Freezing Winds }{ Open open open open

[Lujayn]

The mountain winds were cold and bitter, chafing exposed skin and getting under any protection, freezing to the bone. This high up in the mountains, only the natives could possibly hope to survive the winter for more than a few days, for they knew the land.

Krae most definitely did not, and had decided, after falling through a snowdrift for the fourth time, that if she ever achieved God status, the first thing she would do would be to destroy all tall mountains.

The crow-turned-demon was incredibly pale, even more so than usual, and her lips were turning a fairly unbecoming shade of blue, that was broken by flecks of blood when the fragile skin split. She could scarcely feel her feet, even though she was hardly wearing light footwear, and she was quiet certain that if she couldn't find a way to warm up her frozen hands, she would lose not just the fingers to frostbite, but possibly half of her arms along with them.

"I am never complaining about the fall again," she hissed through clenched teeth, pulling her heavy cloak tighter around herself. "And if I manage to get out of here without freezing rock solid, I refuse to set foot on even a hill for the next year."

A vacation in the desert was sounding nice about now.

It had seemed like a simple enough job (didn't they always?); all she had to do was get into the bandit caves and steal back an important family heirloom that had been taken. It wasn't really a job worth her time, but she'd been having some troubles getting any job, and her purse was pitifully empty. So, she had accepted. The only problem was that they had forgotten to mention one, small detail:

The bandits had a giant.

As enhanced as she may be, Krae did not stand a chance against a giant, not even a small one. The giant had also alerted the entire bandit gang, and she ended up having to flee.

Up deeply into the mountains. Where she was on a quick road to freezing to death. Goody.

Looking around, she tried to find something- anything, really- that could be used to shelter herself from the wind. It didn't help that it was blowing about all the snow, obscuring her vision, but she thought she saw something that looked a bit like a cave further down.

Hopefully, it wasn't occupied.

As she made her way down there, wondering if she would succumb to the irony of passing out just before she reached it, she tripped over something that felt like a body and was pitched headfirst into her fifth snowbank.

The next slew of words to emerge from her mouth were extremely inappropriate, to say the least.

She extracted herself from the pile of snow, and turned to look at what she had tripped over. A body, definitely. It didn't smell dead, so whoever it was hadn't been unconscious for very long. But they would probably die soon. Oh, well. That was life, wasn't it?

She pondered that for a moment. Another person might help her survive this forsaken place, and perhaps in gratitude (or through a succession of very violent threats) they could help her retrieve that silly family heirloom.

Failure did not sit well with Krae.

Making up her mind, she grabbed the half-dead person by the arm and dragged them towards the cave, which she found to be delightfully devoid of any other occupants, and had a nice turn at the back that kept out of the wind a little bit.

"Now, how did that enchant for smokeless fire go?" she murmured to herself, unceremoniously shoving the unconscious person off to the side while she went about creating a fire that neither smoked nor required fuel. It expended a great deal of energy, and her hair went from nearly full-black to a silly half-black, half-red because of it, but as long as she had warmth, she really didn't care.

She went back to the body and pushed it close to the fire, before settling down and waiting for them to wake up- if they ever did.First person join as the unconcious one, subsequent joiners can be whatever they want :P -

[Talwyn]

Slowly but surely he was regaining consciousness. Though, he was aware enough that for the time being it would be better to make sure he pretended to still be unconscious. After all, as the fog in his mind slowly cleared, he realized he wasn't alone and he had no idea who this other person was. For that matter, he had no idea what had happened either.

Enjoying the flames, he focused on trying to remember what had happened. Something about meeting someone... no not meeting, finding. A hermit. Yes, he had been trying to locate a hermit. One that supposedly had vast magical powers. Powers vast enough he might be able to change himself back to normal. Yes, that was why he had come here. He had found the hermit's cave. But unfortunately, the man had died long ago. And there was nothing in the cave that could help him either. And on his way down, he had been caught by a sudden blizzard. Apparently he had fainted while trying to find shelter.

Very carefully, as to not alert whoever else was here, he tensed and then relaxed his muscles. It also occurred to him then that he still had his sword and that he had not been tied up. Was however saved him just that friendly, or was he or she confident that they could handle him in a fight? Well, whatever, he didn't have much choice. He wasn't fit enough to fight at the moment anyway.

Getting up slowly with his eyes still closed, he rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to drive away the last remnants of the fog clouding his mind. "I suppose thanks are in order." He said sounding slightly embarrassed. A slight surprise in his eyes as he finally looked at Krae. How had she ever managed to drag him? Pushing the question from his mind, he decided there more important matters for now.

His cowl had not been covering his face, and even if it had, she had dragged him here. Surely she must have known he was no ordinary human. In fact, most considered him a monster... so why had she saved him? "My name is Talwyn Greyoak. While I do not mind that you saved my life, I can't help but wonder why you would save one such as me."

[Lujayn]

Krae, in the middle of trying to dry her damp cloak, turned to glance at the one she had saved, red eyes piercing. “Huuuum? One such as you?” She peered a tad more closely at him. “Ah, yes, you aren’t a normal human, are you?”

She dropped the cloak to the side, and sauntered over to the man, a sort of grace in her steps. She didn’t seem all that powerful... until she put a finger to his forehead, tilting his head back so she could better look at him. There was a power there; weakened for the moment, yes, but still there, and it was most definitely not of this world. “Mmm, yes, I can feel it... demon, a bit, are you? And something else, too. A curse, then?” She snorted. “Well, no matter to me. As long as it does not affect what I wish to accomplish, it means nothing.” She stepped away from him, sitting next to the fire again, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin upon them.

“My name is-“ she made a sound that was an awful lot like a crow’s call. “But, most cannot pronounce that properly, so the simple “Krae” suffices, I suppose.” She yawned then, a grandiose, jaw-cracking yawn that showed off some impressively sharp canines.

Clearly, she wasn’t human.

“As for your thanks,” she continued, watching him steadily with those red eyes boring into him, “It can be in the form of helping me with a little... task.” Well, that was understating it a bit. “Now, I don’t expect gratitude to fully motivate you, so I’m also willing to give you a part of the payment I am to receive. And if that still doesn’t persuade you, well...” She smiled a chilling, evil sort of thing, of someone who was used to doing whatever they had to, and not much caring about what it was. “Well, there’re always threats upon your life.”

And then she did an about face; a smile that was warm and a slight laugh. “But, of course, I don’t put that much effort into something that trivial... for now.” She turned back to drying her cloak. “So, then, what brings you, oh horrid mixture of things vile, into this frozen wasteland of a mountain range?”

[Talwyn]

He still wasn't really looking at her, even when she was poking his forehead. "Mmm, yes, I can feel it... demon, a bit, are you? And something else, too. A curse, then?" The woman asked. "Golem." Tal told her, confirming her suspicions. Ignoring her comment about how it meant nothing to her, he carefully got up and moved closer to the flames and finally took a closer look at his savior.

She was pretty, yet this was offset by the aura of danger surrounding her. Watching her yawn, he immediately noticed the sharp teeth. Well, that would explain why she didn't care... she wasn't human. Others might have been frightened by this, but Tal didn't really have any right to judge someone based on an not entirely human appearance.

As she stated she had a little task she needed help with he kept his eyes locked on hers. She was hard to read, what with telling him she could always threaten him if the reward wasn't enough, followed by a friendly laugh. Thankfully she did gave him a way out of answering by asking yet another question. "While I am not really cursed, a curse can be broken... this needs to be undone somehow... Either way I wish to become normal again and to accomplish that I have scoured the lands in pursuit of so many different rumors and legends that even I lost track. I heard a hermit with vast magical powers lived here and decided to seek him out."

He paused for a moment as he watched the dancing flames. "Well... whatever power he had, cheating death was something he could not do. I found his remains and after examining the cave he used for a home I decided it'd be best to leave. On the way down I got caught in a blizzard." He cast a quick glance at the exit as he went on. "I'm not sure if this is yet another or the same blizzard though. I eventually collapsed while trying to find shelter and have no idea how long I was out."

Staring at the flames once more, his stomach started to growl. "I don't suppose you happen to have any food do you?" He asked offhandedly. For now his first focus was to regain his strength. After that he decided, he would ask what this "small task" was that she needed help with. And once she told him, he would make up his mind about whether he should aid her, or if he should risk seeing just how much of her veiled threat was a joke. First though, he needed something to eat.

[Lujayn]

"Cheating death isn't necessarily a good thing," Krae muttered under her breath, barely audible, thinking of her own near-immortality. That was all well and good, but life would get tiring, wouldn't it? Things were so much easier when she was a crow...

For a moment, she ignored his question for food. "If you truly wished to become human, you could always make a Devil's Pact, you know. True, when you die you end up in Hell, but it's still a thought, if you're ever desperate enough." She gave him a somewhat... bitter smile. "I could put in a good word, if you wish."

Wonderful. A connection to Hell.

"As for food... well, if I had any, I would be eating it, wouldn't I?" she said dryly, "I suppose when it stops snowing-" she said this with undisguised disgust- "that I could hunt for something. Maybe a rabbit. Or a dead body." She smiled at him. "Aren't you glad you're alive? I could be eating you instead." It was impossible to tell if she was joking or not.

Krae was digging around her pack now, pulling out a rather impressive set of throwing-knives out of the way. "Ah, here they are..." she pulled out a small bag and rustled around in it, tossing Talwyn some strange looking root. "Nibble on that. It should help protect against any illnesses you could pick up- assuming strange little creatures like you can get - and it might stave off hunger for the time being."

She then unceremoniously shoved everything back into the pack. She wasn't a terribly good packer, evidently. Especially if she had no provisions.

[Talwyn]

Without thanking her he picked up the strange looking root and started, as she had put it, nibbling on it. Her talk about a Devil's Pact didn't seem to bother him at all, in fact, he actually seemed to be considering it. "I'm rather desperate, I agree, but not that desperate. Hell does not scare me, the thought of some devilish fiend turning me into a slave bound monstrosity for all eternity does. And with the sense of irony most seem to posses that is just what they'd do. So no... no need to put in a good word... besides, most of the times the word of one your kind is hardly worth anything."

Finishing the root did little to appease his growling stomach, though he did feel better now having eaten at least some food, little though it was. He suddenly seemed to remember something and got up carefully. Walking to the entrance of the cave he looked outside. The blizzard was still going, but it didn't seem as bad as it had been anymore. "Where did you find me?" He asked without looking back. "If it's close.... my travel sack should still be there. While hardly a feast, it contained some jerky, dried cheese and crackers, but it'll be better then nothing right?"

[Lujayn]

Most would have found his comment on being totally untrustworthy insulting; Krae, however, merely laughed. “Well, that’s more or less true, isn’t it?” She grinned, leaning her head on her fist. “You’re certainly bold in your speech, boy.” An ironic choice of words, since she was only 6-7 years old... “I would suggest, however, to learn a little tact for the future; there are those far more easy to provocation than I. And I’m pretty easy to begin with.”

She smirked. “And don’t take that the wrong way.” Dirty-minded thing, wasn’t she?

She frowned when he made his way to the entrance. “Get back here, boy,” she said sharply, “I do not care how close your sack is, in a blizzard it is far too far out. Look- the snow is falling heavier and faster even now. You’d get lost and end up freezing to death in the snow, and I’d rather not have you do that, considering I just spent the time saving your sorry soul.”

She stretched lazily, watching him. “And don’t think you can just run off. You may have some strength in you, I give you that, but you’re weak, and I’m Devil-made. You will lose.”

Alright, so that was a blatant lie; depending on her status she could be beaten up by a kitten, but it was best to appear strong to avoid unnecessary confrontation. “And I don’t have all that much power to spare to save you a second time, if you did manage to get out there and lost. You can last a while without food.”

[Talwyn]

He ignored her double minded joke as well as the warning to get back. It seemed he was content to just stare outside at the snow. The thought of running off had occurred to him yes, but he knew better. Weakened as he was that would be certain death. Besides... even if the blizzard had subsided... running from a demon whose strength was unknown while still recovering didn't exactly strike him as the smartest thing to do. Granted it wouldn't be the stupidest thing he had ever done but still.

Glancing over his shoulder, he finally showed a sign that he was listening to her. "Don't worry, even I am not that stupid." It was unclear if he was referring to trying to brave the blizzard, or an attempt at escaping her and it was painfully obvious it was on purpose. All the way he was trying to figure out the next course of action. She wanted his help with something, she had said as much earlier... now his honor required him to aid her but she was a demon. Which made it likely that whatever it was she needed help with, was something his morals wouldn't allow or something he'd be better of trying to stop.

The problem of course, was that in his weakened state he did not dare state outright he would refuse her request, or worse, stop her. But he wasn't sure how much longer he could avoid the issue. Returning to the back of the cave, he took the scabbard from his belt and sat with his back against the wall. He placed the scabbard in his lap where he could easily reach it, though it seemed more out of habit then out of fear she would attack him.

"Wake me when the storm is over." He said while closing his eyes, figuring he might as well try and get some sleep. Not only would it help him recover, it would let him dance around the issue of whether or not he should help a bit longer.

[Lujayn]

“Ha, ‘not that stupid’, you say,” she murmured. “Meaning that you are at least a little stupid. Ah well, most are. Especially Kæs, the incompetent...”

Her mutterings grew indistinct, Krae seeming to be talking to herself now, as she went over her things to see if there were any repairs to be worked, acknowledging her new companion’s words with a slight nod. There was a dagger or two that needed to resharpened, and a few tears in her clothing that had to be mended, although a few she couldn’t get at while wearing them, and she didn’t really want to strip in front of a total stranger, whether he was sleeping or not.

She mended what she could, and stowed away her dull daggers for another time. She didn’t have anything to sharpen them with, and she had plenty others- just in case the situation called for it. Plus, it was rather fun to “accidentally” show off a few of them to knock over resistance over payment.

That thought brought to mind her current task, and she scowled. How had the bandits managed to get their hands on a giant? And a tame one, at that? Did they have a magic user on their hands, too, controlling it through mind magic? That would be terrible, for while she had great resistance against physical damage- swords, crossbow bolts, etc- her magical resistance was severely lacking and she was quite sure the only thing protecting her from mental probing was the fact she had a Devil on her side.

“One step at a time, featherhead,” she muttered to herself, using an ‘affectionate’ term that Kæs had bestowed upon her. “The bandits are easy enough to deal with on their own, so just figure a way to get rid of that giant.”

She snorted. Easier said than done.

[Talwyn]

He fell asleep almost immediately. With all the travelling, and fleeing, he had done he had learned to sleep whenever possible. Still, it was not a sound sleep as he soon started twisting, turning and muttering, though the words where incomprehensible. When he finally woke up however, he did feel refreshed. "Is the storm over yet?" He asked with a yawn as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Moving over to the fire, he sat down across from Krae and ignored his loudly growling stomach. Now what though? It seemed there was still no food, and he sort of felt like he was running out of time. "So..." He finally said, breaking the long silence. "What exactly are you if you don't mind me asking? You are obviously not human, seem to be quite knowledgeable about hell and earlier you called yourself "devil-made". So if I had to guess I'd say your some sort of demon. And if that is correct, what is a demon doing out here in the middle of no where?"

Giving a slight mischievous smirk he added. "Shouldn't you be out terrorizing towns or plotting the destruction of the world?" He was quite sure he'd be safe for now, as long as he wouldn't be to insulting, after all she had told him she needed his help. Besides, from their earlier conversation, he had gotten the impression she found it amusing to be spoken to boldly.

[Lujayn]

Krae looked up. “Mmmn, not yet. It seems to be dying down, though. If we’re lucky this is gonna be a short blizzard.” She stretched, then brushed some hair out of her eyes. The continued strain of keeping the fire going was showing; a sixth of her hair had turned red.

She rose her eyebrows at his question. “Well, no one’s asked me that before,” she said, leaning back against the cave wall. “That’s a bit of a long story, I suppose I should start at my origins then.” She pulled her cloak around herself so she was a little more comfortable. “Believe it or not, I began my humble existence as a crow. I lived... eh, somewhere south of here. You don’t really pay much attention to the grand scale of things when you’re an animal.” She didn’t even pay attention now. “I had my mate, Akraw, and about... four chicks... although two of them were eaten by a cat,” she hissed, “I hate those things... Aka and Cr are still alive, though, I think...”

Amazing, she had children. You wouldn’t think it, looking at her.

“Moving on... when I was two, Kæs was wondering around the forest- which is, by the way, something he’s not allowed to do, and he’s lucky he wasn’t killed by angels. He saw me, and on a whim said ‘oh, wouldn’t it be fun to turn her into a demon?’ And that is what he did.” She rubbed her forehead. “And there began my grief... he’s an idiot.” What a nice way to talk about her master. “He’s the third-youngest devil of Hell- only 100,000 years, according to Ny’kae, and he hasn’t lived long enough to get any clout anywhere... really, all he does is sit there and read and work magic. He is useless.”

Hey, that’s not terribly nice. Say something good about your master, why don’t you?

“Something nice? Like what? You actually managed to score a mate? I don’t know what she sees in you, I’m fairly certain she’s insane...” Krae muttered, appearing to be talking to herself to Talwyn, as Kæs had been speaking to Krae telepathically.

“As for running around terrorising civilians and trying to take over the world... Devils don’t do that. Lucifer’s goal is to gain the eternal souls, and therefore deprive God of his children. He holds very long grudges, you know. On the most part, devils use their demons to lure humans into sin, and Devil’s Pacts. Kæs doesn’t really care; he just stuck me up here because he got tired of me pointing out all his faults.”

She didn’t mention that it had also been for her own safety, from the Fallen who had developed an incredible obsession with her. He couldn’t wander on Earth, just like the Devils, so it was the only place safe for her. Talwyn didn’t need to know that, however.

[Talwyn]

"Interesting..." Tal said after silently and intently listening to Krae's story. "If he is as irresponsible as you claim, you can't prod him to change me back on a whim can you? Free of charge, just to let him show that he can." He asked jokingly. Well whatever, he was glad she didn't ask him for his story. Not only had she saved him, she had told him her story. Telling his would only be fair, but it was not a story he liked telling. So... while she didn't ask he'd be spared that at least.

"What's up with your hair by the way?" He asked as he pointed at the red in her hair. Observant wasn't he? Getting up, he once more walked over to the cave's entrance and gazed outside. The storm had indeed calmed down, though he doubted one would be able to find any food because most animals would still be safely in their shelter. His stomach started growling even louder now that he was thinking about food.

[Lujayn]

“It is impossible for Devils to meddle with humans, or most sentient mortals really, without making a contract. You’re pretty much stuck,” Krae murmured, dimming down the flames a bit so the fire was less of a strain.

At the mention of her hair, she smiled darkly. “It’s just a little quirk of mine,” she said, pleasantly enough but with an undertone that discouraged further questioning. She did not feel that it was necessary to divulge all her secrets, after all, and if he knew that the more of her hair was red the weaker she was... well, he might start thinking of running off and being able to get away with it.

“Now... about your repayment for me saving your life,” she continued, watching him. “It’s nothing too difficult, just a mere retrieval job. A noble lady had her house broken into by a few bandits, and they took something of hers of fair value- their family heirloom, a small necklace of their family crest, a few centuries old, according to her. She hired me to get it back.”

Seemed simple enough, didn’t it? Made you wonder why she needed help.

“There was just a small, itsy-bitsy problem... the bandits have, somehow, managed to keep a giant under their control.” That was her idea of a ‘small problem’?! “It’s possible they have a mage working for them, or they found a breed of giant that actually has a brain and can tell between friend and foe. I’m not certain; I wasn’t able to stick around long, after all. I don’t fancy getting stepped on.” She made a face. “Again...

“Moving along... I need you to... provide a distraction of sorts while I infiltrate their treasure hoard,” she continued, staring into the low flames. “You appear to be sturdier than the average human- perhaps sturdier than me. You could possibly survive against a giant.”

And around 50 men, half armed with crossbows, but she decided not to mention that.

[Talwyn]

He noted the way she discouraged him from inquiring further about her hair and tucked that bit of knowledge in the back of his mind. Obviously it was related to some sort of weakness though what kind he could not tell. He froze a bit when she brought up his payment for saving him. He had hoped to put of this discussion until AFTER he had regained enough of his strength to truly dare refusing.

When she told him the first part he turned to face and raised an eyebrow. He was about to ask if that was all when she mentioned there was a "small, itsy-bitsy" problem. Still, he listened intently to her entire story. He had done so the moment she had mentioned bandits and it almost seemed like a fire was burning in his eyes that would flush away any doubts Krae might have. Talwyn would pay of his debt by helping her, there was no doubt about it.

Returning to the fire he sat down and started firing off questions like "What are they using as a hide-out?", "How much do you know of the lay-out?", "How many bandits are you estimating?", "How well are they organized?". Listening to her answers he nodded as he made mental notes. "Right, I think I got it. I do have a question however. Why distract them? I am quite sure we can handle the bandits no problem."

From his tone it was obvious he did not want to sneak around. He wanted the bandits dead. "The only problem is the giant. And even that is not really a problem as long as we can get him singled out from the rest. The trick with giants is to simply keep avoiding them until they mess up. Also..." He looked up to stare Krae straight in the eyes. "You offered a part of the payment as an extra incentive. Keep it. In return, I get to keep whatever I wish from the loot we find. Other then the trinket you are to retrieve of course. And if there is a mage controlling that giant I want him alive so I can ask him some questions."

At that his stomach once again growled. "Well... all that planning is all fine and dandy... but without some food to regain my strength it won't do us much good I am afraid..."

[Lujayn]

"Hide-out? It's a series of caves further down the mountain, by a steep ravine... it has a name, but I don't recall it," she replied. It wasn't that surprising that she had difficiulties with names, really; she'd been a crow, and they didn't name. They just remembered. "As for the layout... I managed to get into the second series of caves before I had to bolt right back out with a giant on my heels. Didn't get much of a chance after that since it chased me up this god forsaken mountain. For number... I would say probably no more than 50. About half have crossbows, however, so keeping an eye out for long-ranged attacks would be beneficial...

"As for taking on the bandits... no. I just want to get in, and then out. This mission has been dragged on long enough already. What you do afterwords is your own business, I suppose. You can take them on if you like, but don't count on me coming in to pull you out if you get in further than you can handle. I don't know what you want from them- and it's clear you do want something- but I don't really care. It's not my problem."

Such a caring, nice, helpful soul she was, wasn't she?

"And if you want to take on the suicidal mission of taking on a mage, if there is one, fine by me. All I need you to do is create enough of a distraction so that I can get to the treasure hoard undetected so I can do my job." She glanced at him. "And with your appearance, distraction won't be that hard."

She was also so very tactful.