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He felt himself smiling at her, though his expression was tired, making it look almost ironic, sad in a way, "No, I'm not sick - just tired," he wasn't sure he COULD get sick. His mind could not even remember a time when he'd been sick. Her worry and concern were obviously appreciated though - he also could not even recall the last time someone had worried about him. When people saw him, they usually worried about themselves, and no one had taken the time to get to know him as she had.

Then again, that was his fault, for he'd never given others an opening. He wouldn't have given Khalla an opening either, had circumstances not called for it. He simply could not leave her where he'd found her, in need of help.

It was ironic too, that in a way she WAS the source of his pain at the moment - he'd never spent so much time in this form, and he could actually already feel his grip on the illusion slowly slipping away, little by little. He was struggling to maintain it just a while longer - just long enough that she'd retire to the cave. Then he'd excuse himself, saying he was going to go hunt something and allow the illusion to drop.

He brought a paw up to rub at his eyes and then the bridge of his nose, findding it hard to focuss, "I... don't wish to disturb," was his honest answer as he let out a sigh. It was her next set of words that undid him though - no sooner had she said them that he felt his grip on the illusion slip entirely, so surprised had he been by such a statement. The moment his grip slipped, the illusion shattered like a mirror around him.


"You're not a disturbance," she said softly, a gentle smile on her maw as she stared out at the sunset. For a moment, for a moment longer she was staring obliviously at the sun in the distance. Just as the sun sank, however, her dream world was going with it. She turned her head to give him that smile and her whole world erupted. "You're actually rather sweet -" but then, her words died right on her lips.

She leapt to her feet, eyes instantly wide with fear, accusation written across her face. "I.. you.." She was gasping, barely capable of articulating a single word let alone a sentence. She was in a defensive stance in an instant, backing away from him and towards the edge of the cliff mindlessly. It didn't matter that there was danger in that direction - the real danger was right in front of her.

"You tricked me," it was somewhere between a wail and a whisper, a sound of pure horror as she stared into the eyes of the very creature she had been raised to fear above all others me. "To sink so low!" She was blind in her panic, her feet teetering on the edge of the cliff at this point. She couldn't see anything but the black beast in front of her - Enye Giza. Her guardian all this time was nothing but a foul trickster.

He winced.

There was nothing else he could do for a long, silent moment, however, her words, her tone of voice, everything - it caused him to flinch almost as if he'd been physically struck. He knew he wasn't going to be able to hold the illusion for ever, but he'd been hoping that... that.... honestly, he wasn't even sure what he'd been hoping or thinking.

His gaze raised up towards her, but his expression was hard to read. The fact his eyes were mere red lights in darkened voids made them unreadable, and though he did grimace, he had protruding fangs, rather than normal teeth - it lessened the effect of the expression on the outside world. He tried to open his mouth - to get his mind working so he might explain himself, but he was still so tired.

It was then he noticed she was baking up towards the cliff and he was on his feet in a flash, taking a step towards her, "The cliff!" he stopped stepping towards her though, fearing that each step he took would mean several taken back by her. He was used to fear and yet this time he wasn't afraid for himself - he was afraid for her and he had no idea how to fix this.

Instead he shifted his weight and spread his wings, looking lost, looking confused, guilty and a whole array of other emotions - her accusations were also not helping. Each one of them caused him to flinch back, his frame shrinking, recoiling, only to rebound back as soon as he noticed how near she was to the cliff, "Khalla..." it was a plea by now, "Khalla! The cliff!" he wasn't all too sure she was even listening and he was entering a state of panic himself.


Roho was right - Khalla wasn't listening. Khalla wasn't listening to a damn thing he was saying. He could have been making a speech in greek and she still wouldn't have noticed. No, the only thing that had grabbed Khalla's attention was his transformation.

He had glowing red eyes, eyes that stared into her soul and tried to suck her dry. He had huge black wings, like ravens or vultures - all things dark and evil. His fangs were long and deadily, maybe even venomous for all she knew. She was staring at the face of a.. monster.

When his wings spread, her horror-stricken face broke into even more panic and her legs scrambled back further. With a surprised wail, her back legs slipped over the edge, despite all his warnings. She scrambled with her front paws but in seconds her body was beginning to plummet straight towards the ground.

What a wicked end it would be.

"The cliff!" he warned one last time, and there was desperation dripping from his voice which usually remain awkwardly hesitant. He actually took one step forward and stretched out one of his forepaws, as if to grab her, but was stopped by the look of sheer horror in her eyes.

That face. That look. It was even worse than he'd ever imagined - it was a horribly vivid reaction, far more intense than any mortal had ever shown him, and in that second of hesitation from him, the female stumbled over the dreaded cliff. He watched her as if in slow-motion and for the first time since he could remember, actual, raw panic hit him. His paw which remain outstretched, hovering innocently, closed around empty space, simply air.

He found himself frozen stiff for what coule have been minutes, days, weeks even but was only barely a second. Then, with force and energy he really did not think he still possesed after days cloaked under an illusion, he spread his wings and with jumped off the cliff, plunging after her. It was both luck and effort that allowed him to reach her before they crashed on the ground. And it was with his last shreds of energy that he grabbed her as best as a lion ever could and teleported them miliseconds before they would have meet their end, crushed against the ground.

While it was true he avoided a major crash by teleporting... he had very litte energy left and they reappeared meters away from the place they would have hit, landing on the ground still with a thud, yet with simply a small fraction of the force she would have had he not intervened. He'd also somehow managed to arrange the fall so that it was he whom took the blunt of the crash against the ground, forcing the air out of his lungs.

The scene was almost ironicaly familiar, almost similar to how he'd found her, except now the roles were reversed and he was to spent, both physically and emotionally to care.

He would have laughed bitterly, if he could have mustered the energy to do so. As it was, he only offered her a strangely pathetic look, saddened, as if really, this were not the first time he'd heard such words, as if he were used to them... and yet they seemed to sting further than they'd ever done before. Even with previous knowledge of what she thought, the words still stung him horribly, "Enye Giza is not darkness. I have no idea whom he might be - he sounds more like Evil. I do not know - what I do know, is that I am darkness, and my name is most certainly not Enye Giza," a weary sigh was released and he managed to move with a hiss, the pain it caused rather visible and he stopped, giving up the attempt to stand, "I look like this because of you," his eyes were solemn under the mask, not that she could see, "All of you.... every single one of you. Every soul that believes in darkness - they're all responsible for how I look. I look like this because this is what they think of me."

It was right then and there that he realised he would have given up anything to get up and simply lay back down beside her - to take back the contact she'd so often offered and he'd shied away from. He'd have given up anything he possesed for it right now, and the knowledge was enough to cause him stiffen. Again he would have laughed, this time at himself, but he kept his mouth shut for a long moment, some unknown feeling tugging inside him, making him feel like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs despite the fact he was breathing normally, "I am Roho'eusi," he stressed it again, still desperate to drive that small fact in. Even if he'd lost her, he wanted her to understand, and the pain... the pain was not letting him think.

"You might have the right name... but the wrong domain. I do not know him," as she snapped her head back to look at him, teary eyed and yet with such a spark of... life in her eyes, he found himself trying to raise himself from the ground again, still with little success, "I helped you because I... have never helped anyone before. I stayed away, fearful of their power over me - fearful of what they'd say, how they'd react to me. I wanted to help you because it felt right to do so," he stopped trying to raise himself to his feet and gave up again, this time with a frustrated sound. His head turned away from her, and if there was a way for a lion like Roho to look sheepish, he certainly did at that moment in time, "And I stayed because I like you. You wouldn't look at me with fear in your eyes, and you were nice. I've never had before."

There was no room in her faith for things outside of the Guardian and Darkness, they didn't believe in gods like other lions did. Yet here this creature was telling her that there were others? With other domains? A frown formed on her maw and sheturned her gaze up to the last streaks of sun on the horizon. Could it be possible that the thing they feared most in the world had never been Darkness at all? Evil, he said. All that was evil.

"I don't know anymore," she said quietly, her voice hoarse from the strain. He was turning everything in her world upside down in one moment, one solitary minute. "I don't know anything about your kind, all I know is what I was raised to believe, and I can't apologize if we have somehow wronged you unintentionally." She frowned and turned her eyes back to him, staring silently at him for a long time.

Could she shun him? He who had been her dark angel? No, she knew that answer, her heart sung it as clearly as her eyes did in that single moment. Could she accept him in that instant for who and what he was? That was also a no. Belief did not change at the drop of a hat. "I fear Enye Giza," she said quietly, her voice not quite as affectionate as it had been before but neither was it.. fearful. "I'm not sure what you are, or what he is, but I think it's clear you are not one and the same."

She sighed then, turning and looking up at he cave she had fallen from. "I need time, Roho. I need to think." She needed to think about so much, everything, all of this. She didn't want him to leave, which was perhaps the most unsettling thought of all.

He shook his head - he didn't want an apology. What was done, was done, and how he looked could not be changed by an apology. In all honesty, it served him well. It kept others away, even if the exhistance was rather lonely. Funny how he'd never really thought of that before. Funny how his whole world had been toppled over by just barely a few days of company.

The idea of having to leave and return back to his old life made him flatten his ears back against his neck - it was the first sign of resistence and rebellion he'd shown in a very, very long time, "That was why I wanted to stay ... in a form you could understand. I'm sorry," and he really was. He had no idea why he kept apologising - after all, saying it a number or times did not fix things.

As she spoke again, he winced mildly, his breath coming out in a resigned puff of air - he knew she feared Enye Giza. He'd known that since almost the first day, and yet he'd stayed. It was obviouslt however, that he had not been expecting her to elaboate, because her next words took him by surprise. He watched her as she spoke and for the first time since the illusion had shattered he felt a small glimmer of hope.

It was small, but it was there, visible despite the groing darkness. Perhaps it was that notion that finally granted him the strength to push himself to his feet, or perhaps it was sheer willpower - it was hard to tell, "Time,"he said in a breath, though it was clear that he was relieved... even that small metaphorical bone that she'd tossed him was enough, "I've got time," he had all the time in the world, ironicaly enough.

A pause followed and he looked awkwardly out of place standing there, almost as if torn. He had no idea if he should leave her to think all alone, or if he should stay. He had no idea what to do, and ironically enough, turned his head to watch her instead, obviously waiting for a dimisal of some sort - regardless of what she asked, he would not go far. It was hard to ponder he'd been spending his time alone for a while - he'd grown used to her presence beside him.

Should she be grateful that he had thought of her feelings, or simply feel betrayed that the guardian she had known turned out to be something out of a child's tale? This was just one of many questions on her mind, and the longer she stood there staring at him, the harder it was for her to make any sense of it.

"I don't know when my mind will have made sense of this," she said quietly, shaking her head, "but I think perhaps I should stay in the cave alone tonight." Her words didn't sound as if there were a finality attached to them at least - quite contrary, in fact, her phrasing almost seemed to imply there was a future.

She turned her back to him, feeling her heart dropping into a pit as she did so. Even when he showed his true self, there was something about him that was calling to her. She paused then and looked back over her shoulder, having only walked a few steps. First she glanced at the horizon where the sun had set, at the violets and oranges that were sinking into the sky. "Don't go far, please?" And beneath all her sudden determination was that tiny child-like spark - she was still afraid of the darkness.

Then she turned, not waiting for an answer, and began her ascent back up the trail to the cave. It would be well into darkness before she got there, but even if she feared it, something about it was a little less scary.

He wasn't expecting her to make sense out of it all. Not now, and not so soon. Specially not when he, himself, was still struggling to catch on. He had no more words to offer and instead watched her calmly, still waiting for the dismisal, still waiting because he couldn't for the life of him, figure out what he had to do.

His only real hope and relief was that he really did have all the time in the world and he wasn't sure she even understood the extent of that notion nor how far it stretched.

Her request made that small glimmer of hope that much bigger and he found himself watching her as she padded away - it wasn't till she'd been engulfed by the darkness that he moved, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't away from the scene. Instead, he took a few steps forward and vanished into the darkness of the night, somewhere in the general direction of the cave.