A Wonderful End to the Day }{ [Ask Krae]

[Silvarn]

"Well hello, lovely." he said as he watched Krae returned. His smile quickly faded as Krae expertly removed the organs from the rabbits. It was not a far stretch to imagine Krae's knife flashing through his own skin. Suddenly, the atmosphere was very oppressing, and he left hastily without so much as a word.

He strode through the woods, keeping the flames within him from exploding outward only through great concentration of will. His fists clenched in frustration, conflict plaguing his mind. He swallowed deeply, then gagged up one of his demons. "Tell our master I can't work with her anymore. I need my space. I need to be alone."

"He says you will continue working with her until his talks with Kaes have ceased." the demon said resolutely, "He also says that if you do not forget the Nightingale immediately, he will personally come up here himself and rip those memories out of you."

"I understand." Edward growled.

"For both our sakes, I hope you do." the demon said, before forcing itself back down Edward's throat.

[Lujayn]

From where Den was standing, he would hear Krae let out a startled shriek, and then a long string of profane curses, followed by the laughter of... someone else, a male.

Kæs had decided to make an appearance, it would seem, startling Krae from her task of cooking by hugging her from behind, and she was currently dangling from his grasp around her middle with a rather resigned expression gracing her features.

“Really, Krae, it’s amazing you were so easily startled,” he drawled, looking down at her. “Normally you know when I’m around, especially up here.”

“Is there a reason you’re up here,” Krae asked in a flat tone, “or are you just being an idiot, as per usual?”

“Aw, so mean...” He tsked, setting her down. For all that Krae seemed to put him down, he did appear to be an imposing figure, standing at least 7 feet, not including the black horns protruding from his skull. His eyes were red, much like Krae’s, but the pupils were catlike, denoting his Devil status. His hair was, at this point in time, a deep, midnight blue, and he was clad in something like scholarly robes, black, with his symbol stitched on the back in red. Any real threatening presence he may have had, however, was offset by his youthful appearance- he seemed to be only in his mid-twenties, belying his incredible age- and pleasant demeanour and expression. He seemed the sort you would see in libraries... which was a fairly accurate description of what he did.

“Ah; and there’s the other one,” he murmured, as Den came back. “Good, I won’t have to repeat myself.”

“Not like anyone ever listens to you—ow..” Krae’s comment was cut off by Kæs hitting the back of her head. You would think they rehearsed.

“Continuing on,” Kæs continued pleasantly. “We have a new task for you two. There is a certain monastery a little north from here that has, in its possession, an artefact of some importance. It’s not much use to us, per say, but we’d rather the monks not have it. It somewhat dispels our influence, and monks are hard enough to sway as it is. So if you could kindly steal it and put it somewhere where it can’t be found, that would be most wonderful.

“Oh, and before I forget...” He strode over to Den with subtle elegance, and grabbed his chin to force his gaze upward. “If you ever hurt Krae, under any circumstances... I will do far worse than destroy you.” He was slightly terrifying when he said that. Then the pleasant expression came back. “But I’m sure you know that already, yes?” He let go of Den and went back over to Krae. “You take care of yourself now,” he said, tapping her on the forehead. Immediately her hair went from mostly-red to all-black, her power replenished, and her innards reorganised themselves in rapid procession.

With that little gift bestowed, he disappeared, leaving only a ‘pop’ as air rushed in to fill the void he left.

Krae was silent for a few minutes, staring at the spot where Kæs had been, before she asked “would you like to eat something?” and pointed at the cooked rabbits.

[Silvarn]

Edward's head slowly twitched and tilted to the left. "What in Blue Blazes just happened?" he sat firmly down on the ground, "That was...was that...and he...and you...and then..."

He shook his head violently. "How dare he tell me what to do!" he leaped to his feet, pacing fervently, wisps of black flame crawling along his skin. "No one tells me what to do, except for my master. If I ever hurt you, huh," he glared at Krae, "As if I'd ever even touch you in the first place." he marched over to the rabbits and punted them, sending them soaring into the air and kicking up a cloud of ash.

He stomped back off to the woods. "Find me when you're ready to leave and get this new mission started.

[Lujayn]

He didn't manage to get far before Krae grabbed him, swinging him around and slamming him into a tree, keeping him there through sheer force.

"What in the many levels of Hell is your problem?" She snarled, tightening her grip on his shirt. "Yeah, I get it; this situation is not ideal. But we don't got much choice, do we? I don't want to follow yer master anymore than you want to follow mine, but I am, aren't I?" She emphasized this by shaking him. "You know what you are?" She growled, "You're a child, is what you are, throwing a temper tantrum because you can't get things your way! Is this the way you represent your master, eh? By acting no older than a child of 10?"

Four daggers appeared in her other hand; how she managed that was anyone's guess. "There's only one thing to do, then," she said calmly, and proceeded to slam the daggers into the tree, through his clothes, hilt-deep. One above each shoulder, and two through the material of his pants by his knees. He wasn't going to escape easily, not without ripping his clothes terribly.

She stood back, hands on hips, examining her handiwork. "Humans call this a time out. They use it on their children when they misbehave. Since you insist on acting like one, you shall be treated as one. Stay there, and think upon how a man your age acts," she said coldly. "I, meanwhile, will go hunting. Again." The last word was dripping with venom. Krae did not appreciate having her supper spoiled. Especially since she'd taken time to prepare it.

As she walked away, she muttered things under her breath that were best left unsaid. On the most part they pertained to Den and his physical and mental capabilities.

[Silvarn]

Den snarled like a feral beast at Krae's departing form, even going so far as to snap his jaws at her. When she vanished from sight, Den turned his fury to the daggers pinning him against the tree, trying to gnaw at them, but they were out of reach. He slammed his head against the tree trunk in an effort to bring it down, but he only gave himself a headache.

He growled, a deep musical growl, and then hung his head in defeat. There was a rush of heat, and then a sudden chill. Den looked up, seeing the fire had been extinguished, a thick column of churning black smoke in its place. And in the smoke, his master had channeled a proxy.

"You are a fool, Nocturne!" the proxy proclaimed, the wind rushing around them wailed in agreement, "You must control your temper, if you desire to, one day, bring even the gods to their knees with the rapture of your performances."

Den thrashed at the daggers holding him, "Get me down from here, and I promise I'll play nice!"

"Swear it." the proxy demanded.

"I swear by your powers within me, I will treat the one called Krae, servant of the Devil Kaes, with respect and cooperate with her to carry out your will -- master."

"By my chains, you are free, Devil's Eager Nocturne." the proxy pointed at the tree, which suddenly collapsed into a pile of ashes, the daggers clattering around Den's feet. "See that my will be done." the proxy vanished, and the last of the smoke drifted away.

Den slammed a fist into the ground, breathing heavily for a moment or two. With deep breaths, he recomposed himself. He forced himself to smile, allowing himself a sultry gaze. He sat down in the ashes, gathered up Krae's daggers, and waited patiently for her return.

[Lujayn]

Scant minutes after his freedom, two toughs came bolting by, looking as if the very Devil was on their heels... which was close enough, considering how frightening Krae was when murder was on her mind, and she was right at their heels.

With one powerful leap, she was partway up a tree, pushing off the bark to land in front of the two fleeing men. Her leg kicked out quickly, catching one man under the chin, sending him flying back to crash into a tree, neck snapped from the force. The foot was brought smashing down on the other man's shoulder, breaking it with a horrible crack.

With a cry of pain the man crumple to the ground, writhing in agony. Krae, being the heartless demon that she was, grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against a tree, holding him there with her arm as he screamed with renewed torment. She was, of course, unmoved. "Start talking," she snarled, holding a dagger precariously close to the captured man's neck. "Who sent you, and why are you following us?"

"I... I will never tell!" He cried bravely, trembling with terror at the horror that had captured him.

"Let me try this again..." she murmured, and then slammed the dagger hilt into his other shoulder, breaking it. She ignored his screams with practiced ease, and when he subsided into hopeless sobbing, she continued, "Again. Who sent you, and why are you following us?"

"I... I do not know who he is," the man sobbed, "He covers his face! But... but he wants to know your movements... that's all, I swear to it!"

Krae stared at him with dead eyes, boring into him. That was all she did: stare. A relentless stare that soon had the man far more terrified than he had before. Nothing created by God, surely, could have such dead, unfeeling eyes, so cold and yet he could almost feel scorching fires behind them.

He started babbling in another language, which Krae seemed to know, as she began questioning him, relentlessly, in the same language. This continued for a few minutes, before she let the broken man fall to the ground. "That's all I need. Run, and I might just let you live."

He bolted, just as she knew he would, but he only managed to get a few feet away before a dagger buried itself deep within his neck, and she watched coldy as he gurgled once as he fell to the ground, twitched, and lay still.

"I hate liars," she said to herself, and then turned, finally noticing Den sitting behind her. "Ah, so you did manage to get yourself free. Well, at least you didn't try running off."

She was carrying on as if nothing had just happened.

"I found some quail, if you're interested in eating," she continued, "Although I shouldn't really give you any since you totally ruined the last meal I cooked." This as accompanied by an accusatory glower. "But, I suppose I can't have you starve..."

On her way to the fire, still smoldering, she kicked the other body out of sight into the bushes, before settling down to prepare a new meal.

[Silvarn]

Den could not help but chuckle a little bit at her. Uniquely amusing, that Krae. "I would appreciate a little grub, if you're offering." he picked himself out of the ashes, dusted himself off, and stood next to Krae, watching her work.

"Impressive work you did back there." he complimented. "Usually I smile at my prey, but you just have to share. Really quite impressive. You'll have to teach me how to do that some day."

He stretched luxuriously, exposing just a sliver of hard, white flesh. When he finished he sighed happily and put a hand on his hip. "So, just out of curiosity, who were those guys? And I emphasize the 'were' heavily."

[Lujayn]

Krae rolled her eyes as she cooked, having easily cleaned the dead bird and stuck it on a stick to roast. "If you cannot frighten your prey by your eyes alone now," she said, turning the bird around, "You probably never will. It is something you have, not learn. Although it can be improved upon, surely. I have had some practice.

"As for the identity of the two sadly deceased men," she continued with some dry sarcasm, "Is it really that important? They were sent to spy on me, and now they are dead and cannot spy anymore. No longer a problem. The man who sent them may send more, but he's a fool, so I am not worried." Nothing seemed to worry her overmuch. "I will take care of it, if it becomes a problem."

Once the bird was finished, she halved it and gave Den the larger piece. "Now, onto the important matters. This artifact in the monastery, that our masters want us to retrieve. How best to get in there and take it." She nibbled on a bit of the quail. "Disguise of some sort would be in order, I am sure. But of what? Hmm."

It was less of a discussion and more of a "have Den there so I'm not talking to myself" moment.

[Silvarn]

"Disguises are for the untruthful, or so my mother always used to tell me. I say we barge in there like we own the place, tastefully slaughter anyone who tries to stop us, grab this artifact, and be on our merry way."

He could almost feel the frustration emanating from her. "Though, perhaps, tact is more important than brute force. What did you have in mind for our disguises? Mind you, I'm not partial to dresses. If you dare suggest we play around as transvestites, I'm out, gone, and over the hills in the blink of an eye."

This time, instead of anger, he caught a hint of mischievous glee from Krae, "What is that fiendish mind of yours thinking up?

"On an entirely separate note, isn't eating a bird considered cannibalism for you?"

[Lujayn]

Krae was struck by an intense desire to strangle the man until he turned blue. Just barge in? Being an assassin (although she stubbornly stuck to the title of ‘mercenary’), the very idea rubbed her the wrong way. And besides, why make things more difficult for yourself if stealth can make things easy? She managed to squash the urge to cease his breathing, although it was an incredible effort of will, and merely consumed the remainder of the bird while he continued to talk. Really, none of his ideas were ever any good, why did he bother talking?

“For one, the animal kingdom does not have the concept of cannibalism as humans do,” she said in reply to his question, “As well, I was a crow. This is a quail. Worlds of difference.” She shrugged. “Can’t be picky about what you eat, when you’re an animal in the wild. Although I can afford to now.”

She went back to ignoring him, as a small plan began to form in her mind, taking shape. The best part of the plan, of course, was that Den would, most likely, hate it. A maliciously gleeful smile broke across her face at that prospect.

Standing, Krae kicked out the fire and grabbed up the remainder of her stuff. “Come, Den, we’re going to get married.”

Now, if Den had been following her train of thought, he’d know what she meant. He was not, however, privy to the inner workings of her mind (which he probably should be thankful for), and so such a statement would baffle anyone at how completely random and ludicrous it was.

[Silvarn]

He spent the next few moments trying to exhale the bird meat lodged in his throat. He finally resorted to gripping his hands together and driving them into his diaphragm. The meat was ejected, landing sloppily on the ground, glistening with dark saliva.

"Great." he coughed, "now my pet demons are going to be grumpy. They get really pissy if I don't feed them regularly." he rounded on Krae, "What kind of a person are you to joke about something as heinous as that? I mean, you're a demon, but even demons have limits to their depravity."

Her smile did nothing to soothe him.

"Sweet merciful Beelzebub," he swore, "You're not kidding, are you?" When she did not answer, simply continued to smile, a shudder ran down his spine, "There's hardly a chance of that plan working. There's no way we could possibly pass for twittering lovebirds. No way, no how."

She continued to smile.

He sighed in frustration, "What did I do to deserve this?"

[Lujayn]

Krae laughed, highly amused by his confusion and frustration. “The answer to that question, I do believe, would be a very long one and best given in a list form, I would think,” she replied in an amused tone. “On another note, Beelzebub is not exactly known for being sweet or merciful... quite the contrary, in fact.”

She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him along behind her. “Come on darling,” she said with mock gaiety, “We shan’t keep those monks waiting. Although they are known for being remarkably patient, it’s very rude.”

You’re incredibly cruel, you know that? came Kæs through their mind link, and it was tinged with amusement.

“As for an inability to pass for ‘twittering lovebirds’, as you say, well, just let me do all the talking,” Krae continued on, cheerily dragging a somewhat resistant Den behind her. “You just have to act embarrassed like all good grooms do. Which shouldn’t be hard...”

She paused.”Right, I’ll have to hide my more obvious of weapons before we get there. Women with swords tend to invoke a bit of suspicion I’ve noticed.”

[Silvarn]

"Oh, and our bloodstained garments won't? No, dearest, if we are going to get married, we have to look the part!" Taking control, he began leading them back to Tamasha, "You are going to need a nice dress to cover those scandalous curves of yours -- can't have those monks being tempted with lust, can we? -- and I need a set of dress robes. Crimson, I think."

Then he remembered almost everyone in Tamasha had seen their faces -- or at least the important people -- and thought better of it.

"Maybe we should find a homestead and steal their clothes instead. With a city like Tamasha, it should not be too difficult to find a farm nearby. Hopefully."

[Lujayn]

Krae, through careful manoeuvring, lifted Den over her shoulder to toss him into a bush. "I refuse to wear a dress," she declared. "Besides, travelling in a dress is stupid. And my clothes aren't bloodstained, I washed them! Yours however..." She gave him the once-over. "Yeah, you need some new ones."

She started towards Tamasha once more. "And why steal from a farm when we have an entire city at our disposal? Since Kæs gave me back my power, I've gone from a red-head to a black-haired person, so I'll be less likely to be noticed. And you're also not flaming anymore. Just don't act suspicious, and we'll be fine!"

She thought about that. Den not acting suspicious... "Actually, you stay here; I don't trust you to not draw attention to yourself. You're a fool, so you'll inevitably do so.”

How nice she was.

[Silvarn]

Den picked himself out of the bush, brushing the remnants of leaf and dirt off his dark leather attire. "Fine." he grumbled, frowning with irritation. "If you get into trouble, which you seem to believe you won't, you can can get pummeled for all I care, then crawl back to me and kiss my --" one of his pet demons cut him off my jabbing him in the soundbox.

He sputtered and coughed once, then carried on, "I'll be right here, awaiting the return of my blushing bride. In the meantime, I suppose I'll leer at the passersby in hopes of starting a brawl so I can have a legitimate reason to kill something." To emphasize his point, he snapped his teeth at a group of young ladies who gasped in shock and scurried away in panic. He smiled with satisfaction, turning his smug expression to Krae. Of course, she did not approve of his actions. He sighed irritably, groaning, "I never get to have fun with you around."