Searching for Something Forgotten (OPEN)

[Lujayn]

“I’m... I’m alright,” she replied wearily, “I’m just... far more drained than I thought I’d be. It’s a costly spell, the one I cast, but I hadn’t realised how much... and then the shade...” She sighed, closing her eyes again. Lovely; she was once again proving how useless she really was.

She sat up slowly, and paused for a moment, as if thinking.

And then abruptly she turned and clung to him. “You’re just so cute!” Grey gushed at him, nuzzling at his neck, having no shame whatsoever, and with no concern for the horrified little necromancer within. “So concerned, and of a girl you barely know, have only just met; and a necromancer, who you have seen work her dark arts. Such a nice man you are!”

She tilted her head and examined him. “Well, this will probably create all sorts of problems,” she murmured, “but I think I’ll do it anyways.” With that, she took his face in her hands, and kissed him. It was no chaste peck on the cheek, either; it was a full, shameless kiss that had Aneira blushing on the inside.

When she pulled away, she had a rather impish smile on her face. “Well, I’ll let you two deal with the awkwardness, no?” She giggled, and the eyes faded from grey to blue, and the expression went from smug contentment to mortified horror.

Aneira clapped her hands to her mouth, eyes widening. “I’m... I’m so sorry! I hadn’t realised that... she just... and... I’m sorry!” Damien was spared further rambling apologies when a violent cough caught her off guard, a bad one that went on and spattered blood onto her hands. “Oh dear...” she murmured, and slumped against him. “This is bad... maybe I should eat something...” she mumbled.

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien flinched away when Aneira was Grey again, and she clung to him. He glared at her, but didn't make any otherwise hostile moves. She made him wonder just what kind of person she used to be.
"I beg to differ," He said icily. "You really are annoying, you know."

Then she kissed him, and he froze in complete surprise. He didn't kiss her back, naturally, but he didn't pull away either. Whether that was from surprise or not was a different question.
"What the hell?! he growled, but then she was Aneira again. A very flustered, horrified Aneira at that.
"You don't need to apologize, you aren't the one who did anything," He said, redness fading a slight bit. That's the first thing we're doing once we find a town. Find a cleric. He thought to himself, not really sure he wanted to put up with Grey for an extended period of time.

He frowned when she coughed, even moreso when that coughing spattered blood onto her hands.
"You should, but we don't have anything," He said. "Stay here, I'll go find something." He didn't really think she was going to go anywhere, honestly, but on the off-chance... "I won't go far." He slid out from where she leaned against him, leaning her instead on leaves that seemed more comfortable than sticks and rocks. He slipped away almost silently, then returned about ten minutes later with two rabbits and various edible plants, which he set to work preparing. They both needed to eat, but Aneira was worse off than he was by far.

"Are all shades like that?" He asked after a moment. "I mean, are they all so..foreword? Some of them must want to stay hidden, right?"

[Lujayn]

Aneira stared up at the lightening sky, scarcely able to make out the leaves on the trees above her, her vision was so hazy. She felt like she was a hundred years old, and could even feel the air weighing down on her. "This really isn't good..." she mumbled to herself. "I must work harder to keep the Shade in check... when she takes over it really does a number on me..."

When Damien returned she sat up slowly, since it was easier to talk when she was upright. Even though she was careful, she still felt dizzy and saw little stars spark in her vision when she sat up.

At his question, she shook her head. "No... usually... what shades do, if they still remember themselves, is try to get back to... someone important, either in a good way or a bad way. Revenge and whatnot, you know. The old shades, though... they're insane, I guess..." She shook her head again, her thoughts fuzzy. "It's rare for... for someone like Grey... to exist. Normally they'd just try to eat you... not like that!" The last part was snapped, and aimed towards Grey, who'd just suggested something incredibly lewd.

"Back to the topic at hand..." she grumbled, reaching over and stealing a vegetable to nibble on. "Mostly, shades don't exist in the human plane of existence. They hover in the area between life and death, and rarely can they cross over to this side on their own. Incredible magical or spiritual power needs to be spent to tear a hole for them to sneak through. Or pulled through via necromancy, like I did... oh!"

She blinked, recalling something. "I forgot, I did find something when I went through that man's mind. They were after you, although the memory was fuzzy so I wasn't able to see the face of the one who'd sent them after you. I think it was a while back..." She frowned, trying to remember more details. "I think... he might have been from nobility, I'm not... really sure. There was a coat of arms... of..." She shook her head. "I can't remember. There might have been a bird, but I couldn't swear to that."

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien leaned back against a tree, listening with interest and a touch of resentment at the shades, especially Grey, who'd apparently just said something rather unsavory. He thought he could hazard a fairly accurate guess as to what it was, but ignored it.

"And they can't just stay dead and not bother living people, like normal dead people," He sighed. "It would make things so much better." He watched Aneira, knowing she was probably worse than she'd been before and not wanting her to pass out or something of the like.

"A bird....?" He said. A faint something stirred in his memory, but he couldn't grab it. "A bird..." He repeated. For a good minute he pondered this, until finally, with a quick glance at Aneira, took out a small, black, titleless leather bound book from a well-hidden pocket in his vest. He untied the leather strip holding it shut and flipped it open, turning back a few dozen pages until he stopped, scanning the current page.

"Here. Is it this?" He took out a worn piece of paper that was folded many times that had a rough sketch on it of a coat of arms. It had some kind of raptor holding a sword in both talons, and some other things that had been smudged away. "It isn't the only coat of arms wit ha bird on it, but it's the only one I can think of that might want to come after me."

[Lujayn]

Aneira smiled a bit. "There are those that fear death. Even necromancers do not know what lies on the other side. Some refuse to cross over, afraid of potential oblivion or eternal torment. Some are unable to cross over, or feel that they have things not yet finished. It is hardly a simple thing."

She shuffled closer to the fire, until she was at risk of scorching her cloak. The heat produced by the flickering flames helped her to feel a little better. Once the food was finished, she was certain she'd have her strength back.

She took the picture and examined it, turning it around a bit to see it at other angles. "Mmmn... perhaps; the vision was blurry, but it does seem familiar..." She handed it back to Damien. "If I may ask... who are they?"Pffft I made two huge massive OOPS in this RP :'D Her eyes haven't changed. -

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien nodded. "But still. You'd think they could leave living people they don't know alone. Although, I suppose it was us who disturbed her in the first place..."

"They are from a noble lineage. In fact, they are royalty, if you want to get technical. Arays I think is their family name, and they reside somewhere on the other side of the ridge, if I remember correctly. Their family is somehow related to a who lives in some distant place." He shook his head.

"Honestly it was the strangest web of names and titles I've ever had the misfortune of coming across, and about as corrupt as a thief. I don't know how they ran their city and kept it going. In reality they didn't have any more authority than you or I would have, but money can persuade people to believe anything, especially if they are getting a portion of the money for doing so."

He studied the paper before again folding it and closing it in between the pages of the black book again. "There are record books of family crests in libraries on occasion. If this wasn't it, we could always go and look through one of them, if we can find one."

[Lujayn]

"I assume you killed one of them?" Aneira murmured, giving one of the rabbits a poke with a stick. It appeared to be finished but what did she know? The closest she ever got to cooking had been a horrible concoction of leftover vegetables and hard meat stirred around in a metal pot for far longer than it should have been.

"Assuming that this latest development is even going to become that important, I think we should put it to the side for now," she sighed, rubbing her temples. "It's far more important to get you healed, and I exorcised and rid of this horrid shade." She peered at him out of the corner of her eye, and an impish little smile appeared on her face. "Although, you can hardly think of her as that bad, since when she kissed you, you didn't pull away." She giggled, then. "Or is it because I'm so ravishingly beautiful? But I am sorry to say, Damien, that I am much too young for you." She was grinning, obviously teasing him. "You will have to suppress your raging desire for me; it will never work."

Poor Damien; Aneira could be a horrible tease when she put her mind to it.

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien nodded.
"Yes, it was their son." He thought back to that particular day, He'd been hired to kill their son of about 19 in a rather...Gruesome way. The mother had nearly gone mad the next day upon finding him in his bed. Or, rather, finding part of him. in many different places.

He nodded towards the rabbit, indicating that it was in fact done - he cooked game enough to be able to tell by sight most of the time. It was a learned skill.

"What?!" Damien snapped his head up at the next comment, somewhat taken aback. "You can hardly blame me for being surprised, I mean it's not like - " He cut of abruptly what he was going to say upon seeing her smile and realizing he was teasing him. He looked away, as though angry, for a few moments.

"You're one to talk," He said after a moment of gathering himself and wearing a teasing grin of his own. "How do I know you didn't ask her to kiss me?" He said. "I mean, I would have no way of knowing." He guessed that Aneira must be feeling better than she had been previously.

"So I don't know that it's me who should suppress this so-called 'raging desire.' He broke out into an easy grin. If she could tease, he could have a go at it too, right?

[Lujayn]

"You're not my type," Aneira said pleasantly, smiling an innocent sort of smile that covered up a mind that was anything but. "My ideal is a tall man, with blonde hair and blue eyes, in high dress, making a dashing figure atop a white horse. And ideally a prince." Well, who else could live in such a fashion? "You fall rather short of that ideal," she continued blithely, putting it mildly, as she used a knife to cut the rabbit flesh into strips, for easier eating. She put a piece in her mouth and instantly dropped it. "Ow, hot..."

She set the strips down on a plate fished from her pockets (which, she really shouldn't have been doing, since it was used to cut up all manner of strange things) to allow them to cool, and a thoughtful expression crossed her face.

"On that same topic, I don't think I would match up to anyone's ideal... I mean, who would like a tiny, pale-faced, sickly thing like I?" She murmured, staring up at the sky. An odd expression crossed her face. "Alright, I do match the ideal of some, but they are generally not the type of person you want to associate yourself with..."

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien laughed.
"You're right, that's not like me at all. How disappointing." He grinned, reaching for one of the roots that had been cooked and gnawing on it. He raised an eyebrow at the plate she produced from a pocket, somewhat wondering if it was actually safe to eat off of.

In reality, he thought Aneira was cute. (Not that he would say so willingly) But even if he had wanted a relationship with her, even if he did more than anything in the world, he still wouldn't do it. Sure, he'd been with women before, but mostly just for a fling - being close to someone was stupid when you're an assassin. He'd known he was going to have to give it up a long time ago, which was fine by him.

"I've seen far worse off people who are happily together," He pointed out. He asscoiated with some pretty questionably people himself, but somehow thought that the 'questionable' people that a necromancer knew were far different than any that he would know. "You shouldn't have such a low opinion of yourself."

[Lujayn]

Aneira smiled a bit. "You're so nice, Damien," she said in a pleasant tone, "But I know my weaknesses, and they oft overpower my strengths, what few there are." She nibbled on the strips of rabbit, now cool enough to eat. "Really, I'm usually far worse off than I am right now... even if I don't use my magic." She shook her head slightly. "Well, I've managed to survive this far, I'm sure I can go on a little more."

She continued nibbling her bits of rabbit, and reached out for a root of her own. She stopped when an arrow embedded itself in the earth a hair's breadth away from her hand. She stared at the arrow, eyes wide in shock, before spitting out the fast warding spell she'd ever done, just in time to send a second arrow spinning off into the trees. She lurched forward regardless, having not enough time to add the incantation that stopped the ward from affecting the user, but she preffered that to being skewered.

She rolled away and upright, glancing at the direction the arrows had come from. "What in the name of-" another arrow passed by, this time thudding a few inches from Damien.

Whomever wished their demise, they were not a very good shot.

[WolfEnchantress]

Damien was up almost before the first arrow hit the ground. It was followed by a close second that embedded itself deep into the trunk of the tree right next to him. A string of curses slipped from his clenched teeth

In a half breath, he went from being a person to being..well, a killer. In his left hand appeared four throwing blades, in his right, a dagger, and he scanned the trees with an expert eye. His breathing became slow and even as he waited for movement. Any movement at all. He listened intently, standing stone still.

There. Off in the trees. Twisting sharply to the left he sent one of the throwing blades sailing through the air. There was a muffled cry of pain and he smirked. They weren't stupid, but they weren't brilliant either - they'd just given up their location, and given him a fair idea of how skilled they were, just by giving away their location and the slight commotion when his blade hit home.
"Aneira," He said, so quiet he wondered it she would hear it. "Going after them would be stupid since they obviously have the upper hand here." He'd seen movement before, but now he couldn't see anything at all. Another arrow hissed by. "So we're going to lure them here. I am rather curious as to who they are." He listened for a moment again, shifting in front of a well-sized tree. "So we're going to have to give them reason to come over here."

Another arrow sailed toward him. It stuck just under his arm with a dull thud sound, and his face contorted in pain. He let out a cry of pain and dropped to the ground, subtly breaking the arrow from the tree and clutching it to his chest with the feathered end sticking out, as though he'd actually been shot. He moaned something unintelligible, voice breaking with the pain he wasn't feeling. If they thought they hit them, or got both of them down or incapacitated at least, they would no doubt come closer. And closer was better - it was easier to deal with enemies in close quarters. Especially when one of them is an archer - archer's couldn't work in close quarters. He met Aneira's eyes. Would she understand what he was doing?

[Lujayn]

Lure them here? Was he mad? She didn't have much more time to think on that one train of thought, however, before he was "shot". She was at the right angle to see him break off the arrow stuck in a tree; now, he'd still been shot by another arrow, and she was still concerned about that, but there wasn't much she could do about it. What she could do, however, was making a little trap of her own.

Aneira slowly crept back, into more cover, but away from where the arrows had come from. Hopefully they wouldn't take a long way around and see her, for she was fairly certain that she wouldn't survive being turned into a human pincushion!

Looking around her with wide, fearful eyes, she pulled out a vial of blood red ink and began making a pentagram on the forest floor. It wasn't an ideal surface, being covered in thick piles of leaves that were of varying depth, but she didn't exactly have a lot of choice in the matter.

As she silently worked, two (there'd been more than one?!) people emerged slowly from the forest. One was farther back, holding a bow with an arrow notched, the string partially pulled back. Some blood was trickling down from his hand, from the wound Damien had inflicted on his arm, the blood flowing down. While he seemed annoyed, and wasn't holding the bow quite as steadily as he could have been, it didn't seem to be effecting him that much. The other man was uninjured, and to Aneira seemed to be the one in charge. He had one of those looks.

"Keep an eye on the girl," he ordered, gesturing towards Aneira, "Let me talk to our injured friend here." Unlike the other men that had been after them, this one seemed actually competent. And rather scary. His armour, just enough to protect what was important, was not anything great to look at, but looked to be of high quality, as was the rest of his clothing. He had to make a lot of money, and that did suggest some level of success.

Aneira was fairly certain that he was an assassin like Damien. Great.

"Well, Damien," he said pleasantly enough, looking casual except that his hand was close within reach to the sword belted to his hip, "You're a hard man to find! Master Arays has been rather anxious to meet you, you know. He's very disappointed that you've been rejecting his invitations."

He gestured towards the other man, who pulled back the bowstring, aiming the arrow directly at Aneira, who froze right in the middle of what she was doing. "Be a good girl and cease whatever magical preparations you are doing, and you won't be shot," he said without looking at her. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Descus, otherwise known as the Black Bird. Perhaps you've heard of me? I'm here to escort you to Master Arays. He wishes to discuss the state you left his son in before your departure.

"And, for the moment, you don't have to worry about your death. He wants you very much alive. I've heard he's primed his... playroom just for you! Lucky man." His gaze turned towards Aneira. "However, I'm afraid your little friend here is not so fortunate. I have no need to keep her alive whatsoever. If you come quietly, perhaps her life will be allowed to continue."

Aneira was sure that he was lying through his teeth. No way would she be allowed to live. But she hadn't finished the pentagram... if she summoned undead now, there was no guarantee that she could control it properly.

Damien, you better have some sort of plan...

[WolfEnchantress]

He was an assassin, that much was obvious. Being one himself, he was rather good at spotting them, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't take a genius to figure it out. And, judging by the way he held himself, he was a good one. He was acutely aware of the sword within reach of the man's hand, and the bow, which was now pointed at Aneira.

He scowled. The man was lying. And how did he find him? Granted, it wasn't that difficult to figure out it had been him to kill their son. But he had covered his tracks, and done it well. He was meticulous in leaving - he was sure he'd left nothing behind, or for the next hundred miles, that gave any hint he had been through there. He had made it so that he was there one day, and gone the next. So, how did these men find him.. And know who he was?

"I have never heard of you before." He said. Slowly, he stood, holding both hands up to indicate that standing was all he was doing, and not reaching for weapons.

"Stay on your knees," Came the reprimand. His voice was easy, but edged with a steel that said if he didn't stay on his knees, there would be consequences. And, seeing that this 'Black Bird' was the one with the upper hand, he obeyed.

"You can't kill her." He said, managing to sound very matter-of-fact. He wanted to jump up and snap Descus's neck, but he showed none of it, instead looking up to directly meet his eye. "If she dies, I die, too." Descus smirked.

"Oh, we won't allow you to kill yourself. That-"

"I didn't say I would kill myself, did I?" He cut him off. He was fairly certain that hinting at Aneira being a Necromancer was really stupid, but he wasn't about to let them kill her. Descus made a face, turning over what Damien had said and looking at it from every possible angle. With a wave of his hand, the archer lowered his bow, but remained ready.

"You lie." Descus finally said. Damien shrugged. "Feel free to find out." He knew that they weren't going to take chances. If they did kill her, and he did die, it would likely be their lives to pay, maybe even the lives of their families. But the only way they could actually find out was to kill her, which obviously wasn't very efficient. Descus looked over at Aneira, at the markings she was making on the ground. It was obvious she had some kind of powers, and he didn't know what they were.

Finally, he cursed, his eyes going from Aneira to Damien. He turned to face Aneira.
"Explain this," He said, his composure regained. He doubted that either of them would know what a necromancer was - when he'd gone to Arays's city, anything magical was nothing more than a rumor muttered under someones breath. But still... Was it smart to tell them, or to lie?

[Lujayn]

Aneira shot Damien an annoyed glance. Thanks a lot for that one.... She couldn't tell this Descus man right-out what she was, that would be stupid, but she could dance around the issue a bit... and hopefully he wouldn't catch on.

"Um, well..." she began haltingly, "I have magic, and that's... all that's really keeping him going, really... and, you know, if I die, the magic goes 'poof', so..." Not really a lie, it was kind of the truth, right?

Descus was silent, digesting this new information. It was impossible to tell what his mood was, disguised underneath a veneer of calm quiet. "I see," he said finally, then added under his breath, "I hate magic."

He strode over to Aneira, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her out from her bushes, and any hopes she had had of working her necromancy to get she and Damien out of their current predicament were quickly dashed.

"Right then," Descus started pleasantly, looking almost like a nice person (almost...). "Time for some basic rules of your captivity. You listen to everything I say, and don't do anything stupid." He gestured to his lackey to relieve Damien of his weapons... or at least, as many weapons as they could find at the moment. "If I'm not listened to, well... things like this will happen."

Barely were those words out of his mouth before he savagely backhanded Aneira, sparing her nothing, causing her to go flying into a nearby tree with a pained cry and a mouthful of blood. She clutched at her throbbing face, dimly grateful that she hadn't lost any teeth, at least, but that was small comfort.

"I have almost no scruples," Descus continued easily, as if nothing had just happened, "And I'll do almost anything to achieve my tasks. The men I've hired, on the other hand, have absolutely no scruples and will do almost anything just because they think it might be fun." His smile turned cold. "Imagine what would happen to the poor dear if I shut her in with them for a night or two."

Aneira's pale face went even whiter, eyes widening in stark terror.

“I see I’m understood,” Descus said, almost cheerily. “Let’s get a move on, then, Master Arays is most impatient to see you, Damien. And I’m sure he’ll find a use for this little one as well.” He paused. “Ah, right, I do not know your name,” he said to Aneira. Incredibly, he gave her a rather grandiose bow. “How very rude of me, miss, forgive my lapse in social graces. Pray tell, what is your name?”

Aneira stared at him dumbly, fear forgotten in total bafflement. “Uh... Aneira...”

“Such a cute name,” he said with his pleasant smile, and Aneira was rather certain he was putting on an act, although why she couldn’t be certain. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s get a move on, hmm?”

He helped the very much confused Aneira to her feet and led her away, giving another gesture over his shoulder to get the other man to bring Damien along.


(Sometimes I can't decide whether I like Descus or not... hmmm)