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 Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 6:45 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
Had she done something wrong? Had her performance in the throes of battle not been up to par lately? Just what insufferable act, what vile crime committed had warranted such punishment as being sent to collaborate with the cerberus knights not once, but twice?
With all the problems lately, a little unification will be a good thing. Don't worry, it's just temporary.
"But why does it have to be me?" she moaned quietly as she brooded, a seemingly ghastly figure of a girl in the midst of the sunlight dappled streets of lumena. Every blackheart worth their salt knew that the knights were just a formality of the kingdom. Too soft-hearted, to absorbed into the values of morals and goodness to see past the good and into the realm of balance. They got in their way more than they helped them. They saw her kind as brutish vigilantes, sadistic bounty hunters who would delight at any opportunity for carnage and destruction.
They were only half-right, anyways.
Ruria paused in front of a shop window, pressing against the glass like a child and gawking inward, admiring one of the intricately crafted dolls displayed inside. It was then that a shiver crept up her spine, and she slowly made out the warped reflection in the glass of what she knew to be a Cerberus Knight. She could recognize the armor, different but similar to one she had met before, Azra'iel.
She whirled in an instant, staring at him wide-eyed. Was he her 'partner' for this little get-together? Not that she had any idea what it was that they would be doing. But then, he was looking right at her as if thinking or wondering the same thing -- he had to be the one she was supposed to meet.
Ruria stood up as tall as she could -- which wasn't very tall, mind you -- and stared wide-eyed into the pale blue gems that met her gaze. "If you're who I think you are, you must have done something very awful to be paired up with me. I feel like I may corrupt you just by being within walking distance of you." She said thoughtfully. "Are you Aodhan, then?"
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:36 pm
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ Despite how the others felt about the Blackhearts, Aodhan held no such preconceptions about their personalities. He felt stereotyping an entire faction of people only doing what was necessary for the protection of all was a bit foolish. Indeed, their methods were harsh and more severe than the rules and protocols of the Knights, but to consider all of them brutal, emotionless monsters with nothing but blood-lust on their tongues was what Aodhan found to be, narrow-minded. Not to mention that there were some Knights who had darker, rugged ways of getting jobs done. Then again...none of them could compare to the Blackheart Aodhan had worked with previously, and by "worked with," Aodhan really meant being constantly insulted and threatened constantly with his own dear life. Though, at least the man walked the walk that he talked. Aodhan hoped to never meet Mischa ever again. Those scars on his face chilled the blonde to the bone as if a ghost were pressing itself against him, doing all it could to warn him about the dangers that man could bring about.
Bringing himself back to the present, Aodhan saw a woman with pale hair turned into a window. She was almost child-like in her demeanor. Surely she couldn't be as deranged as Mischa, yes? Aodhan walked up to her, his armor clinking as it moved against his body. She turned to him, her eyes holding something so much darker than what Aodhan could have imagined. 'So much sorrow...
He debated outreaching his hand to take hers in greeting, but felt that she'd only scoff at him. At least Aodhan understood some mechanics of the Blackhearts. Though, now she'd probably find him rude. Oh look, there he was stereotyping. He offered a crooked smile, nodding in greeting.
"Yes, I'm Aodhan, and no, I didn't do anything wrong. I volunteered." He offered an awkward smile before continuing, "You must be Ruria, I presume?" To think he'd done something very wrong. What foreboding did that sentence hold? Or was it simply that Blackhearts saw working with the Knights as a form of punishment. That was very...odd and would never bring comfort to the other witches of the cities they protected if all knew the Blackhearts loathed the Knights.
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 11:26 pm
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
Ruria chewed her bottom lip, taking him in. Confusion at the situation seemed to swirl behind his eyes, and her lips twitched into a small smile as she reached forward, picking his hand up from his side and giving it a squeeze and a shake. Though raised harshly, she had also been raised with etiquette.
"It is a pleasure meet you, then." It felt almost strange to have another warm hand in hers -- It wasn't as if the Blackhearts never touched each other, quite the opposite -- most were very close in some way or another, kinship and all. It was simply that she was always gone, accepting any mission she could without breaks in between. Her own kind knew her as being brutal, lusting for blood more than was healthy. She simply wanted to be a strong Blackheart.
She dropped his hand finally, returning hers to cross together in front of her almost awkwardly. "I-it's not that I don't want to be here..." she lied. "...Well, actually, that's a lie. I didn't want to come. At all. I despise public relations. I believe I was ordered here out of pure spite." she glowered inwardly at the thought of their leader, laughing like an accomplished idiot, with his feet on his desk.
"Why on earth did you volunteer? Oh..perhaps..." she chanced a glance back up at him with a hopeful glimmer to her eyes. "...you like the sordid, morose mystery of what Blackhearts may be, and your morbid curiosity encouraged you to do this? Perhaps even a bit of masochism?" Her face was very near his as she attempted to read him, personal space and rationality blotted out by childish enthusiasm. "Though, you seem more of the gentler type, but I could always be wrong. It's foolish to judge by appearance alone..."
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 6:41 am
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ Aodhan's body awkwardly clenched as she grabbed his hand, shaking it almost as if they were making a large business deal. He returned the gesture, grasping her hand firmly. It was said that one could learn a lot about a person in their handshake, and Aodhan certainly didn't want to leave her thinking that he was weak. Blackhearts were about their strength, and Cerberus Knights were about their honor. Despite the fact they both went to accomplish the same goals, mostly, there was a divide that Aodhan wished would not be present between them here and now.
A pleasure? Well this seemed to be going over rather well then. She seemed friendly enough. At first, he would admit he was a bit worried by the way she spoke of this as punishment, but now... Maybe Blackhearts weren't all terrible. 'Stop judging them all! You only know one!'
Aodhan raised his brow as she made her way down her explanations like a traveler on a river, bumping the shallows, hitting the shore before finally making it out to the open oceans. She had a very childish way about her, which Aodhan found to be...cute.
His crooked smile had begun to fade away when she seemed to try to figure him out. A deep red found its way into his cheeks, snaking up his throat like a viper. "W-what? No! I'm not a masochist. I just...I don't think of the Blackhearts the way everyone else does. I wanted to prove them wrong. I want our citizens to be proud of you as a group, not afraid. And I certainly don't want the Knights making up rumors that you all drink raven's blood and chant around some fire at night..." He hoped he didn't need to explain that one. Some of the Knights could tell the most...interesting of stories.
"And...I agree. I dislike the way people treat others based upon preconceptions alone. It's not fair. Not every individual will be what their group, or background dictates. What appears to be evil, or wrong can often just be a misunderstanding." He laughed awkwardly, scratching at the back of his neck.
"Though...I suppose if we all thought like that, we'd sit there and judge if witch eaters were just all misunderstood instead of taking them out. Double-edged sword I suppose! Maybe we should be off? Do you need anything before we depart?" He felt...nervous... She was such a hidden mystery within the guise of her own body. Such sadness in those eyes, such a longing. What had she gone through to give off such a...suffocatingly lonely aura. Perhaps Aodhan would never know, for he was sure once this mission was over, they would part ways and go on with their existences, knowing each other as only a memory.
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 7:46 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
In all truth, most of the people she found herself interacting on a usual basis were grim, cold, hardened from a life of battle and harsh ways. If she could put it in words, Aodhan had a sense of something similar to how sunlight felt to her. Not glaring, burning sunlight, but the sunlight that dappled through gently shifting leaves above, warming the earth just enough to be comfortable, sparkling between the canopy, but never quite coming through enough to blind. She liked it.
"Drink raven's blood and chant around the fire...?" she stared wide-eyed at him, before scowling wagging a corrective finger. "Bat's blood, and it's dancing around the fire, naked." She kept a dead-set serious gaze on him until she was sure he realized she was making a terrible joke, and then her lips curled into a devious little smile.
"But really," her voice had dimmed in energy a little. "We're fine to be seen as monsters by the general public. It's fine if they're afraid of us. We've been around for centuries, it's what we're used to. We do the things people don't like to speak of, or think of, that must be done. Sometimes that includes executing innocents-- killing the few to save the many, rather than saving the few and letting the many die. A knight such as yourself would battle with their honor and morals -- we have only honor to each other, but even then, would not think twice to kill another Blackheart should they turn villain."
She was smiling, but her eyes had since drifted to the ground. Knights, she knew, were extremely loyal and honorable, and very courageous in battle -- Comparing her kind to theirs really brought out the contrast between the two. Not all Blackhearts were like her -- in fact, few were. Many were so wrapped in on each other and would do anything for their comrades, but it was those feelings...those feelings of trust and friendship and love that had put such a weakness in her chest. They were frightening things to her.
"Witch eaters..." she mumbled. "I've known some on a personal level. One was a complete sadist, but he was very strong, so I had to respect him. Another is very powerful, but kind of like...a puppy, more or less. And one is an itchy eyeball." she said the last with a small bit of annoyance, chewing on her lower lip, her cheeks slightly puffy, like an angry little girl whose icecream cone dropped. "Some of us blindly hate them. To me, they're more or less....wolves. It's in their nature, they need to eat. But gluttonous wolves, rabid wolves, wolves eating lambs, those are the ones I will hold nothing back and rend limb from limb. It's good exercise."
She finally chanced a glance back up at him, surprised to see him studying her face. What was it that he thought when he looked at her? What exactly did he see? When he didn't avert his eyes, the faintest blush crept up on her cheeks and she quickly looked away. "U-uh....t-that. " she pointed at the doll behind the glass in the window. "I need that. It's a life-threatening, desperate need, not a want. Very important to....confidential things. But I can come back for it after. Wh......What is our objective, anyways? I sort of left Poena Privus without listening to the rest of my orders." She laughed dryly, pulling her hair in front of her and twisting it nervously.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:41 pm
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ The correction of the raven to bat blood made Aodhan's blue eyes go wide. He stared at her, incredulously before watching that small smile play at her features. She was almost like a fairy; mischievous and full of surprises, yet so playful and lively. The Knight was rather thankful that she wasn't as stoic, or insane as the rumors stated about the Blackhearts.
"You may be fine with how you are all viewed, but...the world isn't fine with it. Faith. Trust. It's so important. If the people love you, respect you and want you all to be there for them. There's so much...good....support. I don't know." He bit at his bottom lip, furrowing his brow as he tried to think. "I'm not good at words."
He was quite aware of the dichotomy between Cerberus Knights and Blackhearts, but he saw no reason why they didn't have to get along, or why Blackhearts had to be so aloof, hidden away in their castle away from the people they protected. It was almost like they were the villains of which they hunted down in the eyes of the people. Aodhan disliked it. The world could be so much safer if they just...united. Though...he was sure that his thoughts would only ever be wishful thinking.
It peaked Aodhan's curiosity to hear she'd met several different witch eaters. Her descriptions of them were rather interesting, but none, save one, sounded like one he had once knew rather...intimately. "An itchy eyeball? Did he sit there and scratch at his face all the time?" Aodhan quirked a slim eyebrow as he sported his crooked smile again. He'd observed the tightness of which she spoke the supposed nickname, but that made him more curious.
In just a breath of a moment, she'd reverted from something darker and mature to a little girl again, whirling around and blushing as she pointed to a doll in the window. "We can go in now and get it? I don't mind." He was curious about her "confidential things." She had so many different dimensions to her personality. Despite having just met her, Aodhan was rather curious about her. She was so...intriguing.
Aodhan raised his brow. If he'd left without listening to a briefing, he'd have found several bruises on his face not moments later. "We're to track down and relieve the world of a single witch eater. Their behavior is sloppy and erratic. I'm almost positive that their kind is rather against their gluttony as well. But we can talk more about that later," Aodhan said as he opened the store's door, motioning for Ruria to go inside. "Your confidential things can come first." He offered a full, bright smile, igniting his eyes with a luminescence that made them practically glow as the sun's light radiated off his armor.
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:46 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
"Sometimes he scratched, yes. And I saw the eye-hole!" Rather than disgusted, she looked absolutely fascinated as she recalled. "It was gaping and void of an eye. I wanted to put my finger inside of it. Did you also know the itchy eyeball?"
She let her gaze drift back to the doll in the window, taking in the intricate details painted on its face, the perfect curls in the hair, and the beautiful gems of eyes that seemed to radiate bits of sunlight back. "R-really...? You don't mind?" She'd spent years hardening herself, eradicating closeness, but one thing she couldn't get rid of was her enjoyment of an intricate beauty like the one in the window. Such precision and care had gone into making it -- such attention and love, until a beautiful, fragile thing was born.
"Awh, just one?" she asked as she slunk into the shop. The owner seemed a little frazzled at first -- not many Blackhearts often came to Lumena, so of course he would be at unease. The older man's face was incredibly sour and scrunched up until Aodhan entered, and he relaxed, but seemed to cast a disapproving eye on the two. "You'll lose rank with friends like that, son." he murmured to Aodhan. "Most Blackies have more blood on their 'ands than the witch eaters they kill."
It was obvious Ruria could hear him, standing such a short distance away where the doll was, but she didn't flinch from his words. "He's not wrong," she mumbled, but more out of distraction than 'hurt'. Rather, she picked up the creamy hair doll and returned to Aodhan's side, showing him more closely. "She looks like a girl version of you because of her hair and eye color," she said jovially. Her demeanor changed only slightly as she laid the doll gently on the counter-top, pulling out the money to pay for it. The shop owner looked distressed at first, but Ruria continued speaking softly. "This is a very finely crafted specimen. I commend anyone who puts such care into their work."
For a moment, the shop keeper looked frazzled, and then turned an angry shade of purple as he prepared to launch his rage -- apparently he had intended to refuse service. Before this could happen, Ruria, grabbed Aodhan's fingertips and gave them a pull, fleeing the shop quickly.
"His son," she began, once they were some ways away. "I killed him." Her ruby eyes caught his gaze and held it as long as she could, before feeling ashamed and looking to the ground. "He wasn't a witch eater, but one was paying him to abduct children to feed to him. He had to be stopped."
She could remember that man, how he begged for his life when she and two other Blackhearts approached him. At first, they didn't intend to kill him -- he tried to coerce them that the witch eater had threatened him with his life, with his family's life, to do what he did, but the minute their backs were turned, he showed his true colors -- colors of a monster. It had been Ruria to deal the killing stroke, quick and precise so there was little suffering.
"I like you," she said softly, rather bluntly, as she looked back up towards Aodhan. "I feel like I can be myself, to an extent." And she meant it -- While she couldn't explain why, she could tell him the truth, exhibit her odd enjoyments and behavior.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:56 am
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ Aodhan had cringed inwardly when Ruria talked of a witch eater with an eye torn from his face. Kian... Memories that Aodhan rather would forget came flooding in, like a dam exploding as the river pushed against it with all its might. He remembered that blue hair, and that seemingly impregnable demeanor of perfect, collected perfection. But Aodhan had known better. He'd gotten under the witch eater's skin, and found the cracks, the fears, and their mutual understanding that they couldn't continue seeing each other anymore. Realizing he'd taken entirely too long to speak, he saw Ruria begin to slip into the shop.
He followed her in, noticing the stiffness of the shopkeep as Ruria and he came inside. His blue gaze also noted the way the shopkeep seemed to relax as Aodhan came fully into view. This... This was what he'd been telling Ruria. The world needed to see the Blackhearts as less intimidating and more like protectors.
The words the man said cut into Aodhan, making him temporarily forget about responding about Kian. The Knight cleared his throat, unsure of how to progress in this situation without a proper look at Ruria. She seemed entirely unaffected, and her simple statement of the man being in the right, only made it that much more complicated. How could a knight like Aodhan, ratify a faction of people that didn't want to be seen any differently? What was their purpose now? To only make his kind look safer? Blackhearts didn't think highly of Cerberus Knights, though, the Knights didn't exactly find any honor or respect on the Blackhearts. It was a mess.
Aodhan turned to Ruria, smiling gently as he looked at the doll. "She's beautiful," he said softly. As Ruria went to pay for the doll, Aodhan noticed the tightness of the man's throat, and the way his eyes seemed to glare harder at her as each moment passed. Ruria seemed to know what was happening, as she grabbed Aodhan's fingers and fled from the shop.
It created a rage within Aodhan. Ruria may be a Blackheart, but she'd done no harm to the man behind the counter. She'd given him a compliment! It wasn't right!
Then her story wafted up to his ears, like the ocean's waves as the tides changed. Soft at first, but then rough, and violent. He looked away from her, unable to really think of anything proper to say before being completely startled once more at her admittance.
"Well, I like you too, Ruria. I think it'll be a pleasure to work with you." Aodhan bowed his head at her in respect, allowing his soft smile to grace his lips once more. She felt like she could be herself...to an extent. Aodhan pretended he didn't catch that line the way that he did. With anything, Aodhan was always seeing more than what any normal man could. This women, for all her innocent actions, had something dark within her, though it wasn't at all frightening to Aodhan. Perhaps it made him a little sad. Life was too short to be enveloped in hate, fear or anguish. Though he was unsure of what Ruria suffered from, he was sure she suffered from something. Everyone did. It was part of being alive. "I'm glad you feel that way. I only want people to be themselves. The world shouldn't dictate how you should or shouldn't be. Though, I can't say it always gets people in the greatest of positions. I tend to never hide myself. Most of the time I end up finding my foot in my mouth..." He furrowed his brow, realizing how that sounded. "Uh...figuratively, of course." He scratched at his hair, ruffling it up for a moment, thinking of something to say.
"Your Itchy Eyeball. His name is Kian, isn't it?" Aodhan blurted. "Is he still alive?" Aodhan hadn't spoken, seen, or heard from Kian in two years. Aodhan felt...rude...for radically changing the subject, but he had to know. Curiosity killed the cat they say...
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:03 pm
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
The moment Aodhan bowed his head was the very moment Ruria decided she would purloin his headpiece. She didn't know why she did it, but had been filled with such an insatiable kleptomania that that she simply had to, and thus donned her prize on her own head, though it looked terribly out of place, and was too big, draping over her forehead and her eyes. "Why do you wear this, it's heavy, and I can't....see," she fought with it as the metal began to snag at strands of her hair. "It's attacking me! Is it cursed!?" she cried, trying to tug it off of her head. Finally she freed it's cruel grasp of her locks and promptly plopped it lopsided back on Aodhan's head, glaring up at it accusingly, as if it had somehow deeply wronged her, and she was plotting diabolical revenge.
But that name... that moment Aodhan muttered Kian's name, her entire body went as rigid as a statue, her face void of emotion. "It is," she said softly. Slowly she pulled into herself, wrapping her arms around her doll as if using it as a shield, half her face hiding in it. She couldn't even look at Aodhan as she continued answering him. "He is alive, I saw him only days ago, actually...though I'd been trying to avoid him. I didn't kill him, but I wanted to, at first."
It was still hard to really grasp what had happened between she and Kian. Anger still boiled deep within, but it was still strange -- an anger mixed with sadness and affection, bitterness and love. For a brief moment, all the horrors and pains she felt from the world had been blotted out, blinded out of her eyes by the feelings of care and passion he had covered her in. She had felt an odd form of safety, which was ironic considering his type was the only counter to her that really could kill her regardless of strength or ability. And then, it was gone. Again, she had not been important enough. It was always "not enough". Not strong enough, not pretty enough, not talented enough, not enough! But if it wasn't enough, it was too much. Too awkward, too scary, too weak.
Ruria was biting the inside of her lip hard, and finally peered up to meet Aodhan's gaze. "Do you know of him? How?" she asked, her voice very soft, muffled behind the doll.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:06 pm
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ Before Aodhan even realized what was happening, Ruria had snatched his visor from atop his head and donned it on her on. It was clunky for a girl as lithe as her, making her look years younger, but Aodhan couldn't help but sport a goofy as he watched her interact with it. He winced as it began to tangle in her hair, and would have helped, except he was afraid he didn't know her well enough. How would she react? He allowed his hands to hover in the air, debating on helping or not, but before he came to his own conclusion, she'd placed it heavily back on his head and was glaring up at the piece. He chuckled at her behavior. "It's not cursed. He's just shy." He fixed his visor and smoothed out his hair a bit. Though, no matter what he truly did, hair product, special shampoo, his hair would always go out in jagged, sporadic angles as if it had a mind of its own.
His eyes darkened as they filled with concern for her changing demeanor. She bundled up against herself and the doll that she was able to buy quickly. He looked to its eyes, seeing the light sparkle in them. Though her words took him away for a moment. Kian was close then? Part of him...wanted to see that man again. The other part, realized that if they did see each other again, it wouldn't be like before. Their relationship was more than what could be considered...complicated. Not to mention...rather confusing for Aodhan.
His gaze rested upon her shoulders, seeing how they had gone rigid. She had history with Kian. That much was sure. Or he'd frightened her half to death, but he felt she could handle herself, being a Blackheart and all.
"I...uh..." Aodhan took a step back, scratching his neck as he looked down the cobble stone road, watching people walk by, putting his thoughts together. This world...was uncomfortably too small. "I knew him. We were...friends...once." The word was tight in his throat. Aodhan was unfortunately a s**t liar when it wasn't life threatening. "It's complicated. He just...has this way of getting too close, and then..." He looked down at her again, seeing her arms wrapped protectively around the doll, looking at her guarded eyes. "You know what, he's not important. I want to know more about you, and not about some guy I used to know."
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:31 pm
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
"Your face looks like how I feel when you say his name," she murmured. She stay still for a moment as if deciding something, and then reached a hand forward, patting him lightly on top of his head a few times.
"You could be friends again," she continued, giving one more 'comforting' pat of her hand before pulling it back. "If you really wanted to. I liked him a lot, but he had other things that were worth more. Liking him put a weakness here in my chest, so I ran away from him. I don't wish to be weak."
His sudden statement caused her to raise her chin from behind the doll in surprised curiousity, the near-expressionless look to her face disappearing, replaced with a wide-eyed, almost flabbergasted look. "Me...? Well...that's a surprise. I don't know what to say, though. I don't have such a flexible talent as putting my foot in my mouth. It doesn't reach all the way. But most people think I'm creepy. Or scary. But, I like those things. And pudding, I also like pudding, but probably a little more than is healthy...And I have two disembodied, fleshless heads as pets, but you wouldn't like them... " she gazed up at him sternly, holding up a finger to make her point. "They're vile, horrendous and terrible creatures who will ruin any intimate moment they find, and I've seen Bitter encouraging someone to jump off a bridge, and Biter has bitten even the elderly...." Though she spoke only terrible things about them, it was easy to tell she had a fondness for the two skulls. They had been an accidental spell when she tried her hardest to learn necromancy (and failed) and hadn't been able to get rid of them since, but they had always been there with her, even in her darkest of moments, or in the happier ones, which they delighted in stirring mayhem in.
Realizing she had begun to babble, she froze mid-sentence, clasping a hand to her mouth and turning a bright shade of red, and quickly glanced up at Aodhan with alarmed eyes, as if she had committed some heinous crime and he had caught her red-handed. In truth, it had been a very long time since she had spoken so freely to a person. It used to be how she always had been, until one dark event after another began to change her.
"My apologies." she said promptly, clearing her throat. "It appears I have lost my social graces throughout the years. I-it's your turn, I need to know I'm not in the presence of a serial killer."
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:55 pm
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ Aodhan's eyes widened in shock for a memo as she gave him a few, friendly pats on the head. There was such...innocence within her, and yet, not. She was unlike anyone he'd ever met before. He almost wished this mission wouldn't ever end... not that it had even begun at this point. They weren't even remotely close to the outskirts of town.
He laughed at her adoration for pudding, taking note of it in his memory, locking it away for use at a later time. Perhaps if things went well, he'd see her again... Maybe even take her out for pudding, or make her some. He laughed at her ramblings of Biter and Bitter. They sounded rather frightening, yet amusing at the same time.
"Nn..." he paused. "Well, I'm not a serial killer, and to backtrack, my relationship with Kian isn't so easy as to be friends again, or to not. It was... Nevermind." Aodhan felt keeping his romance with the witch eater was the best option at the moment. He didn't want to frighten Ruria away, or have her brandish him as, "playing for that team." It had only been Kian, and Aodhan would never make that mistake again.
"Well I like pudding a lot as well. My favorite is butterscotch, but I always can go for a nice, smooth classic chocolate, and your pets sound rather interesting. They sound almost like younger siblings, ruining moments and...stuff. I'm sure I'd find a way to like them, or at least appreciate them, as long as they don't try to push me off a bridge. I like pets. I have a dog, but he doesn't live with me. He's with my parents. I'm not home enough to really care for him the way I'd like to, but when I get a few days off, I always take him over and he sleeps on the bed with me. I love...lying outside at night and looking up at the stars and moon. My magic resides within the moon's power. So. I like the night best." He smiled, showing more of his teeth than he probably should have. She was just... so interesting and this conversation was almost so surreal. So there he was, looking like a goof...
Till panic began to reside within his mind. He recalled her statement about Kian, and the words came spilling like he'd hit a vein.
"Did you love him?' he asked tightly, feeling a lump form in the back of his throat. Kian would have never left her because she was weak. Honestly, Aodhan felt that she couldn't be weak. Blackhearts had to prove themselves in some of the hardest conditions. You weren't suddenly a Blackheart. It wasn't like a standard promotion at work. There were people cut out for it, and there were the rest.
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:38 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
Oh, how she enjoyed talking to this person~ She had nearly forgotten they were actually intended to complete a mission rather than simply converse. (Which, for the record, was not an an easy task to distract Ruria from a mission.)
"I would much rather have a dog than those cranial abominations," she muttered sourly, though her lips were curled into a soft smile, and the the light played against her eyes almost joyously. "I also like the night, but this wasn't always so. I used to be afraid of it as a child, or anything dark, for that matter. But, I've found peace in it. I seem a little out of place in the daylight. I've actually been asked if I was a vampire, imagine that." she laughed at her last statement. "Ignorant fools. What vampire worth their salt wouldn't wear a cape? Honestly."
He was smiling, grinning, more like it. It was an odd feeling that settled in her stomach as she studied the way his face was when he grinned in such a way, and the way the sunlight penetrated the color of his eyes to make them seem even brighter. She swallowed thickly before becoming startled. "U-uwah, I think...I swallowed a butterfly." she said, panicstricken. At least, she had such a fluttering in her belly to make her think this.
Yet, his next question caused her to once again go rigid, and she dropped her gaze to the ground. Love...? Kian? Their meetings had been so short yet so intense, and they had... had...
"T..that is..." she stammered. "I ...think..maybe... That is... I felt very happy when we were together, but...." She chewed her lower lip nervously, remembering. "...very sad when he told me how things really were. That he had someone else, even after we had..had..." Her eyes were stinging, and she glared inwardly, squeezing them shut. The hell if she'd cry in front of a knight! "I don't know how to love someone, even though I've tried before. I think I don't know how to do it properly." she said flatly. Her voice had an attempted coldness to it, but her face was completely opposite, bearing an almost wilted expression. "If I did then wouldn't they have...just stayed?" she was mumbling. She had loved only two people in her life, and both of them had left her, or chosen other things -- Kian being the last.
Each time, it had put a harsh and heavy feeling in her chest that weighed her down, stripped the colors out of her world. Though she tried hard to come off as stoic and cold to many people, she was in fact a very emotional person -- her magic thrived off of her emotions. It was actually the loss of her first love that drove her to finally let all of darkness in, and when Kian had chosen someone else, she sank in deeper and deeper into the idea of being a weapon, and not a living person, accepting all she could do was destroy.
Ruria smiled as she shifted her gaze back up towards Aodhan. "My apologies, I'm not very good with such topics."
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:51 am
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ Her opinion that vampires had to always wear capes was, only what Aodhan could describe as adorable. He'd read various novels with vampires as lovers or dangerous enemies, but only here and there were they ever depicted wearing capes. Then again, the eldest of the books always had the capes. Maybe she had a knack for the older, more classic ideas, at least with vampires.
He raised his brow as he watched her fumble around. He looked around, noting that there'd been no butterflies around them, nor was she choking. So, he cracked a warm, half-smile, his eyes relaxing as he gently shook his head in disbelief. She was such an entertainer. Yet he was sure she had no idea.
When Kian became the topic at hand, Aodhan's body recoiled. He crossed his arms over his chest, not because of Ruria, but because of some strange, dull pain in his own heart. He'd agreed, along with Kian, to go their separate ways. It wasn't one-sided. They were both of the understanding. Yet... It was like Kian still had some kind of hold on Aodhan. Perhaps out of guilt? Shame? Aodhan hadn't cared when they were together, though he'd never allow Kian to hold his hand in public, but he never dwelled that they'd been both male. Still...now...thinking about it again? He was....ashamed.
"Kian's...." he said drawing out the s. "Well I'm glad he has someone, I guess. Though he's a fool for not choosing to stay with you." The words seemed to slip out from his mouth before he had a moment to really look at them. He blushed lightly, his eyes round as he felt it best to just continue talking. Hoping she'd catch onto the next sentence over his slipup. "I don't think anyone knows how to love someone. If we did, wouldn't that take the mystery out of discovering someone else away? All the mechanics would just be lied out there before us. Nothing special about that. I've loved....seldom...in my life. Mostly just friends and family. And maybe I loved my past lover, or maybe I was led to believe I did. But people don't just...stay because you love them. Sometimes they leave because...they make the world too complicated. Or they think they're protecting you..." He'd realized he'd gone on way too long, but his speech became less and less about the present and more about his past. He felt oddly at ease despite how dangerous he was venturing into his dark secret. It was almost too easy to talk to Ruria. Aodhan enjoyed her company and what she had to say so much. "I think...loving someone properly, and loving someone in your own special way. I think the latter sounds so much more...special. A-anyway...I've babbled on way too much. And...look at the time. We're going to have to camp out tonight before we reach our target!" He laughed awkwardly, trying to diffuse the tension, but if it really worked or not, he was unsure.
♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:10 am
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
Oh, she had caught his slip-up, but while it confused her, even she had enough grace to not dwell on it. Afterall, it made her feel a slight embarrassment and disbelief as well. She listened intently to his words, his voice a comfort to her ears as they walked. It was hard to believe they were on a mission of any sorts with how idly they chattered and walked towards the outskirts of town.
"Seldom? But, you seem like a caring person. I'm sure you're very easily loved. You're not babbling, I enjoy your voice." She thought about her own experiences. How many had she really loved? She wasn't really sure. She had loved Kian in her own way, though knew somewhere deep down that it would have been better to stay away. She had loved Rajih, but he had forgotten about her. She couldn't remember how she felt about her parents -- they were trainers, harsh trainers more than parents, but parents nonetheless. She hadn't cried or felt tragedy at their funeral, even though it was her doing that they lay in pine boxes.
Now that she thought about it, just how many of the people she could talk to ended up leaving or disappearing, taken away somehow? The panicked thought caused her to stop walking, falling behind Aodhan a few steps. Though they had just met, she liked him -- which was strange enough as it was, since he was a knight -- She had thought she would be greatly annoyed with her partner, held back, ridiculed for her choice of becoming a monster to defeat other monsters, only he had been the opposite. The sudden thought that she might not see him again after their mission haunted her, though she said nothing, startling as she realized she had fallen behind.
"Camping out? Oh, I have these!" she pulled out a box of matches, proudly holding them up for a moment, but then retracting them, a look of slight humiliation on her face. Many witches could do the magic required to light a simple fire, yet...she had never learned. Many knew simple healing spells to help with small wounds, and those too, she had never learned. Neither was she adept at all in the simple household spells weaker witches used all the time. She simply could not do magic that did not destroy or manipulate, it simply wouldn't come out. "I..can't... light a fire without them. But, they smell nice when you light them, as long as they're not too close to your nose."
Eventually, the two had found their way to the outskirts of the forest by Lumena, and had found a hidden place in which to pitch their makeshift camp. It was a small glade, the stars able to be seen above, with the tip of the moon peeking over the canopy of the trees. Apparently, their witch eater target was known to lurk the area, possibly inhabiting some hidden shack in the forest somewhere.
"Are we supposed to decapitate him, or just mangle him? Maybe a slight mauling? We don't usually take prisoners unless they are somehow valuable, but I know your faction does more often than not." she asked. She was laying on a bed of moss on her belly near the fire, drawing a skeleton warrior in the dirt with a twig, her feet swaying back and forth in the air. "Ooh, I hope he's actually a spiritus and not just a majin~" she fantasized. She delighted most when her opponent was strong, able to test her skills. It was the best when it was a fight to the death, and they very well could kill her if she let her guard down. As she thought about standing victorious over the corpse of another spiritus, thinkinf of the mission being over suddenly returned, and with it, the feeling of heavy panic.
She was just finishing her dirt-drawing when she mumbled softly, almost incoherently: "I'm not...going to see you again after our mission, am I?"
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★✰
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