Welcome to Gaia! ::

Shiro erupted into laughter awkwardly as he heard the words spew from her lips. "To think...a demon sorry for causing someone misfortune...grandfather would turn over in his grave if he heard this..." he said as his laughter slowed down from a chuckle to pure silence. An awkward silence coveted the room as the two sat across from one another with not one word to really say. He had said what he meant, and he was sure she had as well. He looked about at all the viles of fluids, and began to slightly worry. Where the hell was he? He hadn't thought much about his surroundings until now. "So...what now...I suppose I'm your prisoner or something?" he asked questionably as he cupped his wound carefully peeking underneath the bandages. "You going to torment my soul for the rest of eternity or what?" he asked quietly remembering the fables his cousins once told him about.

His wound upon inspection was not exactly the worst, but nonetheless it did make his stomach turn. He leaned back against his seat letting out a big sigh. "Whelp...as much as I'd like to stick around for those answers, I'm gonna get the hell out of here," he said as he peeked around the corner. He struggled to stand back up, and made it about half way, but sadly fell back down onto the chair and blushed embarrassingly. He tried again, only this time he made it all the way up onto his feet only to hear footsteps coming from behind him. He swore lightly to himself as he quickly plopped back onto the chair, knowing that whomever it was wouldn't be too happy about his refusal of treatment. He knew it had to be that crude woman whom brought him into this room. He grunted as he shifted slightly in his chair and peered at the young demon before him. "This is entirely all your fault you know..." he said distressingly as his worry began to rise again. Now all he really wanted was to go back home. He hated being unsure of his surroundings, and hated even more that he was sitting right next to his previous assailant.

Lo and behold he was right about whomever was approaching, and indeed it was the same woman whom dragged him from the hallway, and plopped him into this chair, which was rather comfortable. "I never asked for any of your help, nor did I ask to be brought here...frankly all I want to do is just go home..." he said softly as he rubbed his temples nervously.

Shiro's face went blank as he heard what Lanryel had spoken, and watched as she left the room. He then turned his attention towards Thenia as she stood and reached out to hand him the lantern, and without hesitation he turned his head, and smacked her hand away, causing her to drop the lantern upon the ground. "This is not my problem anymore...you caused it, so you fix it...besides, my job was done when you extinguished the flame," he said looking away from her. He felt a growing knot form within the pit of his stomach. What did he have to worry about. His job was to keep the flame from going out, but now the flame is gone...so his job is therefore ended. His responsibility was far from over now...

"Besides...even if there was a way for us to light the flame again...i'm pretty sure that it would entail some severely intense task involving demons, and creatures of all sorts that I can't begin to fight against, so...screw this, I'm going home," he chided as he stood up once more, taking the glass of water in his hand, and chugging it as he was told. He turned his back to Thenia, and paused slightly in hesitation before grabbing his jacket and continuing towards the hallway. He peeked his head out slightly to see if the coast was clear, but then looked back towards Thenia realizing that he hadn't an inkling of an idea of how to get back. "On second thought I'm sure you know the area a lot better than I do, so guess what...as forgiveness for my wounds I have accepted you as my guide home...so...lets get this show on the road before that lady makes her way back here."

Shiro said nothing at first as he peered at where Thenia had brought him. Him mind reeled with questions as to what it meant for him to be stuck here in this place. Was this truly where he wanted to end up? He peered back up at Thenia seeing her trying to hide her emotions, and smirked softly. "Your really just a normal girl aren't you...well aside from the horns, and what not..." he said softly as he walked up to her. "I'm sorry about all the things I said to you earlier...I'm just a bit, well...flustered. Its all been a bit much for me, and frankly waking up in some strange place with a knife wound to the stomach didn't help the fact that I failed my grandfather..." he said sighing softly. He placed a hand upon Thenia's shoulder, and smiled. "It really is okay you know..." he said softly. Those were the same words he remembered saying to her before he had passed out. "Okay...here's the deal demon...you help me get home, and I'll help you fix this whole ordeal, that way we can call it even okay?" he said trying to pep up her mood. "Speaking of which...I didn't quite catch your name. My name is Shiro..." he said with a smile.

Shiro had been so caught up within his own thoughts that he had hardly noticed that the two were being trailed behind by two figures, and even now his mind was preoccupied with figuring out Thenia. He hadn't noticed how normal she really looked. I mean take away the horns, and the odd eyes, she'd be actually a pretty cute human girl, but that's besides the...

Shiro's thought process was cut off as he remembered something pretty convenient. He quickly reached into his pocket pulling from it a silver colored cellular phone. He smiled as he flipped it open, and began punching in a couple of numbers...no service. He screamed out of frustration flinging his phone against a try, and shattering it into several pieces, and dropping upon his knees. Why did all the bad things have to happen to him? Why did he have to become keeper of the flame in the first place? Why did he of all people have to be the failure? Why did he have to be stuck here with a knife wound to the gut? All that Shiro could do was sigh softly to himself as he knelt there upon the ground, his clothing heavily soiled with dirt and blood stains.

Shiro just sat there upon his haunches racked with frustration. Earlier today, he was just a regular person, but now...now everything relied on him. He chuckled lightly in his mind as he heard the pointy eared person behind him refer to him as a Hume, but thought nothing of it. His mind cleared suddenly as he sighed closing his eyes, and hoisting himself up upon his feet. He had wished for something interesting to happen to his life for so long, that he was somewhat in shock that it was actually happening. What he found even more peculiar is that nobody was afraid of him, or alienated him due to being a keeper of the flame. He had been accustomed to being ridiculed, made fun of, spat at, despised, and even hated due to his role in life, but now he was surrounded by people...erm...beings that didn't quite care that he was a keeper. With his eyes still closed he drew in a deep breath, and released it every so slowly. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his chest, and although he knew the road ahead would be long and hard, he simply relished this moment he was having to himself...the moment where he was truly free. Finally he opened his eyes, and peered back at the elf, what he assumed was a human, and the demon girl, and smiled...

"Very well...," he softly replied as he focused on the demon woman known as Thenia. "Remind me one of these days to thank you..." was all he said as he mounted his horse, and looked up at the sky unaware of the slight changes to his physical appearance. His skin pigmentation began to lighten from its usual warm tan coloration, giving him a somewhat sickening outward appearance, like that of someone whom fell horribly ill. His once shimmering emerald green eyes, were dulled, and the red ring layering it seemed to become more prominent. His glossy black hair also seemed be fading away to white as the loss of color on the tips of his hair seemed to etch further upwards. He hadn't even noticed that the tips of his ears were slightly pointed. What truly was to befall Shiro, and why was his appearance changing? One thing was for certain though...Shiro for the first time in a very long time was happy.

Shiro had said little to nothing save the obvious thank you when shown his room. Truth be told he wasn't a man who spoke much, and when he did speak, he was hardly paid attention to. He had felt relieved once the door to his room was closed behind him, and sat down upon upon his bed, next to where a change of clothing awaited him. He peered curiously at the attire, and thought to himself, 'What odd clothing.' He would never in his world be clothed like such, but as the saying goes...when in Rome. He shrugged and disrobed before a mirror, only pausing to run his hand upon his wound, but then his eyes trailed up to his appearance, and he gasped as he stared at the stranger before him. He could hardly believe that he was staring at a reflection of himself within the mirror, and looked worse for wear. He could already see the white streaking through his once jet black hair, and his eyes...He shivered as he stared deep into his own reflection's gaze. He reached up to examine his hair more closely, but screamed out upon realizing that his ears as well had become pointed, and grew slightly longer than usual. Even his well toned skin was being affected by this change...his once tanned skin had paled horribly since last he remembered giving off an almost creamy complexion. Immediately his thoughts rushed to the demon girl...perhaps that was her task all along...to poison him, or mutate him into something horrid. He gritted his teeth in anger as he continued to dress himself. If he was to die, or become some monster...he'd be damn sure to make her world a living hell.

He emerged from the room fully dressed within the clothing adorned by their culture, and quietly walked down the hallway. He had to talk to someone about this, but whom exactly could he trust here? He had not one inkling as of whom was in on this intricate ploy. Hell for all he knew, this was all still part of the game. Whether it was a game or not though, he would be kind enough to play along until he got the answers he required. He smiled lightly to the people in passing as he made his way towards Thenia's room, rapping lightly upon her door. "It's me Shiro...I thought it wise to accompany you to this feast...but not because I trust you or anything..." he said trying to sound as defiant as ever, only to realize how childish he must've came off. He bit his bottom lip as he spun around and leaned against the wall next to her door stubbornly.

Shiro had smirked at the question Thenia had surprised him with, but said nothing being to embarrassed to bring up the slightest detail of his dull life. He hadn't seen anything of this sort ever, and yet it all seemed oddly familiar to him. He couldn't quite catch wind as to why, but he felt more at home in this strange land than he had in his grandfather's lavish estates. The decor was truly a sight to behold, as well as the patrons within the lavish hall in which they were soon to dine in. Secretly he had already slid one of the dinner knives from the table into his sleeve, pretending to be interested in all that was going on about him. He did so not to attack, but more so to expect the unexpected. The air within the banquet hall filled his nostrils with scents of all natures which ranged in varieties of sweet and salty, why even the scent of alcohol lingered in the air, but it seemed much more refined from what he was used to in his world. He had never truly been a drinker, but recently many things have occurred to him which would count as a first, so why not try some of this strange alcohol.

He didn't know why, but recently after being inflicted the wound, which by now was almost healed, he'd been feeling unusually energetic, aware, and slightly stronger. He couldn't help, but wonder what would come next as he began to change more. Perhaps he would grow a tail of some sort, or scales, or extra appendages or eyes. The sheer thought of having extra of anything on his body made his skin crawl. He looked towards Thenia realizing that she had only asked such a question, because she had probably never been to an event such as this.

"I've never really been to any type of celebration except for a birthday, but I was really too young to really remember it, and that was a very long time ago when my parents..." he stopped there as he had obviously revisited a very painful moment in his life. He fell silent, and looked away from Thenia swallowing hard, and recomposing himself. "Enough about me...what about you?" he said quietly as he quietly sat there.

As a matter of fact Shiro did not follow suite at all. He simply sat there when the others rose staring at the elven male he had recently met. So he was a king, big deal. He didn't really know why, but something about that man rubbed him the wrong way, and he felt not in the least bit sorry for not doing as the others were, and simply just nodded towards the man whom others would call king, and simply went about observing his surroundings, and taking in as much as possible...besides formality had never truly been his strong suite. He yawned slightly as he looked about at the intrusive glares of those around him, and thought nothing of it. He just quietly pushed his chair back, and rose to his feet, excusing himself from the table, and quietly walking past Thenia, Eshe, and Lanryel towards the balcony for a bit of fresh air. If he was truly not a captive, then he would hear what the king had to say on his own time, for now, all he really wanted was to relish in the fact that he was free from the bindings of his old life. A certain sadness still seemed to fill the void though as he tried to think back to his grandfather, but found himself surprised being that he couldn't remember at all how he looked. He found himself standing upon the balcony, just outside of the feasting hall, and took in his surroundings. There were many vines stretching upwards along the lengths of the two pillars which held in place the small overhang above. He also noticed a statue, carved in bronze, also adorned with creeping vines. The statue was that of an elven man, whom seemed to bare a heavy globe upon his shoulders, and he immediately was reminded of atlas. He chuckled to himself as he walked past it towards the railing of the balcony, and gasped at the splendor of the view. It seemed that the balcony hung perfectly over the top of a waterfall to which one could catch the cool mist almost perfectly. There was no view quite like this in his world. His mind echoed back towards the others as he was sure they would be questioning his abrupt actions. He just really needed to clear his head just a bit. So much was happening to him that he truly just needed a breather.

"I need a vacation," he muttered playfully under his breath with a slight chuckle.