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 Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:56 pm
The more she considered, the less difficult the decision was. Assuming that what this man said was truthful, of course. That was the part that she was hung up on. How was she supposed to believe him? Showing one emblem was not enough for her. However, she would have to give a little leeway just out of good faith, though she didn't want to. But there was something about him, some emotional draw that made it seem like it was real. But such emotions could be faked - she'd seen it before, a careful web of deceptions.
Beatrix gave a nod at the question, since monetary wealth was not something that concerned her - she had enough of that. Advancement required a little more then that, though it was probably sufficiently to buy your way higher. But where was the honor in that? At the very least she would have good will with both organizations that one way or the another, she would be set in a higher rank.
But it was ever the emotions and the pleading that stuck with her, rather then the prospect of advancement. She needed to help those in need, and this man desperately needed her help.
"I will help you." She said with confidence, staring at the man who couldn't seem to face her.
"If this is as important matter as you say it is, then the danger to my life is a small price to pay." Beatrix continued, giving humble and reassuring words to this man who seemed to believe that she was the only hope the Fellowship had.
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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:31 pm
After the woman spoke once more, he could have collapsed with relief, giving her a laugh of a sigh and resting his face in his hands. Words seemed lost for a moment past a few muttered and muffled 'thank you's before he rested his hands on the table once more.
Yes, this woman would help and they would help her in return. But now, as he cleared his throat, he realized they had not exchanged pleasantries and he laughed at himself. "I am sorry for not having said so earlier, but my name is Sloane. I am..." he lowered his voice once more, being careful, "I am Lady Sage Estratus' sword. I do not know if you are aware of such a title, but for all intents and purposes I am her private knight and she..." The smell of taint hit him forcefully and he had to wonder how this woman would take to the realization of what, exactly he was?
With her Excito nowhere to be found, it was truly a curious and worrying situation.
"She is my Grimm..." he finished uneasily, glancing at her eyes to judge her immediate reaction. The hope was there that she would not reconsider after this information was presented, an his body tensed in the knowledge of it being a possibility.
Still, the mission was not over. Now that she had agreed, they would need to get a carriage to take them as close to the North Base as possible and walk the rest of the way up the snowy mountains to reach the lonely castle headquarters of the Fellowship. There, a note would be sent alerting the Council of the situation and Sloane would begin introducing this woman to what it meant to be Lady Sage Estratus.
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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 6:40 pm
Gratitude. Pure, unconditional gratitude. Beatrix could feel that what she had agreed to was something great and important and that she was truly doing a service.
Beatrix listened on to the introductions, the formalities of it all. Evidently they would be working together for quite some time, from the sound of it. So, he would be by her side, would he? He didn't seem like an awful man, though the way he went about things didn't often curry favor with her, but it could be worse...
It could be much, much worse, she reminded herself.
At least, that's what she had thought before four little words popped out of his mouth and her eyes narrowed, most coldly then they had ever during their conversation. "You're the Plague?" She hissed, evidently the and a easily interchangeable in her mind.
He wasn't even human! She should have foreseen this and from her eyes it showed she felt betrayed by this revelation somehow.
It could be worse.
No, it couldn't.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:12 pm
Unexpectedly, the woman's demeanor took a turn for the worse and Sloane recoiled, leaning back in his chair and stiffening. Her tone was so hateful, so full of spite. It was all too obvious in that instance and he had to wonder how he had not seen it before.
She had been injured somewhere deep by the very disease he was born from. Someone close to her had been taken, if not herself infected, but she did not seem to harbor any symptoms. Such was the gift of a Grimm, he supposed; not a single one he had met had the infection, and more still he had heard of. The hypothesis was that Grimms, in and of themselves, were immune.
"...A..." he finally corrected after what seemed an eternity of uncomfortable shifting in his seat, though only a few seconds had truly passed. "A Plague... There... are many of us. Many different kinds... Not all driven by the desire of the disease." Even himself, an Infitialis born to spread the plague and infect, avoided the very thought and notion as best he could and took great pains to avoid infecting others. "Though I am, I... trust and believe in the Council and the Fellowship's goal for a cure. The suffering all around us... it needs to end..." Even if it meant his own demise.
After that slip up, he was sure she would turn right around and say no to the request, no matter how badly they needed it for his Lady's protection. More uncomfortable shifting followed as he tried to look her in the eye, the shadows of his hood still blocking the swirls of his own. He could have cursed himself and his body, and he uttered a nearly silent 'damn' as his flesh chose that precise moment to open and pool with blood. The trickle ran down from his temple and he lifted a hand to quickly wipe it away before she could notice but it ran anew, not wanting to close or cease for some time. As long as she didn't touch it... "W-we should head back out," Sloane uttered hurriedly, casting a glance to the bartender who had begun eying them for not having ordered anything yet.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:38 pm
Beatrix looked on at the man with a spite that had not yet been seen, not even when he had been harassing her earlier. At least then she had considered human, a being that needed to be treated with some bit of politeness, but any of those feelings had been wiped away.
He was a Plague, not a person. He was a disease, set only to infect others. And he dared come to her for help? It was an insult, truly! His explanation did not change the narrowed look in her eyes, watching him like he was some sort of predator. His words seemed hypocritical to her and could not understand how they could be true. There had to be some sort of deception.
Beatrix was trying her best not to look at him but rather at anything else in the room, especially people - humans, her kind. But it made for an awkward conversation when you were trying to avoid another's gaze. She looked back at him, squinting her eyes as she saw something red drip down. Was that... blood? She felt instantly disgusted, taking out a handkerchief from her pocket and putting it over her mouth and rising from the table, rushing out of the bar - whether because she wanted to get away from the man or because that was what he suggested. She was thankful to meet fresh air as she exited the establishment and she didn't even look back to see if he was following after.
She sincerely hoped not.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:06 pm
Various feelings surfaced as he watched the last ray of hope for his Lady's safety rise out of her seat in disgust and flee, all of them negative. He did not tarry in his pursuit, but he slowed once he was out the door as well and slid down to sit on the cold stone ground, back against the pub's outer wall.
It did not take long for his eyes to find her, as once she was out in the fresh air she had stopped running, but the blood dripping down his face had not and he continued to wipe at it with his fingers, clutching handfuls of snow to wash them off and repeat the process over again. When there was no more snow around him, he took to wiping his face and hands off on the inside of his cloak, not wanting any to fall onto the ground where it could be touched by child or animal alike.
His efforts would surely be in vain to this woman, though, and his attempts with her were now rendered such. Was it truly so hopeless? Was he a failure yet again? Of course he was, as he had never succeeded when it came to the expectations of his Lady and not even her doppelganger would help now that she knew what he was.
"I know how it must look..." he started quietly, the blood finally beginning to stop and clot. Leaning forward, he grabbed another handful of snow and rubbed the icy water onto his face, dampening it and ridding his visible flesh of the diseased red, tainted with accents of black. "But you, too... You are a Grimm. I can sense it. Smell it. We can all smell our kind." Sloane looked toward her, mouth covered with her handkerchief to keep herself from getting sick, his face covered in pity and sorrow. "If you want to rid the world of us, I understand... but we -- I -- need your help first." Truly, she was the only one who would be able to do this mission, complete this task. There was no one else in the world, the entirety of Profugus, who would match her so completely.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:28 pm
What had she been thinking? How could she have let herself be so easily convinced? Emotions, it was all a play on emotions and she had been conned, that was all. She should have known better - he was even less then a man, but a Plague. She should have known.
Beatrix stood out in the snow, her handkerchief still against her mouth as she watched him come out from the bar and try and wash away the blood that was running down her face. She felt repulsed by his sight, by what he was doing. Trying to hide the blood, the plague, the infectious substance. As he dried it off on the inside of his cloak she nearly felt like she was going to gag.
And in time he turned to face her once again, cold amber eyes staring at the mess he was. A Grimm - yes, that was very much how she felt in accordance to having a plague of her own. To rid the world of the plague, she wanted this very much, but to be by his side? That seemed like a great personal sacrifice to her. Still, it seemed so... strange for the words to come out of his mouth as a Plague himself.
"I will help you, but make no mistake about the fact that I reserve my right to pull myself from this mission if I wish to." Beatrix said sternly, lowering her handkerchief and pocketing it once more.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:45 pm
He could have cried right then and there with the swell of satisfaction her words brought.
Even after all of his mucking about and saying the wrong thing, acting the wrong way, perhaps unintentionally antagonizing this woman, and even now that she looked upon him as a disgusting beast that she only wished to eradicated from this world, she still held tightly to her initial agreement. There may now have been a new restriction to the arrangement but it wasn't as though they could or would have forced her to continue if she absolutely refused. That was not how the Fellowship operated, they were not scam artists and swindlers or brain washers like the Obscuvans.
Letting out a shuddering choke of a gasp, almost sounding like laughter, Sloane curled in on himself and rested his face against his knees. "I cannot thank you enough... And yes, you will be allowed to leave whenever you wish. We will still try our best to fulfill your other request..." advancement within the Council must have meant a great deal to this woman for her to hang on as she was, but no matter the reason, Sloane was grateful.
Taking a moment to compose himself and allow his face to dry, he pushed himself up and stepped beside her, careful to keep his distance this time and not invade any sort of personal bubble she likely had raised against him. "Now we just need to hail a carriage... They cannot take us all of the way, but I know the rest by heart. How are you with walking through the snow?" a sudden flash of memory passed through Sloane's mind, the first time he had met Chauhn and he had to carry the poor boy all the way to the nearest town after he had been kidnapped from Imisus and taken all the way to Shyregoed. All because he was a Grimm.
Raising a hand to adjust his hood, he watched this woman carefully, this new body double. Relying on her attachment to her advancement, she seemed eager enough despite everything but how would she truly fair in pretending to be his Lady? How would she feel about the mission once she began? During the carriage ride he would need to tutor her in all of the things that made up Lady Estratus' persona. But, of course, there was one more thing he had to ask her first. "Oh, and miss? What would you like me to call you?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:10 pm
She wasn't a liar. There were many things she was but one of them was not a liar, and she had come from a good family who prided themselves in being honest, hardworking people. And though she might have meddled with scum one time in her life she had decided not to let that dictate who she would become. And here she stood, feeling pure contempt for the man in front of her but looking past that as much as she could for the cause.
The cause of eliminating the plague once and for all.
But for every emotion this man seemed to express there was an equally disturbing action to go along with it, and she did not know how she would manage to stand him. He truly and utterly creeped her out, if not by what he was composed of but how he acted. But with advancement in mind, she would manage.
She always did.
Beatrix watched as he approached her, ever stone faced. "I can do just fine." She said with a edge of pride, as if he had been insinuating that she couldn't handle it. She'd traveled here from Imisu - she could handle a little walking.
And now, her name. Saying it felt like she was whispering a secret, allowing him to see her past - but truly, it was just a name.
"Beatrix. Beatrix Amaranthe." She said and shot her arm up at a passing carriage and it immediately stopped, the driver stepping off to face the two of them. "And where might you be headed?" He asked, Beatrix glancing over at Sloane.
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:46 pm
Many times over the course of his eight year life span thus far he had encountered several different types of humans; some were interested, some understanding, but most of all he had met with those who feared him just for what he was. There was no blame to be had, it was a natural reaction from those who were susceptible to the disease of which he was a walking, talking form. However, never had he yet encountered someone so full of disgust and loathing that he would have to work with for some time to come.
Those who feared him he rarely saw again, and even those who were disappointed in him for being what he was, a infecter instead of a healer, was not as abysmal as what Miss Beatrix Amaranthe was making him feel despite the contradicting rapture that was lingering from her agreement of her appointed task.
"A lovely name," he nodded as she introduced herself and he gave a formal bow, likely missed as her attention locked onto a passing carriage and she silently called it over. The driver stepped down and asked them their destination as Sloane approached the side door and opened it, holding it for Beatrix to enter first. "As far North as you're able, sir," he announced jovially, digging through the pouches at his side and fetching quite a few more shillings than was necessary to pay for the trip.
Receiving them, the driver chuckled, overjoyed, and climbed back up to man the horses as Sloane pulled himself in to sit opposite Beatrix and closed the door behind him. No doubt it would be a few hours that they would need to spend confined in this moving box with one another, but the time would be spent productively and not a moment would be wasted. He would not allow her to dwell on how disgusting he was, though he was not diluted enough to believe he could stop those thoughts entirely. Perhaps, however, she could look past it at least for the time being to get down the information that was important.
Perhaps he would be able to transform Beatrix Amaranthe into Sage Estratus.
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