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 Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 5:50 pm
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
He said I could find him here at night, if I wished to test myself, or seek his council.
Ruria had returned to the forefront of Poena Privus, where she had recently taken up a small bit of 'training' as part of her arduous journey to becoming a blackheart. She had come back now, so soon, alone, which wasn't the wisest of choices given the current circumstance of the world for a young lady such as herself to be out alone at night.
Honestly, she didn't consider herself alone, as she had the company of her two deranged and heinous skull companions, serving as lamps to dimly light the dark area around her where she stopped, gazing at the tall gates. She dared not enter, knowing how the inhabitants of Poena Privus looked upon 'outsiders' entering their gates. The entrance was quiet; she could hear the soft song of crickets somewhere, and a nightbird calling out elsewhere.
Cruor was nowhere to be seen.... but he said he'd be there, on patrol. She chewed her bottom lip, giving a wary glance in all directions for some sign of the dragon, before inching off to the side of the road, slumping onto the ground with her back against a tree.
"Perhaps he tricked you," bitter said mournfully, settling on the ground beside her. "Perhaps he is watching from a window right now, laughing whole-heartedly that you came all this way. Poor, poor girl...." he tilted his head onto her thigh, a sorrowful look in his glowing eyes. "I know your pain, I truly do...."
"Be quiet, Bitter." Ruria tipped the skull off her leg with a flick of her finger, frowning disapprovingly at it. "If I can't trust the word of someone I wish to be comrades with, then that's no good, is it?"
Biter chortled somewhere above her, where he floated in circles around the tree in a lazy way. "Kekekeke~ I don't want to see the beating you'll get, little one, or do I? Oh-huhuhuuu~~!"
Ruria rolled her eyes at the other skull, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them. "You two are truly terrible, you realize. Still...." she gave her two little companions a smile, her face for once not showing the usual gloom. "...Thank you for coming with me, it'd have been really hard to find my way in the dark without you, and I know you were looking forward to searching for another patella tonight, too."
The skulls, while truly heinous and horrible, were two of Ruria's true friends. Mouthy, disobedient, morbid and overly pessimistic troublemakers, but they were always there to help her when she really needed it. In their own strange way, that is.
Time ticked by. The darkness seemed to become darker, and Bitter had fallen asleep, mandible clacking sometimes when he snored. She thought of her meeting with Cruor. The first time she encountered him, she was so drawn to his weapon and had been so adamantly put down and dismissed, like everyday fodder at a fancy banquet. Get it out of here, take it away from me. It was sometimes hard to maintain her excitement when confronted with the morose and macabre, things she had a fond obsession for. When she saw him at the training, she had been nervous....would he remember his annoyance for her and dismiss her again? It had been a surprise when he had actually shown interest in her, even allowing her to handle his weapon which he had so profusely refused before. She wanted him to teach her all he could, put her magic to the test, and admittedly, she found herself curiously wanting to learn a little about him, as well. Cut me, make me bleed, burn me, crush me, break me, I don't care....just make me stronger, stronger...
If only he'd show. Wo...uld..he? The girl found herself nodding off as she waited patiently under the tree, her eyes half-lidded.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:25 pm
As per usual Cruor was patrolling Poena Privus late at night, when he preferred, and alone, keeping himself cloaked in shadow and darkness at all times. Finally after a few rounds he perched on a crumbling gargoyle, staring down at the area beyond the gates with narrow eyes. When on patrol he typically only managed to 'catch' weary travelers or visitors but he did it nonetheless. Who knew, one day they would be lax in their patrols and someone would break in and kill everyone.
From his vantage point he spied a dim light in the distance, causing his eyes to narrow as he slowly climbed down from his perch. Typically a Witch Eater hunting at night or a band of Witch Eaters trying to attack them wouldn't use any form of lantern, thus it meant they most likely had a visitor, Heaving a sigh, Cruor slipped down onto the battlements and patrolled the perimeter once more before whoever it was decided that they desperately needed his assistance.
Once he finished his last cycle of the castle he slipped over the gates; he'd been climbing the walls of the castle for years now out of both boredom and necessity so it wasn't difficult for him. He landed in a crouch outside the gates, peering around before his eyes fell on the girl from the training... And her two skulls, of course. She was sleeping but, well, he figured that sleeping outside where anyone could get her was most likely one of the poorer decisions she'd made recently.
Heaving a sigh he strode over and drew his sword, staring down at her, still concealed within his magically induced shadows and transparency. He lifted his arm, keeping as quiet as possible before suddenly driving the sword forward, into the tree. Of course he made sure not to cut her or chop off any of her hair, but she'd definitely get a bright from the feel of the impact and the sound of the sword slicing through the tough wood. Once she was awake he slowly peeled the shadows away from himself, one of his brows arching as he stared down at her.
"While this place is fairly safe, don't you think it's a little silly to fall asleep outside in the middle of the night?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:07 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
It seemed like her eyes had only closed for a moment before a tumultuous shock was sent reeling down her spine from the tree. Bitter screamed, Biter screamed, and Ruria's eyes opened wide and quick, a small yelp coming from her mouth as she instinctively roll-bolted out from under the tree, scrambling to her feet in an almost offensive posture. When she realized it had been Cruor, she gave a small but relieved sigh, her chest still heaving from the sudden jolt of adrenaline. "You scared me," she breathed. Her face flushed, realizing she had fallen asleep. Of course she hadn't intended to, but Cruor didn't seem like the type who wanted to listen to vague reasons or excuses as to why she had dozed off, so she only lowered her head, chewing her lip nervously again. "It is....silly. I apologize."
She slowly brought her gaze back up to him, one hand tugging on one of her long twintails that drooped over her shoulder. He was a little daunting compared to her, but she stood up straighter, keeping his gaze. "You said if I wanted, I could find you out here. I wanted, so here I am. I want to be tested, and if I pass your test, will....you teach me?"
Her magic mainly revolved around the dark kind, an offensive kind, and she had never been able to truly test it on any person before. There had been one incident when she was still a Makai Student where she got to fight an older witch very briefly as part of their festival, but she couldn't really hurt him unless she really wanted to hurt him, and then there was the moment shortly before she departed from her home growing up, when she had caused harm to her mother who had been...well, harming her. She had not intended but it just..sort of happened. Cruor was different, though. Looking at him and feeling his demeanor, Ruria knew he wouldn't be phased by what she had to use.
She took a step towards him, raising a hand tentatively, before settling it on his own which grasped the hilt of his sword. She didn't know if this was the proper gesture or not, but she kept it there anyways. "Please."
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:28 am
"That was the point." he answered simply, ripping his sword out of the tree with a spray of woodchips and turning to face her. "Learn from your mistakes."
Cruor moved to stand in front of her, his eyes narrow, red gleaming from beneath hooded lids. Darkness was where he was most at home, really, when everything was black and he seemed to melt into his surroundings. He supposed that it was good that he was completely in his element if she wanted to be taught. She would be pushed harder if he was at the peak of his ability and did not hold back. Hopefully she was a resilient individual like he thought she was.
"Are you sure you want to go down this road?" he questioned softly, his eyes sliding down to where her hand covered his. "You will get hurt. You will bleed. You will suffer... And in order to unleash your full potential, I will not be able to offer you mercy or pity."
Shifting he moved to kneel, shifting to take her hand, staring up at her; he supposed that he could be gentle at first before the training actually began. He stabbed his blade into the ground so be could hold her hand between both of his, letting her feel the cool metal, the discomfort caused by edges and seams. He stared at her, his gaze measuring, calculating, cold, showing none of the warmth that anyone in the past may have possibly offered her.
"You may even come to hate me, Ruria. Are you certain that this is a path you wish to follow?" he asked quietly, tightening his grip ever so slightly. "Any doubts you may have you must speak them now and leave them behind you because there is no turning back."
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Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:57 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
Pain.
Blood.
Suffering.
For what seemed a long moment, she could only look at her small hand, the pale and soft flesh enclosed in both of his armored and clawed hands. The gesture was one she didn't expect. Though his eyes did not show any sort of warmth, that very gesture almost seemed just that, intended or not. Besides Rajih, he was the only one who had given her any kind of close physical sentiment as such, and it was alarming almost, but even it being what it was, it meant something to her. Truly.
You may even come to hate me, Ruria.
His hands squeezed tighter on hers, and her cherry-hued eyes raised to his, the color of blood, shielded by a cold ruthlessness as he promised her pain and suffering and torment, and she smiled at him. Her expression was not gloomy, but one of the rare cases where she looked happy and content, the slightest blush across her pale face as she gave Cruor a rare, true smile.
"I have already accepted my fate," she said, still smiling, though there was a small sadness in the back of her eyes as she spoke those words, something bittersweet. "I know it will hurt." It has always hurt. "I won't hate you," she shook her head at the thought. "It's a silly notion to hate someone who is giving them something valuable. But I can't promise that you won't hate me," she paused, a look of worry in her eyes. "When you see what is part of me. Maybe you'll think I'm a monster, too." She was still smiling at him, though the genuine happy-content look was gone. A fake smile, but one that she conjured with all her might to try to express to him this was what she wanted.
"I want this." She reached with her other hand out to him, offering it to help him come to his feet if he needed.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:46 am
Cruor continued to watch Ruria and, despite the fact that she seemed to find joy or perhaps comfort in the small gesture he had offered, he didn't smile. No, if he offered this girl a smile or any form of warmth at all then he would feel sorry for her during combat, go easy on her, and he couldn't do that to her. If he truly wanted Ruria to grow, flourish, become as powerful as the rest if not more so, then he would have be cruel, ruthless. Such actions left no room for warmth or kindness and he knew that, despite how unfortunate such necessities were.
"We all become monsters for the greater good, Ruria." he answered simply, slowly climbing to his feet. "Whether or not we look deformed or hideous doesn't make us less a monster."
With that said he slowly nodded at her and closed his eyes, beginning to slowly wrap his shadows around himself; he would do it slowly, starting with his feet, so she wouldn't notice immediately. Cruor then opened his eyes again, his expression completely blank as he slowly focused and pushing his emotions aside so he could... Actually hurt her. Despite that he pulled his blade from the ground and slid it back into the leather holder on his back; magic only for now. Cruor wouldn't teach her how to use a weapon later... If she held out that long.
"Training begins now." he murmured, stepping backwards and simultaneously wrapping the darkness around himself, disappearing into the night. "Defend yourself."
Most typically expected that he had moved from where he stood, maneuvering around them to flank them. This train of thought is what typically caused him to stand right where he was, waiting a few long moments as he watched his quarry, waiting for the ideal moment... Finally he drew back his hand, called his magic and launched a fireball at the girl before him, not holding back as he had with the pastel monstrosity from the official training; no, if they were to train it would be brutal, fast, and unrelenting.
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:11 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
She felt the rise of darkness and shadow around her before she saw it, before she watched Cruor disappear into the void before her. All seemed silent for a long moment, as if she was left out there alone. Unused to the typical battle response, she simply stiffened, not a muscle moving, her ears straining to hear, eyes straining to see.
The world became well lit, too bright, too burning, as a sphere of fire came at her from directly in front of her. Instinctively, she went into a defensive posture, her arms over her face as wrapping, shadowy tendrils rose around her, exuding thorns as they swirled and writhed, desperately trying to fend off the burning scorch, but failing due to its strength, element, and close proximity. They yielded, and the small frame of the girl tumbled backwards from taking the hit to the chest, toppling across the ground like a flung ragdoll.
For a moment, her eyes welled up in tears at the realization of what had just happened, and the ache where she had been scorched and hit. But, he had to do this. This was why she came. There were no room for tears, or for admission of pain. This one was tough and ruthless, brutal even, and some part of her suddenly realized that somehow, she wanted to make Cruor proud of her, in...someway.
She rolled over onto her side, and pulled herself to her feet. Her one defensive-ish spell was quite the failure, so it left her with only the choice of pure offense, and for that, she needed the extra strength and speed offered by one of her spells.
This one...it hurt at first to use it. She clutched her head, willing it with some amount of difficulty to manifest. A dark aura surrounded her, darker than that of the darkness around them, whirling and swirling mostly over her arms and over her shoulders, until something resembling a spectral warrior...no, something more dead and ghoulish than that, had manifested, sinking its image into her arms, where shadowy claws reached out from above her hands. Most of it's disturbing visage had gone, leaving only the black, claw-imbued aura around her arms and shoulders.
A hand raised, a sphere of dark forming in the air, forming into that of a spectral sword, and came crashing down into the ground where she thought Cruor might be, stabbing and then dissipating slowly. Another, and another, both arms reaching up and then down, guiding the shadowy blades until they would find her mark.
"Make me bleed, then!" she raised both arms upwards, many swords forming above them, ten...twenty, thirty. All raining down one after the other, all over. "Make me suffer!"
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:30 pm
Cruor watched Ruria crumple to the ground and force himself to remain detached, lowering his arms as he watched her. She moved, causing him to relax slightly when he noticed the steady rise and fall of her chest, glad that she seemed at least somewhat resilient in the face of pain. However as she began to draw on magic he shifted his stance, preparing to move in a moment's notice in case she struck out at him.
Were this an actual battle she wouldn't have been allowed time to get to her feet, to launch an assault on him, but this was training and he took almost equal risk in it as she did. If she unleashed something devastating that she couldn't control, it was entirely possible that he could be severely injured. Should she proved to be more magically powerful than he had anticipated then he would also be in quite a predicament, but so far he felt that he had judged her abilities accurately.
Cruor's eyes slid up upon noticing a gathering of energy, quickly dodging to the side when the spectral blade that came crashing down, eyes narrow as he focused on both maintaining his shroud of shadows and avoiding losing a limb. Finally he grew tired of dodging, dropping his shadows as he planted both hands on the ground and pushed magic down into it, causing the ground to tremble, then roil, then burst upwards in a matter of seconds, the earth erupting upwards in a series of jagged rocks.
It was a slower spell, meant more to throw her off balance than anything else; his main element was fire and it always would be. However he was well versed in using all the elements to attack, turning the battlefield against an opponent. However the fact that he was slightly out of breath made him smile a little even as he launched a volley of fireballs at the girl from his palm; she was better than many and he appreciated the pump of adrenaline through his veins.
"Use everything you can to your advantage! Trees, rocks, height, distance, darkness, and light. Your environment can be turned against an enemy as easily as they can turn it against you." he called, even as he pressed the attack; she would be in pain tomorrow, but she had asked for this.
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:51 pm
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
It was unexpected to receive an earth attack from the fiery dragon, but Ruria handled it...a little. She was able to step backwards to avoid it as it neared, but wasn't quick enough to avoid the rest. She let out a cry as the rocks hit her tender flesh, tossing her off her feet and hitting her again before they succumbed, and she hit the ground on her back, sliding backwards through the dirt. She staggered up, eyes locking onto Cruor, one hand grasping her side where her top had been torn, a small amount of blood coming from a now bruised area. She kept her gaze on him, on his crimson and cold eyes that she so longed to seek acceptance from.
Accept me, accept me. The words repeated themselves in her head like a chant as her eyes seemed to blank. Accept.... he would never. She was rotten inside, this terrible thing that had her parents calling her a monster. Parents who could not understand why the light bulbs exploded in their lamps when their daughter cried, did not understand why the house shook and the furniture slammed and crashed around as they tormented her into being a doll for their benefit, or why behind the door they locked her behind did they hear what could only be described as the howls from the underworld. Why would Cruor be any different? His words were lies, weren't they? He only wanted to watch her suffer, didn't he? In the end, she was worse than a witch eater, wasn't she? Terrible. Rotten. Monster.
Every good feeling left Ruria's body as her confidence and desperate wish for Cruor's acceptance and approval were melted into the darkness writhing inside her. Anger replaced happiness, despair replaced fortitude, and the colors of the world bled to a dark, suffocating red. With blank eyes, Ruria tilted her head back, a nearly expressionless look to her face as her arms raised slightly, the rubble caused by Cruor rising upwards around her, shuddering and twitching. Her hair raised with it, as if around her was no gravity. She titled her face to look at him again, her eyes hollow and blank.
It seemed a long moment that she stood that way, her empty eyes staring deep into his, before her words, slow, quiet, shaky, escaped her lips. "...Suffer in darkness." The rocks around her shook, and violently pelted towards Cruor. Where they smashed into the ground, small craters erupted from the force, and the trees around Ruria began to bend and break and snap in strange ways, splintering and warping.
When all the rubble had been flung back violently, Ruria seemed to speculate the disaster for a moment, her chest rising and falling, before she reached up, clutching her head as if in pain. The trees stopped warping around her, and her hair settled back down with gravity, losing the ghostly feel it had a moment before. She looked back at Cruor, her face normal again, though slightly paler and distraught, as if her previous moment had left her in pain. It was shameful...her first real fight and it had tried to consume her, and Cruor witnessed. Shameful, and it made her so angry. Even that moment alone was only a haze, as if it was a far distant memory she couldn't recall entirely, but the feeling that it happened hadn't left her.
Anger seized her, and the black aura that whorled and wisped around her arms pulsated, the claws flexing as she threw her arms from her head, a sound of determined anger escaping her throat as she ran directly at Cruor, finding herself in front of him, slashing violently against him with the spectral, ghoulish claws. "It...hurts, and I can never...remember it, over and over, it just takes me, and there's only red, all I can see is red," she cried as she refused to stop her onslaught.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:29 am
Cruor watched her fall, watched her react to his attacks and paused a little, giving her time to breathe; he wasn't an actual enemy and she was learning thus he didn't want to be to harsh or cruel. Despite what many thought about him, he wasn't heartless nor was he merciless, not to those that did not deserve it. Thus he allowed Ruria time to regain her footing before he began to call magic again, drawing forth power for another offensive spell. However something wasn't quite right with Ruria, something was very off about the way that she was moving and...
Cruor's eyes widened slightly before narrowing as he quickly formed a barrier, crouching down to make himself less of a target, thus able to use a smaller barrier. Despite the protective spell he felt the impact of each rock, the blows reverberating through his arms and each one weakening his rushed shield; he'd been careless and arrogant. Ruria was far more powerful than she gave herself credit for, that was for certain, and he was impressed, despite the pain from the blows. Well, he was impressed until one of the rocks passed through his barrier and struck him in the arm, after that he was just angry with himself.
However he climbed to his feet after the outburst, eyes narrowed as he watched her warily, waiting for another attack, but she seemed at war with herself. What ever had happened in the past few moments did not seem to have been entirely consensual though the raw anger that seemed to radiate from her in the moments after made him narrow his eyes and reach for the sword strapped to his back. When she lunged at him he didn't hesitate, drawing his blade and using it to deflect the claws that currently covered her hands, wincing a little as his arm throbbed in protest; the rock from before had struck him harder than he'd thought.
"Ruria!" he cried, his tone stern, authoritative. "Control your anger! Your lack of control will only get you or an ally killed on the battlefield. You must learn to master it or I will not continue to train you."
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:27 pm
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
"Cruor..." she murmured, her hands shakily withdrawing, clutching with her bare fingers onto his sword. It's not my anger, she wanted to say. The anger isn't mine. "...I'm so sor.....I apologize, did... I hurt..you?" She felt sick when she noticed him wincing. Had it been a normal day, she'd have done what she could to make it feel better, even if it was just..something futile. She wasn't a healer after all. Not at all. Her hands quivered as her anger receded, and she felt the warmth of blood seeping from her palms where she had slid them onto the blade of his sword, and let it go, looking at her palms. It wasn't the pain that had surprised her, but the warm liquid. Somehow the self-inflicted wound caused her to diminish in rage.
Her eyes stung, and though she looked as if she would cry at any moment, she bit back any tears she may have had, scowling at the ground, her fists closed tight. She didn't want him to notice the bleeding, and was grateful her bangs could hide her eyes if she looked down. She stood very close in front of him, unwilling to back down but locked in place by shame and frustration of her condition.
"I was thinking...." her voice was quiet at first, and she had to repeat it. "I was thinking, I wanted acceptance from you... Acceptance, approval, and.... I do not know. I was thinking these things with determination, but something stole my thoughts, and turned them rotten and against me."
All she could see were her feet, and his. His threat of refusing to train her if she didn't master her anger.... It struck a hollow fear into her chest. "...Cruor, I.....I..." she bit her lower lip this time, wincing a little. "...I will do for you anything you want, I'll obey anything you say to me, I'll pay any price I have to, if only you'll make this body stronger, i...if only you'd accept this one and make this one capable." She couldn't look at him. It was a meaningful, yet embarrassing thing to say, and did she ever mean it....Ruria would not speak words she didn't mean. If she had to sacrifice some part of herself for this strength, strength to protect and strength to live the way she had to, she would.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:18 am
Cruor watched her warily as she slowed and halted her assault, crimson eyes narrowed as they scanned her features. He flinched a little as her hands gripped the blade of his sword, knowing that she had to have cut herself; he was known for keeping his blade sharp during downtime. However he didn't move, his gaze fixed on her face even as she slowly drew her hands away. It seemed that the anger that had possessed her before had passed, but one could not be too careful.
"A minor injury." he answered finally, continuing to watch her warily even as he lowered his sword a little. "Don't worry about it."
Really he had sustained far worse before on far more dangerous missions, so a bit of bruising on his forearm didn't seem like much. He listened to her speak, finally lowering his sword to his side, eyes hooding a little in sympathy. Whatever was within this girl would take more than just a few words and some determination to keep at bay. Perhaps one of the higher level Blackhearts knew of some form of ward or binding spell that would assist in keeping her head clear.
"Ruria, that isn't necessary." Cruor murmured, his voice oddly soft, hushed. "I will continue to teach you... And I will research ways to help you gain more control over your abilities."
Heaving a sigh he stabbed his blade into the ground and crouched, taking her hands in his and gently turning them over, eyes looking at the cuts. Doing magic with such injuries would be painful and the most he could do for these on his current magical reserves would be to stop the bleeding. He pushed the magic into the injury before looking back up at Ruria, his expression carefully neutral; it wasn't quite acceptance, nor was it condemnation.
"...Training for the evening is over. Go home and bandage your hands. Casting with cuts like that will be painful." he murmured, moving to stand once more. "You may come back when your hands have healed if you wish."
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:52 pm
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
Her fingers quivered slightly when Cruor took her hands, reluctantly but obediently allowing him to turn them over and examine her somewhat self-inflicted wounds. "It...doesn't hurt," she murmured softly, her eyes softening as she watched him. It was a lie -- it hurt quite a lot, and his blade was indeed a lot sharper than she gave it credit for. It was something she had to accept, something she already experienced. Feeling the wounds close, she sighed softly, as if she had been holding her breath in, and moved her thumbs over his as he held her hands, very gently squeezing against them. She had never been good with verbal gratification or endearing sentiments....physical was sometimes the only way she knew how to show it truly. "Thank you..." her lips slowly formed a smile, though she looked a bit worse for wear. "I'm okay, I've bled worse."
Ruria knelt in front of him, taking back one of her hands, and moved to unfasten where her long sleeves connected to her top, and pulled the sleeve and top down slightly on the right side, revealing more of her shoulder and the top of her bosom. It had been hidden before, but now she showed him the healing, soon-to-be-scar left as a reminder of her last encounter with a witch eater. "Cruor, did you know...that...." she brought her eyes to the ground, staring intently at it. Would he be proud of her for this, would he find her somehow bloodlusting? She didn't know, but something in her chest told her to tell him. Out with it. "....I helped to kill someone." She brought her eyes back to his, trying desperately to read anything she could from his crimson hues that looked at her as if they could see everything about her.
"I helped another girl to kill a man who became a witch eater in front of our eyes. I did this to myself to incapacitate him while she dealt the finishing move... I impaled myself and him together so he became weak. It made me feel...sick. I took a life, when I had no right to, to save hers and mine. I can be okay with just a couple cuts on my hands, I can!"
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 10:34 pm
Cruor looked up at the quiet thanks, giving a short, curt nod in response, his eyes hooded. He was about to climb to his feet when Ruria crouched before him, causing him to blink at her, head tilting ever so slightly, opting not to pull away for the moment. When she moved to remove one of the sleeves of her outfit, however, he began to have some second thoughts about pulling away and moving, brows knitting in confusion as she revealed a healing injury, one that would most likely scar; this one was most certainly not of his doing.
When she began to speak, his eyes slid back to lock with hers, frowning when she turn her gaze down to the ground instead. At her admission his eyes widened slightly before they hooded again, his mind wandering back to his own first kill, the first time he'd been covered in blood that wasn't his own. He remembered the hysteria that clawed at his mind and his gut before he'd strangled it silent with stern control and restraint. When she looked back up he kept his face fairly neutral, but let a tiny bit of empathy of understanding to enter them; he was never good at consoling someone verbally, but he hoped that his face, his eyes, communicated his feelings on the matter adequately.
"You had every right to." Cruor countered, eyes narrowing a little. "You should be proud of what you have done. You destroyed something evil before it could hurt yourself or someone else. That is what it means to be a Reaper, what it is to be a Blackheart. We exist to destroy that which would harm someone else. It is your first kill, so I do not doubt that it will haunt you... But don't ever think that what you did was wrong."
He reached out, gripping her upper arms, drawing her to her feet as he rose, giving her slender arms a gentle squeeze before he released them once more. His words and that quick touch was the most comfort he could offer her now; a first kill stripped away a piece of one's innocence, and that losss was always a painful one. Despite that he believed that Ruria would come away from the experience of both the killing and this night of training stronger than she had been before. Cruor could feel that she wouldn't cower away from this, not now.
"You need your rest. I won't go easy on you next training."
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Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 10:31 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
Exist to destroy something that would harm someone else. These words made sense, yet confused her greatly, but her thoughts became scattered as she felt his strong hands grip her arms and bring her to her feet, cherry eyes widening slightly as she felt a gentle yet firm squeeze, startled to have someone besides Rajih showing some sort of physical comfort. Her eyes softened and she dropped her gaze to the ground, her insides churning. Cruor must never know about Rajih, she thought. Something inside her told her that, for him to find out, would bring about something terrible.
The sudden churn was replaced by a more happier feeling, however, when Cruor said 'next training', and Ruria's eyes lit up, a soft yet silent smile on her face at the fact he would again teach her, and, disregarding any momentary cries of personal space or manners, found herself with her arms quickly wrapping around Cruor's middle, her soft face pressed uncomfortably against his chestplate, returning his 'squeeze', before letting go and nodding, turning to locate Bitter and Biter so she could start her sore walk back towards the nearest town.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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