Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » When The Moon Smiles {Retired}

Khael was stricken by beauty as she removed her hood. Being a mortal, her looks were beyond anything he had ever seen and his eyes shifted again with surprise. A bright green highlighted with a pastel pink color as he attempted to remain authoritative and intimidating. He cleared his throat, as if to brush off his mortal emotions toward her.
"This is my house and I truly don't have to give you any information." He commented, his eyes glittered but his expression was stoic.
"I'd say you felt those things because you've been wondering in the snow for god knows how long, your body is probably freaking out. And my eyes don't change, you're probably just in a state of delusion from either a lack of nutrition or exhaustion. So go home, eat something, and get some rest." He said with an almost glare in his colorful eyes. He almost felt bad speaking to her like this; she looked so innocent. But the cool expression in her face and the impartial look behind her eyes reminded him that he was dealing with someone dangerous.

She noticed Khael's reaction to her act of removing the hood, but she pretended not to notice. However, she didn't take his no for an answer - and the questioning of her mental sanity - so well.

"Ha, he said home again."

When Nitsua spoke again, it was more of a growl than anything else.

"I grow tired of this, boy. Honoring my promise, I have kept things from turning violent. But we Daughters of the Moonless Sky are fickle, and our word is not to be trusted. I can make you speak... Khael."

She truly disliked to refer herself as a Daughter, but she had a feeling Khael didn't even know what he was up against. Then again, neither did she. The possibility of the boy trying to lull her into a sense of false security could not be discarded so soon. No... he was trying to make himself big and scary. And failing miserably. Or was it part of the plot?

"Don't think too much about it, Nitsua. Everything is probably much simpler than you think."

Castigadora was right.

"For the last time time, insect..." Nitsua growled again. "You. Will. Speak."

His drowsiness was starting to steal away his confidence and his energy as she threatened him in his own home. He pinched the bridge of his nose, noticing how good it felt to close his eyes as he leaned on the back of the couch. His patience was growing thin for the elven girl though he knew that even if his patience snapped, he couldn't bring himself to touch her. But she wasn't scared of him. She felt that she had absolute power over Khael though she had never met him and was in his territory.
"What the fuck do you want me to say?" He snarled at her, looking up with a glare. Her absolute disrespect for him was irritating and the lack of sleep was wearing on his emotional state the more and more he thought about it.
"Miss Princess of Mysterious Whereabouts." He mocked her. "If you have as many secrets as you claim to have, you'd think you'd respect the fact that I would have mine. I can assure you, elfie, that if I came bursting into your house at 3 in the morning, you would not be so keen to telling me your life story, now would you?" He had taken a step toward her, his eyes staring into hers and burning with contrasting colors of bright yellow and deep gray.

Nitsua glared at Khael.

"He has a point. You broke into his house, Nitsua."

"Bah! Kill him already - and make sure that you do it in a messy way. You know you want to... also, ha. He said house."

"It stopped being funny, Redentor."

"Shut up." Nitsua ordered - it was unclear if she was talking to the spirits, or Khael.

From both sides came advice: the divine spirit wanted her to apologize and leave; coming back the following day. Maybe if she approached him later, and acted politely, he would give her the information she wanted.

On the other hand, the daemonic one wanted her to kill the person who was so impolitely speaking to her. She wasn't there to learn about the auras they had sensed; she was there to fight their wielder and kill him.

As time went by, Nitsua started to feel more and more inclined to do what Redentor had told her. It made sense, that was indeed her goal. But now she wanted to know - and besides, the kid had dared to address her with disrespect! The punishment for that was death! She would not act so rashly as to immediately stab him, however.

In a sudden movement, she unsheathed her two blades, Atoner and Punisher, home to the two spirits. Nitsua looked calmer now.

"Don't, Nitsua. Please."

"Is that your final word, Khael?" She asked, her voice now sounding almost soft. "Must I find what I seek by defiling your corpse?"

Khael was almost amused at her threat but a piece of him inside told him his story was over. He was calm, the fear had long ago been faded away and did not have enough energy as a foundation to reinstate itself so he stared at her with blissfully cool eyes inside a deep dark ocean of color.
"Do as you wish girl. But keep in mind that killing me will not give you the information you desire. You will receive the Atér (not a blessing, I assure you) and quite possibly the Luxi as well. If that is how you want your curiosity satisfied, than by all means, kill me." He offered, opening his arms to give her a clear shot to the soft middle of his body. He was taller than her, now standing with perfect posture as he stared down at her.
"Death doesn't scare me anymore, elfie. There are far worse things than to end someone's life." He commented, still wide open for her clear shot. "That and I'd assume you wouldn't be very content knowing the fight was so easily won, am I wrong? You seem like the kind of girl who is an instigator, but not a butcher." He teased her, not really giving a hoot what or how she'd react to his blind observations of his first impression of her. If she really wanted to kill him, fretting about it would do no good; she was already in his house with knives at the ready, what would be the use being afraid of the imminent? So he simply stared at her, arms open, eyes dark and tired, simply waiting for something to happen.

As swiftly as they had been unsheathed, the two blades returned to the place where they belonged.

"Why the little..."

"You'd love to tame this one, would you not, Redentor."

"He's right. There are far worse things than to end someone's life. I'm one of those things."

A moment. Then Nitsua smiled. Soon, her smile turned to laughter. That was it - the kid had proven himself! It was no bravado, it was no trap. He was being honest, he was being himself. It had been that all along! She, who a few moments ago pitied and despised Khael, was now starting to like him. Her surprisingly crystalline slowly came to an end.

"Drop the pose, kid." She finally said. "It's not like it would make killing you any easier - or harder, for that matter."

She was now back to her indifferent face.

"I was mistaken to come here. Atér? Luxi? Whatever your secrets are, keep them, as I keep mine. I care only for battle - all else is meaningless to me. To us."

A pause.

"Get some sleep, you're a mess."

That said, she turned and walked over to the door.

As quickly as his body filled with relief, a sudden wash of disappointment ran through him. That was it? No fight? No snarky comments? No nothing? He dropped his arms and his shoulders as he watched her give. He didn't want her to leave, necessarily, she was his source of stimulation, excitement, wonder for the moment and suddenly the mysterious, violence ridden elf was leaving? He wasn't sure what to say. He had to stay quiet in order to keep his pride intact as the winner of the situation but he wanted to speak up to keep her around. He was curious, to say the least, as to what information she held with her and why she had gone through all the effort to just turn around and give him up. The secrets he held, she could feel. So why did she suddenly have no interest in them?
In a moment of decision, he spoke up, but what came out of his mouth was nothing of the English language. Or any for that matter. He simply made a quiet noise of disappointment and retort to her sudden lack of care. His eyes were blue still but that pumpkin color around the edge had returned.

Two-thirds of her - the two thirds of her that lived inside swords, to be more precise - were very aware of Khael's disappointment. However, the one third of her who actually acted wasn't. Upon being informed of the situation by Castigadora, her reaction was minimal.

"What? Was this not what you wanted?", she asked Khael.

No more would Nitsua act stubbornly, or follow her curiosity. Redentor noticed she was thinking about that, and didn't resist.

"Some killing machine, Nitsua. Those feelings of yours are of no use for a blood knight."

Redentor wanted to annoy her... but he was right. And how. Then again, she was fickle by nature. Like the daemonic spirit liked to put it, it was her 'luggage' from when she was a regular person.

She walked over to the door, looked outside, and sighed.

"...I hate snow."

"Then I take it November isn't exactly your month." Khael commented briskly, not sure how to resolve the situation. So he decided to let her work it out. He had put his pathetic retort out on the table and it was up to her what she would do with it. The light side of his soul was urging him to help her, warm her, cure her of this illness that has torn her mind so much but the dark side told him to hold fast and cherish his pride. However, being a male of his age, his normal emotions weren't necessarily the most stable to begin with and he did want her to stay. Whether it was because he wished good intentions on her health or because he had nobody close and was desperately seeking a companion of some kind to converse with other than his uncle and the few friends he had made during his studies.

So much snow - she could no longer see her own tracks - and it hadn't been too long. Ten, fifteen minutes?

She was tired. Very tired. And hungry, too. Why just now? It was probably the sight of the snow, and the prospect of having to spend the night walking, in the cold. She had hoped to find someone to fight, and let that person's spilled blood replenish her... but no, the kid just had to be like that, accepting his fate without fighting back. Nothing to do, now. She would stand the cold.

Perhaps the Rite of Mind would help her find shelter faster.

A moment of doubt before departing. With the door wide open, she turned around to face Khael once again.

"I have mixed feelings about you. That proves I have to get stronger still."

A smile. She wasn't sure if she was expecting him to offer her his place to stay for the night, or not.

"We're much alike in many ways. We won't meet again. Anything you wish to say, before I go?"

Khael stared at her with new colors. His eyes were now a dark forest of chocolate rounded off with sunlit green.
"You're welcome to stay here until the sun rises and its safer to walk about." He offered lightly, not particularly hesitating. He watched her carefully, now backtracking in his mind and wondering if that offer was a good choice. There was always a possibility that she could slay him while he slept or take from the house or other more disastrous consequences of allowing a strange to stay in your house. Geoff would piss his pants if he knew a random woman would be in the house but Khael didn't even think of the man sleeping silently upstairs. His mind was focused on her and whether she would comply to his indirect request.

"Really? When I thought you couldn't go any lower..."

"Would you rather spend the night outside? You wish can be fulfilled.", she replied, somewhat annoyed, but not angry. Redentor was just being himself.

"As a decision, it is a shameful one, but I see where you're coming from, Nitsua"

"You too, Castigadora?"

Even she thought it was inappropriate. She usually hated charity, as she strove to be complete and utterly independent from everyone... She closed the door before her, but didn't move. Instead, she muttered a single word.

"Why."

He was slightly confused. If she had closed the door and had already made her decision, why was she questioning his offer? He shrugged lightly, trying to think of something that he could say to satisfy her inquiry but keep her from chopping his head off.
"Well Jesus, I didn't want you to freeze." He said simply, hoping he was correct. Khael couldn't be sure whether or not she would be sleeping outside if she left but deductive reasoning told him that if she was already out and about this late in the snow and she had complied to his request. He watched her carefully, finding how completely unpredictable this elf woman happened to be.

Silence.

"...very well, then." She said.

"You make it sound like you are doing him a favor."

"Just shut up already."

"Maybe you should ask him about those au-"

"Please?"

She once again approached Khael, only to look him in the eyes for a moment - those colors, why? - and walk over to the window, looking at the snow as if it was something deadly. There she remained, still, silent. She would have to wait for the sun to rise. Not that it would help her much. The way there had been exhausting...

Khael swayed lightly on the balls of his feet, watching her as he decided what to do next. It would be easier for him to sleep if she seemed as if she was sleeping as well but if that was not something in her agenda, it was his job to make her feel as comfortable as possible in his home. He walked up behind her with oceans for eyes, trying not to come off as hostile.
"Can...I get you something to eat or drink?" He asked quietly, keeping his voice soft so as not to scare her. He avoided touching her, though on any normal basis, he would have placed his hand on her shoulder.

Her reply came in an unnecessarily harsh tone. More charity?

"No, I'm fine." It was a lie, but her pride didn't need any more wounding. She's wasn't starving or anything, but she hadn't eaten in several hours. Nothing she couldn't withstand. "I'm not your guest, I'm merely staying here for a few hours. Don't offer me anything."

I don't want your kindness. I may need it, but I don't want it.

"Have I ever told you you're weird?"

"Well, but he's weird too, so-" She interrupted whatever she was going to say when she realized something she found somewhat strange. She had been speaking with the spirits the whole time, aloud, and Khael hadn't questioned her once about it.

He respected her answer and backed of slightly, ignoring her as she talked to herself. He had already come to terms with the fact that she's schizophrenic and as long as the voices didn't tell her to kill anybody, he stayed out of her business. He rubbed his hands together as his attempts to make the situation less tense had failed and he took a couple steps away from her, brainstorming a way that he could make her feel less like a stranger. He looked at the clock and saw that the hour of 3 in the morning was quickly growing older and the weight of sleep deprivation slapped him in the face. But his fear of her mystery kept him awake.
"Well...I'm not sleeping while you're here so if you need anything, just ask me." He said carefully, the ocean in his eyes had once again grown a very vivid forest around it's borders as he watched her stare out the window.

"You should sleep. I don't care. It is your decision to make, not mine."

Was he scared she could kill him in his sleep or something? Why would he? She had already said that... no, it wasn't that. It was something else, something other than fear, something she doubted she could understand.

It was late, and she was tired, but there was no way she'd go to sleep while he was there. That would be showing weakness - to go to sleep, you must first succumb to the needs of your own body. No way she'd let Khael see her lose a battle - even if said battle was against herself.

Should he leave or go to sleep himself, that would be a whole different story.

"Also, I already said I need nothing from you... are we alone in this house?"

His confusion spread throughout his body as each of his statements were rejected with justification. He rubbed the back of his neck and answered her.
"We might as well be. Geoff, my uncle, is in an alcohol-induced coma at the moment." He commented casually, keeping his eyes on her. Why wouldn't she sleep? She must have been exhausted. Though, Khael himself wouldn't allow himself to fall asleep in a stranger's house either. So he plopped himself down on the couch and took a deep sigh immediately, nearly while he spoke, after answering her question.

(Sorry, fail post. I'll do better next time.)

(that's far from a fail post )

"Ha! I knew it. There's someone else around."

"Yes, and?"

"I'm not sure."

Nitsua shook her head at Khael's statement.

"Alcohol dependence is such a ridiculous thing. An intoxicated man fights well when he's winning, but once the tides turn, so does he turn around, to flee. It's disgusting."

A short pause.

"So you have family, and a home. No wonder you're not a fighter." She commented, turning around. She leaned against the wall as she glanced at him. He was on the couch - he was obviously very tired. Was there a battle of wills going on between the two? Nitsua had given up trying to understand Khael a long time ago. "A quiet life makes everything except fighters."