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 Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:20 pm
Inside the little cabin, Kole had helped Edith stitch up her bigger cuts and wrap the injury of her wing. As it was, Edith would need to eat before going to any pokecenter, lest they bump into any flying types.He made sure she drank something from her stash, he'd gotten a few bites despite lacking an appetite, and then they both had passed out. For the both of them, their time under the thumb of Dr. Murphy had been exhausting.
It was after a long and hard sleep that Kole finally woke up. Rubbing the fog of sleep from his eyes, he looked around with confusion. Where was he? This wasn't his cave. He started to shift around, and froze. He was still in Edith's cabin. ..Right. After knitting her up, he hadn't wanted to let her go... He'd fallen asleep with her in his arms. Speaking of, she was still sleeping on one of them!
The pang of concern for having stayed was mellowed by the warmth he felt when looking at her, followed by a wave of guilt. It was partially his fault that she'd been caught up in such a mess! If he'd been with her, she might have been safe. Then again, he'd joined Murphy to try saving her another way, and had nothing to show for it. Either way, he'd failed.
Slowly, he reached his free hand out to brush her cheek as gently as possible with the backs of his fingers, keeping his sharp nails pointed away and toward his palm. If only he'd gotten answers...
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:29 am
Edith remembered very little from the past twenty four hours, and what she could reminisce about wasn't pretty. She snuggled in close to a warm body, burrowing her face into what she thought was a shoulder before letting out a contented sigh. The terrors of the night had kept her awake for a while, but once the blood had worked it's way into her system Edith had calmed enough to sleep. And although she was reluctant to wake, movement from underneath her caused the drowsy teen to open one dark eye.
She yawned, and snuggled back against her 'pillow', while still keeping her eyes open to the world. It wasn't too difficult for her to recognize the body as Kole, which made sense considering last night's adventures. Now that she was awake, though, Edith found little comfort in snuggling back into bed. She sat up slowly, allowing her aching body a chance to catch up with her mentally. The same hand that had so tenderly caressed her cheek was picked up in a little grey hand, and kissed with a soft smile.
Her wings hung over the side of the bed, one lacking the freedom and mobility of the other. It would be some time before she ever flew again, which would make hunting difficult. Town wasn't that far away with air travel, but on foot...
Looking down at Kole made it worth the trip, though. Just being able to see him after the hell she'd been through...Which brought up questions as to why he was there. He hadn't been captured...had he?
Reaching around, she fumbled on a little nightstand for a scrap of paper and a pen, where she wrote, "Are you okay? Hungry?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 12:56 pm
His eyes watched with tension as Edith woke and straightened up. Surely she was aching quite a bit after what she'd gone through. The sweet little kiss was reassuring, but also just made him feel that much more guilty.
He sat up once he was free as well, shifting around to get his feet on the floor. Reading over Edith's note, he shook his head lightly. "I'm fine. ..More worried about you right now though. Do you need anything? ..Do you feel up to going to the hospital to get your wing better wrapped?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 5:45 pm
As Kole shifted around atop the bed Edith stretched, raising her arms above her head with a mighty yawn. Her elongated fangs were exposed, as they often were when she was feeling peckish, and her sleep fogged mind didn't notice the change right away. It wasn't until she closed her mouth with her fangs pricking her lower lip that Edith realized what she'd done. She jumped with a little squeak, raising her hand to cover her mouth to hide her embarrassment.
Deciding to keep her mouth shut for now, Edith pondered the questions and wrote out, "Bath first. Then breakfast." She knew she was hungry so Kole had to be as well. "Food in kitchen if you want to get started." Of course she couldn't eat any of it, but she kept her little pantry and fridge stocked for just in case purposes. Edith liked to keep the basics on hand; and generally if she saw Kole eating something he liked more than others she would buy it more often. So long as he stayed out of the mini-fridge where she kept her stocked blood all should be well.
Slipping off the bed, Edith rose to stand and felt a stab of regret as soon as her injured wing tugged behind her. Her whole body seemed to freeze, then it gently slid into a normal-ish feeling that left her confident enough to dig around her wardrobe for a clean dress. ....Which would have been easier if she hadn't been kidnapped on laundry day. Edith scrunched up her nose, shifting through what available clothes she did have with the jerky speed of someone who was clearly agitated. Finally she snatched the one closest to her and closed off the wardrobe.
When she turned around she gave Kole a little smile before shuffling off to the bathroom.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 7:30 pm
Kole smiled lightly as Edith covered her yawn and embarrassment. With or without fangs, she was beautiful to him...
He nodded after reading the notes, standing with a stretch of his own. Edith was probably right. He might not have much of an appetite, but he should still try eating more. At the least, it should help him stay a little more in balance if he was to help her get to the clinic...
Watching the little vampiric Starvia rummage through her clothes continued to ease his concerns. It was adorable to watch. As Edith headed into the bathroom, he looked down at his own clothes. Blood from the grunt he'd killed remained on his sleeve and pants...
'b*****d deserved it.'
Shaking his head, he knew that he would either have to find something else to wear, or only walk Edith to the edge of town. ..He didn't have spare clothes. What he wore was worn down as it was, stitched up when he allowed Edith to help.
'Isn't it interesting that you're more concerned about your clothes than that guard you killed~?' the inner voice mused with far too much delight.
Kole frowned deeply, nearly thinking further on the subject. Doing so would give the other control though. He shook his head roughly to chase the thoughts off, and walked to the pantry. Looking through the surprising selection, one arm of hair reached out to grab a box of crackers, immediately pushing it back into his face. "I'm not eating the damned box!" he growled, grabbing the offering to pull out a sleeve of the crunchy snack. His other arm was busy pointing to the fridge, and he rolled his eyes. He knew the arms simply expressed his thoughts, but, more often than not, it seemed that they more had minds of their own. From the fridge, he pulled out a baggie of cured pork that was already cut into bite-sized squares.
Setting his choices onto the table, he glanced over at the mini fridge opposite from the pantry. Would something fresher be better for her in her weakened state? ..At the least, maybe he could hunt something down for her while she was at the hospital?
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 7:10 pm
It didn't take Edith as long as she thought it would to get cleaned up. She took a quick bath, since showering with a busted wing was out of the question. Her hands cleaned off a fine layer of filth and blood, ghosting over bruises that were already far too discolored for her tastes. When at last she didn't smell like the living dead Edith exited the water, toweled off and slipped into her dress. Then she picked up her hair brushed, stepped to the mirror and the veneer of calm that had covered her seemed to slip away.
She looked awful.
Even cleaned up she was a rough sight. Edith hesitantly raised her hand towards the mirror, touching the reflection of her cheek. She had a black eye, as well as a split lip and it escalated from there. Edith was hard pressed to find a section of flesh that hadn't been beaten, or scratched. Mechanically her fingers brought the brush through her hair, pushing it lightly through her white strands to avoid the tender area near the back of her head where she'd been hit. It was how they had captured her; knock her out and toss her in a van.
As if she needed anymore reasons to dislike humanity. They had kidnapped and abandoned her more times than the staravia could count. Each time left her soul more bruised than her pride. What fear she had about last night was replaced with hatred. Those bastards had deserved being dismembered, and blown up...As the rage built up within the small girl her fangs slipped out, grazing against the damaged flesh of her lower lip. I should have drained them dry. And she might have if Kole hadn't-
Kole.
Why had he been there? He hadn't been injured like she was, and he was on the outside of the bars, talking with those humans...Eyes widening, Edith turned towards the door. No...he wouldn't have...would he? She knew he had a darker side, one that she hadn't tried changing, but...
Perhaps if she'd had more blood in her system, and hadn't been in such a traumatic situation the night before Edith might have thought it out. Asked questions. Instead, the teenager moved a towel cabinet infront of the door, and stepped back to admire her work. It wouldn't hold for long, but would be enough to slow him down. She wasn't going to be taken again...never again...Her mind was made up; Kole had taken her. Riff either got to him, or his own darkness had led him to doing it. If she went with him to the hospital who knew if she would ever come back home again?
She crossed the room to the lone window. It was higher up and small, a tight fit with her wings, especially since the injured limb refused to contract fully. Her exit was noisier than planned, more so when she dropped to the ground outside with a loud 'thud!' Edith struggled to stand, and instantly her arms reached back to hold her wings in place. It helped with the pain, which made it easier for her to run into the woods...
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Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 8:04 pm
Kole glanced over to the bathroom door when the heavy scraping sounded. Edith was moving stuff around? Weird time for that. He focused on forcing down a little more food, nearly choking on his bite when the louder sounds reached his ears. "Edith? Are you okay?" He shot up and ran to the door, surprised to find the resistance. What?! "Edith!" It took only a couple tries to ram the door open, and he stared at the empty room with confusion. Then he saw her... running away from the cabin.
To his surprise, he could only watch at first. Edith running away... This was what he'd wanted before. This was how it was supposed to be. If she'd only done so when he'd first hurt her...
'Good. Now I don't have to deal with her s**t anymore.'
But, her wing! It was still injured! ...The pain in his heart told him that concern for her health wasn't the only reason he spun around and ran outside. Concern that she'd hurt her wing even more and be vulnerable out there to the various dangers wasn't his main concern as he thudded after her. It wasn't just the need for peace of mind that she be safe and back at the cabin.
It was... It was her skin under his hands. It was her smile when she looked at him. It was those dark eyes that had gazed into his own so boldly and with such passion. She had looked beyond the stains on his body and mind, and continually reached for what she saw.
He should just let her go, but after she'd worked so hard to keep him around, he wasn't going to let her go easily. He couldn't. "Edith! Edith, wait!"
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:47 pm
Edith had never been much of a runner.
When it came to flying she could come close to breaking the sound barrier, and fly long distances without batting an eye. On foot she was so much slower, even more so when her legs screamed at her to take a break with every step. Had breathing been this painful before?! Running was giving her an awful stitch in her side, but Edith couldn't find a reason to stop.
She snapped her head around to look over her shoulder, eyes widening for a moment before she turned to face forward with an extra little burst of speed. Edith leapt over a few upturned roots, right into a chilly stream with her bare feet, but the shock of cold did nothing to stop her. The teenager pushed forward, fear and heartache driving her further into the woods.
I'm not going to be caught again! YOU CAN'T JUST CATCH ME AND ABANDON ME.
Those thoughts were blaring her head as she bound out into a clearing, unintentionally blasting through a gathering of Abra evolutions. More than a few jumped away from the staravia, though one Alakazam spoke up in the speech of pokemon. "Whose trying to catch you?"
That stalled her. Edith found herself skidding to a stop, dark eyes widening as she looked on at the psychic pokemon. "You can hear me?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to when you're screaming so loud?"
Edith wanted to ask questions, but her eyes kept drifting over her shoulder, her breaths coming out in sharp pants. He was coming...
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:12 pm
It really wasn't hard to follow Edith, and that just made Kole feel worse. She was supposed to be able to soar through the air, and here she was, forced to stumble through the woods.
'Well, what the hell is the dummy running for? Just let her get sick and die out here~'
Growling, he smacked at his forehead. 'Shut up!' Stupid other mind.. He wouldn't let it get in his way this time! He was going to do what he could to help the woman he cared most for.
When he saw Edith standing there, his own steps slowed. He was oblivious to the pokemon around Edith, focusing on getting her calm; as well as keeping himself level-headed. "Edith? What is it?" he called, slowly approaching, arms of hair moving branches out of his way. "Talk to me, please. Why did you run this time?" This time... All the other times he'd told her to run, and now she does with without being asked. What had set her off?
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 3:41 pm
Edith would have ran again if the poke'mon around her didn't make her feel a little secure. They seemed to be curious enough tho prevent something terrible, but distant enough to let this play out until things got bad.
"Gourgeist, huh?" The older Alakazam clucked his tongue with a little shake of his head. "Boy, I know your kind are dark, but you're not stupid. The girl can't talk, but she can think."
Edith averted her eyes long enough to look at the Alakazam, who only nodded his head and moved a little closer to the pair. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"She says she ran because she doesn't want to be captured again. Edith wants to know why you were there, at the lab, but not in a cage like her. She thinks you're going to take her back."
Edith turned her dark eyes back to Kole and felt her heart twist into a knot. Seeing him like this just made her want to run over to him, throw her arms around him, and wish this all away. But she couldn't, not now...
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Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 5:36 pm
At first, Edith not running was reassuring. The new voice startled him though, now taking note of the surrounding pokemon. Oh, so that's why she'd paused...
"If I didn't believe she couldn't think, I would bother asking anything!" he snarled at the pokemon.
Just as quickly, he clamped his jaw tight and took a step back. He was just going to scare Edith further if that kept happening... He forced himself to listen to the Alakazam, and his stomach steadily settled into his feet. He should have known the question would come up... Somewhere in his head, he'd been hoping it would be forgotten about. Of course, that wouldn't happen.
Now that the question was out there, he was scared. Terrified. Would she be able to understand, or would this be the final straw that she wouldn't be able to tolerate?
He stood silent long enough that his hair started slapping his back, startling him out of his thoughts. "Edith... I would never take you there. When I saw someone had taken you, I got so angry..." His head dropped slightly, digging his nails into his palms to keep his focus. No beating around the bush, no being vague or elusive... "They did try to catch me at first. Someone... someone knew about the potion in me. ...They told me that the research there might help me reverse it. They told me it could help reverse yours... You wouldn't make me leave, even though I'd caused so much pain for you... You kept believing in me... Edith, I wanted to make things right... and I thought it would be worth it. I told myself it would be worth it, if I could change you back." He could feel the skin of his palms breaking, but he only squeezed his fingers tighter. Now that the gate was open, the flood was going to keep on coming. Even his other side was being suppressed enough to prevent intervention or overruling.
"Ever since I changed, I've done nothing but hurt you! I've attacked you, I've run from you, I've pushed you away. I've made you worried and scared and sad, and you even risked yourself with that potion to try understanding what happened to me. And where'd that get you? You're in a cabin in the woods, hiding from town and others because you're afraid of trying to eat them, because you were trying to help me." He shook his head roughly. "I'm the one who's supposed to be chased away, not you. I'm supposed to be the one staying away, not you. Everything about me is wrong, Edith. Everything!" His hair waved around a little, as though trying to confirm what he'd said, and he shook his head to make it stop. "It wasn't right of me. I know. I let too many things cloud me, blind me... but I would never have taken you there."
It had all come out in an emotional rush, and he was suddenly drained. What the heck had he said? Did any of that even make sense? How was she supposed to take all that in? He was panting softly, head spinning, so he knelt down, resting his butt onto his heels. "...Are you ready to let me go yet?" he asked softly, eyes down on the ground, too afraid to look at that beautiful, precious, expressive face.
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:24 am
While the Alakazam might have looked threatened by Kole's snarling behavior, Edith wasn't. That side of him she had long grown used to, but it was the implications behind it that made her uneasy. The longer her remained silent the more she began to believe in his guilt. Why else would he be stalling for so long? Her wing, while damaged, could fly her far enough into the trees to give her a head start. He wouldn't be able to follow her farther into the canopy; Kole wasn't as fast, nor were his bones as light as hers.
But...she stayed. She stayed to hear him out, and felt the smallest amount of relief to know he hadn't been the one to take her. The pain seeping from his voice pulled at her own, making it hard to stand still when all she wanted to do was hold him. Oh, Kole.
"I wouldn't make you leave because I love you." The Alakazam spoke for her. "Humans are liars, Kole; they're liars and thieves. Look at what they did to you!" She lowered her head, allowing her wings to fall behind her. Her broken appendage hung at an odd angle, but she didn't seem to notice. Edith wiped at her eyes with shaking hands. She felt like such a damn fool. Why hadn't she seen the signs? This was so like him, to try to fix everything on his own...to put all the blame on himself...
She could smell the blood on his palms from here, and even though it did nothing for her, Edith's reaction to it sickened her. Her fangs were so close to breaking through that she dared not show her face.
"You don't get to decide what I want. I'm not hiding from anyone! I HATE humans! I never want to be anywhere near them. All they've ever done is capture and abandon me. No one wants a worthless starly. Not one who can't evolve. Not some scrappy little kid who can't talk."
When she looked up, blood tinted tears came down over her cheeks, ghosting over her fangs. Her jaw was clenched, as if she were a moment away from snapping. "Yes, I'm afraid. I attacked my own brother because of the monster I've become, but that's something I chose. If they want to talk to me they know where to find me, but just because I don't go into town as often as I did doesn't mean that I'm unhappy."
Fed up, she strode across the clearing to get closer to him, and jabbed her pointer finger into his chest. "Who decided you were the one who was 'supposed' to be sent away? Dammit, Kole, stop making decisions like this on your own!" She shoved him then, with all the strength she'd gained from her vampiric abilities. "I evolved so I could get stronger. I took the potion so I could understand just some of what you were going through. In a relationship you make sacrifices to be with the one you love, and quiet frankly, I would take the potion AGAIN if it meant you would just shut up and listen to me."
Her fangs were flashing by this point, a hiss slipping from between her lips. She was exhausted, sore both physically and mentally, as well as starved. If she didn't love him so much she would have throttled him.
"Do you think leaving now is going to change anything? I'm not going back there, even if you aren't around. That cabin is my home. I love being able to cook for you, I wish you would let me buy you new clothes and I make decent money from my work. I'm a shopkeeper and I sell knitted goods on the weekends. In my eyes, that's pretty damn homey."
Edith stopped to take a deep breath, as if just thinking all of that had exhausted her lungs. "So...no, I'm not ready to let go of you. I'm never going to be ready for that. If you want out, Kole, you'll have to kill me to do it."
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 1:46 pm
At first, the Alakazam's voice with Edith's words was unnerving. He was far more used to reading her words than hearing them. Yet, he could still feel they were her words, and he squeezed watery eyes shut. Love... He didn't deserve that. Not from her. Not from anyone... For a moment, his eyes cracked open to look at himself as requested. Becoming a gourgeist was bad on its own. The potion forced on him had just made him a monster.
The following words caught him by surprise though. He had assumed the cabin life was only because of the results of her potion. She really hated humans like he did... He hadn't realized it was at that level.
Her brother? Kole's brow knit slightly. Did he know about her brother? Had she mentioned him before? He couldn't remember. ...He knew about attacking loved ones though. He knew the sting after realizing what had happened.
With his head still down, he heard the quick steps coming, and his nails dug further. Edith wasn't leaving. She just kept coming... The shove sent him back onto his butt, and he couldn't help thinking of the day at the lake. It was so similar. He was telling her that he needed to leave, and she was telling him otherwise. And there was that word again. Love...He knew he didn't deserve it, but he knew that it was really there. ...They'd both done a lot to try caring for each other in their own ways.
"How is that not just a dream, Edith?!" He squeezed his eyes shut again, shaking his head roughly. "I decided I was supposed to be sent away after I started killing people for the hell of it!" He unclenched his hands. Today, the blood on it was his own, but that wasn't usually the case. "When the dark takes over, I don't attack out of need. I attack because it's fun. That first time I saw you after I changed... I attacked you because I could. Because you were scared. I wanted to." His nails dug back into his palms, steeling himself for making one more attempt. "Leaving wouldn't change my position, but it would ensure that you're safe from me, so that I don't decide one day to do something to you. ...I couldn't live with myself if I actually harmed you."
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 2:14 pm
He wasn't listening.
Edith made a noise that could have been mistaken for a sob before it became a louder, sort of hysterical laugh. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling at the ivory strands with enough force to break some off. It was like beating her head against a wall over and over again!
"Because if this was a dream I wouldn't have to work so hard to earn your trust."
Despite her laughter, and the near manic edge creeping over Edith the Alakazam's words were somber. He looked between the pair with something akin to a deep, pitying concern. Several of his clan mates had wisely left, leaving only a few to help defend him should things get rough.
"You think you're the only one who likes to hurt people because you've got me on a pedestal. You're no better than those damn humans." She drug her claws hands down her face, leaving scratches that cut so deep little bubbles of blood beaded up against her skin. "I like the hunt. Even when I'm satisfied I'm never really full. It's a drug; when I have it I'm high, but when it's gone I feel lost. I don't kill like you do, but even if I did you would find some way to rationalize it. I know you're scared about what you could do to me, but I'm more worried about what you're doing to yourself. What's happened to you...to me...we can't change it, Kole. I've come to terms with my monster; you just have to accept yours."
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 2:41 pm
The manic laugh from Edith made the darkness within Kole bubble with amusement. 'She's really just as crazy as we are, eh?'
His trust? ....Was it really that simple? He wasn't trusting her to do what she wanted, or what was right for her. He wanted her to do what he thought was right, and those weren't the same thing. Trust...
Edith's description of herself stung, but he was in no position to tell her otherwise. He knew the feeling too well. The thrill of chasing, the hunt, the catch... It was addicting. It was frightening. ...And he certainly had not come to terms with it in himself. His stomach turned into a big knot. Accept what he was? ..Edith seemed to have done it. She accepted him as well as herself. Despite it all, she still...
Slowly, without looking up fully, he unclenched his hands in order to take Edith's, one arm of hair reaching up to where he could smell the hints of her blood. Despite still hearing words, he'd almost completely forgotten that Edith's new speaker was even there. "I don't know how to," he said quietly. "I hate what I am. What I do." He looked at her small hands, remembering how they felt when patting his arm, holding his hand, brushing along his neck... "I don't know how to."
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