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 Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 10:19 pm
In one of the deep more abandoned areas of the forest there was a clearing that let the light shine through the otherwise dark and foreboding foliage. This particular clearing had been claimed as one of Bane's many gardens of poison. This one was a favorite of his though, no one ever came this way so he felt safe to put his more delicate works of art. The clearing was overflowing with plants that were as beautiful as they were deadly. Some even the slight p***k of their thorns would kill a man almost instantaneously. Each and every last one of the plants were hybrids Bane had created and were seen no where else in the forest. Bane seemed to be immune to his hybrids which he was thankful for it got annoying taking antidote all the time when taking care of his plants.
Bane had moved himself to this portion of the forest for a reason today. Not that he needed an excuse to visit his favorite garden but if he did a good one would be spotting Emrys. He had been snooping around one of Bane's gardens. Did he know Bane was alive? Was he looking for him? What had led him to a place so far away from his precious village that he and Bane had come from? The thought of facing Emrys was not something Bane could accept. Not so much actually seeing him but to admit what he truly felt about seeing his childhood friend again after so many years. Bane turned from the sorrow he was feeling and used it instead to feed the rage and insanity that was already in him. He stormed along the path feeling rather violent wishing he had someone to take his rage out on. He spoke to himself in a hushed growl asking the same questions over and over. It felt like nothing was going to calm him from his fevered dementia.
That is until he reached his garden their voices called out to him. Each one knowing how much he cared about them. Bane felt thankful he was a druid and could communicate with them. They were his family the only ones he could truly stand to be around for he never felt anything but happiness in their presence. He smiled and made his way to check on each on everyone, ridding one of them of a pesky bug that thought it would get away with eating the plant. Bane was now in a completely different mindset, calm, collected, and could even be called sane. Once he had finished tending to the garden he climbed high into a near by tree to rest and listen to the sounds of the forest putting his soul at ease and helping him to forget his past once more.
The oddly haired Druid stared at the plant.
The plant stared right back at the Druid, cocking its leaves in a manner that could only be provoking.
Keiskei couldn’t believe that a plant was fighting him. Sure, he had picked a few leaves off of it and may have overdone so. Verdant green eyes peered back to the plant looking a bit balder than he’d earlier admitted. Okay, so he might have been a wee bit out of line there. But it was a plant…it was meant to be plucked.
“You’re a plant. You’re meant to be plucked.” He stated.
It merely looked at him, long vine-like tendrils filled with poisonous fluids curling around its base irritably. ‘I’m not even yours.’ It finally stated after, what felt to Keiskei as an infinitely long and tedious amount of time.
Oh. That’s a surprise.
The wild and beastly patch of forest he’d found himself in had been nigh almost impossible to find. Somewhere between nowhere and irredeemably lost was his current location. Keiskei was almost sure he was going to be horribly lost for at least a while before being able to come home. Nunna was definitely going to be a little put out with him. If he was unlucky, he’d have to tend to the clinic for one solid week. Ugh. He hated doing clinics! Patients were such a bother!
‘You done getting lost in that big head of your flower-Druid?’ the plant mocked him, spiny tendrils seemingly growing larger in front of his eyes with its counterparts around it seemingly using their tendrils to loom about him and fairly bristling with ill intent.
Hm. Never seen plants do that before.
“So who do you then belong to plant?” Keiskei rebutted. No way was he loosing an argument with a plant! It was a plant for Gaia’s sake! He’d loose the little self-respect he had.
The plant seemed to take a moment to turn to its counterparts before turning back to Keiskei. A hushed whisper seemed to spread through them catching like wildfire from one poisonous plant variety to another stretching far back through the clearing. They seemed to be saying a name over and over but it was almost to obscure to understand since they were saying a jumbled mix of Bane's real name and the one he went by.
It took a bit for their whispers to reach Bane who had fallen to sleep in the trees arms. When he finally heard them he woke with a start looking down at his plants. Something had to be wrong they never woke him from a nap. He moved swiftly and silently down from the tree unsure of what was going on.
The clearing was large so he did not see Keiskei from here but he could tell something was off and he wasn't alone. One of the plants spoke to Bane to tell him that there was a stranger plucking leaves from the Whiproot flower. This was all the info Bane needed to be set back into a fit of rage.
Drawing his dagger he moved swiftly through the plants. Using them as cover as he barreled towards Keiskei. The plant Keiskei had been talking to seem to move quickly revealing Bane as he pounced towards the other Druid. Intending to pin him to the ground and raise the dagger to his throat. What he would do past that not even Bane knew but really it was going to be up to Keiskei how this whole ordeal would pan out.
The plants seemed to be in agitation. Leaves were rustling, tendrils unfurling, blossoms closing and spikes seemingly becoming sharper right if front of him. It also seemed like they were vocalizing something. A name perhaps? But all the joined voices were drowning out any coherency in the chorus of fenzy.
Suddenly, as if in slow motion, a wide section of the snarling wall of thorny plants parted to reveal another Druid seemingly intent on barreling Keiskei down, with a rather sharp dagger poised, no doubt, for the kill shot.
Oh Gaia, he was so skewered.
Spazzing out mentally, and panicking more than a bit. Keiskei quickly tried to think of anything and everything that could in anyway defend himself. The other Druid was coming on quick and he really had not much time to think about it. He threw whatever clump of poisonous ingredients he’d collected in his sleeve-pockets at the raging being heading his way and then threw himself on the ground, arms covering his head and all the while babbling almost endlessly.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to but well you know it was in the middle of the forest and there were no property lines and no names and signs posted anywhere and you know the forest is sort of public property I mean how was I to know anyone owned it and the plant didn’t say anything until I plucked it and now it’s blaming me I mean what kind of plant is such a meany---“ and on and on while cowering like a little frightened squirrel on the ground.
Bane bared over Keiskei and growled holding the dagger in a threatening way and yet he looked curious. One of the ingredients the other druid had picked was one that there was no way to touch it without being poisoned by it. He seemed to ignore the druids babbling as he picked up that particular leaf. Bane seemed to study it for a moment before his yellow eyes found Keiskei again.
The plants around them seemed to be excited not much ever happened in this part of the woods. They were getting quite noisy and Bane suddenly hissed and they quieted down immediately.
"You speak like people of the cities." Bane growled leaning in to meet Keiskei eye to eye. "Signs, property lines, owning plants? What manner of druid are you? I own no plants these are my family. Why did you not just ask the plant if you could pick it in the first place? I know well the whiproot flower would have told you no." It would be obvious now that these plants were used to being treated a certain way by Bane. He treated them like they were on the same level or one higher then humans. "I was just going to dispatch with you I do not tolerate anyone harming them...but you are lucky to have won my curiosity." Bane said putting away the dagger, but he seemed never the less threatening with it gone.
Bane held up the leaf he had picked up from the ground earlier. "How did you manage to touch the Yarrow tongue plant without its poisons killing you? I designed it so it could not even be touched without someone dying from it." He tilted his head in a curious manner as he awaited the frighten druid's answer.
Keiskei waited for his fate still curled up in a defensive position though his babbling had soon ended and faded into tense silence as the other Druid suddenly quieted the plants around them.
A few moments passed, and you could feel the tension growing heavy within the clearing.
Peeking up and slowly lowering his arms to a less defensive posture, Keiskei blinked and suddenly found his gaze riveted by curiously golden eyes. He blinked again as the other started to accuse him of not being a proper Druid.
He mentally traveled back to his upbringing and realized that aside from being raised by a Witcheater who was no doubt very much a city folk sort, his Druid clan really never did accept them as belonging to them entirely. Even with his casual helping out at the ‘Clinic’. Keiskei found himself wondering if he was more a part of Nunna than a real Druid after all.
Sensing the waves of anger albeit tempered with curiosity focused his way; Keiskei licked his suddenly very dry lips and settled into a sitting position. Gosh, it must have been terribly rude of him to pluck those leaves but he’d gotten terribly used to having the plants around him agreeing to his bidding he’d totally forgotten to ask. Where were his manners, really? Nunna would no doubt be scolding his a** right now as much as whomever this guy was.
Feeling the intensity of the stare increasing, Keiskei tuned in to the question. Now there was something he could answer very well. Clearing his throat, a little too dry from the close call, Keiskei answered.
“I’m immune to any and all poisons.” He explained.” Actually it’s sort of my ability you see. I can control almost all aspects of poisons—even make myself equally as poisonous as anything I encounter.” The petal-haired Druid stopped, realizing something, “Wow. You crossbreed plants to become more poisonous? WOW! That's…wow!” Wide-eyed, Keiskei looked up into golden eyes, and felt wonder and admiration blossom in his chest.
Bane moved back from Keiskei a bit with a curious look. Bane's motions were more like an animal then a human really. Likely an after affect of being around them and plants more then humans.
This druid seemed to be lost in thought a lot which Bane was guilty of himself at times, most times actually. He was starting to get tired of waiting for an answer when the other finally spoke. Now that answer was indeed a very interesting thing to Bane. Someone he could not affect or kill with his poisons, he wasn't sure rather to be excited by this or pissed of that he couldn't poison this man. What really made him more curious is the fact that Keiskei said he could make himself poisonous. Did that mean Bane could use his blood like a poison?
Bane closed the gap between them again ignoring all concept of personal space. This was one of Bane's places so he could do what he wanted here. Bane inspected the druid's...hair? It was more like petals and there was a sweet natural smell coming off them. Was that the part this male could make poisonous about himself? Bane blinked as though the druid's last statement had finally caught up with him.
"Yes....all in this clearing is my work....my more fragile yet no less deadly plants are grown here. We've never had a visitor before, most avoid this part of the forest because its very easy to get lost in if you do not know it. Which is what I might assume has happened to you. Now....what to do with you." Bane growled locking eyes with Keiskei he didn't like the druid to know about this place. Despite his curiosity over the other male he couldn't trust him. Bane wouldn't trust anyone easily it wasn't in his nature. Bane drew the dagger again but seemed to be playing with it more then getting ready to use it for the moment. "If I ask the plants what to do I know their answer already....but to be sporting what do you think I should do with you flower headed druid?" Bane smiled wickedly his eyes seeming to betray his ill intent towards the other.
Valdmir Talamore Wrote:
Keiskei eyed the other Druid warily. He really was on a tight rope this time. Nunna would be horribly disappointed in him if he came home in pieces.
The petal-haired Druid watched the dark haired man prowl around the clearing like a lithe predator and thought a little wistfully that he could possess even a smidgeon of that man’s grace. Keiskei was rather tall, even for a Druid, but he’d never quite grown into his limbs and continued to be painfully awkward even until now. Something the others in his small Druid enclave never stopped pointing out.
Keiskei suddenly gasped and couldn’t help but draw back as suddenly the other Druid drew in frighteningly close and seemed to be—yes, sniffing him. Okay. Now the other was sure to find out that he smelled like a girl, sissy little girls with their flowery perfumes. No manly musky smell from him. Keiskei couldn’t help wincing. This never boded well.
When the other began to explain about the wondrous patch of deadly forest he had accidentally found himself in. The green-eyed Druid couldn’t help but run his gaze around the flora surrounding them again. Marveling at species he’d never encountered before. Truly amazing!
Keiskei blinked again, and licked his lips a little nervously as the man brought out the dagger again. Oh. Damn. He’s going to kill me. Killed for plucking a plant. How sad would that be? What?
I get to decide my fate? Really?
The robed Druid couldn’t stop the feeling of hope from growing in his chest.
“Ah…” He hesitantly began, “I have some gold? If not, some goods to barter in payment or…I could always work it off with something else?” Keiskei smiled a little tensely.
Oh Gaia, he was in such trouble. Lost in the middle of the woods. No one knew exactly where he was. No help coming….Damn.
Bane both enjoyed the fact that the other was showing clear fear of him, but deep down it reminded him why he was alone. He didn't belong around others because he could rarely control how he acted. It was rather surprising to Bane that he had not killed this man already.
The flower scent did not mean the same thing to Bane as it might to others. If anything it made Keiskei more interesting to him. Though he liked the smell of poisonous plants better. Plant smells of any kind coming off a humanoid put Bane at more ease with Keiskei.
Bane spat at the mention of gold he had no use of it. He had what he needed and the things he didn't have he would steal simple as that. Goods could be interesting but what could this druid have that Bane couldn't get himself. Bane couldn't think of anything the other could do for him. Well....he was attractive and it had been a long long time since Bane had had some fun but he wasn't about to suggest that. Besides that was not the answer Bane was looking for from the other.
"You want me to kill you don't you? Least that is what I can gather from your answer. You hurt one of my children, does a parent take payment in return or revenge? Likely revenge. Which if you listen, that is exactly what my pets are asking for. I'm offering you a way out though and this is only because I'm sorely curious about you. So I'll ask once more what should I do with you druid? Give me a reason not to kill you. If you can figure out what I cannot then you have a chance of walking away from this." Bane said a slight psychotic on his face this was getting fun in Bane's mind. Trying to lead this druid to say the right things to save him from Bane's dagger.
Keiskei could feel the bead of sweat making it’s way down his back. He carefully adjusted the glasses on his face with a shaking hand as he sensed that the other seemed to be enjoying his discomfort. It was more than a miracle the man hadn’t gutted him yet.
It was odd though that when the man sniffed his hair, he seemed to be a little bit less tense than he’d started out with. Huh. Maybe his annoyingly perfumed head would help him for once in his short life.
Oh. Oh crap! Okay so gold was certainly not in the agenda. Bartering was thrown right out the window following that. Keiskei sweated and swore inwardly. What else did he have? His body? He doubted the Druid would like anything to do with that…it was much too scrawny to work any decent jobs…maybe gardening? He looked at the plants around him and found them practically dripping with malicious intent his way – maybe not.
What he didn’t want the guy to kill him! That would be absurd! Keiskei was trying his best here. Give him a little credit for trying!
Keiskei adjusted his glasses again nervously and found his eyes darting around trying to look for escape routes and thinking furiously on his reply. He was never good at reading people but by the rather psychotic look gracing the other Druid’s face…nothing good was going to come of this for him no matter what he did.
The green-eyed Druid, gulped. What could he want? What did he have to offer? Oh wait…think about it stupid! He was in the middle of the forest filled with poisonous plants! Keiskei darted a look about again and used the senses gifted to him by the warm beating pulse of magic that lived within him and touched the plants around the area. Yes, all of them were poisonous. Very poisonous. A lot more poisonous actually and that was certainly a common ground there. Maybe even a bargaining chip.
“A reason!” Keiskei almost spluttered out, “I have it! I mean, you see, ah –“ The petal-haired Druid swallowed almost irritated by his own inadequacy, “ I think you’re, uhm, fascinated by plants and poisons right?” He asked rhetorically and pushed on with his plea, “I’m poison? Sort of like a plant? And uhm…I’m really good with poisons? And plants? And ah…..I can make really great poisons?---even make you poisonous? Wait. That would kill you. Ah….yeah….he he he” Oh great Gaia he was so so so very dead. Where was the brilliant potions mind his Nunna was always bragging about when he needed it?
Bane grinned a toothy and amused look to Keiskei. He could smell the scent of fear on the other coming off in waves mixed with the flower scent coming from his head. He idly twirled the dagger in his hand wondering why the other had made no move to attack Bane first. He was giving him every opportunity to do so, or for him to run for that matter. Both would be the wrong choice, Bane would no doubt over power him or out run him. So it was rather good that Keiskei was keeping still for the most part.
He moved into a cross legged position as he stared at Keiskei waiting for a better answer then he had been given before. He didn't mind giving the other time to think after all there wasn't anything else for him to do other then gut this guy and go back to sleep.
Bane blinked like he had been in a daze when Keiskei finally spoke. Staring at him silently for a few moments Bane broke out into sudden laughter. He put the dagger away if nothing else this druid was amusing to him and could prove useful either for entertainment or poison mixing. While Bane could make the plants himself he was no potion genius. "We will let you live on a trial basis shall we?" Bane said still laughing and getting to his feet. Moving to cue at the plant Keiskei had been plucking before. "Just ask before you pluck there are other ways to extract poison you know." Bane said as his hands moved over the plant his magic growing leaves on the plant where they had been plucked.
"Oh and tell anyone about me or any of my gardens and I will hunt you down and gut you." Bane growled flashing his yellow eyes back to Keiskei. He then smiled it was obvious this man was a very volatile subject. "By the way my name is Bane what can I call you flower head?" Bane was known a bit among some druids as an outcast that was not to be trusted. Rather Keiskei had heard about him was up in the air, but sometimes he got a kick out of his name proceeding him.
Keiskei eyed the toothy grin in trepidation and couldn’t help but follow the twirling dagger with his eyes. He really should have tried harder to escape really. Fighting hadn’t even entered his thoughts because the man was seriously radiating danger and Keiskei couldn’t even fight off that one pissy fowl that Nunna wanted him to harvest eggs from….and running, with how his luck was going. He’d probably trip and fall flat on his face. Wait…why didn’t he poison the man? Keiskei you’re such a stupid stupid fool! One of these days he’d have a good sit down with his instincts and give them a major overhaul.
The evil villain of poisonous plants laughed. Wow, okay he has a really nice laugh. The petal-haired Druid couldn’t help but feel a shiver crawl down his spine. Fear. Probably. He reasoned to himself.
What trial basis? – Was he some kind of test product or something? Return if defective. Argh! The nerve of the guy! And…Keiskei knew 10- NO! 20 different ways to extract poison from plants just on the top of his head! The Druid fumed silently.
Keiskei couldn’t help but glare a bit at the guy and hoping deeply in his gut the man wouldn’t take offense at his behavior. It wasn’t like he was going to tell anyone. Really. He was probably the only one even interested in the stupid yet annoyingly interesting garden. Bane? Really? What kind of name was that? Keiskei huffed to himself. Probably something to make himself more intimidating, the Druid reasoned.
“Stop calling me flower head!” Keiskei couldn’t help but grouse out. Some nicknames should never be tolerated. Flower head happened to be an old and much hated nickname from his childhood. “And my name is Keiskei……uh, Bane.” His courage failing him that last part, making his voice crack a little high pitched.
Oh the horrors. Maybe Bane should just kill him now from embarrassment.
Red flushed the Druid’s cheeks, reaching all the way down his open chest.
It was probably a good thing Keiskei didn't try to poison him it was hard to tell what would work and what wouldn't. He wasn't immune to everything but there was a great deal that he was immune to and an aggressive act towards Bane was a bad idea.
Bane wasn't a name he had given himself, it was one he had adopted. Others he had run ins with had decided to call him that for some reason or another. With his want to erase his past a new name was needed anyways so why not Bane?
Bane turned to look at Keiskei taking an almost flirtatious stance. "Don't get your petals in a bunch I had no name to call you before...I'll call you Keiskei from now on."
He placed his hands on his hips looking down at Keiskei. "Do you want me to help you up or do you prefer to stay on the ground like cornered prey?" Bane mocked before offering his hand to Keiskei. "I suppose you'll want my help back to where ever you came from too won't you?" Bane said with a fake annoyed voice. It was good for him to spend time with humanoids every once and awhile.
Keiskei could feel his eyebrows drawing together in consternation. The Druid called Bane was treating him like some pawn he played in a game. Inwardly Keiskei was really and truly frightened but he just couldn’t let the other think he was only all meek puppy all too willing to show his underbelly to an alpha wolf. The green-eyed Druid thought to himself that maybe, somehow, he might be able to slip a little Alprazolam into the other’s system and maybe add some Lithium into the mix. He certainly seemed to need it and maybe even help stabilize the erratic mood swings.
“….Keiskei is my name you know.” The Druid pouted thought still wary and tense enough to flee at a moment’s notice, “Not because you decided to call me Keiskei.”
Green eyes then focused on the hand being offered in front of him. It was his chance! Slowly and acting like he was considering the proposition deeply, Keiskei concentrated the tiniest flicker of his magic to coat the top most skin cells on the palm-side of the hand he’d use to clasp Bane’s offered one and infuse the cells with about 1mg of Alpazolam. The unique thing about his ability was the fact that it was basically such a minute amount of change that normally another Druid or Witch who wasn’t actually sensing for it would never realize he’d done anything. The drug would diffuse into the other’s bloodstream as soon as touch was initiated without feeling like anything would change. Maybe with the Alprazolam in his system, the other would be a bit calmer. He certainly could use calm that was for sure.
Looking up, he pursed his lips and took the other’s hand.”Ah…uhm, thanks for the hands up.” Keiskei tried to smile willingly, but winced as fear still somehow made his voice tremble. ”You don’t need to show me the way out. I’m still a Druid after all….and ah, Forest Lore is still in our blood?” Green eyes looked away.
Usually the drug started working about fifteen minutes after, if taken orally but Keiskei had infused it directly into his blood…probably about five to seven minutes. Maybe he should have poisoned the man, but Keiskei didn’t really like killing anything if he could help it and currently, he just wanted to go home in one piece.
Bane smiled he was pretty good at reading emotions. He could tell Keiskei had realized how much Bane liked to toy with people. Jerking them from left to right never making his true intentions clear. Or his favorite displaying one thing when he meant another.
"Just because its your name doesn't mean people will choose to call you that. You should be thankful I've chosen to honor your real name instead of giving you a new one." Bane said with a sudden serious look on his face.
Bane's eyes widen not sure what had just happened, but the other druid had just done something to Bane. s**t! He had let his guard down way to much and if this was a poison he was unfamiliar with it which meant he likely didn't have the cure for it and would have to hope he was immune.
Bane's grip tightened around Keiskei's hand. "You b*****d! I decide to let you live and this is how you repay me? What did you just do?!" He let go of Keiskei's hand and seemed to want to go for his dagger, but he didn't want to kill him if he needed an antidote. And yet he could feel something going on in him. He just didn't understand the change that he was feeling. He felt rather betrayed in away or at least disappointed that he let the tables turn like this.
Keiskei winced as he felt the grip on his hand tighten and he could almost hear the bones grinding together. He quickly looked up and saw the other Druid’s eyes widen and realized, in increasing alarm that Bane had found out what he’d done.
‘That’s impossible!’ Keiskei though to himself shocked, no one ever really sensed when he did things like these. Even Nunna, with her Witcheater-y powers had told him she had to really concentrate on his magic for her to sense whenever he did something. ’Oh, oh…how to explain without getting himself killed!’
The Druid suddenly found his hand released as Bane shouted out his accusations at him, Keiskei quickly held it up and across his body in an instinctual defensive movement. A pang of pain shot through his heart as the green-eyed Druid suddenly realized that maybe the other thought he’d betrayed him. Bane certainly looked a lot more furious than he was a moment ago…almost as bad as when he’d first found Keiskei plucking the Whiproot flower. ‘Oh Keiskei, what have you done?’
“I swear it’s nothing th-tha-that’ll harm y-y-you!” Keiskei quickly stuttered out, flinching away from Bane like he was going to be struck down right there and then. “I-it-it’s just a c-co-compound that’ll help calm you down. He-healers in the c-cities c-ca-called it Alprazolam!” He then raised both arms and closed his eyes; if he was going to die he didn’t have to see it. “You’re-you-you’re, ah, m-m-moods are really erra-ra-tic I thought I could he-help.”
Bane glared at Keiskei furiously his every being telling him to gut this guy where he stood. He was so upset in so many ways, with himself for being foolish and touching someone who said they could make themselves poisonous and for the druid in front of him betraying him in the first place.
Yeah he had been scaring the guy but he was helping him up he had decided to let him live the trial basis thing was just a joke. And maybe the Alprazolam was to blame but his want to kill him was fading into a sharp pain of regret or sorrow. This is why he stayed away, not just because he couldn't trust himself around people, but because he couldn't trust people either. They never had a clear motive like animals there was always something below that. Now perhaps in Keiskei's instance he was only thinking of survival but that didn't matter to Bane.
Bane seemed to be zoning out in thought as Keiskei spoke though he never took a careful eye off the other male. " Yeah....they are aren't they.......they always have been. Least long as I can remember.....why don't you just go back to where ever you came from and don't come near any of my gardens again or there will be no second chance.....I'm not even sure why I'm not gutting you now....." Bane was hurt, he couldn't freaking believe it. He actually wanted to learn more and talk more with his fellow poison lover he had never met someone who liked them versus hating them. And even though what Keiskei did was to help Bane not hurt him there was no difference in his mind. Bane shook his head and make a ch sound as he moved to walk along the edge of his garden to make for the tree he had been sleeping in. He mumbled just under his breath about himself being an idiot as he moved on assuming the other druid would just make a run for it with how scared he had been.
Keiskei couldn’t help biting his lower lip in agitation. He wasn’t really good with people, and often times it really came and bit him on the a**. Nunna always had to keep telling him that there’s just some things you really don’t people in their face even if you felt they needed to hear it. The Druid always thought his brain to mouth filter wasn’t activated like it was in most people. It never worked when he really needed it and hurt a lot of people he really hadn’t meant to.
Bane attacked him. Bane threatened him. Keiskei was in the wrong for having plucked without his permission…and in a way the other Druid certainly had all the rights to eviscerate him and then Bane had decided to let him go and in a black and white world that would have been a lot of trust placed on his shoulders.
Keiskei looked around tensely, his shoulders hunched. This garden was probably his secret place out here. Somewhere he could be alone and in private. Most Druids preferred to be sheltered within the commune of the Enclaves but Keiskei could sympathize a bit with what Bane felt. Never actually belonging, always something missing that vital bit of something when around other Druids.
Just as Bane turned around, and Keiskei inwardly fought with himself, the petal-haired Druid almost didn’t notice his hand reach out and grab the other Druid’s clothes.
“Sorry.” A very small voice issued out from the green-eyed Druid’s lips, eyes looking anywhere but at Bane.
Bane felt a yank on his clothes and he blinked a bit. That was highly unexpected from the other druid. In fact so much so Bane was caught off guard and was unsure how to react to the other. He turned to look at the other taking one hand to yank the fabric of his clothes from Keiskei's hand. No one had ever apologized to Bane for anything before.
With a furrowed brow he studied the other druid curiously trying to figure out if he really meant what he said. Bane was normally good at reading people and it seemed that Keiskei meant his apology to be true. The real question to Bane was what should he do? It wasn't in his nature to trust in the first place much less to trust again once betrayed. In fact Bane was still trying to figure out why he hadn't just killed this druid in the first place its not like he hadn't killed before.
"I....what?" Bane stumbled over what to say because he didn't know if he should accept the apology or shoe the druid from his garden. He messed with his hair a bit while staring at Keiskei with unsure yellow eyes, "Well....I guess......I'm sorry to for making you think you needed to do such a thing in the first place." Whoa Whoa did that just come out of Bane's mouth? Bane had never apologized for anything, he tried once long time ago but was shut down. Bane was starting to fear Keiskei a bit he was making Bane do things that where not of his nature.
"I'm not used to ....people in general," Bane admitted walking into his plants a bit his eyes still locked on Keiskei. He was unsure what would come next the interaction was so strange to him. Why was he acting so different towards this druid? Was it the drug the other had slipped him?
Keiskei felt the other halt as he grabbed Bane’s clothes. It was then followed by a hard yank that released the folds of cloth from the petal-haired Druid’s grip. Keiskei allowed his hand to fall at his side and looked down still feeling a little guilty for using his ability on Bane…even if he thought it was for the good of the other Druid.
The green-eyed druid bowed his head lower and looked at his hands that he’d clasped in front of him in anxiety. Keiskei could feel the eyes boring straight into his skull from Bane. Even on anti-anxiety medications the other Druid still exuded a presence like no other.
“Well....I guess......I'm sorry to for making…” came the reply from Bane who seemed more than a bit discomfited from having admitted so.
Keiskei’s head popped up and gazed with wide-eyed hope at the other. Back in the enclave the others always never waited enough to hear him explain anything and just leaving him never to speak to Keiskei again. It was a rarity that someone stayed this long in his presence even with how much bumbling the awkward Druid had been doing with social interaction.
Oh. OH!
He was just like Keiskei. Maybe it wasn’t only his sort of problem. This very hard to comprehend people to people thing and maybe there were others out there like him. How…unexpected! Keiskei could feel the fear slowly ebbing away into hope. His eyes shining as he looked at Bane. During the times that he felt excited, they seemed to glow an odd lush green with his magic. Nunna had told him before that no other Druids had this and maybe it was a trait from his long lost family.
“People…are hard to understand,” The petal-haired Druid replied, fidgeting in place, “ I don’t spend a lot of time around people…. too.”
Bane's yellow fox like eyes studied the other as he moved about into his garden. He felt a need to put something between him and the other druid. Keiskei was making him do and say things he didn't fully understand.
His hand traced over the plants and the bent smoothly to his will quite like animals being pet by their master. Bane didn't have control over all plants like this but these were his creations which made them much more interested in pleasing him
With a tilt of his head Bane noticed the change in Keiskei's eyes. Were they glowing? Bane's only glowed with he was losing it to the darker side of himself so while it fascinated him it visibly but him on edge to. What did it mean for the other druid if for him the eyes glowing meant pure insanity.
"They're easy to understand, but aren't so predictable which is why I prefer animals their motives and drives are much more cut and dry then humans. Its odd you seem like the type people wouldn't mind. Timid and thoughtful not a threatening bone in your body despite you drugging me. I assume you could have done much worse to me, but for some reason you did not. Which is curious ." Bane said placing his finger to his lip thoughtfully.
Keiskei’s glowing eyes followed the other Druid’s movements as he slowly walked around the immediate area. The plants around Bane seeming to fall to their knees, if plants has knees, bending to his will. The green-eyed Druid couldn’t help but be in awe. It was true that Druids held a certain power over plants…but never this much. They could convince, they could persuade but never actually enough to make plants move physically.
This Garden was probably as much a part of Bane as he was, no doubt, a part of the Garden. It was an interaction fascinating to watch. Maybe even something to learn from?
Keiskei tended to treat everything as objects even the plants that spoke to him regularly – a fact that the few older and wiser trees have been speaking to him about that hadn’t quite penetrated his skull.
The petal-haired Druid bowed his head and thought to himself that animals were also quite confusing. The showed adoration and loyalty and demanded so many things from a Druid. Keiskei always felt obligated to care for them, and he didn’t want obligations. Not in this point in his life anyway which was why Nunna always ended up taking care of pets that sometimes ended up in their small home. Keiskei usually returned any creatures he’d found back into their own habitat. He didn’t much like interfering with the cycle of life. It was there for a reason…no matter how heartbreaking some beings thought Nature could be.
“I assume you could have done much worse to me, but for some reason you did not. Which is curious.” Bane’s voice that was deep and mysterious, like their owner.
Keiskei cleared his through, and licked his lips. They seemed terribly dry as of late. Nervousness had a tendency to do that to him. Another reason why he didn’t meet people so often, they tended to make his body feel rather uncomfortable.
“There was no need for it.” Glowing green eyes had dulled as the emotion behind them calmed,” You had the right of defense to your Garden. I was the trespasser, even unknowing. The fault is mine.” Keiskei’s voice was surprisingly steady but…he realized he’d accept his fate. Be it punishment or something else…
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Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 10:20 pm
"Interesting." Bane commented stopping to stare a the other. "It is not many I've met that will admit to something being at their fault. It seems a concept to hard to accept, I've been guilty of it myself once or twice, You gain a little of my respect Keiskei. Or should I say a little more. The fact that you are interested in and in fact are you yourself a poison earned a little in its own right. Plus I must admit as much as it pissed me off you drugging me it was rather bold for what I thought was a spineless city druid." Bane just couldn't say something nice outright it wasn't in him.
"You can drink poison, yes?" Bane asked moving into the plants more and picking up his pack that was hidden in the thick of them. He pulled a bottle of moonseed wine from the bag he had nothing to pour it into to drink out of but the bottle would do. Its rather odd that one of the poisons that may have messed up his mind in the first place was not his favorite recreational drink.
The druid cut back through the plants and flopped between soon roots of a near by tree. He leaned against it and seemed to whisper a thank you. When you live by yourself in the wild as a druid you become constantly aware of the feelings of the plants around you. To Bane they were the only ones he could really trust and because of that they got the utmost respect for him. One could easily say he treats them better then humans. He opened the bottle and began to drink some. Before pulling another bottle and making a motion that it was for Keiskei. He put the bottle on the forest floor beside him and seemed to stare off into space for a moment,
"So your a good potion maker? Tell me more about that. I dabble but I'm much better at just growing my hybrids as well as some fighting moves and such." It seems Bane had decided to spend time with Keiskei after all. Besides at this point he might as well and when would he find someone else with similar interest in poison? Keiskei winced. It was a little hurtful but it didn’t really stop it from being the truth after all. In more ways than one he was probably spineless. The most he did when confronted with danger was either run to throw poisonous things at them – and probably was not the best strategy especially in this particular encounter but you can’t win them all.
Hey! At least he earned a wee modicum of respect from Bane. Not a total loss entirely in his books.
"You can drink poison, yes?" came the inquiry from the other Druid.
Keiskei tilted his head to the side. The truth of the matter was that to Keiskei nothing was poisonous. NOTHING. His magic didn’t allow even a trace of any substance that would be harmful to his body to linger in his system. His body either stored it, in case he needed it for defense, or just metabolized it like food. So to him…everything was edible.
“I can drink anything…yes.” He answered, as he observed Bane retrieving what seemed to be a bottle of drink from a thicket of plants.
Keiskei further scrutinized Bane as the other Druid made his way to a nearby tree, a tree looking rather menacing filled with thorns, and sat down at it’s roots. Leaning in, he then partook of the drink from within the bottle he carried. It was possibly a form of poison if what he’d asked about earlier had any part of their current situation.
The green-eyed Druid swallowed his apprehension when Bane gave him an invitation to join the Druid in drink. Eyeing the bottle laid beside the other Druid, Keiskei picked a few of his own belongings that had fallen around him in the commotion earlier and gingerly made his way to where Bane had sat down. Arranging both his items and his robes, he sat down and grabbed the bottle that has been set-aside for him.
Taking care to open it carefully, he felt the cork pop and smiled. Okay, so far so good. Leaning in, he sniffed at the contents and smelled something indelibly sweet with an undertone of bitterness he’d grown used to identifying something as poisonous. Mmm…smells really good.
Turning his eyes back on the other and his questions, Keiskei slowly took a sip of the drink and couldn’t help the small gasp escaping his mouth. Wow. He’d never tasted anything so sweet and just the right amount of bitter to further complement the taste. It was a very good vintage for wine.
“This is really good…uh…Bane.” Keiskei fidgeted, not really certain of the status of their meeting at this point, “Yes. I’m a potions maker. I sell my skills and my products semi-regularly at the nearby towns of Lumena and Moonfall. I have gotten fairly great reviews so I’m semi-confident of my skills in the art though to me, it is more the discovering of the effect of a potion than the monetary compensation that makes me brew them.” He didn’t mention the fact that there were times he found it much of a burden to brew such simple healing salves repeatedly, but they helped his Nunna with the expenses and he’d do anything for her.
“So how do you grow your hybrids? I’d really love to test their poison properties?” He spoke up, eyes starting to glow again in interest, “Do you primarily imbue them with alkaloids? Or other compounds?”
Keiskei knew nothing of fighting skill and he’d rather Bane not know anything about that. Although he had a pretty good feeling the other Druid knew very well he was pretty much an innocent when it came to physical conflicts. Bane watched Keiskei closely he certainly hadn't come across someone so timid in a long time. It was sort of nice to Bane, he felt like he could relax around him a bit despite his wish to distrust him. Bane was so used to a certain type of people that would venture into the deeper woods. They always challenged him which made his bad attitude worse. It was like Bane had a need to be an alpha in any given situation, but Keiskei didn't challenge him. Quite the opposite he almost felt a want to teach or maybe even go as far as to protect his new acquittance,
"You know if you ask the tree nicely she might move her thorns so you may rest you back." Bane said looking into his wine bottle and not at Keiskei. "You like it? I'm glad, so few live to tell me about it. And those that do give less them hopeful reviews perhaps I'm missing my target market." Bane said with a laugh.
Bane laughed a bit more randomly he wondered how Keiskei hadn't heard of him before working as a healer at times in those cities. " Any run ins with your patients having unexplained hallucinogenic episodes, fever, soon followed by internal bleeding after a trip into the forest?" It wasn't to long ago that Bane had been experimenting with a new plant of his that he was keeping very hidden due to this erratic nature in how it effected people and himself for the matter. Even though it was on of his hybrids he wasn't immune to it which frightened and delighted him all at the same time.
"I think we could work something out with you testing my creations. Honestly.......I have no idea. Its more of a power then a knowledge of how. just one day I decided I wanted to make a hybrid with my druid powers and months later I was successful. Its probably to do with the shaman training I've had," Bane suddenly zoned out he never mentioned that. That didn't happen the was to be erased from the mind. He is Bane orphan without a past. There was no villiage, there was no family, there was no shaman training, and there was no childhood friend. Bane suddenly started to drink at little more fevered then before trying to pretend he had not said that out loud, At Bane’s suggestion, Keiskei glanced at the thorny bark behind him and allowed his Druid’s senses to reach out toward the tree. It radiated a faint tolerance of his presence and a question of ‘ Do you dare?’ that Keiskei found a little off-putting. He could live with a straighter posture anyway. Nunna was forever telling him not to slouch.
Keiskei did indeed like the drink. Perhaps evenly overly much which was kind of sad, if he thought deeply about it. Whatever this thing was between them…it didn’t feel so permanent yet that Keiskei could just come by and demand a drink from the most probably solitary Druid. The green-eyed Druid raised the bottle to his mouth again and drank a more sizable gulp. The wine permeated his tongue and slowly left a taste of glittering sweetness on his palette and was followed by a tempering of bitterness at the back of the throat. Maybe he should just secrete a sample into his robe sleeves, he kept a few empty vials there for the purpose….but if he got caught again he’d be more than dead.
Keiskei fiddled with the edge of one of his robe sleeves and thought deeply. Maybe it would be better to take fewer risks and see where this talk between him and Bane went. Hopefully all will go well and he’d be able to come back for more samples and this interesting bit of wine. The flavor was familiar though…a bit like grape but grapes weren’t poisonous. Maybe a plant that resembled a grape?
“—missing my target market.” He faintly heard Bane laugh.
Crap! Keiskei had zoned out into his thoughts again. He really should be more careful when he took the time to delve into potions and their ingredients. It made his danger sense horribly ineffectual.
“I’d be a horrible market of one.” He commented a little carefully, sneaking glances at the other Druid and testing his reactions. The other horned being seemed a lot more mellow than he had been. Keiskei hypothesized it was probably the combined effects of the poisoned wine and the Alprazolam earlier. He wasn’t so bad when he was this way….
After a few more laughs from the other, Keiskei couldn’t help but send him a minor irritated look. Sure he’d given a few stomach draughts and some healing salve but he was no Healer! He was a potions master and that was entirely a different field! Though…some of the recent cases of gastroenteritis and poisoning seemed a bit of suspicious…
“That was you wasn’t it?” Keiskei eyed the other suspiciously, “I’ve been trying to narrow down the compound it was from but could never quite match it to local flora and for your added information I’m not a Healer but a Potions Master. Big difference.”
‘Shaman training? Wow that’s certainly a surprise!’, the verdant-eyed Druid thought to himself. It was rare for someone to be trained by the Shaman for the position was held very highly in a Druid Enclave. Bane must be something special then…
“I’d love to test them but…I’ll probably be using those in my potions and as much as I like the thought of poisoning people to observe their effects. My adoptive mother Nunna would likely kill me were she to find out. So I’ll probably be the one counteracting all your poisonings…”Keiskei trailed off for a few minutes before blurting out, “Wow Shaman training! You must have been really special huh? The Shaman in my Enclave just barely tolerated my mother and me…”
Nunna and him were, even now, barely accepted as one of the Druids in the Enclave and his mother was always worrying that they’d be banished anytime for indiscretions imagined or otherwise. A Witcheater always lived in paranoia of getting hunted down and killed and even thought Nunna hadn’t returned to her old ways, only feeding on Keiskei if she really needed it, there was always a risk. "Why do you fear what she says Keiskei?" Bane asking tilting his head as Keiskei quickly backed down from the tree. "Really just ask her don't think of her like a tree think of her as a being and respect her as such. You're life would be much easier if you start thinking this way you know?" Bane looked away again starting to get curious about Keiskei's past and training. He always found it interesting when he ran into druids that acted this way. It wasn't in Bane's nature to ask this though, as one that did not enjoy divulging his past he couldn't very well ask some one to so the same for him.
Bane leaned back a bit more downing some more moonseed wine as he did. As he moved he revealed a design on his clothes that looked like grapes with with closer inspection of the leaves and vine it was easy to tell it was moonseed. Well at least to someone like Keiskei.
He played with his hair absent minded as he looked Keiskei over. He was curious about the flower hair and wanted to ask about it, but he wouldn't not yet anyways. The man's robes reminded him of the horrible things they put him in as a child. They were the cause of him wanting to be half naked most of the time. He didn't understand how Keiskei could stand on them.
"Why you seem to enjoy the drink?" Bane asked tiling his head in the other direction.
Bane grinned wickedly at the accusation of him being behind the sick people. "Yes it was me and a hybrid Ive yet to name. Makes a wonderful toxic powder." Bane rolled his eyes. "What ever its all the same to me." Bane said with a mocking tone.
"Sounds like team work to me, give you little challenge here and there. You can just enjoy the poisonings I do." Bane said with another laugh.
Bane's mood suddenly seemed to swing at the mention of the shaman training. He was hoping that Keiskei would just let that go and not bring it back up in anyway. He drank some more though that probably wasn't a good idea. Wine had its way of making one talk more then they normally would.
"I was...." Bane started tracing his finger along the lips of his bottle. Part of him wanted to talk to Keiskei about it, but he just wasn't quite there yet. "Let's just go with I couldn't handle it and leave it at that." Something in his voice just dripped with the fact that that was no where near the whole story behind Bane being alone in the forest now when he was supposed to have been a shaman to his people.
Bane seemed to hold his bottle closer and stare off into into nothing. The memories he fought to forget were flooding back to him and he wasn't sure how to stop it. He decide he would try to change the track of his mind. "W-what plant were you interested in testing first. I wouldn't recommend the whiproot is doesn't like you very much right now."
Valdmir Talamore Wrote:
At Bane’s words, Keiskei snuck a peek behind him and stared in wariness at the bristling thorny trunk. He had no doubt had the plant been one of the usual ones in the forest it would part the thorns so a Druid could sit comfortably. However…this was probably one of Bane’s little children and well….it seemed awfully rude to just demand it part its thorns for him even though Bane probably gave the go signal for him to do so. The green-eyed Druid could feel the malevolence nigh dripping of the thorny leaves above him.
“No no. I’m fine like this really.” Keiskei waved off with his hand. “I need to work on my posture anyway…”
Keiskei’s eyes were then drawn to the subtle patterning on the other Druid’s clothes and noted the repeating theme of the Moonseed plant as clothing print. Glancing at the bottle of wine being drunk by Bane and back to the patterning, a small idea wriggled itself to the surface. He’d never thought that one could make wine with Moonseeds; then again only people who were naturally immune to the poison like he was would be able to enjoy it.
The petal-haired Druid couldn’t help but stare intently at the other as thoughts swarmed around his head. Maybe Bane was someone like him? Someone with the ability of Poison? –In truth the ability was a rare one for Druids seeing as Druids mostly were gifted with abilities to heal and be one with the forest: to care for Mother Gaia and her offspring. Poison was corrosive and killed and rarely in nature was poison used as anything else other than a threat.
Keiskei observed that the other Druid also seemed to sneak glances at him, though Bane was probably trying to be discrete about it. The green-eyed Druid didn’t really mind so much…with his robes and his hair…he knew he looked like no other though he looked down and felt the tips of his ears warm with blush at the scrutiny. He accepted staring but it didn’t mean he was quite so used to it however…and Bane had a certain rugged handsomeness that made his stomach fluttery, a sensation he usually equated before taking a test. Must be too much fear and anxiety, he thought.
The green-eyed Druid nodded his head, still looking down when Bane observed his like of the drink. It was truly rare for him to enjoy something truly poisonous as back home we was the only one capable of producing and consuming such things and Nunna always told him that as good as he was with potions, cooking would be beyond him.
Keiskei toyed with the edge of his robe sleeves and listened with only half an ear at Bane’s ramblings. It sounded quite fun to experiment with people, especially those who are unaware since that would certainly be the best way to uncover unbiased test results in a statistical analysis of a poison’s effects. However, Keiskei knew that Nunna often frowned at hurting other living beings and had often scolded Keiskei when he was younger for doing so and he’d never want to do something that would make Nunna give him that sad disappointed look again. She was all he had after all.
Abruptly, his eyes rose and met Bane’s hooded golden colored irises. It seemed the other was concealing something truly hurtful in his past and didn’t want to dwell in it. It somewhat made Keiskei want to comfort the other but the Druid knew he was rubbish at anything resembling comfort, never had much contact with others aside from his Nunna who was mostly busy trying to keep both of them fed when he was younger. The grip on his robe sleeves tightened with his discomfort and Keiskei couldn’t help but bite his lower lip. He was so useless…with personal interaction…maybe that’s why he couldn’t have friends.
Keiskei fought the burgeoning tears and closed his eyes, still biting his lower lip. Somehow this meeting with another Druid who seemed to hold so much pain brought a hint of Keiskei’s own past blooming to the surface and the green-eyed Druid was ashamed to note that his fight with his tears was a loosing one.
A teardrop fell, soaking a patch of scuffed up robe, leaving a dark drop amongst the gray-colored fabric. "Suit yourself." Bane replied giving an odd sigh, he didn't quite understand why Keiskei was acting afraid of the old tree. She was just grumpy, she always was she even threatened Bane once or twice but she never really meant it.
It wasn't long before he realized Keiskei was staring at him. He couldn't help ,but wonder what the other druid was thinking about. Was he judging Bane? He hated when people did that and normally he got mad but for once he felt worried. Did he actually care what Keiskei might think about him. True he was enjoying another that could not only stand poisons, but loved them as much as Bane, but it still wasn't like Bane to let someone so close so fast.
Bane left himself stare back at Keiskei finally. If the other druid did it to Bane there was no reason Bane could not so the same. Keiskei was somewhat odd looking and yet thats what made him appealing. Bane was always one for people of things that stood out. And the other druids hair certainly did that much. Bane seemed to focus his gaze on the hair wanting to touch it, but he figured the other druid would be adverse to him doing so.
The eye contact made Bane blink his brows furrowing a bit. Keiskei could see through to the fact that Bane was hurting at the memories. Bane could see something stir in Keiskei's own eyes. Was it pity? Maybe but there was something else too Bane just couldn't tell what. Perhaps Keiskei had a hard past of his own he was dealing with that helped him understand Bane's position better?
Bane raised a bow as he watched Keiskei, he started to cry? Why was Keiskei crying? This almost made Bane panic he didn't not know how to handle emotions. Sure he had seen others cry before, but normally it wasn't in this context. Part of him begged to make fun of Keiskei while the other seemed to feel for what ever thoughts were going through Keiskei's head.
"W-why are you crying Keiskei?" Bane asked not sure what else to do. "What brought all this on?" He questioned again wishing Keiskei had never done that. It made Bane feel weird. Like he should do something to make Keiskei stop. His mind though could not really remember comfort sense there had been no one there to give it to him for years. He pondered everything from slapping Keiskei to giving him more wine to drink, but none of it seemed right.
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