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 Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:42 am
Daegonna finished eating, and sat back. She was still trembling, still scared. It wasn't the gut-wrenching terror of the night before, but she was definitely scared. Her mind was still a sea of pain and fear and guilt and shame and a thousand other things. She simply didn't have the strength to process them, right now.
She watched Ice carefully as he gazed across the table at her. Her slim frame was shaking like a leaf, and she knew she should go to him.
At his question, she gave the tiniest of nods.
Slowly, she got to her feet again and circled the table. As she approached him, her heartbeat grew more rapid, her breathing more uneven. She reached out a trembling hand, and brushed her delicate fingertips over his shoulder. Cold washed through her. Her trembling eased a bit. Brushing up against his power was like resting her hand against the flanks of a massive arctic wolf, deep, powerful, and frigid.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:49 am
*He smiled as she approached and stayed very still, letting her make the contact. In a display of his own control and power - both wilfull and manifest - he did not touch her back, merely let her cool herself against him.
With no reaction from him, she was welcome to touch his shoulder more firmly, or do as she wished as he spoke ot her, calm and almost aloof, unsuprisingly less needy than she was right now*
The Matriarch is an unstable force driving all around her to madness and destruction. Until she is calmed, she is not safe to be around, especially in your current state. Added on top, you are still persisting in blaming yourself for the acts commited upon you by others. Until such time as you move on and the Matriarch is cleansed... you will reside in the Chasm with Fear and I.
I will come to you whenever you wish, and also off my own back on occasion for boosts to my own reserves, but you will not be touched as I have taken others who have stayed here. You are... under house arrest at worst, I suppose, but you are not a captive. Nor are you slave or toy unless YOU decide to make yourself thus by refusing to touch me as you are now when you NEED to. The link will not tolerate abuse or neglect, you saw that last night. We are bound to one another, now and for always. I will not hurt you, my vassal... but I WILL use you. If you do nto wish to HAVE to see me, I will only come at night when you sleep for my boost, and leave before you wake. But you WILL find that neglecting the fact YOU will need to touch me will end... badly... in the long run.
You will be well fed and your needs catered to. Do you understand?
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:02 am
Daegonna stayed at arm's length from him, only lightly touching his shoulder.
She listened, as he spoke, still trembling and nervous, but at least somewhat convinced he wouldn't abuse her terribly. She wasn't happy, of course. But she understood that she could not go home. Roan was still tainted, terribly corrupted. Deceit and Vengeance had a link. It flickered through Daegonna's mind that Ice might be lying to her, to keep her complacent, but if she were being kept here for anything other than her safety, Daegonna knew Ice would tell her, because it would scare her more. So maybe he meant it. He really had nothing to gain from lying to her. If she were a prisoner about to be abused, he'd tell her, and wallow in her terror and despair. So perhaps it was, in Ice's twisted viewpoint, for her own good. He apparently thought she was a risk to herself. It was understandable. She had fled, trusted the wrong people, and gotten herself into a situation that she couldn't get out of by herself. She wouldn't be too trusting, in the future, she hoped. Right now, she was a little on the paranoid side. Her guilt would not drive her to suicide. She and Death had an odd relationship, and she wasn't about to rush headlong into Death's arms. No, she was tougher to kill than that. If she'd been planning or even contemplating suicide, she would already have teleported herself into the wall, or something of the sort. If you're a sorceress, it is not hard to find easy methods of suicide. Daegonna, however, was not a risk, at least on that front.
Ice seemed to think she'd be testing the strength of their bond, and of her own restraint. She hadn't figured it out, but he was probably right. Fear made her very reluctant to go to him, even with his promise not to hurt her. She had heard many many promises of the sort, recently, and it was difficult to believe after a certain point.
When he asked if she understood, she nodded a bit.
A silence stretched between them, and finally she asked the other question on her mind.
"What will your price be?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:08 am
The first part you are already paying - you will be close enough for some time for me to extend both my power base and increase my own skills and strengths. The second part... we will discuss when you are more... yourself. I assure you it will neither hurt, nor will it involve me doing to you what I have to others of your family. It will be a token and nothing more. Depending on how receptive you are to the nature of your time here, will depend on just how much patience I will have left and thusly how far I will go.
I am not going to wound, change or rape you. That should be enough of an answer for now. Be warned however that if you ignore the bond and come to ME... I will not say no. YOUR self control is the thing at stake here, not my own.
*Ice closed his book and looked up at her*
You must conquer your fear and be at peace. Do you require anything at present?
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:18 am
Daegonna bit anxiously at her lower lip, listening carefully to Ice. There was nothing more she could ask about the second token. She didn't want to think about it very much. It scared her too badly.
She was still not entirely sure she understood their bond. She was sure she didn't understand just what the bond would take out of her if she neglected it. She didn't really know what his warning about her self control meant, either. She was afraid to ask. But being ignorant was far more dangerous.
"I don't really understand this bond." She said at last. "I don't understand why it makes me...why it draws me to you, why I need to be close to you. I don't understand the risks of neglecting it."
Daegonna wasn't stupid, or particularly uneducated. She knew a lot about souls being bound, or hearts, or people, or places, or dates, or times, or any number of things. But this kind of bond was something she'd never really heard about, or read about. She might have come across references to it, but she still didn't know enough about it to understand what might be at stake. She also wanted to know, naturally, if Ice was lying, and it could be broken, or worn away. Preferably without killing her.
Yeah.
Surviving would be nice.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:26 am
Because of the nature of what we are, this is beyond a noraml blood bond and was not made with blood. It is a combining of two beings as one entity. One bond, two pieces. You are drawn to me because I complete what we are together, and I am drawn to you fo rthe same reason. When we are together, when we make contact, the bond flow unbroken between us and we are both empowered by it. To neglect that, to refuse to let the bond flow on occasions will only increase the need, the desire to do so. And that need will manifest itself in whatever way it must to make you respond. For some it is violence, for others it is sex, for other still, just heavy petting. Either way, you will always feel the need to touch me because I complete part of you. Two opposing forces made into one unbreakable power - your heat, my cold. My arrogance, your fear. It is a spiritual bond and as such, the longer it exists the harder it is to break and the more at home with it you will become. It makes you valuable to me, and it SHOULD make me valuable to you because much as I take YOUR pain away from you to please myself... I can just easily make you feel mine.
*Ice watched her as he spoke, looking for her reactions*
If you refuse to touch me, refuse to renew the link, you will wither. You'll become subject to whatever desire the bond puts on you to MAKE you come to me. And the more you ignore it, the more the need will take you over.
That said, if you fulfill the bond, your own powers will grow exponentially the longer you explore and accept the bond. At the present, I am the more dominant because Ive had this kind of bond before. I know what Im doing. If you put your energy into learning instead of beating yourself up, you will soon be on equal standing and will learn to draw strength from me, as I do from you.
You are my vassal... and if you accept that, I will be your avatar - your well of power.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:35 am
Daegonna listened intently as Ice spoke, careful to remember and understand everything he said. When he pointed out that he could give her his pain as easily as he could take hers, she shivered a bit. His explanation of what would happen if she did not willingly appease their link prompted a shudder. She had a good idea of just what kind of desire the link would use to force her to go to Ice.
When he went on to explain that her own powers would grow, and that h could be a well of power for her, the tiniest spark of clever curiosity came back to her eyes --the look she got whenever she was studying a new spell, or new way to use her magic. It was almost like academic glee.
A more childlike, curious look crossed her face, then. She surveyed Ice thoughtfully, with as much fear as ever, but with a new, curious edge to it. She wasn't sure if he'd like the question in her mind. In fact, she rather doubted it. So she rephrased it.
"What happened to the last person you were bound with?" She asked.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:41 am
He believed he could master the link better than I and use it to subsume me and take MY power. He was wrong.
*Ice waved a hand. An image flickered to life on the wall, showing an emaciated, half dead yet clearly still alive corpse bond in ice, painful shard and spears of it running through him. Rats gnawed at the body, encased with it as they were, and as they moved over him, you could see areas regenerating*
That is what is LEFT of him, after I severed the link and stole his Discplines and power. I cared for him, many wouyld say better than I do Bailey. I do not take betrayal well.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:54 am
Daegonna understood the threat there, but she hadn't actually been planning on using the link against Ice. That'd be dangerous, counterproductive, and fatal if she were really lucky.
She tilted her horned head to one side, like a curious bird. She watched the rats, and the regenerating corpse thoughtfully for a moment.
"I see."
She glanced back up at Ice.
The curious, thoughtful look had gone from her eyes, and now she just looked tired, scared, and sad again. She couldn't keep her mind from her misery for long. She looked around the quarters Ice had laid out for her, and wondered again how long she would be here. She didn't know what state Roan was in. She didn't know if Roan would kill her even in her sanest of mindsets. She was still afraid she might. She missed her brothers. Iden was dead. She'd not seen Dagoth at all for quite some time. She even kind of missed Corbin, who only rarely acknowledged her, much less showed any affection towards her. Daegonna's mind went again to Dagoth. Would he be ashamed of her? Of what she'd become? Would he hate her for what she had done?
Again, Daegonna wrapped herself up in her anguish. Her hand slipped from Ice's shoulder, and she slowly sank down in a chair. Ice spoke of her needing to learn to deal with what she was, who she was, so easily. He, being heartless in the deepest sense of the word, was unlikely to understand the frailties and inherent contradictions of the human heart.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:59 am
*standing, the faun ran his hands down her shoulders, a wave of cool energy brushing against her heat like a dog settling in for the night. Ice was smiling darkly as he stood over her, then he finihsed his glass and stepped back*
Remember me when you need me, Princess. Until then, I will refrain from adding to your frailities while you try and sort them out. If you need anything... just call.
*And with that, the faun turned to leave. Power flowed around him like a cloak - her nightmares had done him the world of good and if she was done with questions, he had plenty of othe rprojects he could funnel the energy into*
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:10 am
Funny enough, for one whom had been said to "only look forward"...the first direction Sieg took, was straight back to his wilderness haven. When asked, the Gangrel mentioned only that he could not leave so abruptly, and that he was simply making his departure "proper".
Return to the grove was quiet, as Sieg moved with a solemn purpose. In the center of the grove, with the markers of his kinsmen around him, he knelt for a final prayer. A minute passed, before his hands drifted together. Then, in a lightning gesture, a claw ran along his palm. Blood flowed, spilling onto the ground at his knees. Tightly, the wounded hand gripped the spilling vitae, before the old Gangrel stood.
He withdrew to the little cove, not a word spoken, and some several minutes passed. But when Sieg stepped into the open air of the night once again, he bore himself with a few new additions to his person. A well worn belt was draped upon his waist and hips, and from it a sword hung. More noticable, though, was that the eyes were naturally drawn to his face. There, hanging to the right of his eyes, was a trio of locks of hair. They were dyed a deep crimson, and braided so as to fall just in the edge of his vision. They were still damp, and the scent of the Gangrel's fresh spilled blood still lingered on his form, even though the original wound had already scabbed over, and been wrapped by a coarse strip of cloth.
Now, herr Javos, I can leave.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:19 am
Daegonna tensed as his hands ran down her shoulders, shivering in both fear and pleasure at the cool rush of his touch.
Ice left, and Daegonna could feel how much power he had drawn from her. She shivered again.
She stayed in her room, alone. She battled with her thoughts and her feelings, usually in complete silence, though she occasionally broke down and cried, not knowing what else to do. In her sleep, she often shouted out, or pleaded, or woke with a scream. She did her best not to bother Ice, perfectly content just to leave him alone unless she had to be near him. She called to him promptly when she felt the need arise, clearly afraid of what would happen if she neglected the link. Her nightmares grew steadily worse, in spite of her being in a relatively safe place, with nobody hurting her. In her dreams, she relived every terrible moment of her captivity in Paris, both the most recent and the previous. She dreamt of other things she had endured, every bit of her torment and anguish coming home to roost. During her waking hours, she battled with her doubts and fears for her future, plagued by her loneliness and simultaneous fear of and need for Ice.
A morning came when she did not wake up, at least in the conventional sense. Her eyes opened, but she did not actually perceive where she was. Around her, she saw an unfamiliar room, and thereby knew she must be in a room with a client. For the first time during her stay with Ice, Daegonna now felt a desperate need to escape. It wasn't really Ice she was trying to flee from, it was a figment of imagination and memory, all of her fears and abuses given form. Hallucination. Flashback. Psychotic break. Whatever it was it was potent, and Daegonna's already frail mind could not see through it.
She threw herself at the walls, clawing and slashing at them, desperately trying to force her way out. Her body trembled and quaked with her need for Ice's contact, but in her fractured mind, it was the drugs that made her weak, frenzied, wanting, and desperate. She used as much strength as she could muster, slashing and beating at the ice, tearing up her fingertips with her efforts to escape whatever phantasm had not faded from her mind.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:20 am
*The big cat said nothing. He waited outside of the grove, not entering it at all, not even when Seig returned. It wasnt until Seig had cleared the space t his side that Javos finally spoke*
Moving on is simple for the dead... it is the living who remain scarred. Be absolved, friend Seig, and let us leave together.
*Javos seemed almost serene as he turned his back on the grove and walked ahead of Seigfried, but if the colour of hi skin was anything to go by, he was only hiding from his own scars, and still not dealing with them*
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:25 am
*Sadly for Daegonna, ICe himself had bene at rest when it had started, automatically feeding on the negativity from her for a good ten minutes before the sharp senations down the link roused Ice to a more alert state and he went to her 'aid'.
And by aid? He sat ouside and simply watched her for a further ten minutes before he did ANYTHING about it. Smiling thinly, he finally stood*
You'll drive her to ruin, if you dont offer her councelling...
How do you councel someone half human and half demon? Besides, you cant help those who dont want it. Im hardly rehab.
*Ice stepped through the ice, leaving Bailey behind. He stepped through right where Dae was clawing so that her next strike came not against ice, but against the hard flesh of his chest, his long arms wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her to him as he flowed down the link, pouring cool wind and icy water onto the fire burning within her, nuzzling along her cheek with his own as he in turn took heat into himself*
Easy now Princess, time to stop....
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:32 am
Daegonna didn't seem aware of Ice on the other side. Her fingertips were a bloody ruin now. White glistening bone jutted out of a red meaty mess on several fingers. Her claws were broken and jagged. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she let out a scream as Ice stepped through the wall, and wrapped her up in his cold embrace.
Still, she did not register it. She continued beating at his chest, though realistically she could do little more than bleed on him. She was suddenly frigid, trembling, and still terrified. At last she stopped lashing out at Ice, and trying to break away from him. When he lightly nuzzled her cheek, she gasped, and jerked away, trying to squirm out of his grip.
"Please don't!" She whimpered "Please! I don't want to!" She mewled and cried pitifully, pure blind terror pouring into Ice, along with the pain of her bloodied fingers. She squirmed in his embrace, trying to break free, obviously terrified of whoever she thought Ice was. Her eyes were wide with fear, but remained essentially unseeing.
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