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 Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:34 pm
"I am but a humble servant of your household, lest you forgot." He spoke softly now, injecting a bit of seriousness into the conversation, as much as it dismayed him to stray from lighter topics.
It might indeed seem odd, for elves to call upon the services of humans, even if they were notoriously effective humans like the Kyonuske.... but the truth of the matter was that the Kyonuske Clan was made up of races from all across Gaia. They represented a force, not a single family or ideal.
They were guards. Assassins. Teachers. Saviors. Villains.
They were whatever they were hired to be.
"Others will be posted, as I must move with my team wherever we are called. You knew this day would come; in fact I seem to recall you relished nothing but-- when we first became acquainted."
He smiled ruefully, as she had been very adamant that he was not fit to protect so much as a sapling when she first laid eyes upon him so long ago. "This was but a part of my training... I am not yet a full fledged...man, as it were."
He wasn't going to bother to get into the politics of his organization, or his precariously unique circumstances.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:09 pm
So many things ran through her head at once-- Could she hire him explicitly? Would he WANT to contract with her? Or would he be offended? Or was he bound to his clan with no choice as to where he was sent-- or to whom?
It was true, at first they had been sort of thrust upon one another and she had been reviled at the idea of it. She had berated him, and he had quipped back quickly and often enough. But slowly, opposites had begun to attract-- she felt the pull. Even as she felt her eyes burning now.
'This is ridiculous... we hardly know each other. Why do I care so much for one human?'
Because--
But she wouldn't allow herself to think it.
Others would be posted? But she didn't want others! Could she refuse anyone but him? Or would that be selfish? For a moment, she wondered if she cared if it was selfish or not as long as he stayed.
"This was but a part of my training... I am not yet a full fledged...man, as it were."
This caused her pause as she met his eyes with a curious and astonished shyness-- even as she felt the heat burning in her cheeks as she guessed at the meaning of those words.
She had assumed-- did that mean then, that he--
'Something else... he must mean something else.'
Flustered she found her voice,
"But why now? What calls you away? And in so short a time, I thought--"
She broke off as her gaze drifted away, unable to look him in the face.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:17 pm
"As I said, me and my group must complete our training. Surveillance and guardianship are but one of the many facets we employ." His tone dropped as he neared a topic he did not wish to broach so openly.
"Death is also a part of our skillset."
He looked at her, eye locking with a sudden stillness that may have been chilling to a normal person.
"To mete it out as we are instructed, and to accept it on another's behalf, if necessary." He broke his gaze away from her, as if to continue would result in him doing something unthinkable.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:26 pm
She swallowed past the lump in her throat and wrenched her gaze up, meeting his with a fierce intensity as she spoke suddenly, passionately-- demanding almost.
"Do you WANT to go?!"
Her whole body was rigid as she braced for his answer.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:16 am
He was taken aback, to say the least-- considering that Elves were hardly the emotional type.
'An elf never tells a lie, but they never tell the truth either', is what he had been first told as part of his debriefing with the rest of the individuals who would be accompanying him. They were as carefully guarded of their words as most humans were of their lives.
"I...it's something I have to do." He almost found himself stammering, catching himself mid-way through as he tried to push away the feelings he knew were inside of himself.
He had already been warned, and he knew what the consequences would be.
This was only a job. He had a service to perform. "We all have our roles in life. Our own fate to follow."
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:35 am
Her eyes searched his face, seeking something. It felt as if an icy hand had grip of her heart and would crush it any moment. Whatever she saw in his face, whatever she 'felt' from this man-- it caused her to stand up straighter, she paused only for a split second before her hand reached to her throat and with a tug, she shed layer upon layer of flowing silk and with a thunderous
-CRACK!-
Four black feathered wings snapped open, unfurling from her back. Wings that she usually kept hidden. Wings she knew he'd glimpsed, the very first night she'd arrived in his village. Wings that marked her. Black wings for a dark fate. Wings to carry her to her destiny.
She laughed bitterly as he spoke of fate.
"Fate--
Hmph.
One would wonder, what a young Kyonuske such as yourself knows of fate. It would make excellent hearing, to be told of YOUR fate."
She closed the distance between them, and with ever balanced step, the heat between them jumped and spiked until the very air around them both was shimmering from the extreme temperature.
She peered at him with such intensity, like a fire burning, consuming, there was a touch of madness in those golden eyes. A hint of something darker, lurking. Biding it's time.
The womans hands shook as she fought to channel her emotions and regain her control. But the pull-- it was stronger than the tide being drawn to the moon.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:46 am
"I wouldn't know..." He smiled sadly even as he took the sight of her in.
"I never had the luxury of the discovery of such a thing.
Perhaps it is to die while saving another.
Maybe a meaningless life lays ahead of me.
Or perhaps I shall go usurp the very elements and take my place among the stars." He laughed softly now, in a teasing manner as he took a step forward.
"Or does my fate lie here with you in these lands, pressed into your arms for moonturns on end.
Would you have me by your side for the rest of my pitifully short life, so that I may give you the briefest of true devotions, only to deliver the deepest blow to you in the same turn when I pass on and you still live?"
He stared at her evenly.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:14 am
"I wouldn't know..."
I thought not.
"I never had the luxury of the discovery of such a thing."
You're wrong, it's not a luxury...
It's a curse.
"Perhaps it is to die while saving another.
Maybe a meaningless life lays ahead of me."
Perhaps he will die such, but a meaningless life lays nowhere in this one's future.
"Or perhaps I shall go usurp the very elements and take my place among the stars."
She could FEEL it. The fire pulling between them, there was no mistaking that he was very, very strongly tied to an element. HER element. THEIR element.
I feel it...
"Or does my fate lie here with you in these lands, pressed into your arms for moonturns on end."
Her eyes went wide, as he voiced the very thought floating around in her head. And suddenly she was panicked, afraid she had projected unintentionally-- but a quick check of her shields showed that she was still shielding against him heavily. And not just against him, but she was shielding him against herself.
It had started off so small, a gentle tugging. A small push or pull. But this...
The weight of everything pressing down on that barrier, from both sides-- it threatened to overwhelm her. If she lost control, it would swallow them both.
Even with that shield, that buffer--- it was still this bad.
Her heart begged her to drop the shield. Let them drown, drowning would be incredible--
But her head demanded she hang on, and hang on tight with every ounce of iron will she possessed, or there would be no going back.
She didn't understand it enough to decide. Besides, the choice wasn't hers alone. She wasn't even sure WHAT the choice was-- just that there was indeed a choice looming over them.
"Would you have me by your side for the rest of my pitifully short life, so that I may give you the briefest of true devotions, only to deliver the deepest blow to you in the same turn when I pass on and you still live?"
Her voice was a little breathy as she answered.
"I would have a life with you, no matter how brief. Than live none at all."
She stared back at him as she continued.
"Mine heart would be a much lightened thing, should you choose to weave the threads of our fates together... if you were to decide it was in your heart's interest, to make your place with me."
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:20 am
"Then. my lady, would you not rather have a man to accompany you-- rather than the child that stands before you now."
He allowed himself a smile.
In terms of lifespan, it was true, she was much older than he was.
By a lot. In fact, he tried not to think too deeply about it. It was just inviting unnecessary trouble. However, in terms of experience, while by human standards, he was matured... he was still a whelp in the ways of the world.
As far as he knew, he had no surviving relatives. He had been adopted by the Clan, taken from the mainland and sent to Guldor when he was just 17 (or so he believed judging from how his body aged over time).
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:45 am
"Being what you would call an immortal, means that my kind can afford patience."
She smiled softly and raised one hand tentatively to stroke his cheek,
"Besides... as you said. You humans lead such brief existences, I wouldn't waste any of that precious time apart from you, JUST because I could not wait a few years."
She stared at him seriously, both hands coming to rest on either side of his face, hers hovering just in front of him.
"If nothing else--
You're old enough to die for me, then you're old enough to truly stand WITH me."
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:18 am
His eyes closed as he felt her touch upon his skin. He could already feel his heart wrenching at the inside of his mind; how easy it could be, how simple it would be to simply give in.
"Sierra...I have to... do something before I can rest. I-- I can't explain it, but I have to go.
There are things I have to do. Every night, I dream of things I could not possibly have done.
Places I have never been to.
People I don't remember meeting."
He reached up, clasping a hand over one of hers. "I must be able to stand on my own, before I can stand with you."
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:20 pm
She pulled her hand out from under his and turned around. She couldn't bear to see his face now-- If she did, she would stop any more hurtful words from being spoken, by silencing him with a kiss. And that wouldn't be fair of her...
"I wonder, if you would--"
She sighed even as her eyes burned and a fine tremble ran through her body.
"Stand with me when you can stand on your own. There may be others, you may wish to stand with them. I've seen how fickle human hearts are."
And yet she felt the pull. A pull which she had never felt with any other. And again she had to wonder,
Why him?
Her people told stories about such attractions. About bonding. There were different kinds of bonds, but all of them said, if they were denied-- the ill fated pair would never find their truest happiness. And would forever be incomplete.
Bonded pairs were the equivalent of a 'Happy Ever After.' Unless of course they were separated. Or worse yet, one was killed. Quite often, the mate of the deceased did not survive the loss.
She needed a priest of her people, she was not learned in the delicacy of such things. And all the stories were always of two elves, save for the bonds of companions, between elf and animal.
In this matter she was blind.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:27 pm
"I will come for you when I deserve to be by your side, Princess."
He smiled softly, even as he shifted to the side, a finger tracing alongside the bark of a nearby tree. "You will be in good hands after all." He gathered himself together as he let his hand fall away.
"I am the adopted son of the head of the Kyonuske Clan. Even if I were to contest my duty, I owe my life to that man.
I am honour-bound to fulfill his wishes in the least."
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:56 pm
She froze slightly at the use of the word 'Princess'. Surely he couldn't know-- he had no way of knowing. Still, her heart skipped a beat. It sounded beautiful coming from him... not at all... haunting.
"No... I think not."
What she couldn't say, was that she didn't think she could bear the reminder-- the presence of the Kyonuske, when the one she longed for was not there. And wouldn't be.
Gods only knew when he MIGHT return.
She would guard herself... or form her own.
"I am the adopted son of the head of the Kyonuske Clan. Even if I were to contest my duty, I owe my life to that man.
I am honour-bound to fulfill his wishes in the least."
She bit her lip and turned to face him again, measuring his words and nodding absently. She in all consciousness could not ask him to forswear himself for her.
"It is so."
There was a reluctance to her voice, and a grudging respect of sworn vows. Honor was no small matter. And she knew she couldn't be with a man who broke sworn vows.
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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:13 pm
"Then we should stop holding council in the open, and at least seek the warmth of your hearth, lest I get reprimanded for letting you stray once more."
He smiled wolfishly, bowing in an overly formal fashion before rising and offering the crook of his elbow in a mock gentlemanly fashion.
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