Kole was wandering the woods again. He'd been feeling cooped up in the house lately, and wanted the freedom of the forest for a bit. He loved living with Kyllian, but being so close to the humans all the time... That wasn't as nice. It was stressful, to say the least, and the open air was just what he needed.
As the sun flickered through the leaves a figure danced through the trees of the forest. Ever so graceful the girl made certain to avoid any roots or vines blocking the forest paths. It was strange to think that when she first changed she had been so awkward about this...or that for the matter she had changed at all. Thankfully she hadn't been alone in it.
Kyllian....Kole.
As Chloe slowed her movements she rested a small hand against the tree bark. She was glad that Kyllian had found Kole and that the two of them were living together, but she was still so stubborn about things. Occasionally she would drop in for the required meal before going on her own again. And she still hadn't even found what she was looking for.
Her own way to shine in the world.
Though admittedly being alone in the forest had given her plenty of time alone to be creative by dancing as she saw others do and to even sing softly through the trees. Something about the actions really filled her with happiness...and maybe one day if she was ever caught the girl could turn it into something bigger. Not that the thought ever crossed her mind of course. Instead she kept to her shadows and enjoyed life quietly from others minus those she ran into and her two best friends.
It was at that moment that Chloe began to listen closely. Was someone walking nearby in the woods?
In the woods, Kole could close his eye and just listen. The sky, the wind in the grass and trees, the singing birds. No more was the air filled with the chatter and noise of humans yelling and calling and stomping. Such a delight! He could remember being a regular pokemon out here. He realized.. he couldn't remember being alone though. He had always had his friends in his mind. ..Another nice reminder from the woods.
Rounding some bushes that edged the narrow path he was on, he was shocked to see someone else already out here. Immediately, he smiled. "Hi, nymph!" he said cheerfully. He'd read about nymphs in a book once. Fairy creatures rarely seen. Graceful, shy, flitting about mysteriously. That was Chloe.
Chloe had braced herself to run away from any stranger that was appraoching her. Instead though her expression of defense turned into one of surprise then delight, "Kole!" Bouncing over the rest of the way the girl gave no hesitation as she wrapped her arms around her friend, "Hey!"
His name registered with her for a second, "Nymph?" Chloe blinked at him in confusion before shaking her head, "What are you doing out so far in the forest?" She paused for a second and then thoughtfully scanned the trees, "Kyllian didn't send you after me did he?" Was he really still being so persistant with her permanently moving in?
Kole laughed and happily embraced his friend. "It feels like it's been forever!" Stepping back, he looked Chloe over briefly. She was still all in one piece. Good! Her question made him c**k his head, and he gave her a small smile. "No, he didn't. It’d be nice to have you there, but I know you'll come to us when you need to and when you're ready." He looked up at the trees and sighed. "I just wanted to get out for a bit. Too many humans in town."
Chloe laughed softly, "It's not been that long, silly." She really was so glad to find Kole. After days of thinking some horrible thing had happened to the sweet pumpkaboo...then to find him changed just like her and Kyllian was a relief. An awkward, but much wanted relief.
"Mmm." She just nodded thankfully, "Thanks, Kole." The last time she had stopped by she had ended up running away once more from her friends' side for fear of relying on him too much once more. She wanted to find herself on her own after all...
Tilting her head Chloe paused thoughtfully, "A break from humans?" Suddenly her gaze brightened, "Would you want to go somewhere with me then?" Her gaze gleamed hopefully. She had wanted to ask the boys come with her, but she hadn't the heart to approach Kyllian still yet.
"It's a really pretty place if you want to relax, but sometimes going there on my own gets lonely."
Kole chuckled and shrugged. "Feels like it." Seeing his friend only once in a while, when she chose to come to the house or he bumped into her like this, the time between visits always seemed to stretch out longer and longer. They each were looking for something though, and they had to find that something their own ways.
Pointed ears perked at Chloe's offer, and he lit up eagerly. "It sounds great! Where are we going?"
Pausing Chloe looked back at Kole before offering a soft smile, "Hey well then..." She hesitated only a moment before putting a hand on Kole's shoulder. She did miss the boys too after all, "Maybe one day we'll see each other a lot more often. Just don't tell Kyllian I said that." Laughing softly she turned away and moved back towards the trees.
"An area that humans don't really know about. I happened to stumble on it one day." Waving over her shoulder Chloe moved through the trees, "This way~"
Perking up again, he smiled gratefully. "That's be great! The place would be more fun with you around, too." His little wings fluttered, and he held up his hand. "Promise!"
Following after Chloe, he felt the excitement grow. A secret place! That was one of the things he missed about living in the forest.
Despite the knot in her stomach Chloe just smiled. Even if the promise might take a long time to go through at least it made Kole happier for now. Seeing the boys sad was the last thing she ever wanted to do, "You better." She teased before going on again.
Going through the trees Chloe kept twisting and turning until finally she slid down a small crevice between some rocks. Emerging she looked around at the small area before them. A little waterfall ran down the dip creating a pool with plenty of space to linger around if not swim a bit, "Welcome to my little haven." "Care to swim?" Grinning Chloe slipped from the ground and into the cool pool.
"A promise is a promise," he said with a playful pout. As if he would ever break a promise!
Squeezing through the rocks, his eyes widened in awe. "It's wonderful~" he breathed, jaw slightly slack. The trees were high enough to shade the area for his taste, and the plants were green with life. He slowly approached the water though, ears twitching. "I.. don't know how." He'd never dared to jump into deep water as a pokemon, and hadn't had the chance to try as he was now.
"Aww Kole." Chloe looked at him with a slight frown, "I forgot that clothing weighs you down too..." Her own outfit was of a small shirt and shorts which didn't weigh much even with water. Those coveralls though...
"But we can just do a mini lesson since the water over here isn't too deep." Splashing around him she patted the water's surface and watched the ripples scare away some little fish, "Pull breath in and swallow it to your belly." She flushed lightly, "That sounds weird but if you do that the air helps you float."
Kole looked down at his clothes with irritation. "The clothes are doing this?" Without another thought, he pulled himself to hook the root with one arm and used his other to unhook and slip out of the overalls, left in his shirt and undershorts. She was just a friend of his. No biggie, right? He tossed the pants to the grass and smiled. Hey, he did feel lighter! As told, he pulled in air and swallowed. Ooh that felt weird... but it was working! Kole grinned as his body began to lift from the sandy bottom. He was floating!
Flushing lightly Chloe looked away before blinking back at Kole, "So it helped?" Smiling she watched as he started to float, "That's how it goes!" Stretching out her limbs the girl swam around him.
"Then after you get used to floating you just kick your legs to move forward with your arms helping as well." Twisting in the water she demonstrated the moves before smiling towards Kole, "Easy-peesy."
He couldn’t help but to smile proudly at Chloe’s praise. He was floating! His bright eyes were locked on Chloe as she moved through the water. Kole took a deep breath before letting go of the root. He was still floating! Okay.. next step. Kole kicked his legs and moved his arms, and managed to sink below the surface. He flailed a little before he could pull himself above the surface and gasped for air, grabbing for the root again. “It didn’t work,” he gasped out, blushing warmly. Chloe made it look so easy.
Watching Kole reemerge Chloe laughed softly, "You flailed silly!" The girl splashed towards him more at ease now after seeing Kole catch himself. That was one good thing about water...even with her small size she could manage to move others in it. Something she could never do on land with her petite body. Anyone would crush her.
"But you just have to take it easy Kole. A little bit at a time." She smiled and tucked a wet bang behind her ear, "What is it that they say? Practice....makes...it go?" She scrunched up her nose a little bit, "Oh! Practice makes perfect."
Blushing more, Kole kicked his legs to experiment. Okay. He could push himself around with his legs. But... biting his lip, he looked at the root he clutched so tightly. Chloe was right. Practice was all he needed. He watched her swim about a little more before daring to release the roots again. Once more, he sank below the surface, but this time he kicked his legs in a cleaner fashion, and swung his arms to pull himself back to the surface. He took a deep gasp of air, and grinned as he paddled a few feet. "Look, Chloe! Look!"
As Kole started swimming Chloe beamed, "Oh!" Grinning the scatterbug applauded her friend, "I knew you could do it Kole!" Slipping through the waters she pulled up next to him, "But can you survive what's next?" Her gaze turned mischevious as she scooped up some water and splashed it towards him.
"Splash attack!"
Laughing Chloe moved back to playfully prepare for her next attack.
It was a doggie paddle, but he was moving and not sinking! Kole was quite proud of himself.
He let his feet drop when Chloe's question came up, finding he could touch the bottom there, and yelped with a laugh as the water came at him. Giggling, he scoop up a handful of water and splashed back. When had he last been able to have fun like this with Chloe? He couldn't wait to have Kyllian here as well. One big splash party!
As Chloe sent back her own waters of attack the girl smiled. It really had been a while since she could feel so free around a friend like this. Maybe...just maybe then Kyllian had a point. It really was better to have friends than to be so alone...
Perhaps then she would reconsider the whole idea of the house.
Maybe...just maybe.
But for now...
"Attack!" Laughing Chloe dove into the water to enjoy the rest of the day with her best friend.
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 8:43 pm
Teen Stage; Reaction To Changes:
He’d seen them earlier as he’d walked through the town... They were watching him... Gosh, he wished he’d waited for Kyllian. He’d just wanted to go back into the woods for a bit!
They’d approached him when he’d reached the forest edge. Three human teenagers. Told him about a potion they’d found after one of the recent big storms and wanted to see what it did. One teen had seen a similar bottle at a potion shop before, and was told it was very rare. Potions didn’t work on pure humans though, so they needed his help. Wasn’t he curious now, too?
Kole ran, panting as the three chased him down. His wings seemed to be made of rocks, unable to lift him more than a couple feet off the ground. He kept flashing back to his nightmares, running from a group calling and taunting him and a friend.. but he was alone this time.
He yelped as he was hit, pinned down by the larger teen’s weight. He couldn’t keep track of dream and reality, his mind twisting between the image of being shoved into the dirt from his dream and the reality of being turned face-up and having his mouth held open. He gagged on the bitter black fluid being poured in. He couldn’t breathe... He wanted Kyllian to be there... to save him.. Then Edith would hold his hand.. She would make it okay.
As he swallowed the strange fluid, he felt... cold. He looked up from the ground at the teens hovering over him, watching him curiously. His belly seemed to turn into a block of ice, and that ice became so cold that it seemed to burn, and he screamed out as it spread through his body. Every inch felt aflame.
The teens stepped back as the boy writhed on the ground. Maybe they shouldn’t have done this...
Kole could feel his body changing... It hurt so bad... Was he going to die? He blacked out soon enough.
.........His head was throbbing. Kole blinked his eyes open, wincing at the light shining on his face. His whole body was tingling, and he rolled onto his side. Slowly, he pushed himself up onto his knees. His clothes were so tight... Looking down at himself, his eyes widened in shock. He... He... He was bigger! Was he dreaming again?
Looking around, he saw an empty bottle on the ground. The dirt around him was messed up with footprints and divots. He remembered.. those teens had held him down and forced him to drink that... What was it? Picking up the bottle, he ground his teeth and threw it furiously at a nearby tree trunk, watching it shatter into dozens of pieces. His hands clenched as he looked down at himself, his tail flicking sharply in irritation. ...He had a tail?! He looked at the pointed appendage in shock. What had they done to him?!
He felt so weird. He felt... not himself. What had they put into him? s**t! What had happened?! He was going to find those guys and beat the tar out of them! Stopping short, he unclenched his hands and looked at the nail marks in his palms in confusion, also looking at the red markings now decorating his skin. This wasn’t like him. He needed to find his friends! ...no. What could they possibly do for him? But they were his friends! They would help however they could!
That was when he noticed the three teens lying off to the side, beaten but still breathing. Had he done that? Well, they’d deserved it for what they’d done to him!
Hold on! No one deserved to be beat like that! That one looked like his arm had been broken! What had happened?!
One of the teens woke up, looked around in confusion, and pushed away from Kole in fear as soon as he was spotted, dragging a broken leg and blubbering about how they hadn’t meant to do it. It was an accident. He begged for Kole to leave them alone.
Kole’s heart was racing, and he could feel the anger at those teens burning in his blood. Blood... their blood... it stained his hands...
He should kill them while they’re down! He approached the teen and grabbed around his neck, grinning as he saw the fear multiply in the other boy’s eyes and listened to the choking breath, like when he’d been choking on that fluid they’d forced on him. He would show this lowlife what fear was, and show him suffering and pain! One arm of his hair reached out and stroked the trembling teen’s cheek tenderly, taunting the poor boy as the long nails on his hand dug into that soft flesh.
No!! Kole backpedaled, releasing the teen in his own horror. This wasn’t like him! Why... why had he been enjoying that?! And why did his hair move?! He spun and ran from the scene. His new, living hair waved frantically around his head as though mocking his panic. He didn’t want this! What could he do? He couldn’t tell Kyllian about this! He couldn’t even tell Chloe! And Edith... No. No. NO! His friends couldn’t be depended on anymore. They couldn’t help him...
It was a while before he stopped running, and was able to dare to look at his reflection on the water of a smooth pond. He would have cried if he hadn’t been in such a state of shock. The red markings, the long nails, the sharp tail, the deadly horns, and the arm-like hair that was now stroking his flushed face...What the hell was he?
Teen Stage; AIM PD- The Living Nightmare Gets Worse:
Kole was shut up in his bedroom. Blinds drawn, he sat on his bed in the dark, tossing his stuffed pumpkin in one hand, watching it rise and fall. Everything had changed for him. His appearance, his thoughts... Everything. He still was Kole, but.... something more now. Closing his eyes, he hung his head, trying to clear it. He was going to hurt someone... He didn’t want to. He really didn’t want to. But, he had a different problem. He hadn’t seen anyone since he’d changed, except for Edith. And, after that incident... How could he see anybody now?
Kyllian wasn’t sure why his friend was avoiding him, but it seemed like every time he had attempted to talk to Kole the other would be out or shut in his room. The first day he had given him some space, and the second, but after a while Kyllian was too worried to care about privacy. The child stood outside of Kole’s bedroom, clad in nothing, but a pair of drawstring pajama pants that had holes in the knees. They were as close to work clothes as he could get, since all the good ones were too far out of his price range. He had smears of grease across his cheeks, and bandages on his arms, but those weren’t shop related… Gathering his nerve, Kyllian knocked on the door. “Hey Kole, open up.”
His body froze at the knock, the pumpkin sitting in his hand. Kyllian... He raised his head to look over at the door. He couldn’t open up... “You don’t want me to do that,” he murmured, eyes shifting back to the toy in his hand. Gods, he was stupid. He should have just stayed out in the woods. Damn, he’d wanted the comfort of his room though. He’d been so happy here... It was his sanctuary, but it wasn’t good for him to stay anymore, surely...
Kyllian pulled back with a frown and crossed his arms over his chest. “Hey, man, if you’ve got a cold we need to get that checked out.” What other reason could Kole have for being so shut in and have such a deep voice? Knocking again, Kyllian called out, “If you don’t open the door I’m going to do it for you. Locked or not.” He’d punched a hole in a door before and he could do it again, but he was already banged up enough as it was.
A sharp snort of a laugh emitted from the room. A cold... If only it were something so easy, so simple... His head rose a little more as Kyllian began sounding more serious. Right... Of course Kyllian would be worried. They were best friends. Would they still be after this? “A doctor won’t be helpful here, mate...” Still, he stood and walked slowly over to the door. “I swear, you’re better off out there. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” His heart pounded as he unlocked the door and stepped back, tossing the pumpkin back to the bed. “It’s unlocked,” he said softly, trying to keep his mind as his own.
Chipper orange eyes rolled as Kyllian reached for the door knob to give it a turn. “Unless you’re dead and dying I’m sure we can fix whatever-“ He visibly stilled, eyes widening with barely one foot in the room. “You uh…wow.” Kyllian whistled as he looked up from where his eyes thought Kole’s eyes would have been to where they actually were. Blinking a few times he stepped back and gave his friend a good, long once over. “Is this why you didn’t want to open the door? Because you grew up?” He grinned. “You should be celebrating, not hiding.”
Kole couldn’t help the tiniest smile from Kyllian’s reaction. Yet, he turned away and walked over to the window. “It’s not so simple, Kyllian. ...This isn’t something to celebrate.” He could feel his frustration with the situation bubbling up. “I’ve evolved into... something not good. And... something bad.. was put into me.” He lifted a hand to chew on a long nail. How could he explain this? “I.. don’t get it all yet. ...I can’t control it all yet.” His eyes watered slightly as he thought back to the various incidents as of late. He was hardly in control. “Okay, you’ve seen me. You should leave now.”
His eyes watched Kole’s new tail with something akin to suspicion. Kyllian had seen enough picture books to understand that a spaded tail was a bad omen, but was it something he had evolved into…? “It’s only complicated because you make it that way.” He walked into the room, and put a hand on his hip. “You couldn’t control it when you were a kid either, but you adjusted.” Kyllian reached out a hand for Kole, and stilled before touching him. “Kole…Hey, we’re friends. You’re not alone in this.”
Kole’s body went still again. He was the one making it complicated? ..Was this his fault? But, he was trying so hard to keep that other part down! Why was it his fault that he’d become this- this monster?! “It’s not the same, Kyllian,” he murmured before he felt that touch. “I have to be alone!” he shouted, spinning to swat Kyllian’s hand away, though one of his arms of hair was already wrapping around the thick wrist to yank it away. “Edith tried to help me, too, and I hurt her. I scared her. I nearly-!” He stepped back from Kyllian and shook his head to get his hair to release the tyrunt’s wrist. It flicked back to act as a supporting hand over his shoulder instead. “The.. other part of me now doesn’t care about friends. I don’t want it to hurt you. ...I don’t want you to see it.”
Ever on the defense, Kyllian’s first reaction was to move away from Kole, but when he felt the hair on his wrist he pulled his lips back in a snarl. He tugged, trying to pull back as hard as he could. However, no matter how strong of a child he was, he was still that, a child, and injured on top of it all. “What’s going on with you, Kole? What did you do to Edith?!” He hadn’t seen the girl in so long…Kyllian’s heart was racing, and his tail swung fast behind him. Was she alright? When he was freed he rubbed his wrist, looking hesitantly to the teen. “There isn’t another you, Kole, that’s just you. Just tell me what you did to Edith and we can fix things.” Kyllian was hesitant. They could fix them, right…?
Kole kept his eyes away, biting his lip. What had he done to Edith? He’d scared the daylight out of her so that she’d never want to see him again. “I almost attacked her... She’ll never come near me again...” Looking over to Kyllian, his face twisted into a pained expression. “Don’t say that, Kyllian,” he begged, shaking his head as the tears finally overflowed. “Please. Don’t say that.” It wasn’t him! That part... it wasn’t him! “It can’t be me.. I don’t like it.. I don’t want it! I don’t!” His heart pounded as he backed away until he bumped into the wall. Why had he come back?! He wasn’t safe here! “Is that really what you think of me?” Eyes lifting again, there was no more fear. They met Kyllian’s boldly, challenging the tyrunt’s words. “Do you really think I would just go around hurting my friends willy-nilly?” He snorted and straightened up, lazily brushing the tears from his cheeks and giving his damp fingers an amused look. “Friends who look at me like they don’t want to be near me anymore... Yeah. Some great friends I have~”
“You almost attacked her?” Kyllian edged. His voice was high and incredulous. Kole didn’t attack anyone! He hadn’t even raised a hand to Franklin when he tried to steal the Pumpkaboo’s girl. And that’s what she was, wasn’t she? He bit his lower lip on a loud exhaled sigh. “What do you want me to say, Kole? All I see is you; there isn’t anyone else here, but you.” Kyllian stepped closer, craning his head so that he could try to look at Kole’s eyes through all of that hair. “Stress makes people do weird things, and ya got pretty stressed, right? I’m sure ya didn’t mean ta go after ‘er, right?” Standing toe to toe with Kole at this point the tyrunt was given no choice, but to frown. “That isn’t fair, Kole. I don’t think you would do that, but you just told me you did. What am I supposed to believe?” Kyllian was desperate to stop the tears, and almost as desperate for an understanding. Anything would be better than seeing the torment in his friends eye’s. It unnerved him to have the normally meek boy standing up to him like this. “Your friends want to help you. I want to help you.” He reached out to grab his hand.
Brow rising, Kole rolled his eyes. “You gotta look beyond the surface, Kyllian. The things that go through another person’s head are not always visible, you know.” He threw his head back to laugh while squatting slightly to be more level with Kyllian. “Oh, but I did mean to. You find out things when people are afraid. About them. About yourself.” His lips curled into a grin. “Do you know what Leech Seed is? I learned that with Edith. She wouldn’t let me practice on her, unfortunately, but she helped me bring it out, being the good friend she is.” When his hand was grabbed, his hand returned the grip, growing tighter and tighter as his nails began to dig into the thick skin of Kyllian’s wrist. “You’ll be a good friend, right? Won’t you let me practice? You can help by letting me see how strong I can be. Tell that weak part to shut up and figure out that this is who he is.” His hair snapped out, one grabbing for one of Kyllian’s horns while the other reached for Kyllian’s other arm to keep the child still. His free hand held up a Leech Seed. “See. It’s not so scary a thing. Just a little seed~”
Kyllian raised his hand while shaking his head. “Yeah, see, I’m not like you Kole. I don’t get things like that, so why don’t ya help me out?” It was a sad attempt to get his friend to open up, but damn it, that laugh chilled him. Kyllian held his ground even if he did want to move away. “…Was Edith afraid? Are you upset that she ran away from you when you started being a vague jerk like you’re being right now?” He couldn’t say that he knew what Leech Seed was, but knowing he had tried to use it on Edith…Kyllian cried out, and tried to wrench his hand away from the pressure, but found he couldn’t. It was his bandaged arm, the weaker of the two, and wouldn’t cooperate with him. His lips curled, and his eyes bore into Kole’s even if his head was being whipped around like a doll. Only one other man had tried to hold him by the horns, and it infuriated Kyllian to no end. “If I thought it would help you, I’d let ya do it, Kole. But see, the thing is, ye’r not right, and that thing….it ain’t touchin’ me.” It wasn’t a threat; it was a promise. “Let me go now.”
Kole sighed softly. “Well, now, if you must know, I was the one who ran away. Weak me took over.” His gaze flicked down to the seed in his hand. “One day, I’ll be able to stop that from happening again.” He looked back at Kyllian’s determined face, grin rising again. “Well, this is interesting. The things we learn when fear takes hold...” The things that must be going through this tyrunt’s head... Wonderful. “Aw. You might think it won’t help, but I bet it will.” He chuckled and shook his head. “If I let you go, you’ll just run away. Running away isn’t going to help me. It won’t take long.” He shoved his hand forward, aiming the seed at Kyllian’s neck. “At least, I don’t think it’ll take long~”
Weak me? Kole really was split into two. Kyllian didn’t believe it at first, but the evidence was starting to pile too high for him to ignore anymore. “If ya really are two…” He tensed, and puffed up. “Then the other Kole’s gonna kick yer a**!” His friend was a lot stronger than this loser, anyway! At least that’s what Kyllian was telling himself, but his bravado was falling. There was only so much a child could take before fear started to settle in. “I’m not goin’ ta run away, but I’m not gonna let ya poke me either.” It was instinct that took over for him then. The closer Kole came to sticking the Leech Seed into his neck the more his body tensed, and when his friend was close enough…Kyllian lashed out at an angle and bit his hand. Hard. Knowing full well just how massively strong a tyrunt’s bite was, he tried to hold back, but it was hard.
Kole had to laugh again. “Him? Win over me? I think not.” As his hand stretched out, his eyes widened at Kyllian retaliated. He cried out as those sharp teeth sank into his hand, the seed dropping to the floor. He knew better than to yank on his arm, knowing those teeth would only tear even further. “You little piece of-” Still keeping the grip on Kyllian’s wrist with his other hand, his arms of hair went into action. One slid down from the horn to wrap around Kyllian’s face, while the other snapped to wrap around Kyllian’s neck. His tail lashed behind him, grinding his teeth to keep from screaming further. One long leg swung around to kick against the side of Kyllian’s.
He held on as tight as he dared and shook his head in response to being grabbed. Kyllian’s mouth filled with the bitter taste of blood. Reaching up with his only free hand he tried to sever the connection the hair had on his throat, but it was a failing battle. It was only when he felt the kick connect with his ribs that he was forced to let go. The air went out of him as Kyllian hit the ground, hard, and coughed in a vain attempt to get his oxygen back.
Jaw hurting from clenching it so hard, Kole could barely keep from howling out as the skin of his hand and wrist was torn to shreds. He did let out a growl that was a mix of pain and success as Kyllian dropped to the floor. Those sounds of the boy straining for air that he couldn’t get were positively musical. Kole went to his knees, looming over Kyllian. “You like the taste of my blood, Kyllian?” he asked, lifting his shredded arm. “Fine. Have some more, little monster.” His raised his arm and brought it back down toward Kyllian’s face. Suddenly, the arm stopped short, just above Kyllian’s nose. “Stop...” Kole’s voice was small, meek, and pleading. “I don’t want this... Stop...” Those furious eyes turned soft and afraid, and the snarl vanished into a trembling frown. His hair released Kyllian, and he pushed himself back with his uninjured arm. He pressed his lips to keep himself from crying as he backed against the wall again. His arm hurt so bad... but he’d deserved it. His hair wrapped around his injured arm, cradling it close. He didn’t dare raise his head, but his legs shook too much for him to stand and leave. How could he have enjoyed hurting Kyllian...?
Kyllian couldn’t breathe properly. Somewhere between the adrenaline high, panic, and Kole’s grip he had lost the ability. His hand hovered shakily around his throat as his wide eyes shut on the promise of another strike. When it didn’t come he hesitantly opened them to look at his ‘friend’. Monster? Was that why Kole was suddenly so mean? Did he really think of Kyllian as a monster now that he was bigger, or…was Kole the monster himself? The child couldn’t stop shaking. His ivory teeth were covered in Kole’s blood, and it went down his bare chest. He rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand and moaned at the sight before jerking his head away to stop the rising tide of panic. Kyllian dared look at Kole, but he didn’t believe him. Something was wrong with Kole that he couldn’t fix, and he didn’t buy the soft look at all. What if…what if Chloe had been here? Or Edith? Had he done this to Edith too?! Feeling the fear eat at his gut Kyllian stood shakily on his feet. He slowly back up towards the door and reached behind him for the door knob. When he caught hold of it he almost crushed it. “I-I didn’t…you…Kole, I didn’t…” No matter what brought it on, Kyllian couldn’t get the blood out of his mouth no more than he could rid himself of the guilt. He’d hurt Kole! But it wasn’t Kole…but it was! He lowered his head into his hands and shook it, scraping his nails across his scalp before screaming.
This was even worse than the incident with Edith. She’d been able to break from his grasp by catching him off guard. He’d been able to hold himself back from retaliating. This time... Kyllian had only been trying to defend himself. He didn’t blame Kyllian at all. It was all his fault. His fault that Edith was scared, and his fault that Kyllian was hurt. His eyes squeezed shut as Kyllian stuttered, uncertain of what the tyrunt wanted to say. And then that scream... it sent a twisted spark of warmth into his belly before it turned into a horrible icy chill that became a white fire that made him want to scream as well, but any sounds were caught in his throat. What he’d done to Kyllian.. what he’d said! He wanted to run. He wanted to throw himself out the window. He wanted to bolt down the stairs and vanish. His legs were weaker than ever though. His mouth was open in a silent cry, too many parts tearing him in different directions. His arm was going numb, his body and mind wanting to follow. What a relief it would be, to escape these emotions, escape that screaming... If he were lucky, he would never wake up...
He wasn’t a monster, he wasn’t a monster! Monsters hurt their friends, and Kole…But Kole was the monster, right? Not Kyllian? He ripped at his mouth, trying to wipe away as much of the evidence as he possibly could with sharp, shaky strokes. He couldn’t do it; Kyllian couldn’t handle the emotions tearing through him. It was a visceral reaction that gripped him. “Get out,” He murmured, turning his head to Kole. Heavy breaths puffed in and out before he shrieked, “Get out, Kole!” If he was the one to run then Kole might still be here when Chloe came to visit, or heaven forbid, Edith. He would still be here when Kyllian came home… Kyllian stepped away from the door and held his hand up to his face to hide his shameful crying. “Just…just go…I-I don’t know…” How to fix him? How to help? I don’t know what to do.
Kole’s eyes opened just enough to look at his arm, telling his hair to move out of the way. Though, it quickly covered the mess back up again. So much blood... Good. Maybe he really would never wake up again. And then... there it was. It was almost a relief to hear Kyllian’s demand. As much as it tore at his insides, he knew.. he knew he couldn’t stay. Not after what he’d done. He shifted his legs, but they still didn’t want to support him. He dug his long nails into his legs, trying to stimulate them into moving again. It was just enough. With the blood loss and the emotional pain, he could barely see straight. He managed to drag himself along the wall to get to the door, though, once he reached the door, he paused. He took a shaky breath before straightening up as much as he could. “Don’t let me back in here. ..and don’t come looking for me later.” He almost took a tumble down the stairs, barely managing to stay upright as he left a trail of blood. Damn... Kyllian would have a heck of a time cleaning that up. Once he got outside, he didn’t get far into the woods before passing out.
“I won’t.” Kyllian said with some semblance of finality. It tore through him to say it, and the grief showed in his voice, but this time he didn’t look at Kole. He only moved when he was sure his shambling ‘friend’ had left the house completely. He leaned against the door frame, his eyes ghosting over the remains of Kole’s bedroom and the stains in the carpet. Placing his head back into his hands he let out a sob and sunk down onto the carpet, allowing the pain to consume him.
Cornetified
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Cornetified
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:45 pm
Teen Stage; Solo 1- Sanctuary?
Alone in the woods... this was where he belonged. Nowhere near where he could hurt anyone. Just himself... and he was hurting. The things that had happened with Edith, and then Kyllian, his best friends... He was doing his best to make sure he was in an area of the woods where he thought he would be least likely to run into Chloe as well. It was so painful for him to be alone. He’d felt like he was in paradise since he’d become friends with Kyllian and Chloe, and even more so with Edith. But, now, he’d chased them off. Scared them. Hurt them.
Though, maybe it was for the best? After all, he never knew when he would lose himself. When that other side would take control.
He would tremble when he thought about Kyllian’s words to him. There wasn’t another him. It was just... him. Was there truly no separation between his desire to be with his friends and that horrifying urge to hurt them? That satisfaction when he’d seen the fear in their eyes... that couldn’t have been him!
He was still even creeped out by his own hair. It was its own living entity, it seemed. Those two extra arms... Oh, he could tell it what to do, but it continued having a mind of its own. It seemed to go with the flow of his emotions and changes. It had spent a lot of time trying to pet and comfort him lately, but that only made him feel sick and he yelled at it to stop every time it started. Nothing was okay! Those locks had nearly choked Kyllian! He hated it! Yet, when he threatened to find a razor and chop it off, it only patted his shoulder as though consoling an idiot.
He found a small cave that he stuffed with a few blankets to keep warm on, and had settled in there. He just needed to keep himself away from everyone until he could figure this out. There had to be some way to control, or even get rid of!, this darker side. There had to be something he could do.
Yet, the longer he sat alone in the cave in the woods, the harder it would become to convince himself that an answer was there. The silence was endless, until he started singing softly to himself; a tune that was low and haunting. The woodland creatures who heard his music would feel cold, and hurry away from the sound emitting from the cave.
The longer he would sing, the more a sour smirk would rise. The sound reverberated though his body, awakening the darkness within. Yes... this was home. Not in that pathetic town with those pathetic humans and those so-called friends. Here. Alone. In the dark.
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:56 pm
Teen Stage; Solo 2- How Time Flies...
The Halloween season... It was a year ago now that he’d met Kyllian and had begun to find his life. He’d grown into a child, and found the added bliss of having a safe home with his best friend. He’d grown closer to Chloe, and had met his friend Edith. He’d experienced life like never before. The security of knowing he had a place...
But that was all over, now.
He’d had a potion forced into him. Demon's Blood. He’d grown again, and evolved into a gourgeist; a pokemon known for its cold, malicious nature. That nature had caught the normally sweet and loving Kole completely off guard. Controlling urges that he’d never had before proved too difficult. He’d attacked his closest friends when they’d tried to help him. He’d made them afraid, and made them angry. He ran. He hid to protect them. He was afraid for his friends, and afraid of himself. Then, he began to get used to himself... Alone with only his own thoughts, stewing in his fears in the cave he’d taken to sleeping in...
Now, as he walked though the town streets on the rare night out, he watched the children, human and poke-human alike, dressed in their costumes as they ran back and forth from house to house, innocent and carefree. ...How foolish of them. Their innocence would not last long. They would soon learn the harsh truths of life. Those friends they ran with now would one day chase them away. Like tonight’s strangely bitter wind, betrayal would slice through cloth and flesh and soul. Those happy laughs would become cries of despair when their rose-tinted world crumbled to reveal the darkness; and crumble it would, as his had, and only the strong would manage to change with it.
He had changed with it. He’d been forced to. Chased away by those supposed friends because they couldn’t handle his change. He was always being chased. His friends, humans, his memories... Nothing was on his side. Not even his nightmares. He’d once thought that growing would diminish the dreams, but, if anything, it seemed as though they’d gotten stronger and more intense. The image of the girl he was usually running with was clearer, with those shining brown eyes alert with fear... Yet, instead of enjoying it, the sight made his heart race and his palms sweat. He didn’t want her to be afraid. He would look back at the men chasing them, and when he’d turn back forward, the brown eyed girl was replaced by Edith, her large gray eyes swimming with confusion, fear, and concern. He would trip over his feet, and when he looked up, Kyllian would be there, the tyrunt looking confused and angry, blocking Edith from him protectively. It was nearly every morning that he would jolt awake from the dream, feeling like his heart was going to burst from his chest and panting as though he really had been running. He still didn’t know where these dreams came from, but now, they were taking on parts of his life, and it was unnerving..
His steps paused, and he looked up at one of the lanterns lighting the street. Unnerving... He made others nervous, not the other way around! They were the ones who trembled at the sight of him. What did he have to fear? ...He snorted and reached up with the cane he’d found a while back to knock out the light, cloaking himself in shadow. The pumpkaboo of his previous stage apparently lingered in his mind. ..Oh well. That, too, would be forced to change. That side of him was far too innocent to survive this world, and the only way he would survive would be to send that part away. That, and the part with his dreams... They would be swallowed whole soon enough, and then the dreams wouldn’t make his pulse race, nor would his palms sweat.. nor would his heart ache with loneliness in those minutes after waking.
Cornetified
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Cornetified
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 6:53 pm
Teen Stage; AIM PD- Woodland Confrontation:
It was dark again... As the evening wore on, Kole's thoughts went back to when he'd changed. That potion shoved down his throat, and waking up to the blood on his hands, those teenagers cowering in fear... His lips peeled back with a grin, and his face lifted to look at the purple and blue sky. Life was pretty good no. No more worrying about anyone or anything other than himself...
Passing through the woods, any insects singing to welcome the night would go silent, and then pick up again once Kole had gone by. He wasn't heading for his cave, though. Tonight was simply a night to wander, and think about how delightfully hopeless the world was.
Another late night of deliveries. Huffing along the path America wondered about whether or not Edith had already ate that night. Would she want anything I've picked up today? He flushed lightly thinking of how bold he had been going into the city to actually shop today. That bakery had been so warm and the smells...closing his eyes the rufflet pushed back the wave of longing that the memory brought.
In his bag he had some of the human food to share with his sister after all. Even a piece of what they called cake and some of those cookies. Admittedly he had snuck one to make sure it was worthwhile and the taste had been amazing. He just hoped Edith would enjoy them too...
His thoughts trailing off the rufflet tensed. Why was the path home so quiet tonight? His gaze narrowed dangerously. What stranger was around these parts? Such a pain... Clenching his fists the boy began to weave through the trees determined to find and get rid of the intruder.
With his pointed tail twitching contently, Kole stopped in one open area to stretch his arms; all four of them. The rustling of leaves made his ears perk, and his head snapped around toward the sound. That was larger than a regular forest critter. A human, perhaps? Some lost hiker? Either way, possibly a new play thing.
He tucked back against one of the heavy pine trees, waiting for the sounds to get closer. The smells reached him as well though, and his mouth watered. "Whatchya got there, kiddo?" he asked as the rufflet came into view, not even bothering to hide himself anymore. He just leaned back against the tree, a finger pointing at the bag with the delicious aroma lingering around it.
So there was a stranger here. His whole body tensed as the voice came from the tree. It was dark so he couldn't see the stranger well, but there was enough of an aura to make America tense. Really? Out of all nights for there to be some jerk out here...why tonight? He wanted to surprise Edith with presents, not a mess.
"Nothin' of your concern." America retorted sharply, "So why don't you go on your merry way in the opposite direction? I'm in a hurry and have no time to play around with some stranger hiding in the woods." His wings lashed out behind him angrily, but he knew he couldn't fly away because not only was the warehouse right up ahead but the trees also would block him.
The last thing he wanted was for some random stranger to walk into his home.
Chuckling lightly, Kole clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Well, you're the one who came up on me, not the other way around." An arm of hair lifted to push a branch out of the way for a better view. "Shouldn't you be home with your parents or something? The woods are no place for a little kid to be alone~" It was funny to see the bird so frustrated. "Or, is that where you're hurrying to?"
Really? What the hell was up with this guy? America normally didn't like strangers, but this guy just proved his point. It was always better to be wary than open at times like these. "Shouldn't you be back in your dark cave or somethin'?" He retorted sharply again. Something about this guy just brought out his temper and it was literally taking his all to not just shove his way through. Not with the warehouse so close and Edith possibly nearby...that was the last thing he wanted.
"It's none of your damn business." America took a few steps forward with a frown, "You're the one in a strange area just butting your head in. Just leave and go back to where you came from already." He had enough of this guy jsut lingering here. The whole forest was quiet from it and that even put America more on edge. Something was definitely fishy with this guy.
Kole laughed and nodded. "My dark cave? Perhaps I should be, presuming that I have a cave to be in. It's still a little early for me to be out yet. I suppose the wind was calling my name."
The kid's spunk was just short of stupid, in his opinion. He was content to be amused and toy around until he was told to go back. Back where he'd come from? Where everyone looked at him with such hate and anger and confusion and fear...? "Oh, little boy. What makes you think anyone wants me back where I came from?" He stepped the the edges of the branches, and pointed to the bag again. "Is that bag of stuff really worth so much effort? Is it that precious to you? I'd like to see what you consider so special.."
Maybe others would be afraid or shivering at this point, but America found himself even more riled up. The arrogance of this guy to act like he was something really jarred him. I don't think any wind would call your name. His nose wrinkled at the thought of the wind that he loved so dearly betraying him like this. There was no way. Why couldn't this guy just stay away a little bit longer? But the thought made a knot in his stomach. Had he been here night after night so close to the warehouse? Surely not.
"I never said there would be others there." His wings tensed up behind him, "I'm just sayin' this isn't your neighborhood either so it's best if you left." When the guy pointed towards the bag America shook his head. There was no way he was letting go of the treats he had gotten with that money today! Wings flaring out behind him the boy managed to fly up a few feet to nudge it gently in between some of the higher branches. Landing on the ground he glared towards the stranger, "As much as I'm sure you'd like to see them I'm sayin' no. You'd have to pound me into oblivion before I'd let go of those."
He might have been asking for it, but America didn't care. There was no challenge he would ever back down from! And hopefully he could manage to get this guy away from the path he was on. Away from his sister...
Laughing again, Kole pushed some hair back from his face. Right. There was no one waiting for him anymore. No one waiting to call to him, or happy for him to return...
Leave? With something so tempting standing here defiantly before him? While he was pretty sure there was only food in the bag, the boy's insistence on hiding it made him that much more curious. Perhaps the smell was masking something of more import inside? Was it something really valuable? "I guess I'll have to pound you then," he teased, grin ripping across his face with delight. It'd been a while since he'd run into someone deserving a beating. This kid was cocky and stubborn, and needed to be taught a lesson. He launched himself forward, his arms of hair snapping out far in front of his body to reach for the kid.
And so it began.
Smirking America kicked back to slide in the dirt away from the reaching hair. That was just strange on its own. His nose wrinkled at the thought of being strangled by that. No thank you! His desire to slash at it though was missed in his turn and he barely hit any strands at all.
Even those he hit felt tougher than normal hair and made him grit his teeth. What exactly type of person was this? It was definitely not a human that was for certain. But it was like no other poke-human he had ever seen. Still America was determined to not back down.
"That all you have?" Smirking int he dark he braced himself for the next attack despite the ache in his ankle from the slide.
He landed on all fours, using one arm as a pivot point to turn on to face the boy again. His air waved wildly, both as a distraction and simply because it was excited. They hadn't been in a fight in a while!
Kole cocked his head slightly, but only let out a snort of a laugh in reply as he kicked off from the ground again. The time for taunting had passed. His arms reached, long claw-like nails shimmering in the dimming light. He would find what this child thought to be so precious, and take it as his own..
This guy was fast. Wincing America tried his hardest to back away from the quick turn around, but his ankle was beginning to betray him. With the pain in his left leg his own turn was cut off and the clawed nails reached for his skin. A wet feeling came down his arms and the boy winced. Still he was resolute. Even as the cut sent him backwards against a tree the boy was glaring.
Come on do something, I dare you! His gaze seemed to yell. But his hands were pressed behind him on the tree. I just need to get up and fight more!
A hissing chuckle rose when he felt his claws tear through flesh. Kole straightened up enough to look at the successful hand, and wiggled the bloody points menacingly at the child. "Is that all you have~?" he sang, mocking the bird's tough words from moments ago. "Come on, boy. What is it so precious to you? Better pick yourself up if you wish to defend it." He hunched down to charge forward again, a trusty leech seed filling his hand in preparation. This would end the boy quickly, for certain.
America snorted. Arrogant b*****d. His gaze glittering with anger the rufflet moved forward and this time the wind was on his side. There was no way he would back down to someone that was this dark! Edith should never have to run into something like this, not on his watch!
Air Slash! The cold steel like wind flew from around his wings and out in front of him. Smirking America moved to the right despite the stinging pain in his ankle. He'd like to see that guy eat some of that!
Well, the boy really did have some pluck! Seeing the ability activate, he ducked his head down, all arms up to protect as he tried to dodge out of the way. The sharp wind pushed him back a few steps, and he laughed with delight. "Ah, that was something. I think a mosquito just bit me!" He shook the sting out of his arms, legs bracing against the ground. "Will anyone miss you if I make you bleed, little bird~? Will the precious thing die without you?"
This guy really knew how to piss him off, "Let's hope it has malaria then." His chest was burning with anger as he lashed out against this guy. Even if it took a hundred attempts he would make this guy feel more than a little sting! His anger was passionate as he stood against the stranger. There was so much that he felt no limits to his words.
"Why jealous cause there won't be anything to miss you if you bled?"
The sharp words weren't typical of the rufflet, but for some reason he just didn't feel any mercy towards this fellow. All of his instincts screamed to fight and get away at the same time, "Not like I would ever let you get near her." He muttered quietly to himself before moving to slash towards the guy with a astrong kick.
It was so adorable, watching the little guy get so angry. This was how the world worked, though. Even the young weren't free of the pain and hate of the people in it.
Somehow, the words being thrown back at him hit home. The kid was right... In Kole's mind, there wasn't anyone who would miss him... and the thought made the pain well up in his gut, and a hot anger boiled over to hide the ache. He stood his ground when the rufflet came at him, only gritting his teeth as the slash dug into his skin. From there though, his hair grabbed the leg to hold the boy and throw a hard punch. "Why should I be jealous of a weakness like that?" he spat, his hand rising as he prepared to slash again with his nails.
Even when he was being beaten by the stranger America smirked. So this guy can lose his cool. As the nails slashed into his skin the rufflet only winced against the pain. Others probably would have given up by now, but he...he had a reason to keep fighting, "Because it's not a weakness, idiot."
He refused to bend and even braced himself for the rain of blows to come. Blood dripped down his arms, but America just gritted his teeth. "Unlike you I have someone to fight for. I'd never let an a** like you get near Edith!" His gaze burned with fury, "I'd give everything to protect my sister and keep her safe." He would never let this guy go any further down the path, ever! Not while his sister may be there. Not even when the world was spinning wildly or when his arms were torn up from the fighting.
His punches came, and came, tired of listening to the boy's miserable words. Yet, one word broke through. As though time had stopped, Kole froze mid-swing, glaring down at the boy. Edith... He didn't want to hurt Edith. Not again. He couldn't hurt Edith again! Oh, by the moon, was she nearby?! As quickly as he'd fallen on the boy, he jumped up and backed away, eyes wide as he looked at the boy he'd been fighting. This guy knew Edith? Edith was precious to him? He couldn't hurt Edith again! He couldn't! "Keep her safe.." he croaked out in a weak voice, feeling as though most of the strength had been sucked out of him, leaving him only enough to turn and run from the fear.
Battered and bruise America could only watch as the guy suddenly turned and fled. I didn't even get the chance to use Aerial ace... The feeling in the air had changed drastically too...what happened there? Frowning the rufflet just rubbed his pounding head. As is he left so that's all that matters now.
Flying up he grabbed his bag of treats for his sister before beginning the slow limp home. Either way he would probably have another fight up ahead once Edith saw his wounds, but America was still thankful. His sister was safe from that stranger and their home secured.
Let's just hope that guy never comes around here again.
Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 8:41 pm
Teen Stage; Solo- Another Research Trip:
He’d dared to go into town again to visit the library. He still needed to learn more. There was so little information on the potion he’d taken, and not really much more on gourgeists. A ghost and grass type. Yeah. Looks like a black gourd or pumpkin with a ghost coming out the top instead of a stem. No s**t. Came in small, average, large, and super sizes. He guessed he was a regular sized one. They enjoy new moons, singing songs that curse any who hears them. ..He didn’t think his singing had cursed anyone yet. They are malevolent, and enjoy making their prey suffer. ....No!
It was the same thing every time he read it, but he kept flipping through the notes, hoping something would hint at the information being wrong. Something that would indicate that he wasn’t a soulless monster... Why would the gourgeist be so bad, yet the pumpkaboo have no mention of spitefulness? He’d never felt anything like this before as a kid. What was it about the gourgeist...? Maybe it had something to do with the spirit in the pumpkaboo? The pumpkaboo was supposed to make the spirit able to go where it needed to go to be free... Did the spirit go sour if it evolved without finding its place? Growling as he reached the same ending that he did every time he visited looking for answers, he slammed the books shut and shuffled out of the building. It was always the same questions, and the same answers that answered nothing!
He thought back to his time as a kid; as a pumpkaboo. He would never have hurt a thing back then. The very idea was appalling. Is appalling! Is! He groaned and put a hand over his eyes. He didn’t like hurting others. And yet... he did...
As quickly as the thought popped up, Kole forced it back down. No! That wasn’t him! That was the potion talking. Surely. Not him. The potion. That damned thing. Who created s**t like that?! Who in their right mind-? ..No one. It was a wrong mind that would create something so vile. No one sane would do that. So, how had it come into the possession of those teenagers? He vaguely recalled them mentioning a relative’s shop... Father’s? Uncle’s? Well, it didn’t matter. Someone was carrying around potions like this... they were dangerous. They’d made him dangerous.
Well... more dangerous, anyway.
Giving his hair a glance, the false arms were laying along his chest, almost swaying contently as he walked. Even without the potion... would he still have been like this? Would he still feel like he was carrying two different people in his head? Agh! This was so aggravating!
Feeling his frustration bubbling up again, he ducked into an alley and dropped behind a dumpster. He took a deep breath and set his head onto his knees. Kyllian had said this was him... There wasn’t another him... It was just him... Kole didn’t want to believe that... He wasn’t this monster! How could Kyllian say such a thing?! Kyllian just didn’t understand!
When he heard the footsteps, Kole kept his head pressed tightly to his knees, his hair wrapping over him protectively. If he could just vanish into the shadows, maybe he would be passed by without a glance.. But the steps stopped...
“Hey, kid. You okay?” a deep voice asked.
“Leave me alone. Please,” he murmured, arms tightening around his legs.
The voice chuckled lightly. “Aw. Come on, kid. I can help ya. Us street bums gotta watch out for each other, right?”
Street bum... Was that what he looked like? “No.. You should go.”
“Seriously, kid, let’s go. Maybe we can dig up some grub for us. Besides... you’re kinda in my spot. I always sleep here, see?”
Kole felt his heart beating hard. Had he really sunk so low? Just sitting here made him another faceless rat in the alley? Abandoned? Lost? Alone? After he’d gained such a good life... and now it was gone.
The man huffed and reached for Kole’s shoulder. “You making me use my big kid voice? Fine. Get out of my spot, now.” The next sound from the man was a scream as the hair from the strange teen’s head wrapped around his arm, and he was yanked down to eye level with glowing green eyes and a too-wide grin...
“You want this spot so bad? Fine. Let’s make it your spot.”
A while later, Kole strolled out of the alley looking much more pleased than when he had entered it. Why shouldn't he? Making someone a permanent mark in their treasured spot could lift anyone’s mood. The guy wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else sitting on that spot ever again. Well.. at least until the garbage men came and cleaned up the mess...
Cornetified
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Cornetified
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Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 4:30 pm
Teen Stage; AIM PD- Bittersweet Reunion:
A little cabin sat nestled in the forest just North of town. It was far enough away to make the journey tiring on foot, annoying by car, but perfect for its flying resident. From the outside it looked nearly abandoned; the flowers that had once been planted in the window boxes were long since dead, their crinkled corpses hanging over the edge. The wood was sturdy, if not worn in certain areas and the windows had a fine film of grime covering the glass. However, within the story was different. Most of the cabin had been swept clean of dirt and cobwebs, with sheets still hanging on the line in the late evening. A warm fire kept the space toasty, and even passed its comfort to the solitary bedroom near the back of the cabin.
As the sun worked its way down from the sky, Kole was rising up from his cave. He peeked out of his shelter, and put a hand to his stomach. He'd eaten his last sandwich that morning before going to sleep, so all he had left was what he'd found in the woods; which, in the winter, didn't amount to much. He really didn't want to go back to town, but... what else could he do?
Something was different this time around though. As he walked, he would sometimes pass an old cabin that looked like it had long been out of use. He'd done a little rummaging there when he'd first come to the woods, but otherwise left it alone. A light caught his eye in the distance, brow knitting when he looked up to find the source. The cabin? He could see it in the distance; a little light filtering through the crud-covered windows. Someone was actually there? That wasn't good! Maybe if he just ignored it, the inhabitants wouldn't bother him? He bit his lip, debating the risk of going over to see who was there. He'd chosen this area because it was empty...
Finally, he headed closer to the cabin, watching for movement in or around the building. He had to warn them that the woods were dangerous... Maybe just not mention that he was why they were dangerous? He took a deep breath when he reached the cabin, and gave the door a few firm knocks.
Edith perked at the sound of a knock at the door. It was so unusual that she instantly panicked, since there had been hikers that had stopped by a few days ago for a rest, but it did strike her as odd. Wasn’t it a little late for visitors…? She finished towel drying her hair, and picked up her bloodied shirt to put it in the pile with the rest. Edith reached for a clean dress, and padded to the door as she slipped it over her head, puffing out her wings through the slats. Before she opened the door she reached up to rub her fangs. Hopefully they were clean enough; she hadn’t had a chance to brush them yet. Edith had only been home a short time, after all! Reaching for the pad of paper and pen she kept near the door, she reached to turn the handle. What she saw was enough to make her drop her supplies instantly. Edith’s jaw dropped. Kole?! Here? Now?! Her heart sped up while a myriad of emotions tore through her.
He went over it in his head a bunch of times. He was just going to warn whoever was here about the danger in the woods, and then he'd go. No lingering, no chatting, no killing or maiming or torturing.....
Admittedly, Kole flinched when he saw the young woman who answered the door. She was rather reminiscent of someone so special from his past... It was painful to look at her. Aside from all that though, she seemed quite shocked by his presence. Was he really so frightening to look at? Was it obvious what a monster he was? How dare she judge him so quickly!! Stupid, self-righteous-!
He cleared his throat, digging his nails into his palms to keep his head clear. He knew he was scary. She should be afraid. His hair decided to wave in greeting for him, and he shook his head to calm the arms back down. "I'm pretty sure you're new here, so I wanted to let you know this area of the woods is dangerous. I don't know why you're in this crummy little shack, but it's not worth fixing up. You should go somewhere else." He looked down at the writing supplies, resisting the urge to bend and pick them up for the girl.
Unconsciously Edith waved back at his hair as if in a daze. Did he..Did he not know who she was? Surely she hadn’t changed that much, had she? Edith rubbed her hands together and looked at them, thinking about how different she must be herself for Kole not to know who she was. She held up a finger, and bent down to pick up the pad and pen. After scratching out a few words, she held it up for him to see. Can’t go anywhere else. Taking a deep breath, she also wrote out, I’m Edith. before looking back up to him. Edith wanted to cry. There was so much terror in her, so much fear just by seeing him, but wasn’t the biggest part of that fear that she would lose him again? Fear of failing to help him? Or was it all fear of getting hurt again?
It hurt just standing there. He had started to back away when the gesture to wait came. Despite his head telling him to keep going, his legs locked. She was picking up the paper.... She was writing on it.... He almost couldn't focus on the words he was being shown. Can't go anywhere else? See? It wasn't Edith. She would surely have places to go. "Well, too bad. Find someplace else." Why was she writing things out like Edith did? Well, Edith couldn't be the only one who was mute. Maybe it was a bird thing? Maybe it-
His denials were snuffed by the next words shown to him. The words were louder than anyone had ever yelled, and they pierced right into his belly. Edith! This young woman was Edith?! Edith was here! At first, the sudden joy of seeing Edith alive and looking well caught him up. A smile rose, and he reached a hand toward her. He wanted to touch her face, pet her hair, hug her, anything! But he saw the long nails of his hand, and the red markings on his skin, and quickly yanked his hand back. And.... on Edith's face... fear. "Damn it, Edith! Get away from here!" he snarled, forcing his legs into motion to back away from her. The realization that Edith was right there, so close... He was terrified of her, and for her. Of all the places, why did she have to come here?
His glib reaction to her predicament burned. She hadn’t expected much else, but Edith had to turn her eyes away from him as her hands clenched on the notepad. She wasn’t going to cry-she wasn’t! That’s not why she took the potion, and it sure as hell wasn’t why she was living in the woods alone. When he finally got it she dared to hope. Maybe..maybe Kole wouldn’t check out. That smile was enough to bring a smile out of her, and just for a moment the world was becoming a brighter place. She should have known better, but the rejection hit her like a punch in the gut. On instinct she clutched the notepad to her chest. What should she do? Kole obviously didn’t want her anywhere near him. He had even snarled at her! But... He wasn’t the only one with fangs. She tossed the notepad aside and moved forward to grab his hand with hers, a look of fierce, desperate determination on her face.
So much pain... Seeing her made his new, empty life ring out even more hollowly than usual. Kole was reminded of how alone he was. But, not only that... she had smiled at him. Brief, fleeting, but a smile. He missed her so much. He missed the life he'd once had. A life with friends. He hadn't been there when she'd grown. How long had it been? He wanted to ask her how she was doing, why she was staying out here, if she'd seen Kyllian lately, and if the tyrunt had grown as well. He wanted to know. He was too dangerous though! Too much of a loose cannon. It'd been hard enough to leave it all behind...
For a split second, the moment he felt his hand grabbed, he wanted to cry. He wanted to die. He wanted it to end. This was cruel, how her warm touch was so real... But after that split second, he turned a hard gaze on her. "Did I say you could touch me?!" he snapped, digging his nails into her hand.
Edith flinched, but she never let go. If anything she just held on tighter, and tugged him closer to her. What she lacked in physical strength she made up for with the backward propulsion of her wings. Permission? She needed permission now just to touch him?! Edith was so frustrated that she wanted to scream. How long did he think he could run away from them; from her? When he was close enough for her to reach out with her other hand, she made a move…to punch him in the face. Edith felt her chest swell with hidden anger. She had never known just how angry she was at him for leaving like he did until he tried to do it for the second time. Fear wasn’t an option for her anymore, and it damn well wasn’t one for him! She felt blood coming from her wrist, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was knocking some sense into this jerk!
Feeling himself being tugged around, his own anger flared. She was just some kid from his past. She was afraid of him. Was she crazy? One second, standing so close, he wanted to embrace her and never let go. The next second, his free hand twitched with the urge to tighten around her stubborn little neck. He opened his mouth to shoot out some other threat, but something slammed into his jaw instead. He blinked in confusion, looking down at the fist that had hit him. The punch had enough force behind it to split his lip when hard knuckles connected with the soft flesh, but he didn't feel much pain. Not physically, anyway.
When the shock passed, his tongue flicked out to check his lip, and he grinned along with a dark chuckle. "Do you really want to do this again? I can see you're a big girl now and all that, but another fight? I don't think it would end well."
Feeling the cold wind pick up, Edith became aware of just how cold it was outside. She was bare foot on the packed ground that served as a walkway in front of the cabin, and still damp from her bath. If she thought she could convince him to come inside to talk then she would have tried. Instead Edith’s wings flared behind her as her black eyes steeled themselves. They were strong, fierce, but also..reddening. Watery. She shook out her fist without letting go of his hand. The look on her face said Try me, and to answer him she pulled back her lips to snarl at him. She felt her fangs on her lower lip. His soul was split; one part dark, the other light. It was a shot in the dark to find the good side of him behind this grinning monster. She wasn’t as afraid as she had been; as she should be. If anything she felt challenged. He wanted a fight? If that was what had to happen then so be it!
He couldn't help but to be impressed with Edith's determination, as foolish as it was. Why was she trying so hard? She'd never been a fighter before. Well, he hadn't either... "Hey, I left so we wouldn't have to do this again. You really want it so badly?"
Oddly enough, it wasn't her determination or her expression that caught Kole's attention, but her teeth. When he saw the sharp fangs glistening as Edith bared them, it was like a switch had been flicked in his mind, and a different kind of fear rose. "Edith, why do you have fangs?" She hadn't had fangs when they'd been kids. He knew she hadn't. He hadn't been able to pay enough attention to notice them in her smile earlier... He was wracking his brain, trying to remember what Edith's evolution would be. They didn't have fangs either, did they? He had a cold rock in his gut, thinking about how he'd gotten features that didn't belong. "You didn't..."
You left because you tried hurt me. You left because you were too scared to fix it. At the time it was what she had wanted, but it clearly wasn’t what either of them needed. Couldn’t he see that? If he’d stop being so damn stubborn she could help him! Or she was going to break him trying. She couldn’t help but to snarl once more before straightening her face into an uneasy frown. Her mouth closed around her fangs as if she were ashamed of them. In truth, she couldn’t make up her mind about it. On one hand it gave her the advantage she needed, but it also damned her in the process. She squeezed his hand, and turned her gaze away from him for the first time since they’d come outside. What, was he going to yell at her now? She knew it was stupid! But she…she just wanted… Edith loosened her fist and grabbed his hand with both of hers before looking back up to him. If he still wanted to fight then she would, but she mouthed the word she really wanted; Stay. Just once, maybe just this once, he would give in.
Of course, he didn't know that Edith had found out about the potion he'd taken. He didn't know she'd spent so much time doing her own digging around, trying to learn what had happened to him. He figured he'd just been forgotten. But this... Had she taken it willingly? Had it been forced on her? It wasn't the same thing he'd had, was it?
His eyes widened slightly when she grabbed more securely onto him, gaze resting on her bloodied wrist. He looked up to snarl at her again, to try scaring her away, but the word that he could imagine he was hearing her saying stopped his heart. Stay? His chest hurt, and he shook his head. He couldn't... Look what he'd done to her wrist already! "Just tell me.... how did you get the fangs? What happened?"
She was afraid again. Afraid that he would reject, would run again, but for now he did as she asked. Edith wanted to tell him everything; to spill it all out like she used to in the days when things made sense. If she let go to get the notepad he would leave. If she didn’t he would leave. Edith tugged on his arm, nudging him back to the cabin. Her wrist hurt. The pain was starting to get to her, and it made her agitated. The hunger was coming back, and that bothered her. She had just fed! Why was it coming back so soon? Surely she hadn’t lost that much…She pulled, moving them back to the cabin. If he would stay just to listen to her, then maybe she could get him to stay for good and then she could feed again.
Kole stiffened when he got another tug on his arm. His eyes flicked to the cabin, only to feel the grip of fear again. If he went inside, he might not be able to make himself leave. If he didn't leave, he would only hurt Edith again. Of that, he was certain. He'd been so ready to hurt her just moments ago... He shook his head more forcefully, trying to brace rubbery legs against her pull. "Edith, you know I can't... Just tell me what happened to you."
The longer he dragged his feet the more itchy hers became. She couldn’t just tell him. She needed her tools, something to write with, something to tell him, but it was too far for her to grab. Edith huffed irritably, and scrunched her mouth to the side. This boy was going to be the death of her. She let go of his hand, but only for the time it took to grab her notepad and the pen. Wanted to help. Kept researching. Asked. Learned about Demon’s Blood. It was then that she hesitated and looked at him. Would he hate her for doing what she did? Edith bit her bottom lip, then suckled on it when it brought blood. This…was tricky. Should she…? How could she not, after begging him to be so honest with her? Found potion. Drank, then changed. Wrong Potion. Type Vampire. Wrong. WRONG. She underlined the second word boldly, angrily. Got it wrong. Should have asked. Couldn’t help. Couldn’t protect. Wrong. When she was done she handed him the notepad, and brought her bloodied wrist to her mouth to staunch the blood by licking it. That in turn led to her suckling from her own wrist. It didn’t bring the satisfaction she wanted, but it helped.
He should have just run when his hand was free. Damn it all, why wasn't he running? He just stood like a stump.... He needed to know what had happened. If someone had forced her to take something like he had.... there would be hell to pay. He watched her writing, his hair wrapping around his neck like a scarf against a sudden chill. She looked so nervous, but not necessarily of him. More of... what she was writing.
He reached out to take the notepad, frowning when he saw his hand trembling. He swallowed dryly, almost afraid to look at the paper. He read through quickly, then once more. And then again. And then a fourth time, the chill of the wind reaching into his bones. She'd learned about the potion... And, to learn more, had tried taking it herself... but had taken the wrong kind... Vampire. Edith was a vampire type now, because she'd wanted to help him...
"You fool," he murmured, lowering his gaze until his chin nearly rested on his chest. "You left to protect her, but you just caused her more pain. You hurt them when you're there, and you hurt them when you're not there..." He started to chuckle sharply, and then laughed, throwing his head back with mirth. "Can't be free~ You've heard your own song, you idiot." His head tipped back forward, dark gaze locking onto Edith. "Stupid, stupid, stupid girl... Why did you think becoming like me would help? Do you want everyone to hate you, too?"
She bit into the soft flesh of her wrist on reflex when he started to laugh. It was a sinisterly dark sound that didn’t suit the Kole she knew, but this wasn’t that boy that had bought her sandwiches and laughed in the rain. This was a man she was struggling to decipher. The sharp bite had hurt more than it should have, and forced her to draw her wrist away. It left a bloodied stain on her chin, puckering her lips up with color in the chilled moonlight. At first she assumed he was talking to her. She was a fool. A big, bloody fool. But then…was he talking to her or himself? Was this the other side of him taking over? Concern seized her. She’d just brought him back! What little she’d had of him wasn’t enough; she didn’t want that to go away so soon! She took the notepad once more. Can’t save you. Couldn’t protect you. Wanted to understand. Her hands were trembling now. Whether it was the chill, her own fears or the growing agitation building in her blood, Edith couldn’t seem to stand still. She needed it. That little taste hadn’t been enough to sooth it, and although she was no longer bleeding the craving didn’t go away. It never really did. I don’t hate you. Can’t hate you. Wanted to make you not lonely.
His grin remaining in place, Kole reached to take the paper again, his hand still once again. He read the note, brow cocking."Well, you're right about most of this, but this whole wanting to understand thing..." He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "That's just crazy, stupid girl. You gotta be some kind of nuts to willingly take something that you think is going to turn you into what I am." He laughed again, shaking his head with amusement. "You even took the wrong potion! Vampire? That's worse than me, isn't it? How does it feel, feasting on your own type, hmm?" He reached out and ran a finger along Edith's bloody chin. "See, I hurt others when I want to. You'll be hurting others because you'll have to. Such strange times, these are." Oh, yes. This was a thoroughly amusing predicament.
Stupid girl. Edith hung her head low and exhaled on a shaky breath. Maybe she was. If she had been smarter then she would have just given up a long time ago. To have him touch her chin…it disgusted it. The gliding scrap of his nail along her flesh brought out shudders. She couldn’t say they were all entirely out of revulsion and that’s what truly made her stomach roll. What he said didn’t sit right with her. Kole had trapped himself. Instead of trying to goad her, to make her feel fear like she was sure he wanted, she stood a little straighter. Edith wrote once more. You’re right. I don’t have a choice, but you do. What you do is on your head. She felt vile enough because of what she had done, but she never chose to hurt someone unless it was absolutely necessary. Kole did it out of a sick fetish to see others suffer.
Turning his hand this way and that to look at the blood shimmering in the dim light, he was surprised to sense the resolve again in Edith's posture. He took the notebook, and burst out laughing again, tossing the paper back at her with a flick of his wrist. "Well, you're sort of right. You do still have a choice, deary. You could choose to save everyone else and let yourself die~"
That switch flipped again, and he looked at Edith in horror. "N-n-no! I didn't mean it!" How could he suggest such a thing? Even tease about such a thing? He felt his hair poking his back, encouraging him to do something. Swallowing hard, he took a step away. "Don't you see? I can't be here.. I'll just keep hurting you!"
Edith allowed the notepad to fall. It wasn’t as if words were doing her much use at this point anyway. She reached up to cup her head with her hand and rubbed the area near her temple. This was giving her a massive migraine. One that was only so sure to grow, no doubt. She tried not to let his words get to her, but she could only hold out so long before his attacks poked holes in her defenses. Maybe she should just…? No! She reached out to snatch his hand again; this time it was more of an effort to keep him calm than to help him. Talking to Kole was like walking over shattered glass. Some steps were smooth, others so sharp you didn’t know you were bleeding until you were near death. She couldn’t stop shaking. And when she looked at him, Edith had no more words. She was solid in her resolve, but exhausted. His leaving, her brothers attack, Kyllian’s sudden departure, the potion, her growth, the isolation, this…She didn’t care anymore if he hurt her. Edith just needed him to be there.
He didn't get it... Kole's head was spinning as he fought to keep the darkness down. He had to leave! His heart thudded hard inside his chest, almost painfully. If he were of a weaker body, it would surely break right through his ribs! And why not? He was the one who deserved it, not Edith. Never Edith.
When she took his hand again, he felt the heat rise in his eyes, and his breath was shallow and quick. Nothing good would come of this. He would only cause her more pain. If only he'd watched the cabin more before approaching it... "Please... You have to make me go... I don't know if I can let go again..."
When Edith looked at him she gave a little sad, softened smile. Maybe she had become just as cracked as he, but in a different way. She walked towards him, and before he could put up a resistance she moved her hands to place them around his waist. With all of her might she hugged him, and buried her face against his chest. Surely if she let go he would run away. It’s what he wanted, so why couldn’t she just listen? Everything about him said run, but there was something still there…Maybe she was just delusional, but she just didn’t give a damn anymore. If he went, she would go with him. Edith couldn’t stop from crying now. All of her frustration and sorrow came out at once. She gripped his shirt with her hands, and prayed that the warmth she felt from him was real.
Kole kept shaking his head. 'Don't, Edith.... Stop looking at me like that... I don't deserve your smiles...' He couldn't send the words to his lips though, hearing them only in his mind. His chest seemed to burst when she accepted him so fully. To feel someone embrace him once again, and not just anyone... He'd hurt her, frightened her, and now she was hugging him? The tears slid down his face, and he squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't... Unfortunately, his arms were quickly wrapping around Edith, hugging her firmly. His head tipped to bury his face in her hair, his jaw jammed tight to keep from speaking again. What else could he say? She knew he was dangerous, and yet here she was...
He'd missed her so much...
When she felt his arms on her she assumed the worst. He was going to push her away, maybe dig his nails into her…the hug was so surprising that Edith gasped. She tried to turn up to see him, but she felt his head on her own, and couldn’t help smiling. Edith hugged him all the tighter, lowering her wings into a casual position as her entire body seemed to relax. She rubbed her hands soothingly along his back. This wasn’t going to be the end; not by a long shot. There were still so many things wrong about it all, but damn it, she wanted this moment to last forever. She wasn’t frightened of him, but rather frightened for him. Having him so close, hugging her back, was the greatest gift she could have ever received. After a while she tilted her head to look at him. Even through tears she laughed a little and smiled, reaching up to cup his cheek to wipe away his own tears with the pad of her thumb.
While Edith’s body relaxed, Kole’s tensed and shook. He hadn’t dared to imagine that he might get anything like this again. The warmth radiating off of her chased the darkness into a corner, for however brief a time. He could go from hugging her to crushing her in a matter of seconds... and wouldn’t that be fun? ....He was going to make himself sick.
Feeling her shift, he reluctantly straightened up to look back at her. She was smiling... She was looking right at him, and smiling... As she touched his face, he clenched his teeth tighter. His hands had done such horrible things... “I’m so sorry, Edith... For everything. ..It’s not safe for you, letting me stay. You know this.”
She knew somewhere inside of her that it was too good to last. She felt him tense beneath her hand, and a sigh slipped out. Edith shook her head with a stern little frown. What was done was done; neither one of them could change anything now. If he dwelled on it he would just get agitated again, and she would go mad. Edith was already half way there as it was. Moving her hand, she tapped her fangs and shrugged. “Safe” was up for debate now. If he fought her, she would fight him back. She was a big girl! But…she also didn’t want to make him stay. It’s what she wanted, but if Kole didn’t feel the same way then it would only bother him. This had to be his decision.
He couldn't help it... One hand rose to brush the back of his fingers along her cheek, making sure to keep his claws from touching her. He couldn't even begin to describe how good it was to see her again, and to see a smile on her face rather than fear. He looked at the fangs she pointed out, and just felt sad. She'd done this to try understanding him... To try helping him...
"Maybe... I could visit sometimes? ...I can't not see you again."
The feel of his hand on her cheek was enough to make her heart skip a beat. It thumped as if she had just finished a race, but Edith hadn't gone anywhere at all. If she wasn't scared of him or exercising then why...?
Edith's smile only grew and she nodded her head. That would make her very happy indeed! He made it sound so finite; almost as if he didn't do it then something bad would happen, which was a welcome change from Kole trying to flee. Feeling her stomach cramp once more, Edith placed a hand on it out of reflex with a little embarrassed grin. Then she pointed to him and made a motion as if to eat a sandwich. Had he eaten, she wondered? She didn't have much real food, but she could whip something up for him.
He was flooded with warmth from her smile. He didn’t deserve it at all, yet there it was... How much longer would he be able to see it...?
His brow rose, and then knit slightly. “I... was on my way to get something to eat...” He looked at the cabin, and back to Edith. “Do you... eat regular food anymore?” He blushed slightly, eyes shifting away. “You were... sucking on your wrist earlier...” He held her hand up, giving the broken skin a concerned look. “You should wrap that.”
Edith tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow. Did she eat regular food...? She had been a vampire for a while now, but she couldn't really remember eating anything normal since then. She shrugged her shoulders. She could try! The worst that could happen would mean that she could eat all the cake she wanted without gaining weight. That she liked. Edith looked at her wrist and nodded. Tapping her lower lip, she held up a finger. Edith pointed to her wrist, made a wrapping motion, then to her feet like she was getting shoes, and then shrugged as if getting into a coat. Then she pointed to him, back to her, and made walking motions with her fingers. They could go to town together, if he wanted...Then it dawned on her. He would eat regular food, but she would still have to hunt. Edith put a hand on her stomach and her wings deflated behind her. Would he even want to be around her after that? Maybe she should just stay home...
He patiently waited as Edith acted out her request. Go to town together? He lit up at the idea, but the delight fell with Edith’s posture. She would eventually need to eat of her own kind... and he doubted anyone in town would serve what she needed.
With something he hadn’t felt in a long time, he reached out again to pull Edith close. “If you find something to eat on the way there, you can go after it. Do what you need to...” If she could accept him as he was.. No. He could never turn her away. Not again. Not for something like this.
Edith squeaked when she was pulled close, and blinked in awe. Her fangs peeped around her upper lip as she gaped at him, but quickly she smiled. If he meant it...then her world became infinitely brighter. She would try to be on her best behavior, even if it was hard to resist. Riff had said the freshly 'turned' tended to over indulge. She only hoped she could hold out...
Rising up to her tip toes, Edith kissed his cheek and bounced back down on her heel with a smile. She was so thankful to have her friend back in her life. Things were rocky, and nothing was decided, but...how could she not feel happy about this?!
She turned on her heel to go back inside of the cabin to get ready.
Kole wasn’t worried about Edith. He was concerned about himself... Would seeing or knowing about Edith’s hunt bring out the side he didn’t like?
Thankfully, Edith was right there to pull him out of those kinds of thoughts. His eyes widened, and his cheeks heated up, a hand rising to touch his cheek. His heart fluttered... feeling as much pain as he was joy. She was growing up... she was beautiful... but whatever crush he may have had as a child would have to remain a thing of the past. He couldn’t put her through that. Allowing himself to return as her friend was bad enough.
He felt the pain growing, and he caught himself before it could get too far. He just wanted to enjoy whatever time he had left with her today. He took a few deep breaths, and looked up at the deepening sky while he waited for Edith. Just for tonight... maybe he could feel happy again...
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:51 pm
Teen Stage; AIM PD Skill Learned! -Bullet Seed:
Another late afternoon. Brushing another stray bang back into place Kenna frowned. Why had Amalie sent her out here on an errand? It was such a dreary place in the forest. Unlike the bustle of the city streets this place was quiet with dark husks of trees reaching out towards the sky. A hopeless plea for the sun’s warmth in the darkness of winter’s cold touch. Everything here might have once flourished with life in the summer, but now it was an empty shell of hope and promises. Charred remains of plants around the area showed that the fire may have taken place months ago, but the scars remained. Kicking her boot into the base of a stump Kenna wrinkled her nose in distaste.
I might as well be in a horror flick.
What type of wacko would live out here anyways? Kenna shook her head, “Really Amalie? Find a freakin’ package out here for ya? Easy job she said.” The pyroar just rolled her eyes as she continued to trudge along. At least out here if she let go it shouldn’t matter. Everything was already dead anyways. The thought brought a smirk to her lips as she snapped her fingers and let a small flame dance to life.
In that very part of the forest, Kole was taking a stroll. While he wasn't exactly a fan of the cold, it was still interesting to see the trees barren, only half alive in their winter slumber. Animals were scrapping around for whatever meals they could find. They were vicious and hungry this time of year, digging through the pure snow until it was packed down into ugly paths... It was all quite amusing, really. Winter brought out the worst in those not made specifically for the cold.
He was surprised when he heard a strange snapping sound, eyes narrowing as he slowly turned to look around for the source. That was no branch, and no animal in the area made sounds like that. Who was near his home? Why? Baring his teeth, he cut his own path through the layer of snow until he saw the bit of light. For half a moment, he thought it might be someone particular. When he finally got the pyroar in sight though, his defenses went back up. "Out here is no place for a lady~" he crooned, looking over the other teen with harsh scrutiny. Some chick out here by herself? He was as confused as he was curious.
Ears pricking up at hearing a stranger’s approach Kenna showed no fear as she turned on her heels. Instead the pyroar smirked, “Who the hell said I was ever a lady?” She questioned while closing her fist over the dancing flame, “So I guess I can be here then.” The guy definitely was an interesting one. Had she ever seen any pokehuman like him before? Eh, it wasn’t any of her business though. Working with Amalie had taught her that sometimes the strange things you just leave alone. Staring them over like some freak would definitely not do. Not that she found him a freak…he was just interesting and new to her.
“You should be more worried about yourself out here.” Kenna added as she stretched out her arms, “If this is no place for a lady I would think that you should be worried about yourself more.” As it was she was fine with taking care of herself. Plenty of midnight fights had proven that by now. If he doubted her then she was prepared to prove herself. No one should ever consider her some dainty little lady!
His brow cocked at her reply, and his grin spread open. "I suppose you have a point there~" he replied with a chuckle. Being female did not exactly make her a lady. One of his arms of hair waved to the stranger with delight, while the other just hung along Kole's shoulder. "Well, being a lady isn't the only trait for not belonging here."
Kole laughed sharply, hand rising to idly scratch his cheek. "Well, so harsh for a first meeting. So defensive. Are you so offended at being called a lady? Was I mistaken? Are you a male?" He looked her up and down again, and snorted. That was one curvy male~
Lowering her hand to her hip Kenna smiled at his reaction. Surely she did have a point then. What else was she supposed to do? Turn tail and run because some stranger deemed this place too unsafe for her? The thought just made her laugh quietly. Like hell anyone could chase me off that easily. Despite the demon before her something seemed…strange as if she were being tugged here. Kenna just shook off the feeling though as he pushed again, “Oh? Then do tell me more. I never knew a forest had restrictions on passing through.”
Nodding Kenna laughed, “I assure you I am a female, but wouldn’t you get offended if others kept insisting you were something else?” She shrugged lightly, “In my case I hate being called a lady cause I associate them as dainty little things. Because of that I don’t like it.” As he looked her up and down a bit Kenna held back the urge to roll her eyes. It had become a thing ever since she grew that guys would do that and each time those that tried touching her ended up touching the ground instead. Still though she wasn’t afraid or intimidated by the stranger before her. Kenna couldn’t place it, but instead she was becoming more interested than frustrated.
Why was he so intent on banishing her from these “dangerous” parts?
Kole slowly tilted his head, smile remaining in place. She was a fiery one. "It does when it is someones home. I suppose it really is time I put signs up to keep your lot out~"
He chuckled and shook his head. "And what of my assumptions of a lady? Perhaps I have just paid you a high compliment, and simply used it as a title and not the offense you think it to be. A lady is merely a grown female. Would you prefer miss? Ma'am? Woman? Girl? Kitty? You with the face?" He sighed deeply, his active arm of hair scratching his head. "I suppose all of this is irrelevant though. Leave. You can't possibly have business here, unless it is with me. I assure you, you have no business with me." Tilting her head Kenna frowned. His home? This place was his home? Surely not…looking around the teen surveyed the area. “You must really like the desolate look then. Sorry I never expected someone to be living out here. They never really put the sold sign up either, must have been a short sale.” She gave him a small smile of bitter humor. Had Amalie really mislead her then with the information? The pyroar clicked her tongue against her teeth. Figures.
His definition of a lady? Kenna laughed quietly, “For some reason I get the feelin’ that you wouldn’t be the type of stranger to compliment someone easily.” She grinned, “As is I still don’t like being clumped into a category just cause I’m a ‘grown female’.” When he bid her to leave the pyroar frowned, “You never know that. Just cause you happen to like being a hermit out here in the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean I might not have business with you.” She shrugged a bit, “I doubt it cause my boss likes to send me out with bad directions, but still. Why avoid here? I don’t see any great danger. You must not either for it to be your home.”
Kole smirked again, and shrugged his shoulders. "You don't see yourself as a lady, and I don't see this as a bad place to live. We all have our opinions, apparently." This... was a first. Shouldn't she be running by now? Though, perhaps it was because he was in a good mood today?
"Ah, you might be right~" he replied, shaking his head. Brow rising, he leaned back against one of the sleeping trees and crossed his arms. "I doubt it, as well. There are few who would have business with me." His grin spread again. "Ah, more assumptions. It is because this is my home that this place is dangerous for others, deary. That boss of yours gave you some really bad directions to send you out this way."
Smirking in turn Kenna rubbed the back of her neck, “Apparently so.” The pyroar was actually enjoying this just a bit. Perhaps getting lost wasn’t so bad after all. Unless Amalie had sent her out of the way for a reason? The teen crinkled her nose at the thought. Frustrating mega always sending me on errands during her other ‘business’ deals. She could only guess what mess she would be cleaning when she got back tonight.
At his hidden threat Kenna laughed, “Or maybe it’s a difference of opinions again?” Her teal eyes danced with a challenge, “I’ve been here for a bit and still no danger has happened to me. Perhaps then I think differently of this dangerous person speaking to me?” She wasn’t afraid. There was nothing terrifying about him to her and instead she found that she was getting more interested. Why would such a hermit warn her and then act isolated from the world by his own actions? What had he done to deserve this forced solitude?
The teen shrugged, “If you want to chase me off then go for it. I wouldn’t mind the warm up of a fight first. Wanna show me danger?” Her grin was daring, “I don’t mind dancing around a bit, if you don’t.”
Kole finally pushed himself away from the tree, and took a few steps forward. "And perhaps that is what makes the danger even more so~ You do not seem the type to flee at the sign of danger, and I am feeling particularly charitable today, which, believe me, is a rare thing. So, I will encourage you once again... This is not a place for you, female or otherwise."
Still, the girl was already raring to go for a fight... It was almost tempting. His arm of hair poked his cheek excitedly. She was interesting! "However... if you're truly so determined to stick around..." The other arm of hair seemed to wake up now, arching slightly away from his body.
“Oh you catch on quick.” Kenna took a step forward to accept the challenge, “No need to waste charity on me. Save it for someone who actually might need it.” Even if he did something scary or painful what was she to run away from it? Something inside of her was aching for him. How many others had run that made him expect nothing less now? More so though it was the fire of a challenge that kept her going forward. She was not one to run away especially after being warned.
Smirking the pyroar nodded, “I’m too stubborn for my own good I suppose.” She motioned him forward as flames danced across her hands, “Come on mister dangerous! I’ll try not to burn ya too badly~” Kenna grinned, “Since you’re being so charitable I’ll just warm up with you as my own charity.” Kole snorted. "Do not dismiss charity so easily. You might still need it later."
He couldn't help another sharp laugh. "You would waste your own charity as well? Very well, then.." His tail lashed about, grin darkening. "Let's see what else you will squander. What else you would do at risk of your own good. Shall we?" Chuckling, he crouched and waved his claw-like fingers at the other teen. "Maybe I'll try to not kill you~"
Kenna only shook her head. If he thought so then she wouldn’t argue with him. Wasn’t it best to just prove such things? She smirked as the fire inside of her began to burn even stronger. It was getting hard to hold the flames back when she was so excited. The thought of fighting this guy really woke her up from the earlier boredom.
“I’ll show you a true risk~” Grinning the pyroar sprung into action and kicked out towards the stranger. Sparks of fire danced along her skin as she tried her best to hold back her incinerate. The last thing she wanted to do was set the whole forest on fire once more. Instead she relied heavily on the martial arts that Amalie had instructed her in. Laughing Kenna landed gracefully on the ground after her kick to only turn around and lash out again.Come on mister danger…show me what ya have!
When the teen lunged, Kole's grin spread even more. "You're right. That is a true risk." He jumped forward to meet the challenge, dodging her first kick easily. While he didn't have any formal training, his fighting instinct since his evolution was strong. That, and a growing record of experience... He spun to keep her at his front, reaching out with his nails while his hair helped to deflect attacks, trying to grab the limbs she threw around at the same time to throw her balance off. “Damm those helpers.” Kenna frowned as another punch was blocked off by the moving hair. How was it fair that he was fighting with two extra limbs? Still though the pyroar had to admit it would be a disappointment if this wasn’t a challenge. As she danced around his nails Kenna found her frustration rising. How could she get anything in with him having that hair in the way?
The ground…was uneven.
Smirking the teen looked towards the stranger with even more fire in her gaze. Moving forward she did something unexpected and swept her legs under both of his. Despite her hands being locked by his hair sacrificing her own balance onto him sent them both rolling through the forest. Groaning as they hit an older tree that had fallen Kenna moved to pin him down. Panting she smirked at him through the mess of her own hair, “Ah…hah.” She knew her hold wasn’t that strong though and the pyroar had to wonder what he had up his sleeves now.
Oh, this was a delight! It felt like ages since he’d fought someone on a more level footing! Though, speaking of level footing... He snarled when he felt to kick to his legs, arms windmilling in an attempt to catch himself. The snow was slick though, and he was sent rolling right along with the other teen. The breath was knocked out of him briefly when he slammed into the tree at the end of their fall, he had to gasp a couple times before another chuckle could rise. “Ballsy,” he panted out. With his hair still trying to cling to her hands, his own hands came up in front of his chest, feeling a burst within himself. “Bullet seed!” he snarled, aiming four shots at the pyroar’s face and neck.
Smiling through her heavy breathing Kenna nodded, “Why the hell not?” She commented before finding herself tossed backwards by the new attack. Thankfully her own flames had reacted and sparks of ember lit up the darkening sky around them. There still were going to be several new bruises from those that had hit, but still Kenna just laughed.
A trickle of blood dripped slowly down her cheek as she sat back on the ground. In a surprising way she didn’t retaliate or curse him instead the pyroar just laughed again, “That…that was fun.” Leaning her head back she rolled her shoulders before looking back towards her opponent, “Want to stop now before I accidentally set the forest back on fire?” Her skin was flushed and it was obvious she was holding back the rest of the fire that burned within. Even though she said it lightly as a teasing remark the danger remained.
“You’re tired too right?” She added gently with a small smile, “Let’s call it quits here then, mister danger.”
He closed his eyes against the surge of fire, his hair immediately shifting to protect his face. Blowing out a long breath, his hair dropped back to arch over his shoulders as he observed. She was... laughing? He growled slightly, until he realized she wasn’t laughing at him. It was... fun?! Well, yeah, that had been fun, but really? His eyes glanced around at the trees, and he slowly pushed himself up. “As I said.. this is my home. I would rather it stay in one piece.” Despite having not killed the woman, he surprisingly felt rather... content. He smoothed his shirt, and brushed his hair back from his face. How long had they been dodging blows? “I must say, you were a rare delight, deary.” He was grinning again, and waggled his fingers at her. “Try not to come back~”
You would think the guy had never had a good laugh before. Kenna just clicked her tongue before shaking her head, “Shame. I hear it’s a good season for bonfires.” She quipped lightly before pushing herself up from the ground. Her brow furrowed as she rubbed some of the dirt and blood from her legs. What a mess I made. It was a good thing she was going back to Amalie rather than Sera.
Smirking Kenna just waved a hand at him, “Alright, alright. Sending me off yet calling me a rare delight…you are a strange one.” Her teal eyes gleamed, “I’ll try, but who knows? It’s awful hard to stay on the path in this place.” Shrugging she fixed her clothing the best she could before turning away, “By the way I prefer Kenna to deary or lady. Try to remember it just in case, okay?” With that she waved a hand in the air and started off into the forest again. The memory of the random stranger and his isolation would burn into her mind and Kenna would make certain to not forget that face anytime soon.
What…an interesting experience today had been.
Chuckling, Kole started to turn away. She would be better off losing this path completely... She really might prove to be too stubborn for her own good. He glanced back over his shoulder, brow knitting. "As you say, Kenna deary," he murmured, though he wasn't smiling anymore. This woman was laughing, smiling, joking, and sharing her name in his presence... Yet, he held no impulse right then to kill her, either. Perhaps...? Maybe...? Finally, a small smile lifted without malice as he resumed his trek. Yeah. That had been fun.
Cornetified
Precious Loiterer
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Cornetified
Precious Loiterer
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 6:18 pm
Teen Stage; AIM PD- Fire In The Shadows:
The day had started out marvelously. The sun was lowering to rest when Kole left his cave. Not too cold, and not too bright. He was feeling pretty good, so he decided a quick trip to town would be okay. It was time to restock on certain things anyway. He'd been eating fairly well ever since he'd found his friend Edith, since she wouldn't stop throwing food at him, but it was still best to keep his own supplies full; for those days when he couldn't visit her...
The street lamps were lit by the time he reached the town, more comfortable roaming the dim streets as opposed to when it was lit by the sunlight. At this time of night, anyone walking would avoid him for the natural sake of nighttime walking safety anyway, so it was much easier for him to get around. He was heading for an all-hours shop, not paying attention to those he was passing, when one group of teens suddenly started whispering excitedly. Something hard hit has back between his shoulders, and he flinched away. He didn't want to fight anyone tonight. He was just-
"Hey! Freak!"
Kole's eyes widened, and he turned to see three unfortunately familiar faces, backed up by three unfamiliar ones. The guys who'd forced the potion on him.... He shook his head, clearing it as they spoke.
"Come on, freak! Let's see what you got now! See, we got some of our friends to level the playing field!" "This is the guy? He doesn't look like much." "Dudes, his hair is moving on its own! Weird!"
Quickly, Kole's worried and nervous expression morphed into a wide, sick grin. "What I did to you... Funny. I'm surprised you're already out from hiding behind your mother's skirts." He cracked his knuckles, eyes narrowing when he realized... the three unknowns were other pokehumans! It looked like... a chubchoo, a delibird, and corphish. He wasn't worried about the corphish as much, but the other two might be a problem... Still, he grinned and grew a leech seed into his hand. "And still can't fight your own battles, either. Will you at least make it interesting for me this time~?" The humans leapt out of the way as the corphish tackled forward, grabbing Kole with his large pincers with vice grip before throwing the lighter teen down into the alley. As Kole pushed himself up, he grinned again as the corphish fainted, the leech seed effectively sucking the guy's energy. "One down, two to go~" he teased.
Was it really already so late? Kenna sighed as she slid down from a fire escape and into the alley below. Normally she was running to the shop by now to pick up her to do list from Amalie, but tonight the pyroar was just strolling. Err...technically rampaging from her home since Sera had decided to bicker with her on her day off instead of just letting her rest. Kenna just shoved the thought aside. It was better to vent her anger out in the streets than staying locked up in her room.
But with Amalie out of town what was she supposed to do really?
A faint rumble from her stomach provided an idea. I suppose an evening snack wouldn't hurt any. Pulling out her wallet she checked the cash in there with a faint grin. She never really spent money so why not splurge a bit? Wasn't food and weapons what normal girls her age got after all? Kenna snickered at the thought. Yeah right. It was boring though being in this area since the gangs were dispersed back into the darker alleys...
Ears twitching Kenna suddenly realized that there was some noise on the supposedly calm streets now. What do we have here? Tail twitching the female slipped around the corner to watch from behind. Who was fighting out here at this hour? Probably just some thug kids... Her gaze caught sight of the cornered figure and she found her whole body leaning towards the scene in interest. Were they ganging up on this guy? What little punks...there was something familiar about the figure as well.
Wasn't he?
No way...
Yet...the resemblance to the stranger from the other day was strong and his attack confirmed it. Looks like mister danger is in a bit of a hassle then. Raising her fists Kenna braced herself for a good fight.
Of course it had been the corphish that had gone down first... Though, Kole was glad he'd stuck a leech seed out there when he had. The delibird shot an ice beam at him, nicking his arm as he dodged out of the way. His arm didn't freeze, but it sure stung. The effects of the leech seed made his recovery from the hit much quicker, and he retaliated with bullet seed. The delibird earned a black eye from that attack, and it blindly shot another ice beam in frustration. The humans shouted when the wild beam nearly hit them instead of Kole!
The cubchoo was trying to figure out if he could get the leech seed off of his corphish buddy when he looked up and saw the female at the opening of the alley. Were her fists raised? "Oy, lady. Be a good girl and get on your way." He stood up and of course looked her over quickly. "Unless it's those legs you wanna give us. You'll have to wait a minute though. We're.. busy, as you can see. But we won't be long, I assure you~"
Kenna's ears laid flat at the sound of the cubchoo's voice, "I'm sorry did you just call me that?" Her strained smile twitched as she took a step forward. She would give them her legs alright! Fire ignited along her arms lighting up the alley as she took more steps forward, "Oh don't worry I know you won't take long."
Spinning on her heels she made certain to kick out towards the pokehuman. Hell she wouldn't even need to waste her knives on these punks! Did these stupid kids think they were anything like she had to deal with on a normal basis? Hah! Even her worry about mister danger was diminishing. She really just wanted to beat up these punks for being such punks now. First you pick on my....friend? Then you want to insult me? Oh hell no!
The cubchoo grinned for half a second as the female walked closer. Damn, she was hot! ...Holy crap, she was literally on fire! He yelped and tried to dodge the kick, but ended up feeling the heel slam right into his face. "That's.. not.. what I.. meant..." he murmured thickly as he dropped to his knees, his head spinning from the impact.
While a rain of razor leaves made the delibird duck away, Kole looked over at the sudden heat and light. Some other punk coming to-? .....No way. Her? What were the odds? He smirked as the cubchoo got a face full of the pyroar's heel. He'd looked away just long enough though. The teenagers had mustered up enough balls to tackle him. Their weight threw him flat against the asphalt, his chin knocking the ground. Before they could even think of victory though, Kole growled furiously and whipped one hand free, swinging it to dig his long nails into the belly of one of the humans. The young man screamed, and the others recoiled sharply. "Think that'll work on me again?" he snarled, spinning to dig his nails further into his victim.
The delibird pokehuman just gawked. Some chick was jumping into the fight, his fellow pokehumans were already down, and now the lanky stick of a gourgeist was tearing his bud's torso open?! He hollered out as he aimed a violent frost breath attack at Kole, who was too focused on the humans at the moment to pay attention elsewhere.
Kenna just smirked. Too bad. Seriously these punks really should learn to stay off the streets and go back home where they belonged. You would all be dead meat if you had come down my alley. The gangs there were blood thirsty and something like this was just an annoyance for Kenna. But speaking of annoying...Kenna's gaze slid back to try to find her stranger friend. Where did he go in this mess?
"He-hey!" Unlike Kole who was oblivious to the delibird's attack Kenna saw it clearly. Was he going to avoid it in time? s**t. Why would she ever consider helping this guy? Any fighter should know to watch their surroundings at all times....still she could only curse before running to jump in between Kole and the attack. Why she reacted so quickly and without hesitation was a good question, but the pyroar couldn't stand the idea of the stranger just getting blasted.
Her vision spinning Kenna was knocked to the ground and rolled from the impact until she hit one of the alley walls. And then suddenly it was dark again as her fire was drowned out from the attack. The sharp crack of her skull against brick also filled the air and darkness was the last thing Kenna saw before passing out.
Kole could only grin and cackle as the human's face paled and dropped unconscious. He only just heard Kenna calling out, looking over in time to see her... see her... Had she just...? He looked at the delibird and laughed more. "You killed her! What kind of guy does that? She didn't even hurt you~"
The delibird was horrified when the female jumped in front of the attack, but it was too late to do anything to avoid her. His jaw gawked open, his own face going pale as Kole taunted. Killed? No! He hadn't killed her! She-! The two humans still conscious ran over to their pal and yanked on his arm. "Come on, man! We gotta hide her or something!"
Kole stood, clicked his tongue, and waggled a finger. "Oh, forget about her. You're still dealing with me, remember..."
It wasn't much later that Kole was wiping his hands on his pants and heading out of the alley. He'd finally gotten his revenge... Yet, his feet halted before he could get too far from the carnage, head turning to peek back at Kenna. "Stupid girl." He turned away, but paused again. 'She saved me! I can't leave her like that!' He turned toward her, and paused again. 'She's just a bother. Someone will come by and take her to a hospital or whatever soon enough.' He turned back away, and froze. Growling, he put his hands on his head to fight the personalities wagging war in his head. His arms of hair smacked the top of his head until he finally swatted them away.
When he turned back toward Kenna, his expression was softer, concerned, and horrified. He'd done it again... He wanted to throw up, but he forced himself to go around the mess to squat down and carefully pick Kenna up. A hospital would ask too many questions, but she was hurt and so cold... It would take ages to get back to his cave, and no one should ever go there anyway... He carried her through the alleys to the edge of the town, here he set her inside of an old tool shed long ago abandoned. He'd taken to using it as an emergency hideaway, and was darned glad he was near it! Lighting the lone, fat candle, he pulled out the small supply of gauze and disinfectant to dress Kenna's injury. He propped her up on what was available; a stack of cardboard covered by a tarp. Elevate the head, right? Or was it elevate the feet? ...........Why had she helped him?
She woke up to darkness and a pounding headache. Blinking the tears from her eyes the pyroar moaned softly before trying to move her body. Everything felt like lead and she had to curse when moving her arm simply took all of her strength. What happened? She hadn't felt this sluggish since she had grown and evolved. Had Amalie ripped her a new one or something in a training session? Those damn bunny legs...
A light flickering caught her blurry gaze and Kenna squinted in an attempt to focus on it. What was that? A flicker of flame? Using all of her strength she focused on it to ignore the pain in her skull as she slowly tried scooting up, "Where?" Words felt like cotton in her mouth as she slowly tried to look around. Okay so maybe moving her head was a bad idea. Sighing the girl leaned back once more in her daze as she struggled to wake up.
As her memories slowly started to fall into place her only question was where the hell was she now?
It was a risk. Everything felt like a risk these days. Leaving the cave was a risk. Going to town was a risk. Seeing Edith was a risk. Heck, waking up was a risk! Now, here he was, returning from a buzz into town to fill a canteen with water from a fountain to the girl he was now sheltering who'd gotten hurt by helping him. He couldn't even remember why he'd come to town anymore. A few feet from the shed, he had his hand out to the door and paused. Was she moving in there? He really should just toss the water inside and run. End any further interactions.
But.. he wanted to make sure she was okay.
Sighing, he slowly opened the door to peek inside. "H-hey. How are you feeling?" he asked gently, closing the door before walking over to hold out the canteen. "It's water. I'm sure you're thirsty... You've been unconscious for a while now...."
As her vision started to fully return and the walls stopped rippling like water Kenna began to try sitting back up. It was a half effort and by the time the door opened she found herself propped up against the box, "What do ya think?" She managed quietly with a raised eyebrow. Something about her mister danger was off...was it that he was too kind and gentle? He seemed less confident as well...strange.
Taking the canteen between her hands the pyroar tilted the canister back and swallowed the cool water. It was a relief knowing she could swallow at least without feeling pain, "Thanks." After a second of studying the canteen she peered back up towards the other poke-human curiously, "Hey..."
Nah maybe she was just delusional from the hit still? It had given her a killer bump after all on the back of her skull, "Are you okay?" Her gaze surveyed him, "Did you take a hit to your noogin too? You didn't have to take care of me after all." Wouldn't be the first time she had woken up in an alley way after a tough fight. The thought amused her lightly and her lips curled up into a small smile, "Either way you really should stop pissin' people off like that. I swear."
Kole gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sure you're not feeling too well." He pulled the candle a little closer once the water was taken to give Kenna more light. Looked like the wound had stopped bleeding already. That was a relief.
He looked at her curiously when she spoke, his head cocking slightly. She seemed confused. Well, of course she would. She'd taken a pretty hard knock to the head! As she elaborated, his cheeks darkened and he set the candle beside her before stepping back. "I've been better, but you got it worse than I did..... Of course I had to take care of you though! If I had just stayed away, then there wouldn't have been a fight for you to get involved in anyway!" His hands clenched into fists as he leaned back against one creaky wall. "They... won't be a problem anymore. To anyone." He felt his eyes well up, and he was glad that there was only the dim candlelight. "On that note... you didn't have to help me, either. I know when we last met.. we're not exactly buddies. Why did you save me like that?"
Kenna would have shaken her head at his reply but the pain of movement was too much. Instead she just gave him an amused look, "I'm sure you're right." When he looked at her wound Kenna dared to place her fingers lightly against the back of her skull. Slighty sticky...but not too deep. She winced lightly at the thud of pain before lowering her hand.
"Uh huh." Kenna smirked lightly, "I feel like that's not what I would have heard last time we met." He seemed more like you risk it you get the consequences type, but now was different. Almost like two sides of a coin...Kenna raised an eyebrow at his explanation, "You are silly. If it hand't been you those punks were askin' for a fight anyways. I would gladly kick their asses with or without ya there." She waved a finger at him, "Don’t think I'm the person to just kindly throw myself into battle as a cause of justice. I fight whether or not there is a reason at times." It was how she got stronger, her own personal training.
At his statement she frowned. Not a problem anymore? "Damn I missed you seriously mauling them then? Figures." She twisted her fingers together and paused at his question. Why had she saved him? Kenna frowned thoughtfully, "I guess it just wasn't fair to see them gang banging ya. Why did you want to get blasted instead?" She chuckled before coughing lightly, "As is I figured that puny attack wouldn't kill me." And maybe she was just crazy as well. Why had she dove in between them?
A sad smile rose, and he nodded in agreement. "You're right about that." When his other side was stronger, it would say no such thing. His gaze lowered a bit though. "It was me, though... They fought because it was me. They may have been looking for a fight, but I'm why they went through with it. We.. had a bit of a history."
Missed it? Figures? "You should be glad you missed seeing that," he murmured, drawing his knees up to his chest and crossing his arms on them to hide a little behind something. "I didn't want to get 'blasted'. I didn't want to fight. They started something a long time ago, and.. and they made me finish it tonight. You shouldn't be getting hurt on my account..."
If she was right about that then what was with being so different? "You sure you aren't a twin?" She teased lightly before wincing again. Things were starting to spin around her. Damn this was annoying. Worst than that time that she accidentally tried some of Amalie's hard liquor. Talk about things spinning then.
"In a way though isn't it better that it was you than some other person?" She closed her eyes against the pain, "You seem the noble type to worry about others currently anyways...but you had the strength to fight back so at least it was you then." Instead of some puny weakling they would have mauled. She spoke softly because her voice felt like fire to her ears, but she continued on after managing to swallow more water, "Sometimes you might not want something, but it won't stop it from happenin'. And trust me darlin' I've seen worse fights so don't worry about my eyes anytime soon."
She smiled bitterly, "Isn't it best to just accept that it happened and you were karma's way of getting back at them?" The pyroar closed her eyes again, "If they started it then it's best that you could finish it. Better than letting them get after you forever."
Kenna had to pause just to breathe. It was getting harder to focus again and she wanted to curse, but the energy was gone. "I mean I don't know what exactly they did to ya, but if it was that major to fight...their fault for pickin' a fight without realizing the dangers."
A twin? Oh, right. "Yeah, I don't have a twin." Too bad he couldn't just split himself in two... Then, maybe, he could be free of the madness... His gaze rose at Kenna's observation, and he actually smiled a little. "I guess you have a point. They've been so angry with me... I'm glad they didn't take that out on someone else..." Glancing to Kenna, he sighed softly. He was probably confusing her to no end with this personality change... but he did not wish to explain it.
"Karma?" Well... that was an interesting way to view it... Well, they did end his last life.... now he had ended theirs... "I like the way you think, Kenna deary," he suddenly chuckled, his expression and tone now fitting the shadows that he hid within. "After all, they quite well knew the danger I was to them. They just thought a couple extra buddies on their side would help. Foolish, to say the least."
No twin then? Kenna just raised an eyebrow. This guy surely knew how to represent waking up on the wrong side of the bed some days then. How could someone so...dark seem so soft like this? Still she shrugged off the confusion to nod, "Exactly. Take it and just take out the trash to save someone else the trouble." She brushed dirt from her jacket and frowned. There were a few more obvious blood stains going into the leather again.
At the sudden change in tone the pyroar looked up, "Deary?" Her ears tilted forward in interest, "Suddenly you really take to agreeing with me?" The teen smirked in amusement, "Twin number uno came back into sight. So do you pick fights and have torn decisions about them often?"
Still she winced in pain as she tried to situate her legs better against the floor, "So what do I call you mister?" Kenna sighed softly, "And was it just a group of punks or is there any other ambush I should be expectin' now?"
Kole chuckled lightly. “Well, when you make such good observations, who am I to disagree?” He raised his hand and shook a finger. “Now, now, what did I say? There is no twin.” He leaned forward with a grin. “Believe it or not, I’m not usually the one to start the fights. I’m not myself usually, and not myself is too soft.”
Leaning back, he raised his gaze to the ceiling. “You should always expect an ambush, deary. The shadows hide many dangers for someone like you. Though, perhaps you might also be one of those dangers?” He stood up and stretched, his hair settling around his shoulders. “You may call me Kole, if you must. I would say you’ll never need to know it, but I would also have assumed our last get together was our last. Shows you what a trick life can be~”
Kenna smirked. It wasn't that hard to make such an observation. You would have to be completely blind to miss the change that came over the other teen. It was like two different sides of a coin. One moment he was tails then the next thing ya knew he was flipped onto heads. What a guy.
"Sounds like a frustrating life." She flicked a stray piece of bang away from her gaze, "I would beat myself up for backing off into the corner like that. Ya do what ya gotta do to live. Being soft makes things too complicated." Soft ones just got abused and used in her opinion. You had to put your foot down else someone would lead your life for you forever. That would be a shame.
"Hah. You don't have to tell me such a thing twice. It should be common sense for anyone that lives out on the night rather than the day." Her gaze lit up with faint amusement, "Me a danger? I dunno about that." She shrugged lightly, "I'm just a little lady lost in the dark~"
"Kole, huh?" Kenna smirked in amusement as she struggled to get to her feet. Her body felt like lead and her head was pounding, but overall she felt like she could manage her way back. Knowing this guy he wouldn't want to play nurse for long anyways, "I suppose life really is tricky like that. Next thing you know we'll be stuck together like glue or somethin'." Teasingly she winked at him, "Though I doubt ya can handle that much heat."
"As much as I hate to interrupt our talk I have places to go." She smiled faintly, "I don't expect you want to linger long either mister Kole." Kenna's hand did linger though on the door frame of the old shack as she managed to take shaking steps away from the other teen, "We'll see if life has more in store for us, but I guess for now good bye. Try not to get into too much trouble, okay?" She grinned over her shoulder, "I don't know how many more times I can protect your a** like that."
With that she turned her gaze away and as she took a step forward the pyroar faded into the night with only the last movements of a waving hand lingering behind her.
“Oh, believe you me; I would rather be myself than that soft not myself any day,” he assured with a grin. It was a constant battle, and he knew it would take time to win the war... He nodded along in agreement with her views on being soft. He couldn’t agree more. He was ready for the not himself part to wither away.
The comment on their so far consistent get-togethers made him chuckle. “I should honored to be stuck to you, I suppose~?” he muttered under his breath. She was an interesting character, but even she would surely become boring to him after a few hours, like everyone else.
As Kenna made her slow way to leave, he laughed sharply and shook his head. “’Mister’ Kole. Now that is a new one.” He blew out the candle as he watched the hand vanish out the door, and stood alone in the dark for a minute. Stay out of trouble... “Ah, Kenna deary, we are not the kind to stay out of trouble~” he crooned to the dark.
