The Healing Weaver (Open)

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

James smiled back weakly at Naria as she sat beside him and started to explain what Pippa had been talking about. James tilted his head at her and shook his head. "It is not your fault you could not tell me the whole set of customs for your people, for in a way I had rushed along the process by my coming to save you early. If so, you would have had a more leisurely pace to tell me everything. So I take full responsibility. Furthermore, I see it this way. Since I came and interrupted your festivities and customs...I should take full responsibility and follow them to the best of my abilities." he explained, sitting, hands placed beside his legs on the bed.

James struggled to comprehend yet what he had done to Gavain, and the pain tore at him. He still could not believe he had let Naria see the monster within him. He tried to focus on what she was saying, and he simply chuckled. "Yes, I know I am you're champion, and I took you away like a true champion would." he joked. But as she continued he began to understand as it slowly dawned on him and he flushed bright pin on his pale cheeks. "Oh...you mean....so technically we're...engaged?" he said, trying to clear up the confusion. He could not look at Naria and he blushed deeper, Gilashi laughing wildly inside of him. "Oh man! You thought being was a responsibility!" he continued his hysterical laughter and James shook the voice form his mind and he cleared his throat before turning back to Naria. "Erm...that is what you mean isn't it?"

[rpgoddess]

Naria could not stop a chuckle, but it ended badly in a cough. Once she was able to catch her breath she stood and rushed, if that was possible, to the dressing table. She spoke as she stirred the medicine and tapped the slender metal stirring stick on the side of the glass lightly. Stir...tap, stir...tap "Well, yes, but as I said, I don't expect you to keep up the custom. I don't know if I even mean to follow our customs really, it's silly isn't it, I mean, you never agreed to be my, my, well you know, it's not even an idea you would entertain for a moment." Stir...tap, stir...tap," right?" She said finally, freezing, "I mean, well, would it bother you if I told people I was unavailable, for security purposes. You wouldn't have to stay, I wouldn't burden you so much as that, but just know that a woman is taken is often times enough to keep the wolves away." Once said her stirring continued, but she didn't speak again. Instead she focused on gripping her prongs and clamping them onto the heated retort, slowly pouring the shimmering gold liquid into a vial and blowing out the heating candle.

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

James frowned as Naria laughed at the idea and he forced a smile. "Um, yes, quite ridiculous isn't it? I mean, of course we do not have to follow through with customs, this was only an arrangement, a matter of honor..." he lied, scratching his head awkwardly, frowning again. Naria continued to make her medicine as James sat, finally he stood up and went to the window. He looked down across the city, closing his eyes. He nodded. "Yes, of course you may tell others you are unavailable. It is for your safety after all..." he wandered off in his thoughts and sighed, rubbing his temples, thinking about everything he was feeling at that moment. He sat back down on the bed. "Well, I guess it's settled then. You may continue to pretend you are taken and I shall...well...sooner rather than later I shall depart...no strings attached..."

[rpgoddess]

Naria's hands stilled. His words seemed to nip and claw at her as he spoke them, of course that was what she had wanted to hear, wasn't it? She had wanted freedom and he had given it to her. Still, there was not jubilation, no excitement, no happiness in her heart. Instead she felt heavy, sour, and confused.

Naria turned her chin slightly, studying James from beneath the cover of her thick lashes. When had he become something more than an acquaintance to her? And what exactly was it that he had become. A deep frown marred her features and she turned her face back to her work, unable or unwilling to show how deeply unsatisfied she was with the current situation.

It took a moment, but eventually she found her voice again. "Where will you go?" She asked, when really she wanted to say ::Why are you going:: He knew he could stay with her and Pip, she had said as much, but again she knew there was something there that was calling him, she got the impression that he never stayed anywhere long. Another question popped into her mind and oddly, her heart. ::Will I ever see you again::. She felt cheated, she had never had an idle moment with James, never been allowed to just spend time with him, learning about him, who he was, what he wanted, how he felt. It wasn't fair. But then, when was it ever?

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

James frowned and turned back to Naria, looking down at the floorboards once more. "Naria, I fear I have not been completely straight forward with you either." He sat down on the bed once more, he ran his fingers through his hair and tried to think of how to start. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe before turning to her. "I am Prince Tekkarro, I am royalty of the Elven Kingdom. Technically, when I return home I will be Tekkarro...but you get the idea." he explained, lowering his eyelids slightly. It felt strange to let others know who he really was. He continued, "WHen I was very young, my father died, and my brother vanished. That left me the only heir to the throne. SO I could not stand the responsibility nor the pressure. So I ran away. Along the way I found my brother, and answers to questions I never thought would be answered. I grew up fast at that time away from home, and my brother died as well. When I next return to my kingdom, I will be coronated. Made a ." he laughed slightly and smirked at her. "Not as if I want to be. I Believe as it is too hard to help the people individually, not like I've been able to do while exploring the world...not like I think I've helped you." He sighed and stood once more, gripping his sword. "But since I have nowhere else to go...nowhere else that will take me...guess it's time to own up to my responsibilities..."

[rpgoddess]

The news was like a slap in the face. She didn't move, didn't turn to look at him. Her eyes focused intensely on the now cool vial before her. She closed them. It was not her secret, but she was slightly hurt, shocked, angry even, that he had not thought to share such an important fact about himself with her, but then why would he. He was a ! She was nothing in comparison, no one. Her lower lip trembled, she grabbed the vial and put it to her lips, swallowing the contents down without a thought of whether or not she had gotten the ratio correct. It didn't matter really. A , the new found information bounced around in her mind as she set the vial aside and looked up into the mirror on the back of the dressing table.

She saw the woman there, messed hair, loose and climbing wildly down her back and over her hips, catching the light from the window, which in her mind only served to intensify the rumpled appearance. The white maiden tunic hosted an array of stains from grass and dirt to blood on her sleeves, dried and ugly. Her eyes looked hollow, the illness no doubt and her skin glistened with fever. A was sitting on her bed, and she nothing more than a speck, a mess, an embarrassment. It was no wonder he was in such a rush to dump her and Pip off and be gone from their lives.

She lifted her pale eyes to his reflection in the mirror. There was only one way to go about this, with dignity, grace, and kindness, despite her initial reaction. "You could have told me." She murmured. "But I understand why you did not, it also explains many things, answers many of my unspoken curiosities." She added. "You will always have a place where ever Pippa and I end up. I don't know that we will stay here, perhaps for a while, but ultimately, I am going to find my father, if he lives." She said, not really sure why she offered up the information. "At any rate, I know now, that you cannot remain here with us. There are grander things lying in wait for you." She said, and was surprised by how much it hurt to say it. Looking down again she murmured under her breath, "If only..."

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

James sighed and looked up with concern as she drank down the vial. He was happy she was now supposedly cured, and she would begin to be better. He walked behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please, understand, I could not tell you or anybody. If you were to know, you may believe I only wanted you for some trophy or prize. And if Hansid knew, I would not have been allowed in the tournament. Many people would either surround me, or try to kill me. It was in the best interest I remain simply James Tekkarro." He bowed his head. " I apologize for misleading you, it was wrong of me, and I realize that."

He frowned and let go of her stepping back. "Ah, you are moving on..." he muttered, but forced a smile. "That is good...perhaps you will find your father, and I will wish you the best of luck. You are also welcome in the Elven Kingdom of Glerinel." he sneered at the comment. "I have nothing lying in wait for me...you saw...they would fear me as a ...they will never honor me as they did my father, he was grand..." He raised an eyebrow as Naria muttered beneath her breathe. "If only what?"

[rpgoddess]

Naria looked up with shock, the sudden movement made her head spin slightly, she would later blame the honest words that followed James’ question on that fact, her eyes lifted, bravely, when inside she felt exposed and vulnerable, it was an effect that this elf had on her appearently, her shoulder tingled where his hand had been and she could not surpress a small smile. “I was just thinking, if only you were not a , you were simply James Tekkarro, Champion of the Maiden Naria Drabien, then you could stay with us, or us with you.” She spoke quietly. “It is a nice thought…I never made any friends in the village, I was always too different, now I understand why,” She fell silent, realizing she also had a secret she did not share, but somehow she knew to share hers with him now would mean little, “But then you approached me in the street that day, and I think even then I recognized it, you were different too, and that was a foundation for a friendship, if we had had more time to grow to know one another, I am certain we would have been the closest of friends. After all, it is not everyday a man attaches himself to a strange woman who throws him into one dangerous situation after another.” Naria teased lightly.

Falling silent she frowned and lowered her eyes. “I wish you weren’t a James Tekkarro.” She admitted.

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

James looked down upon Naria, smiling warmly upon her. He felt her pain, and he was also sorrowful that he was royalty, but it was his birthright, among other things. He pondered what she had said and smirked. He knelt in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder once more and laughed. "Well, for right now, I'm only Prince Tekkarro Technically." he joked, brushing stray strands of hair from her face. He laughed, and hesitantly took her hand. "You know Naria, you may have been through a lot and I may have made things worse. It may be hard to believe but I've enjoyed the time together. You are the closest thing to a friend I really have. And I also wish things were different, but fate wills things in whichever way it pleases." He knew the words were of little comfort, but he tried anyway. "Besides, whats stopping me from maybe extending my promise, say, to helping you find your father? I promised to protect you, and who knows what dangers you'd face trying to reach him." he suggested, flushing pink once more, but laughing softly.

[rpgoddess]

Naria felt hope blossom in her heart. "We won't always get along so well you and I," she warned half-jokingly. It was true of course, being so different, she was a woman of life and healing, and James was a fighter, a death bringer in a way. She wondered how he would react if she told him that she could serve as protection for him as well. He knew about her gift with alchemy, but he knew nothing about the weaving.

She smiled. She was beginning to feel better, her hands felt warmer, her head felt lighter, and her skin felt dry, it was a relief. "I must be honest with you. I am not at all a brave person, the thought of Pippa and I being here, so close to the village, with no one...it frightens me. I will not stay here long, and I do not know how to send word to you when we finally settle somewhere so that you know where we are...should you ever wish to see me again...once you are free to." She touched his cheek again. "I will use your name to carry me as far as it will, I am certain that alone will offer protection of a sort, but will you be alright during your journey home?" She added after a bit of thought.

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

James laughed and put up his hands in defense. "I'll try and keep myself in line." he half joked as well, in a way secretly promising never to show her his demon's form again. He knew he had frightened her with what she had seen, and he did not want her to have to go through the horror of the bloodlust that Gilashi held within him.

James allowed Naria to express her fears about being left alone, when he finally shook his head and pressed a gloved finger to her lips. "Shush, who said I was heading home so soon?" he laughed. He touched the hand Naria had placed upon his cheek warmly and smiled, raising slightly. "I figure I have a few more adventures in me before I have to go back and be bored to death for the rest of my existence, and trust me,t hat's a long time for an elf." he joked, actually laughing happily for once in a long time it seemed. He leaned in and pecked Naria softly on the lips without a second though before rising and moving to the door, calling for Pippa before he left. He turned back to Naria and bowed. "I plan on staying with you and Pippa, for quite some time at least. But for now, I will be camping on the outskirts of town."

[rpgoddess]

Naria touched her lips in part shock and part delight. She was stunned, unsure of when their tender words had turned to something much more meaningful. Ignoring the doubts that filed in the back of her mind she smiled beneath her fingers, it was a youthful smile, one that would catch a glance and hold it for a few moments of delicious envy. She turned in her seat and pulled her hand away from her lips, looked at James in the doorway, gazing back at her as he bowed. "Good night, James Tekkarro." She bid as he left.

She was only allowed a few moments of privacy to consider what had happened. She could not figure how the day had progressed as it did, at the start James had awoken her, she remembered still the look of worry on his face, how the gray morning light had played with the silk darkness of his hair and shadowed his marble like eyes. From there it seemed the day would end in disaster, her illness, trying to escape, the bloodshed, and then the hours upon hours of discontent that extended between she and James, it had been gut wrenching, then his resolve to leave her, them, immediately, suddenly she had felt as though something in her was on the verge of breaking. They danced around truths for an eternity after that, and then...then he had shown her true tenderness, and left her contemplating the giddy warmth that spread through her afterward.

"So?" Pippa asked as she stumbled through the door. "Is he gone?" She added, a worried frown on her face. "Did he leave us?"

Naria shook her head. "No, he is staying, for a while." She said, suppressing a joyful grin. It was important that she maintain her usual calm, to her at least, whenever possible.

"Really?" Pippa asked, breaking into a smile. Then she frowned. "I suppose I owe him an apology."

"I think so." Naria replied.

"Oh Nari, I'm so happy for you!" Pippa cried and threw her arms around Naria's neck. Naria chuckled.

"Pippa, it was never about romance, his leaving, but duty, we are not the only people who depend upon him." She explained as she unwound the girl's arms from her neck and looked her in the eye. "We must try our best not to trouble him anymore that we must, he has a full plate. And before you ask, no we are not lovers."

"So says you, but I have eyes Naria." Pippa countered with a grin.

"And very lovely ones at that, but they have betrayed you. My relationship with James Tekkarro has been one of friendship from the start. He stayed in the village for the purpose of helping me escape, and so he has, staying with us longer is a favor we must be thankful for." Naria explained while standing to pull down the coverlet and pat the mattress. "Now, get some rest."

"But-"

"Pip, lay there and be quiet, I have work to do."

"Then you feel better?" Pippa asked as she kicked off her slippers and climbed into the center of the bed.

"Very much so." Naria replied with a secret smile.

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

James pulled his cloak from his pack, drying his hair and upper body. He had finished bathing in a nearby lake, and was busy rearranging his campsite. He shook the excess water from his hair and placed his cloak back into his bag. He had put on his pants and was lacing up his boots when the moon began to shine, breaking through the clouds of the night. He sighed and allowed the light to shine over him. He looked down and traced a hand over his scar. The thin white line made a crooked line over his heart, though long healed it still shone with a slight red light of what seemed like an infected wound. In a way, it was infected, but not with any virus or sickness, but darkness instead. He closed his eyes, continuing to lightly brush his fingers over his heart, as the memories came back to him once more.

James had fallen to the ground, clutching the bleeding hole in his chest in pain. His father looked down upon him with both pity, and sadness. The sword he held in his hand was once restored to it's former glory, the glowing jewel now back to it's normal luster. James began to cough up blood, black tendrils of shadow starting to emit from the hole in his chest. He looked up at his father the hurt in his eyes showing through. HE screamed out in agony. He could not understand why his dad had done this. What had he done wrong? Did his father want him dead? He writhed on the ground, kicking and contorting his body in rapid movements. The fire within his chest only grew with the ripping black claws that seemed to manifest in his chest,, trying to work it's way out. James felt the blood and tears pooling beneath him, unable to fight the forces tearing him in two. His father stepped away, putting his duties as a before his duties as a father.

"Come on son. You must fight it. Contain the evil."

James let out an earsplitting growl, as the tendrils swiftly moved into the wound, closing up instantly. James felt a uncontrollable anger surge through him, as well as an unexplained power. He struggled to his feet, feeling himself...change, James's father was at first relieved, but then terrified. He backed away, watching his son change before his eyes. He began walking toward him, but it was too late to stop the transformation...

James gasped and clutched his chest. He felt out of breathe and light headed. He had become lost in the past, one of the many faults of his. He sighed and looked up at the moon, thinking of Naria once more, and rerunning the scenes of the day over again. Life was confusing, that was one fact he had learned.

[rpgoddess]

Once she was certain Pippa was sleeping Naria bathed quickly, running a clean cloth over her grimy skin, wetting it with the water provided in a basin by the maids. The soap they gave her was unlike anything she had ever seen, it was soft, smooth, and clean, unlike the gritty bars of soap they made back in the village, and the scent was floral, she mused about how one would get the essence of a wildflower into a bar of soap. She did her best to wash her overly long hair quietly, but it was a chore to do, especially considering that physically she had yet to regain her strength. Once the task was finished Naria wrapped her body in a clean sheet from the shelf near the bed, unwilling to pull on her dirty clothing just yet. She then returned to the dressing table and carefully opened her medicine bag.

Naria glanced at the bed behind her, slowing her breathing so that she could hear Pippa's and ensure the girl was actually sleeping. It was a stretch of long silent moments before Naria was certain her sister was in a deep sleep, she then expelled a breath she had been holding and turned once more to the items on the vanity. Gingerly, she lifted one of the spiked stalks she had stolen earlier and examined it, it was dead, long dead, wilted and flaccid. Naria set the stalk back on the table, laid it out straight and rubbed her hands together.

Again she felt the warm tingle flow into her fingertips, and heard the soft sizzle of magic as it began to build, she wondered where it came from. Slowly Naria pressed a finger on the far left tip of the stalk and watched as it began to glow with a dim amethyst light. She ran her finger down the length of the dead plant, a trail of light following in its wake, then pulled her hand away and watched as the stalk began to fill, it grew, the amethyst glow still wrapped about it. Her breath caught as she stared unblinkingly at the stalk as it split and unfurled, it twisted and shivered, one-two-three stalks sprouted from its base and then suddenly everything stopped. On the table lay a fully developed plant. Naria blinked then and looked at her hands.

Pippa stirred, causing the bed to creak behind her, Naria quickly shoveled everything back in her bag, cringing when she heard glass tink against glass in the process. As quietly as possible she tucked the bag beneath the table and tip toed to the bed.

Despite herself she sighed as she settled into the bed beside her sister. Sleep was not far off, wrapped as she was in the soft linen sheet and snuggled against the plush mattress. Her last thoughts as she closed her eyes and oblivion swirled in were of James, and she wondered if he slept yet or not.

[Elf Prince Tekkarro]

(((My turn to apologize. Sorry it took so long to respond, electrical storm burnt out my modem. The Ethernet on my router, modem, and computer are shot, have to get them all replaced.)))

James awoke shortly after the sun crested over the walls of the city. The light seemed to glance off the alabaster walls directly into his eyes as he squinted against the sun. He slowly lifted himself from the ground, stretching and rising from the dirt. He looked down at the small indent his body made in the ground and laughed. He looked back into the sunlight, his eyes slowly adjusting and smiled. Today seemed like it would be better. Perhaps it was the fact that the village and it's customs were far behind him, or maybe it was the fact that GIlashi had been strangely quiet last night. Either way, he had a feeling that things may finally be working out.

James strolled through town, glancing about at villagers and happily waving at a few acquaintances along the way. As he finally came to the inn, he opened the door to find the old man behind the desk once more, reading a book. He looked up and smiled at James, placing down the leather bound tome.

"Ah, there you are. I had a feeling I'd see you again." he joked, drumming his fingers against the wood. James smiled back at him and leaned against the door.

"I was simply wondering if either of my friends had awoken or left here yet to see the sights." he replied, looking around the inn once more. Now that he had time to relax, he saw that the old place was quite humble and quaint. It had a homey feel to it that could make even the roughest travelers seem welcome. The innkeeper shook his head.

"They still be sleeping, shall I go wake them for you your majesty?"

James flushed pink and scratched his head. "No, let them rest...and Johan, if you please, let's keep the royalty thing a secret for the time being." he requested. The innkeeper had helped him much when he had battled against Xariss, and had even been to his brother's funeral. He knew this request would be no problem. The old man smiled and drew his fingers across his mouth and chest in an old elven mannerism to show silence. James laughed and nodded in agreement, before leaving once more, only to lean against the wall of the inn patiently waiting.