Looking over her face, he memorized her features, her smile. Swallowing once more, he looked to her lips, then to her eyes and licked his lips.
Dina: She watched his reactions. Had he drawn a blade or turned on her, she would have been unprepared. Save for the poison dagger, ever present in her boot, she was unarmed. Though the dagger with the Black Widow venom bound in its steel was in reach, it may not exist as all. She would rather die than fight him. She smiled as he asked his question. “How to be happy.” She replied as she touched his cheek once more. “I may not be able to have you with me as we once were. But that does not mean, my Dark One, that I cannot make your eyes dance again with light and perhaps even mischief once more.”
With that, she began to back up with a teasing glint in her eyes as a finger crooked to him in challenge. “Are you up to it, zhuanth uss (old one)?” She backed towards the vine covered cave entrance.
Orbb: Nodding slowly, he had to agree as to what she’d said he forgot. Her challenge intrigued him beyond words. His brow arched slightly, looking into her eyes. *Old One?* he thought, curious as to the reasoning, but enjoying it just the same. Walking in slow, deliberate steps to follow, though as he passed the workbench he reached for his swords. He was unsure of the challenge. He trusted her, but wished to be prepared if she wished to spar.
Dina: She shook her head in silence but nodded to his hip where his dagger sat. She knew it was there. It was always there. As hers in her boot was always there, since he had given it to her anyway. “No need for the killing pair. Just a simple game of cat and mouse.” She put her back to the vines covering the entrance and smiled. “Do you trust me?” She licked her lips as anticipation made her heart race. She knew the question went both ways but also knew that in the asking, she was saying she still did.
Orbb: Noting her eyes, he allowed his fingers to trail over the sheaths as he passed them without taking them up. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have hesitated.” Moving towards the door, he decided ‘what the hell’ and proceeded to just put his trust in her.
Dina: She suddenly changed her demeanor. Without warning, she shoved hard with both hands against his chest as she whispered, “Ori’gato ol kre’j (let it begin)” As his body wavered off balance, she ducked thru the vines and took off running. The last time they had played this, they had been deep in a passionate embrace when he had shoved her and took off. That lesson had been the hardest; to NEVER let your guard down. But it had also been the greatest, for it was the first time they had discovered that unarmed, in the woods, away from the safety and control of the cave and practice grounds, they trusted each other with their lives.
A small band of brigands had jumped them. With only one dagger between them, Orbb had pulled it from his boot and offered himself it they let her go. She, in turn had offered herself for his life. In the end, they had stayed together and fought back to back to defeat the brigands. That night they made love for the first time and became the close knit pair that had lasted for more than 40 years.
Orbb: As she shoved him, his eyes widened as she ran off. After but a moment, he swiftly ran out after her. Cutting across the stream, he tracked her. Every branch she broke, blades of grass trampled, most seemed deliberate. As he pursued he thought about the landscape only vaguely, though when he hit the clearing, he stopped in his tracks. His hand instantly moved to his dagger in remembrance. This was where it happened, where he thought she’d been taken from him.
Looking to the large maple, he walked over to it. His fingers trailed over a large gash in the tree and several divots. This was the tree she was against when she ducked the claymore strike. Then as the man had pried it out, she had broke his neck and scampered up the tree amid a volley of arrows.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:33:16 GMT
Dina: She sat in the tree across the clearing. She had had to work to leave such an obvious trail, but it had worked. As he stopped at the tree, her brow furrowed. What was he looking at? That’s when it dawned on her. The brigands. They had ambushed them in the clearing. One had shoved her hard enough against the tree that she had nearly blacked out. As her vision cleared, she saw Orbb fending off two of the guys as two more advanced and three more stood by her, one of them had been her assailant. She kicked out as hard as she could and shattered the knee of her nearest attacker. It was then that everything had gotten slow and crystal clear sharp.
Orbb had glanced in her direction in time to see they coming blade from her blind side. She ducked out of instinct, still not sure why, but trusted his silent instruction in his glance. She rose then and instantly lashed at the one holding the blade. His head snapped around like a twig. She had never actually killed anyone before that night. As she froze in the shock of what she had done, two more had fallen to Orbb’s blades. As the remaining two advanced on him, the ones next to her had turned their gaze to him as well. She cried out a warning as one advanced on him from behind. He had not hesitated but thrust his blade back under his other arm to dispatch the man.
That was when they knew they would survive. Orbb looked at her long enough to realize the shock had left her with the edge she would need to fight. As a couple unseen archers let fly from the side of the clearing, his snapped command sent her instantly up the gouged tree and into safety.
She shook her head as she remembered and smiled. Once in the clearing this time, she had hidden her trail well. She had climbed a tree, jumped to the next, then gone to ground again. She went into the trees and out again twice more before landing on the evergreen perch where she sat now.
She watched his reaction as his hand went to the tree. What was he thinking? Of that scary day? Of how she had frozen? Failed him, leaving him to fight alone? Back then he praised her for getting out of the way so swiftly. Did he look back on that day, now, and call her coward?
Orbb: Sighing softly, he smiled running his fingers over and thru the groove. Looking to the ground, he smiled. He was picturing all of that moment; the exhilaration of the fight and the passion that followed. Reaching for his pouch, he pulled out an old gold coin and smirked. They’d split the profit of that night, two coins, one for each. Nodding in remembrance, he slowly put it away.
Walking around the grounds he began to search for where she went once more. Looking to the back of the evergreen, he saw needles and a few new branches upon the ground. Slowly his eyes trailed up the tree, searching for her once more.
Dina: She watched, moving towards the back of the large tree. She peered over her right shoulder to look down so she could react to whatever he did. She pursed her lips tight, closing her eyes. Her right cheek was still against the tree as she held her breath trying to listen. But her heart raced in anticipation of whether she would be able to best him in this game of tag, or, if like all the other times before, he would win again.
She listened and concentrated. Then it happened. She felt the stillness of the air around her begin to ripple. He was coming up on her left…her blind side. She knew that any moment he would claim the victory as he touched. Blade or hand, the touch represented death. Just as her heart reached a hum from the feel of his nearness, she moved to her right. She landed on the branch to her right. Half a body length down and ¼ turn away from her previous perch, she glanced up to see his face.
Not seeing him, she began to back up on the tree limb. He was nearby, she felt it in her very soul. Something told her she hadn’t made a mistake. Without warning, a bird startled somewhere above and behind her. Startling her, she spun too fast and her foot slipped. Arms flailing for purchase, she felt herself fall off the branch. Her final thought was of how much she had lost by leaving in the first place. She cried out as her other foot, unable to keep her on the limb, followed the first and she headed for the ground uncontrollable.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:33:31 GMT
Orbb: Hearing sudden noise above him, he looked up. Needles and small branches fell silently to the ground, but not silent enough to escape the ears of a Drow. He remained looking up, reaching for branches above, though motion cause his eyes. He knew if she was to jump trees, he could lose track and this would turn into a footrace. As he assumed she settled once more, he started up towards her.
The startled chirp of a bird caused him to freeze. It was overhead and he needed to track her. Branches and bark fell. He listened… this was wrong. Twisting about the tree, he saw her lose her balance and come crashing down. “No!” He whispered as he moved swiftly around the tree, gripping a branch as he swung just beneath her path, dropping himself 8 ft to the ground and crouching in his landing as she held out his arms to catch her.
Slamming his arm across the back of her calves, he assured himself she’d land cradle fashion in his arms. Falling to his back with her in his arms, he gasped for breath as the wind was knocked out of him.
Dina: As he fell, her body shifted and when his back hit the ground, her entire weight slammed into his lungs knocking the wind from him. She instantly rolled off him and went to her knees beside him. Her hand went to his chest gently keeping him still with a touch. “Angel, easy. You got quite a hit.” She looked at him as his breath slowly came to an even rhythm. “You shouldn’t have one that. If I had landed differently…” Her words cut off as her mind thought of how much worse this outcome could have been. She looked down as her hand roamed gently over his ribs and back up his arm. Without looking back up to his face, she spoke softly. “I am sorry, Dark One. I was trying to show you how much fun we had together and could have again. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Orbb: Orbb was shaking his head as she spoke of how he shouldn’t have. Granted, he was flat on his back and deflated, but he was stubborn. As he found himself able to breathe once more, he also felt her touch, her caress. Looking up to her eyes, he smiled. “You call me ‘Angel’, yet you are the one… attempting to fly.” Chuckling, he reached up gently touching her cheek. “Who said the fun is over?” Smiling he lowered his hand once more, slowly moving to sit up.
Dina: She smiled at his words, looking back up at him. As he sat up, she rested her hand behind his shoulder to help steady him if he needed it. “Attempting to fly? You have it wrong. I haven’t stopped since I left here.” Her words were low. Had someone asked her, she may not have been able to honestly say if she had spoke out loud.
She rose as she spoke. It had been meant as a rhetoric statement. She offered her hand to help him stand. “If’s been too long since I needed to take to the trees. I guess I should have kept it on the ground. Better chance of winning there.” Her laughter was soft and easy. As he had touched her cheek earlier, a three had gone thru her like a spike of heat. The offered hand was a silent offer for the contact to be renewed. For some reason, all she wanted right now was to know he was all right… and feel his touch again.
Orbb: Quirking a brow as he sat there, he’d heard her, but had he heard her right? She spoke of flight since she’d left, interesting to say the least. Drawing in a slow breath, he simply nodded. Reaching up as her hand was offered, his fingers slowly entwined within her hand. Sighing softly he rose up placing no weight upon it, only holding her hand. “Well, now, my tree mouse, it appears you lost. So… what is my prize?” Looking to her eyes, he gave a gentle squeeze of her hand.
Dina: She stepped forward. Looking up slightly into his eyes she thought of a million things she could give him. But she tensed slightly. He was taken. She had no more right to ask for his warmth again. She had come back because when she left, it had killed them both. At least he had healed. Or so she believed. She leaned forward as he asked for his prize. She kissed him softly on his cheek though the edge of their lips brushed. She whispered softly, “What will give you happiness?”
Orbb: Stepping close he looked deep into her eyes slowly licking his lips. The kiss, had it been any longer, would have buckled him. Her touch just made him yearn for the next. Reaching up while still holding her hand in the other, his fingers trailed thru her hair. “You… staying here. Us… the way we were.” Lowing his gaze over her form, he took in her scent once more. “You had been, and I believe always will be, my happiest memory.”
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:33:38 GMT
Dina: She cried then. Caressing his cheek and neck without even realizing she had lifted her hand. She leaned in to kiss him then murmuring, “I will stay till you ask me to go.” She kissed him deep and with a passion she had forgotten was within her. But even as her hear whispered she was finally home and where she wanted to be… where she ‘should’ be, her head interfered. He was taken.
Suddenly she broke the kiss and backed up. Letting go of his neck where her hand had rested, and breaking the hold between them, she shook her head. Sorrow filled her eyes, warring with the desire in her heart and ache of her body. “I will always be here… but the way we were? How… now that you are taken? How do I love you, now, without causing you pain?” Without awaiting his reply, she bolted. She turned and ran into the forest as soft flurries of snow began to fall. Her figure disappearing into the woods till her light brown attire and snow white hair faded out of sight even as her mind whispered. *She had promised to stay… hadn’t she?*
Orbb: Orbb stood still as stone in the kiss, his instinct versus honor was this night’s main event. He felt her as he once did, but as soon as he decided sometimes nature was right, she pulled from him. Her look was scared and cut deep into him. All he could do was watch as she ran. His mind went back to that night. She wore nature tones, a silk outfit he’d bought her customized to her form. The night he gave her the dagger that symbolized what he taught her. Sighing he lowered his head, turning from her path, and walked slowly back towards the cave.
Dina: She ran and didn’t stop till her lungs ached and the burn in her legs made her stop. Only then did she allow herself to cry. How could she have let it happen? Last time she ran, it was because she feared her own feelings. This time she ran cause she feared his feelings. She sat on a fallen tree and shook her head. She recalled their last night together, so very long ago.
*** She returned from a hunt to find the dress lying on the bed. The soft tones of green and gold matching the fall colors outside the cave. She put it on then stepped outside to find him, still, nowhere in sight. She closed her eyes and fingered the coin in her pocket. He had given the coin to her nearly four decades prior when the brigands in the woods had finally been dispatched. Since then, the coins seemed to know when the other was close and warmed slightly. After 40 years they had taken to using them to find one another when they ‘played’ at the training exercises. She used it now to lead her to the clearing and Orbb, her Dark Angel, sitting at a campfire in the middle.
He had presented her with Widow Maker that night. It was a dagger that had been permanently imbued with Black Widow venom. Even the slightest scratch was deadly. He then asked her to stay with him. To stay and be with him for always. She had agreed and that night had been the most passionate ever. The height of their passion that night had left both their magicks combining to light the cave up in a blast of enerfy that equaled the cry of lust they both loosed.
It had scared her.
His energy blast, mixed with the healing heat within her, left a ring of slightly singed rock around the cave, and knocked out every animal within 500 yards of the center… them in bed. She had run that next morning. And till now, had never returned.
*** Shivering in the coming darkness, she absently wondered what had become of the dress and coin she had left behind. How long has she been sitting there? Lost in the turmoil of wanting that feeling again, and wanting his honor to not be tested. He was taken. He had said as much. And honor, to him, was the greatest of all things. The only thing that mattered.
Rising she headed back to the cave. She would stay because she had promised she would. But she would remain his student, only, until he desired something more. That was how it had to be. And as she walked, she wondered how to curb the ache that now filled her.
|
|
|
Post by Jashin on Feb 11, 2015 5:33:49 GMT
Orbb: He walked in silence, his pace was slow, his feet drug with each step. He stared on before him, never registering the trees around him, his navigation purely on instinct. Purest of white hair cascaded over his shoulders and down his chest. Reaching up to the base of his neck, he traced over the markings of birth. The tribal markings sewed him to the fabrics of the house he belonged to. Within their minds they thought there marks would bind them. He guessed those marks didn’t work, considering he hadn’t thought of or felt them in years.
Slowly running his hand down his arm, he looked to the tattoo of the widow. Looking to the other forearm he saw similar marks, though not the same. Shaking his head he looked around, constantly repeating the words, “I’m the destroyer of lives.” He found himself in the cave, seated upon the bed suddenly, his hand covering the marks upon his arms with his hands. He knew not how long he had been there. Looking around the cave he noticed the ancient burn on the cave walls from that night. Laying back upon the bed he found himself, for the first time, with damp eyes. “What the hell?” He said, feeling his eyes leak.
Dina: She stood outside the cave and sighed. She yawned and realized her adrenaline was waning. She had to sleep. It had been two days. She squared her shoulders and ground herself to the point that student and teacher was all that was on her mind.
Then she stepped into the cave.
He was laying on the bed, staring at his palms where his tears had fallen. Her first instinct was to run, but instead she walked to him. She moved with a silence only an elf or a Drow can do, and stood in front of him. Every resolve she had made outside the cave flowed from her as tears fell. She went to her knees on the bed beside him and took his hands in hers. She kissed the salty tears from his skin then reached up to caress the dampness from his cheek. She couldn’t think of any way to apologize, so she said the first thing that came to mind. And this time, she didn’t care if it was wrong or not. All she knew was it seemed right. “I am yours if you will have me. Even if it’s only for one night.” She looked at him as she spoke. She was shaking. Shaking because she feared he would turn her away… and scared he wouldn’t.
Orbb: Feeling her touch, her kiss upon his hands, he sighed softly. Swallowing hard, he did all he could. Reaching out, he took gentle hold of her arm, and pulling her close he whispered, “I’m leaking and I don’t know why. I haven’t been injured.” Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her close, scooting a little as he laid his head upon the pillow staring into her eyes.
|
|