RPG Harlequin, Ravenstorture and a now empty barrel (mature content)

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Vyrim: I advise you to let go.

[I]For a strange instant, Raeven thought he was talking to the bug creature. Then she realised what he meant, rolling away from the creature. As soon as she was clear, the creature bore forward, pushing Vyrim back. Vyrim went easily, giving ground. It kicked him once, going for the kneecap. He leapt, avoiding the kick and allowing the creature to push him back further. As they neared the door, Vyrim's skin fired with blue lightning, that shot into the creature. It spasmed once, and Vyrim used the sudden lack of resistance to throw the thing outside, over the edge. It hit the ground with a satisfying crunch. Vyrim checked anyway, letting off a few bolts to make sure. It didn't do anything more than an involuntary twitch. He walked back inside, more concerned with whether Raeven was hurt. She appeared to be fine.[/I]

Raeven: I assume that happens often?

Vyrim: All the time. Letting gravity do the work is much easier than actually killing them. It's just difficult when they can fly. It takes a little shock to prompt them into dying.

Raeven: So this is easy for you?

Vyrim: Doing that? Fighting the thing was easy. The electricity was a fair bit more difficult. Listening to the creature go away is hard.

Raeven: What?

Vyrim: You'll see. I advise you not to go out there though.

[I]There was a sickening crack, like someone had stepped on a bettle. Then a few more sounds, many of them wet...[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven ignored his advice and walked out after the creature, looking down in a mixture of curiosity and disgust for a while. [/i]

Raeven: That reminds me.

Vryim: Oh?

Raeven: I'm hungry. What is there for eating? Can we get some of that thing? It tasted pretty good. Actually, I don't know why I said that. I'm going to sit down for a while.

[i]She did so.[/i]

Vryim: It's not something I've heard of, eating those things.

Raeven: Well, I don't care what it is, but I would like something to eat anyway.

[i]She stared at him. A thought crossed her mind, and she laughed.[/i]

Vryim: What?

Raeven: Nothing. I just like watching you fight.

Vryim: Ahh. Any particular reason why?

Raeven: (standing) No.

[i]She grabs hold of his forearm and fells the muscles there, smiling.[/i]

Raeven: Could be this.

[i]She lets him go and walks back outside, sitting down crosslegged to watch the forest and listen to the facinating sounds below.
[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim absently flexed the muscles in the forearm, wondering exactly why she liked it. He decided to ignore it for now, the implications not being something he'd dwell on comfortably. He walked outside, taking a quick glance out to determine how usual it was. Not the usual menagerie of creatures, but savage nevertheless. Just wait till breeding season/s....

He walked past the enraptured Raeven, intending to get some more food. When he came back with another side of meat, she was still sitting there, though only a decimated husk of the creature in question remained. [/I]

Vyrim: Ahem.

...

Vyrim: Ahem.

...

[I]He gave up, and simply started cooking the meat. She'd be in in a minute he assumed. If nothing else, he simply through the piece of meat out to her. She'd get the point.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]An indefinate amount of time later, Raeven saw a niec, juicy, hunk of meat sail over her shoulder and into the undergrowth below. She started, stood, and jumped down after it, landing easily. Picking the piece of meat up, she turned to face several large creatures who were intent on taking the meat off her. Raeven took a huge bite, chewed slowly, swallowed, then screamed as loud and as high as she possibly could. The creatures shied away, all but one, but it looked to be slow enough as it it.
Holding the meat in her mouth, she turned to a relatively thin trunked tree and scaled it quickly, reaching the thinner branches in short order. Then it was only a matter of leaning in the direction of the abode, and the tree bent to accomodate the distance. Raeven landed heavily on the roof and screamed as the sharp metal spikes pierced her skin. Blood trickled down between the gaps in the rafters.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim looked up, startled. Normally the ichor they exuded was green...that wasn't them. He sighed, leaping up and grabbing a rafter. Using the momentum, he swung himself up, kicking a section of roof out. As he started to fall, he caught the roof with his boots, the spikes failing to pierce the thick leather. He pulled himself up by those boots, anyway, standing on the spikes without a hint of lost balance. Of course, having a connection with air helped...

He walked slowly, cautiously over to the bleeding Raeven, picking her up gently, and walking over to the side of the roof, jumping to the platform rather than the hole. He'd have to fix or find that soon... He landed easily, Raeven letting out a slight moan of pain. The spikes weren't long, about a centimetre long, and no vital part of her body was pierced. Everything above the shoulders appeared to be fine in fact. Vyrim set her down, and started doctoring her, a change really. He was tempted to think she had it coming...[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven stared up at the thick canopy, she pain in her back lessening quickly. She felt stupid for going after the meat, especially since it was now skewered on the roof. [/i]

Raeven: I'm such an idiot.

Vyrim: No, you're not.

Raeven: I'm hungry.

Vyrim: You're very adventurous.

Raeven: Wanting to do it again...

Vyrim: You're insane.

Raeven: You're incredibly beautiful.

[i]Vyrim recoiled, startled. She smiled at catching him off guard, and closed her eyes. Her wounds disapeared. She stood, brushing off his hands pleading her to stay lying down. The drop seemed quite a way once she looked at it again. Deciding to go other places next time, she climbed up onto the roof to get her food and found it to be gone.
Raeven climbed back inside and sat down on her bed, beginning to cry.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim unthinkingly wrapped his arms around her, comforting her as she wept. She settled down quickly, merely lying in his arms for a while. Confused, he sat motionless, probably overly still. She didn't seem to notice, drifting back into sleep again, or at least appearing to. He had a feeling she'd wake up again once the next lot of meat was cooked. Which would probably be very soon. Until then..

He slowly lowered himself down, being careful not to disturb her. He lay motionless behind her, with her snuggling up against his chest. He was sharply aware of how nice her hair smelt.[/I]

Vyrim: So are you...Painfully so it seems.

[I]Raeven, if she was awake, didn't respond.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]She did hear, but to her it was not a compliment - she had never learnt it as one. She knew what the word meant, but beauty was not important in the Palace, so it meant little to be told you were beautiful. Like being told you were tall, or a girl - just something about you that you had no control over.
She thought she knew everything about the male species, but it appeared she did not. Vyrim confused her so much, but then again, he was not human. Her experience of male humans had been a different matter.
Once, she was boarded with older males that had arrived at the palace in thier late teens. The things they talked of were confusing, but she paid no heed. If it was important to her, she would learn them. Now she knew that was not true at all.
She didn't know why he cared for her, and didn't treat her as the enemy she had the potential to be. She didn't know why he lived on his own, when he would have been safer with others of his kind. Everything outside of the Palace seemed to go against all the laws of combat she knew. Nothing made sense. But he did make her feel different, in a way. She didn't get scared, or nervous, or angry... she could relax nearly all the time, and that was something she had not done for years.
Happy would have been a word to describe how she felt, but she never learnt that word.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Raeven suddenly rolled over, facing him with sudden...anxiety? She looked at him in deadly seriousness, and there was no small amount of confusion in her myriad eyes. She seemed lost. Her hand slowly came up, and lingered in the space between their faces for an agonising, too long moment. At last it settled, hesitantly coming to rest on the side of Vyrim's face. It sat there, motionless, Raeven looking at him in almost desperation. He smiled gently, and her fingertips slowly drifted over his skin. His smile relaxed slightly, his eyes closing ever so little. As content as she had seen him so far. With growing confidence, she stroked his face, staring into his half-open eyes. He shifted slightly, and she withdrew her hand, startled.

He grinned at her, in joyous amusement. He wrapped an arm around her, and drew her closer to him. One hand came up to stroke her soft skin, marvelling at the velvet under them. The other slowly ministrated the skin on her back, causing her to shiver. She looked up slowly, almost frightened. She opened her mouth to speak, lips caressing the air in something that could not be denied. Before she could even expel the air from her lungs in that almost husky half-breath that preceeded her tintillating speech, his lips met hers, meeting in a hesitant ecstasy.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raven froze - she had no idea what he was doing. She trusted him, however, and he seemed to be enjoying it... she relaxed and let him do whatever it was, concentrating on the strange feeling of someone else's mouth entwined with your own. She liked it somewhat...
Hesitantly, she flicked her tounge out into his mouth, hoping he didn't notice in case she'd done the wrong thing. He pushed against her harder, and moaned, scaring her somewhat. She wondered if he had hurt himself, or was sad... what was happening?

Suddenly, she pulled away. Vyrim was breathing heavily, his eyes closed, lying back on the bed. She stared in amazement at what he was doing. He looked exhausted, and his heart, when pressed against her, was beating rapidly. Then, he smiled and looked at her, appearing utterly satisfied. After learning that the only thing you should be happy about was victory after battle, she wondered if what he had done was some kind of... she had no idea.[/i]

Raeven: What are you doing? Are you alright? You look... tired.

[/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Vyrim: No, not tired. Content, happy.

Raeven: Happy?

Vyrim: Everything's beautiful, everything's fine.

Raeven: Is something wrong?

Vyrim: Come here and I'll show you how little anything is wrong...

[I]She was slightly uncertain, and more than slightly scared, but she moved closer anyway. He took her back into his arms, wrapping them tightly around her. He marvelled at her eyes and face for a moment, then rejoined his lips to hers. He slowly inched his tongue forward, sliding in between her lips in almost ...welcome? He traced the inside of her mouth, causing her to let out a soft sound he could almost swear was a giggle. He smiled at her, and kissed her again. Softly, but with passion. It was her turn to let out a moan, this one in almost surprise. He pulled back a moment, muttering something before kissing her again.[/I]

Vyrim: You have a lot to learn. My love.[/font][/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven got ontop of him and straddled his hips, leaning forward so their faces were close. She had more control this way, and felt safer. For all she knew he could be preparing to poison her... or something. The truth was she had never experienced anything like what he was doing. [/i]

Raeven: Can you tell me what you are doing?

Vyrim: I do believe it's called kissing.

Raeven: Kissing. What is it? I mean, what does it do?

Vryim: Well, it's a pleasurable thing. It feels nice.

Raeven: Well, why would anyone want to do it?

Vyrim: That's a stupid question. People do it to feel nice, and to make other people feel nice...

Raeven: Oh.... I've just... never seen anything like it.

Vyrim: Do you like it?

Raeven: Hmmm, I don't know... give me some more and I'll think about it.

Vyrim: Well, there's more to pleasure than kissing, my love.

Raeven: My what?[/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Vyrim: Love my dear. An overwhelming affection, a newfound sense of purpose that illuminates all facets of life in a concatenation of happiness. Something that gives everything meaning, something that makes life worth living no matter what.

Raeven: Like...winning a fight?

Vyrim: Much more intense my dear, and much more varied. Love permeates everything, and you don't need to do anything to inspire it, or feel it. It comes naturally.

Raeven: I don't understand.

Vyrim: You will. Just remember, Love isn't physical.

[I]He reached up and gently pulled her head down, kissing her neck softly. She moaned again, softer, but more intense, this time.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven thought back through her life, and not once could she remember anything like this. Nothing so... electrifying. His lips tickled her, and it felt very strange, but the emotional feelings were what were different. He was enjoying her, and it felt incredible. She was... needed, and approved of, and that was wonderful. It was making her feel so... happy? Love? Too confusing. But she was beginning to realise that she would never leave this man, not if she had a choice. This was better than anything she had ever felt. And he said there was more... she couldn't wait. She wanted it, badly, now, more, much more... and even then, time seemed to slow. His movements were frustratingly slow. He was teasing her, as he knew what she was feeling, and punishing her for it. As he should. The feelings she was having were disgusting - she was now as vulnerable as she could get. And yet, the strange, and scary thing was - he would have been able to have grabbed a weapon and thrust it into her then, and she wouldn't have minded at all. In fact, she didn't know how close to the truth that last thought was.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim suddenly surged upwards, kissing her with more intensity. Initially surprised, Raeven responded in kind. She shivered with how much he wanted her, thought she wasn't quite sure what he wanted. Suddenly, she found herself lying on her back, his mouth no longer pressed to her. She gasped, and let out a small whimper of longing, that quickly turned into a moan, his lips closed over his neck, his tongue slowly tracing its way over her soft skin. It was different to kissing, but still incredible. His mouth lingered, but not for too long, tracing down her neck, touching her collarbone, then jumping down to her stomach. All of a sudden, he was kissing bare skin, as intervening cloth was swept away. She gasped, and grabbed his head, instinctively knowing what she wanted. She pulled his head upwards, his tongue hesitantly flicking out to touch her breast, his hand coming up to stroke her stomach. She gasped again, and pulled his head down, and he latched onto her more firmly.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven closed her eyes and felt herself slowly sinking into pure, inexplicable bliss. As his arms encircled her body, and the moonlight streamed in the window, illuminating his skin, she found herself pushing him back, and running her hands over him. He was still dressed.
Suddenly intensely curious about what lay under his clothing, she pulled it off him and stared at the revealed skin. He was wonderfully muscled, and his skin was tight and smooth. Completely hairless, and almost silky to touch, as if covered by a fine powder. Without thinking, she went deeper, exploring parts of him she had never seen before on a man. He was breathing heavily and responding to her so much she didn't think, leaning down and kissing him, hard, on the hip. He let out a earshattering scream, and stiffened. Suddenly scared, she sat up quickly, wondering what she had done wrong. Hearing the scream again, she realised it had not been him.
Vyrim stood and walked out to the balcony to see what it was. Although Raeven was scared, she could not help but stare at his magnificent form. Suddenly realising that she had removed his clothing, and maed him vulnerable, she felt bad again. But still could not help staring, and not one shred of regret came over her for taking off his clothes. [/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Whatever was outside wasn't happy. Ignoring his unclad state, more concerned about his unarmed state, Vyrim went to investigate, though it was incredibly hard to tear himself away from the goddess that inhabited his bed. He felt Raeven's eyes on him, and smiled softly, a last hint of mirth before he stepped outside. He supposed the extra moonlight would actually make him look better. And then, he would be giving her a show...

A tall, spindly apelike creature, with the features of a rat, stood outside, screaming at him. A difficult thing to kill, mainly because of its spider like arms. There were six of them, not including the protusions it stood upon, and they hinged backwards rather than forwards, allowing to make horribly powerful crushing strikes and side swings. And lean backwards in a very annoying way.

Infuriated, and more than eager to get this out of the way, he took to the air, twisting sideways and coming in with a right leg sidekick. Before his foot and left the creature's torso, his left leg came in with another side kick. The creature moved with the blow, unfazed. Not having any resistance to push off, Vyrim landed basically on top of the thing, bearing it to the ground. From this position, with nowhere to move its arms, it was vulnerable. He simply started punching the thing, hoping that it would stay down. Of course, it didn't, throwing him off, and nearly over the edge. This would be annoying.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven stood uncertain, not knowing whether or not to fight this thing unclad, especially since she didn't even know what it was. But it had interrupted them in the middle of something important, and she felt like punishing it.
Although she was still only wearing her loose cotton pants, she felt strong. Confident. And her lover was being beaten to death, so that was the big incentive.
She grabbed her staff, leaning against the wall, moving slowly so the creature would not avert it's attention to her. Creeping up behind it, she rammed the end of the staff into the base of what appeared to be it's spine, and leapt back. The creature howled and left Vyrim alone - the intended move. Raeven moved into an attacking stance and rocked back and forth, slowly. The creature leapt, and she adjusted her weapon, facing into the thing's chest so it contacted with the solar plexus. This animal did not have a solar plexus. She gasped as the weight nearly ripped the staff from her grip. The creature, however, did not touch her. Bringing the staff back and around, she whacked one of it's limbs sharply, once, twice, and a third time. The third time she heard a crunch and the leg gave way, jolting the animal. [/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim leapt to his feet upon hearing the crack, hoping it wasn't Raeven. Raeven was in good form, weaving the bo through her hands, snaking it out to strike the thing again and again. From a horizontal primary spin, she came across with a sideslash, slightly above the creature's head height.

It folded its top set of arms backwards, and Vyrim took the opportunity. He leapt forward, grabbing the arms and lifting his leg, slamming his knee into the creature's spine. He pulled back sharply and snapped both arms, then dropped it to the ground. Raeven slid forward, slamming the butt of the staff into the creature's throat. It gurgled, then died. Vyrim dragged the thing off the edge, and nearly followed it as Raeven's arms shot around him from behind. He turned in her embrace, and gasped at the beauty of the magnficent creature that had encaptured him.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven smiled up at Vyrim and began swirling the staff in her fingers. Placing the fingertips of her other hand on his chest and pushing backwards, she brought the staff under his arm and slowly twisted it in lazy circles infront of him. Vyrim smiled and leant back, crossing his arms behind his back and looking down at her, his hair falling over his eyes. She lost herself in them and dropped the stick, swaying with endorphin.
Vyrim scooped the staff up from the floor and began tracing intricate patterns in the air with it. Raeven dropped to her knees and stared up in adoration, then straight ahead in pure lust. This time it was Vyrim's turn to drop the staff.[i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim looked down at her, his breathing laboured, hesitant, and slowly getting heavier. The staff hit the deck and clattered unnoticed away. Vyrim reached out and stroked her face and she looked up, then suddenly stood up. Impulsively, he picked her up and carried her inside, kissing her neck and tracing her bare stomach, slowly moving downwards, tracing its way down her thigh. She shivered, and he ran his fingers down the side of her leg, and back upwards, tracing over her ***, causing her to suddenly gasp.

He layed her down on the makeshift bed, kissing the side of her face, running his fingers up and down her stomach. She suddenly grabbed his head, kissed him fervently, wrapped her other arm around him, and did the same with her legs. Vyrim gasped, and suddenly collapsed.

Raeven's only response was a wicked smile, as she arranged Vyrim in a position of repose and lay beside him, making sure to stay quite close to him.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]The next morning, Vyrim was still out cold - or warm, as the case may be. Raeven was dying to explore, so she stood, stretched for a while, picked up the staff and walked into the labryinth of trees.
The first choice of direction she came to, she tried the one she hadn't before. It took her into a room with no windows, and hundreds of iron chains hanging from the roof. Some ended in shackles, some ended in hooks. It looked sinister. They all hung from a high roof, and were all differing lengths, giving the roof the texture of iron filings, dripping from the roof. The wind brew through the door and rustled them, sending waves of clinks through the air.
Dropping the staff, Raven grabbed two hanging shoulder width apart just over her head, and pulled herself up with her arms. Straightening her arms out horizontal to the ground, she then forced them to her sides, gasping with the effort as she now hung off her wrists, her arms against her body. From this position she raised her legs at right angles to her body and dropped them back, swinging back and up so her body was inverted, arms still at her sides. Not having done this for a while, she found it slightly more difficult than usual and fell after a second or to. Glad there was no one round to witness the failure, she picked her staff up again and continued.
The next room was empty, but the floor was covered in tightly weaved rushes, making a smooth and slightly spongy floor. Windows spanned the circumference of the walls, letting in light and giving a view of the other trees and lodgings. Finding this a pleasent place, she sat in the centre of the room and crossed her legs, finding this an opportune time for meditation.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim awoke to the sun streaming onto his eyelids, a practice that annoyed him at the best of times. Raeven not being there didn't help this situation's chances at being the best of times. He stood up slowly, deciding his first course of action would be to find his clothes.

That done, the second course of action was to find Raeven. Or to leave her to her own devices, and deal with certain other things. But that could probably wait for a while.

He crossed the threshhold and went left, a high ceilinged, wide, flat floored hut in mind. It actually took him a while to remember where it was... He found it in short order, empty as expected. He stepped inside and immediately over to one wall, the one that held his secondary stock of weapons.

He selected a pair of shang gaos, and started a light kata. The movements, graceful through long practice, helped clear his mind, and let him think through the situation he was in with far more clarity than normal.

He was in trouble. This creature had come into his life, corrupted his solitude, disturbed the precarious balance he managed to maintain with this place, and most of all, gotten inside his personal feelings.

He was in trouble, but he didn't care. That was the crux.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven smiled and opened her eyes, her pupils shrinking back down to normal size. Now completely calm and relaxed, she stood and came to attention. Raising her arms over her head, she bent at the hips and placed her hands on the floor, beginning her Salute to the Sun. That finished, she adopted a eastern relation position, and relaxed, her structural support holding her off the floor and allowing her to laspe deep into another quiet think. The sound of rythmic thudding a few rooms away alighted her attention, but not enough to rouse her. Raeven was happy to be there, happy to be alone, happy to be alive, happy to be upside down, happy that her hair was black. She was happy her name was Raeven. Laughter didn't threaten her balance, so she utilised it, and was happy she did so.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim at last returned the weapon to the rack, and went through another routine, this one purely physical. A half hour and quite a few stretched muscles later, he stopped, breathing easily. He left the dojang styled hut and returned to his current living quarters, not particularly concered with whether Raeven was there or not.

He'd deal with the emotional problems that were biting him sometime later. Right now, he was somewhat hungry. This was getting slightly repetitive....[/font][/color][/I]