A Different Perspective }{ [Absolutely Open]

[Summerchika]

Felix's awe and interest in her powers were lost on Ainutsa. Having to be in two places at once was difficult. Ainutsa was an elf, but she was an incredibly young one who had very little proper training.

Listening with interest to what Felix said, Ainutsa tilted her head, trying to understand. Felix was still angry, thinking about the girl. Ainutsa shook her head in wonder. This was a truly unique and new experience for Ainutsa. She empathized with Felix. She understood why he was angry. And yet she empathized with the girl in black as well.

As Felix calmed down, Ainutsa debated on what she should say. In the forest, something was off. She needed to be there again. But she needed to be here, too. It was all so confusing. Humans were just so confusing. Or, rather, humans and vampires were so confusing.

Taking another quick moment to check on the scene in the forest, Ainutsa saw what the hawk saw. The girl, fingering her knife, and seemingly reliving painful memories. Ainutsa knew that look. Being alone in the forest gave her all too much time to do the exact same thing.

"Make her stop!" she ordered her hawk friend silently and urgently. The hawk took action, diving at a speed too quick for normal hawks and knocking the dagger out of the girl's hands. The hawk screeched at the girl then went back to circling over head, this time closer to the tree tops in case he was needed again.

Looking back at Felix, Ainutsa's eyes flashed with urgency. "Being in two places at once is quite a tiring thing." she explained, frowning. "I am sorry for your pain." she said, honestly. "I am sorry for her pain, too."

Trying to make sense of it all, Ainutsa spoke aloud. "To you she seemed ignorant. And perhaps she was, but I do not think that she was the only one. She was governed by her past and her emotions just like you were. You both have phantoms in your past as I do." At this, she gripped her necklace tighter, holding the phantoms away that threatened to surface as she saw the two fight over their own pains. "But to fight over who has the greatest pain is..." shaking her head, she could find no word to describe it.

Balancing on the balls of her feet, itching to do something but unsure of what to do, Ainutsa asked suddenly, "If you saw her again, would you fight? Not knowing her own pain? Not knowing what "buttons" you should not push?" Ainutsa asked this earnestly, trying to figure out what she should or should not do and trying to understand these two strangers.

[vain]

Vain felt annoyance flair up. She looked up and saw that the hawk was circling just above the tree tops, several feet. Now Vain understood. At least she thought she did. Vain glared up at the hawk. Vain needed to get away from this forest. Maybe Vain SHOULD go visit her family again. It wasn't far from the town where she had met Felix and the elf-girl. As a matter of fact, she would have to go through the town again if she wanted to get back to the graveyard where she was before she entered the town. Vain made her way to the ground and picked up her dagger and sheathed it. She looked back up at the hawk, who was still following her, and probably would follow her all the way to the graveyard. Vain started to make her way back to the town, not that she really wanted to go back. She could still sense that the girl and Felix were still there. She could sense there souls. Vain avoided them when she got to the town, hopping up onto the rooftops, making her way to the graveyard that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Vain ignored the hawk as it followed her.

[Felix]

Felix raised his eyebrows, puzzled by what Ainutsa meant by "being in two places at once..." Was this some sort of elf thing? From the stories that he heard, he knew that they were well connected to nature, but this connected? He was hesitant to ask, but curiosity got the best of him, "What do you mean when you say you're in two places at once?"

Felix looked away, thinking the question to be rude, and proceeded to stare down the dark street, whose only light came from a few scattered lanterns.

"You're a better person than I," he said, referring to Ainutsa's pity for both the 's and his pains. "And your're right. Everyone is ignorant in varying ways and at different times. But her hate towards humans and us being inferior added to her ignorance. Did you not see and hear how she acted to you and I? She held herself to be superior. That kind of ignorance and pride infuriates me."

Movement caught Felix's eye, so he turned to see Ainutsa gripping her necklace. He hadn't noticed that she wore a necklace. He thought about asking her about it, but judging by the way she held it, it may be of great sentimental value, or a way to comfort her. Still being strangers, he wasn't going to press the issue. What started to peak his curiosity and concern was the way she was now acting. Her sudden questions caught him off guard.

"I'm not sure exactly what I'll do if our paths cross again. I won't go seeking for a fight, but I wont simply act as if nothing happened. From what she said, I know her hate for humans. I've seen her pride. I have no desire to be acquainted with a person like that."

Still noticing her strange behavior, he had to ask. "Are you okay? Do you need to be somewhere? If it concerns you, you don't have to worry about me, I can fend for myself. You go do what you need to do."

[vain]

Vain could hear Felix talking the the girl still as she passed them, but Vain ignored him. She finally made it to the outskirts of town and she could see the graveyard ahead, even though it was still several miles away.

Graveyard's where always a dark place, Vain thought. Vain looked up, and she was a bit surprised to see that the hawk was still circling overhead. Vain sighed and pushed the metal gate to the graveyard open. It squeaked on it's rusty hinges and they squeaked again as she shut the gate behind her. Vain ignored the hawk as she walked to were her families headstones where. There were four of them. Her mom and dad, her grandpa, and her baby brother. Maybe she diserved this hell as a . She had snuck out that night that her family burned in the fire. Vain remembered the firemen restraining her as she screamed for them, wanting to be with them even though the house was embraced in white and orange flames. Vain glanced at her dagger again, and she clenched her hands into tight fists. Even if she wanted to, the hawk would just stop her again. It wasn't like she was looking for sympathy or pity when she was arguing with Felix. She was just making a point. Vain combed a hand through her hair and sighed quietly. Humans would never understand unless it was spelled out for them...Suddenly Vain's emotions began to boil again. Felix thought she felt herself as suprior? Above the rest? Who was he to think he understood her? He didn't know her from Eve.

[Summerchika]

As the girl in black doubled back, Ainutsa worried. Would she make her way back to Felix again? To fight? She watched carefully, out of the corner of her eye the circling figure above. She hoped it would not come too close. The hawk passed over head not too far from where she and Felix stood. Tensing, Ainutsa hoped they would not fight again.

As the hawk passed, Ainutsa relaxed a bit and pointed him out to Felix. "He is my connection to where the girl in black is. I do not want her to be alone. Being alone hurts. So... I asked him to watch over her. Good thing, too." She tried to answer Felix's question about being in two places at once, but she knew that she was not skilled in explaining herself all that well. She normally talked to the animals with words and feelings, not just words.

"I am not a better person." Ainutsa disagreed, frowning again. She was almost offended by those words. Almost. "I noticed her actions; it was difficult not to notice." she replied, smiling a bit. Slowly, hoping not to offend Felix, Ainutsa began her next sentence. "... I do not think she feels herself superior. Her anger made it seem so, but... I do not think she looks down upon you for your humanity. Rather, I think she envies you for it. You did not hear her when she was not angry. She was kind, like you are now. Anger changes people. You were changed when you were angry, too." Ainutsa pleaded earnestly, trying to help Felix understand. "Really, you two are not so different." She said this hoping that she was not offending Felix. She liked talking to him when he was not angry. She hoped to have another friend who would tell her about the world.

Her hawk friend gave a screech as a warning. The girl in black was angry again. "Thank you, but I do not need to be somewhere anymore..." Ainutsa answered Felix's question. "I think she heard you call her superior. Now she is angry again." Ainutsa sighed, exhausted with this bickering and anger. This was truly a different world.

Listening to her hawk as he relayed what he saw to Ainutsa, she began to think of what to do. Dealing with bickering squirrels was one thing. Dealing with a bickering and human was another.

"Do people always fight like this?" Ainutsa asked, wondering if her decision to come out of her forest was a good one or not.

[vain]

(we should get some adventure in this story! ;D just a thought, you know, make it more interesting.)

Vain looked up as the hawk screached again. It was still cricling above. Vain sighed and slumped to the ground. For a while Vain just stared at the statues, her thoughts quiet for once. Finally Vain couldn't deny her hunger any more. She had to go back to town. She thought the blood of the deer would do her until tomorrow, but Vain had forgotten just how unsatisfying animal blood really was. Vain didn't care about Felix anymore really, execpt for the fact that he thought she thought she was above the rest. Vain needed to get away from the graveyard anyway. She buried herself deep in her mind and headed back into town. She knew a few humans would still be foolish enough to be out and about. Although she did kind of want to get Felix back for punching her. She pushed Felix out of her mind. He wasn't worth it. She told herself. Vain glanced up at the hawk and found it flying back to whoever had scent it to follow her. She debated for a moment to follow the hawk and see who it belong to, and then deicded she was curious enough to see who the hawk answered to. She followed the hawk, running at full speed, forgetting about Felix, all thoughts conentrated on the hawk. Suddenly Vain skidded to a stop. She found herself standing in front of the girl and Felix. Vain blinked in surprise. "Oh..." She said. She was surprised they were still talking. It was nearly midnight. "Oh." She said again. "You...sent the hawk?"

[Felix]

Felix looked where Ainutsa was pointing and pinpointed the hawk's location. He watched it as it flew by, listening to Ainutsa's explanation. He admired Ainutsa for wanting to help someone who was alone, company is really nice, but over the years Felix was growing accustomed to being alone. In fact, he was slowly starting to enjoy it. Yet, at some point you have to interact with someone or else you'll go crazy. Talking to yourself, animals, or inanimate objects only works to break the silence, not the desire for fellowship.

"Sorry, I don't understand how the connection works, nor do I think I ever will. But, it's admirable that you wish to give her some form of company." he said, vaguely gesturing toward the hawk.

"And I believe she was kind to you because you're not human. You're an elf, you're different. Did you notice how she reacted when I first walked up? Yes, I was a little insensitive, but in no manner did it invoke a challenge in any way. Yet she reacted in a hostile, challenging way before storming off, only to return by falling off a roof." He turned around and looked up at the roof where the most likely was before falling. "The only reason someone like her would be up there would be to eavesdrop or spy."

While speaking, His eyes followed an imaginary person falling off the roof, recounting the events that took place. "Anger may change people's judgements and actions, but it may also reveal deep feelings that are otherwise concealed. Something as deep as her hate for humanity. I may have gotten upset and furious, but was my fury intended for vampires in general, or just her?"

The hawk's screech alarmed Felix and he turned and looked in the direction that the screech came from. He then looked back and gazed at Ainutsa as she spoke. "I won't apologize for saying what appears to be true, nor will I apologize for her absurdly keen hearing."

Ainutsa, however, brought up a good question. Felix turned the question over and over in his mind, trying to find the best way to answer it. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Well... I guess it really depends on what you mean by fighting. Some of it is good, and some of it is bad. There's competitive fighting, which spurns people to out-do the other in sports, knowledge, wisdom... which ultimately betters everyone because new things may be learned and discovered. There's the fighting like you just saw, which may end up being good or bad. It may teach everyone a valuable lesson, or cause rifts and tension. It's kind of hard to explain. It really depends on the situation."

He glanced over at the elf, seeing if she was following his poor explanation, but then heard footsteps running towards them. He simply turned his gaze in the direct of the sound, but then turned the rest of his head to see who it was clearer. His heart sank and he could feel some anger rising. It was her. He wasn't at all thrilled to see the return, nor was he interested in another fight. It was late, he was tired, but for now, he had to push those thoughts aside. He had to be ready for anything.

Thinking it best that he should only speak when spoken to, Felix remained silent, but his gaze grew colder.

[vain]

Vain looked at Felix, but after visiting her parents like he had suggested, she just didn't feel the same anger at him as she did earlier. She was more or less angry at herself and the girl's hawk for stopping her. She didn't want to talk to him really, but she felt like she had to say something. "You think that I think of myself as above the rest? Please. I was visting my parents GRAVES before I came to this town." Vain paused and looked at Felix for a time. He was tense, waiting for Vain to attack him. Vain rolled her eyes. Vain looked at the girl. "Why did you stop me?"

[Summerchika]

((OOC: Whatever works for you two. It now begs the question: what kind of adventure?))

Knowing when to give up was a good trait that Ainutsa still had trouble learning. "I understand." she said simply and honestly. She could understand what Felix was saying. It did make sense. "But..." It looked as if Ainutsa still had not learned that trait. "Would not another reason to be up on the roof be loneliness or curiosity?" she asked, not expecting an answer.

Seeing more flaws in his logic, Ainutsa bit down on her lip to keep from saying anything. She disagreed, but she had a feeling nothing she said would change his opinion. It would have to be the girl in black who changed his opinion of herself, not Ainutsa. Besides, she did not want Felix to get angry at her as well.

And yet it was so clear to Ainutsa after what her hawk friend relayed to her. It was not her hatred of human kind that was so deep. What he had seen the girl in black do Ainutsa could now see as well. As he flew back to her, he communicated these things. A connection of the mind communicated not just by words or emotions, but pictures as well.

"I understand." she said again, this time in response to Felix's unwillingness to apologize.

She listened to Felix's answer with a tilted head and narrowed eyes, trying to understand. It was beginning to make sense. It depended on the situation, as most things did. It just happened often, apparently. Is that the only way people learned things? Ainutsa couldn't disapprove of that, though. She was guilty of having to learn things the hard way as well. She was still quite young, after all.

Footsteps interrupted her thinking. As her hawk friend flew to her and perched on her shoulder, Ainutsa looked to the source of the footsteps. "She followed you, silly. Did you not notice?" she asked, kissing him lightly on head and letting him fly away to his home in the forest. Thank you. she called after him. Then she turned her attention to the girl in black.

"I hope I did not offend you by sending him to you." Ainutsa said, honestly hoping she did not over step her bounds. She noticed Felix's slight change in demeanor and sighed inwardly. As least he seemed tired of fighting. At a closer look at the girl in black, she too seemed unwilling to fight him. Her eyes did not hold the same anger as before. Her words seemed to second that notion.

The girl dressed in black turned her attention on Ainutsa. "Why did I stop you?" she asked, making sure she heard correctly. "Why would I not stop you?" she asked, quite confused again. When would she stop being confused?

[Felix]

((OOC: Sounds good. My character has a main objective to find the origins of the arrowhead he carries, but I'd like to develop him more before progressing that story. But if there's some adventure with the potential for him to gain any info regarding his personal quest, he'll most likely join.))

The fact that this had such keen hearing disturbed Felix. Sure, it could be incredibly useful, but being able to clearly hear him earlier from a good distance away, while bounding along rooftops seemed absurd. Isn't it deafening in louder situations, or if there's a large amount of commotion taking place?

When she addressed him, Felix was forced to look down to hide his smirk. He shook his head at the 's attempt to humble herself by claiming she went to her parents graves. What good did that do to try and prove anything? Pride and arrogance are often times employed to hide or cover something up, to try to take the sting out of whatever past event they wanted to hide or cover up. Perhaps this 's superior and indifferent attitude was used to help ease the pain of her parent's death. That's somewhat understandable, but her disgust with a race that she used to be and who her parents were seemed hypocritical. She is, in almost every regard, human. Only difference is she feeds off blood, is immortal, and her eyes change color.

He could sympathize with an individual who had lost everything they loved, but not when they acted and felt the way this did toward who she is, or, once was.

After entertaining his mind with his tangent, Felix looked up at about the time the asked why the elf stopped her. Stopped her from what? He switched from looking at the , to the elf, and back to the , hoping to gain some info as to what transpired. Ainutsa spoke, but her response didn't answer anything.

Must have been something with the hawk I guess... he thought, puzzled.

A yawn forced its way through Felix, bringing to his knowledge how late and worn he was. He assumed that the didn't sleep, and he wasn't about to have her anywhere near him while he slumbered, and the elf mentioned that she only slept when she needed to. Whenever that was. So, he may have to part ways with these two and seek someplace to stay. Though, he was curious as to what Ainutsa stopped the from doing. She already stopped her from using the dagger against him. What else did she stop her from doing? The thought of having more of her plans foiled pleased him.

[vain]

(Not really sure what kind of adventure really. Maybe our character's could team up and help Felix find out about his arrowhead or something?)

Vain could see in his soul that Felix was curious about what Ainusta had stopped her from doing. She debated. Again she wasn't looking for sympathy or pity. "I WAS hoping to join my parents more througoly." Vain explained to him. That deer blood was more then nothing. It wasn't really even a snack. Vain closed her eyes and shook her head. She had been trying to ignore it, but she could suddenly hear Felix's heartbeat and his blood smelled strong. Vain stopped breathing to she couldn't smell it, but she could still hear his heart beating and his steady breathing.

[Summerchika]

((OOC: That's up to Felix to decide))

Having not got her answer from the girl in black, Ainutsa remained quite puzzled. Was the girl regretting not plunging that awful knife into her heart? That, curiously, made Ainutsa angry. Trying to stifle her anger, Ainutsa folded her arms and looked away to one of the dark, silent houses. She studied its features, distracting herself from her anger. She saw what anger had done to those two; she would not do the same.

However, as the girl in black explained to Felix her intention in the forest, Ainutsa's feelings grew stronger. Join her parents more thoroughly. That hit home. A sudden flash of memory played in her mind and she closed her eyes to make it go away. Now she understood what Felix said about "buttons" that should not be pushed. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Ainutsa looked back to the girl in black.

Glancing at Felix, Ainutsa realized that it was quite late. Felix looked tired. Having meditated in the forest for the morning to gather her strength to come into the town, Ainutsa was not all that worn despite recent events. Curious to how the girl in black held up this late at night, Ainutsa turned her eyes to her.

"Are you alright...?" Ainutsa asked, noticing the girl's odd behavior.

[vain]

(i know it's his choice. i was just giving a suggestion to an adventure.

"Yes and no." Vain answered simply. "I'll...be back within a couple of minuets..." Vain took a moment to and she could sense another soul of a human no far from where the three of them stood. As a matter of fact, they were sleeping in an alley, just around a corner. Vain glanced at them. "Please don't follow." She started to bound off and then turned back to them and said, "I really will be back." And Vain disappeared around the corner.

Vain looked down at the human with distaste. If only animal blood were just as satisfying, then she wouldn't have to deal with humans. She wouldn't have to be the monster she was. She walked up to the man that slept and knelt down. She covered his mouth as he started to wake up and try and kick whatever was holding him. But before he could do anything, Vain snapped his neck and bit into his soft skin. His blood filled her with energy. When she was done, she dropped him to the ground and stepped backward and whipped the blood from her lips. She stood there for a moment, but then went back to Ainusta and Felix before any emotions about the human welled up.

[Felix]

((OOC: I'll get to a response soon. But first, maybe we can think of something else for a quest. Mine at the moment is just wander around until I get leads about who to speak with and what not. Kind of boring. It'd be better to meet someone along the way with another quest. Second, I know it's not trivial to the story and I don't mean to be going beyond my power and moderate, but Vain watch out for 'bunnying' (taking control of other's characters). I know the hawk isn't Ainutsa's character, but she's the one who was influencing the hawk to follow you, and a couple posts back sent him back to his home in the forest.))

[vain]

((Ah. Yea. I'm new to a little new to roleplaying and don't really realize when I make a change or mistake when I write sometimes. Sometimes I don't realize when I make a switch from third person to first person or whichever. So, thanks for letting me know! I'll edit the post. Sorry 'bout that! I edited so that I was only being Vain's character now. I agree with meeting someone with another quest. Just a trival fact about Vain though, in her profile I wrote that she was a paid assassin. Just so you know.