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

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven closed her eyes as she heard the sound of footsteps padding towards her. Strong, smooth arms encircled her middle lovingly and flipped her over, a soft hand placed over her eyes. She giggled at the sudden playfulness of her host. A soft kiss planted on her lips, an odd smell, and a floating sensation... the light through her eyelids faded into black as she was carefully placed in a black sack and swung gently over a foriegn shoulder.
By the time the kidnapper was on the ground, Raeven was fast asleep and dreaming of the sky.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]It was about midday before Vyrim realised that Raeven probably should have turned up quite a while earlier. In this place, a few hours tended to be slightly fatal.

He returned to the hut he had earlier visited, arming himself more extensively this time around. A rante around his right wrist, a quarterstaff on his back, two kamas at his belt, multiple daggers, and a pair of strange looking handaxes in his fists. He quickly checked the easily accessible landings, finding absolutely nothing. There was no sign of Raeven, and no sounds to indicate a frenzy, which would surely still be going on if she had suffered mishaps.

He came across his old meditation hut, the place he had often sought refuge in the inital years after he built this thing, still depressed over his fate. He hadn't been there in decades, but the reeds on the floor appeared recently messed up. He immediately spun, bringing to mind the map of this place, long since commited to memory. There was only one passage away from this place he had yet to check, and it was nothing more than a path down.

He doubted Raeven would have been stupid enough to get herself stuck down there, but he certainly wasn't going to risk not checking.

The pathway ended five metres above the ground, and he took a good look around before dropping. He was eager to find Raeven, but that didn't warrant suicide.

What he found surprised him. Several dead creatures, and fairly recent to, judging by the scraps of meat that still existed. No identifying marks as to what killed them unfortunately. The fact that most of the blood coated the ground was pretty evident that whatever had killed them, it had been smaller than them, and had struck upwards rather than slashes which would have sprayed blood onto the trees. There was one long series of flecks though, a spray that covered three trees, a single line. The remains of a blade passing through flesh and continuing. Raeven hadn't done this. The only thing capable of doing something like that would be a heavy greatsword or bastard sword, or perhaps some kind of halberd. And he couldn't possibly imagine Raeven using something like that, not to mention she hadn't retreived one of the few he had.

Which meant someone else was wandering around. Chances are, they'd gotten themselves into trouble, and Raeven had been close, and had attempted to lend a hand. Now he had at least two people to rescue, one of them being re-rescued.

Axes in hand, he set off, away from the direction most of the blood sprays went.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven awoke on stone, naked. She had been dumped there hard enough to rouse her from her drug induced slumber. She was bound, gagged, and blindfolded. She was very, very angry.
A voice.... male, tall, if standing, white, human, young. Very young. The gag was removed from her mouth.
[/i]

Voice: You're not a bad catch.

Raeven: You plucked this fish out of protected waters, my friend.

Voice: Ooh, threatening.

Raeven: The fact that you took me out of someone's house is bad enough! But a raikishi warrior...

Voice: Don't know what that is. Came away pretty easily though.

Raeven: Thought you were someone else.

Voice: Some warrior.

[i]Raeven rocked forward and stood, angling out her knees for balance. Her head brushed an angled, rough roof. [/i]

Raeven: Tell me why you have done this.

Voice: Don't tell me what to do.

[i]Raeven noticed that the person was taller than her. Slightly. [/i]

Raeven: Don't tell me what not to do. In fact, don't ****ing kidnap me.

[i]The boy struck her, not as hard as she was used to, but hard enough in a metallic spiked glove. She stood taller at the strike and spat blood in the direction of the speaker. He struck her again, and again, until she lost consciousness. Only then did she fall from her height.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Whoever was traipising around this place was an idiot. Vyrim could tell that. Even if Raeven was there, she was being an idiot. Vyrim would have thought that after the first time, you'd learn that if one thing came down on you, it was best to kill it quickly and run, not hang around and wait for the fenzy. But judging from several slaughter sites he'd seen so far, whoever was wandering around hadn't worked that out.

The idea that they didn't have a choice suddenly occured to him. If they were injured, which was more than likely, they'd have a lot of trouble. But if they were injured, then should be dead several miles back. He'd gone a very long distance, longer than he normally cared to go. And the exact place he didn't want to go.

Mount Khalith. A huge outcrop of impervious granite, all hard edges. The weather didn't wear it away, it merely sharpened the peaks, deepened the ravines, made the cliff faces more sheer. An aberration that had spawned this forest, this blight. Vyrim couldn't remember the last time someone had climbed it. Since coming here, he turned away any who tried, after the first decade. They'd all died, many of them vocally. He watched the slope many times, and seen all sorts of strange beings, ones that didn't even appear in the forest below. And they were all quite a lot larger than anything he saw regularly.

He'd been up twice, each time less than half a mile. Both times, injuries had turned him back. Both times, he'd been far better prepared than he was now. And better armed too.

The denizens of the forest weren't too active though. They'd been momentarily distracted by the killings, and weren't that hungry anymore. Given that free license, Vyrim gave up following the trail and simply made for the mountain, a direct line that took him far less than the roundabout route followed by the unknown idiot.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven didn't know the meaning of the word rape, but soon learnt it in the next four hours. Her captor not only knew exactly who and what she was, it was probably why she was his target. He had moved her to a nest of boulders, tieing her under them, making it almost impossible to breathe, let alone move. Any movement might cause a rock to topple and cause permanant damage. She lay facedown on the crumbled rockbase, blood streaming from her face and between her legs. Pain had been minimalised by meditation, but the horror of what he was doing to her could not be blocked out. She would have easily dealt with it were it not for the experience with Vyrim the previous night - she knew this was tied in with that somehow.

An undeterminable amount of time later, he stopped. Muttering something to her in Faren'lre confirmed her suspicions of him being from her homeland. She burnt with shame - he knew what she was capable of, and this made it worse for her to be caught vulnerable and restrained so easily.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]This was getting nasty. Whatever the hell the bastard was. Vyrim wasn't sure. Lizardish. Bipedal. Who cares. Twin left jabs, right punch that twisted into a backhand, left hook, spinning right back kick. Whatever the bastard was, it fell over well enough. Of course, he still held his axes, which helped. And the thing bled, though it was a glowing kind of green he decided not to touch. There were swarms of these things, the smalles creatures up this place he supposed. They survived because they worked together and whatnot, and when they were separated, they died. Vyrim was not blind to the comparisons.

He had other problems right now though. The creature's big, very loosely related cousin had dropped by. Literally. He'd been getting his breath back when all of a sudden the ground became very attracted to his back, and decided a closer acquaintance would be fun. The thing that had landed beside him, and thus jolted him, seemed pretty confused, wondering where he'd gone. Vyrim intended to take advantage of that. He rolled away and to his feet, flicking the green crazily glowing blood off his axes at the creature. It burned on contact, making him somewhat happy he'd decided not to touch it.

The creature was about 15 feet tall, and bulky. The head was vaguely reptilian, but the scales seemed more lines traced into moist, sick looking pale skin, blue lines and other things showing through. The eyes were on the side of the head, making the thing constantly turn its head from side to side, birdlike, to look at him. The mouth was large, and hung open, giving Vyrim a view of teeth that seemed more adapted to grinding rocks than biting. The creature was hexapedal, with batlike wings that looked like that would be unable to support its body. The legs were hinged in multiple places, and were quite solid. The tail was thick and stumpy, and seemed like a mutation rather than an appendage. It didn't have large claws, or horns, and those teeth weren't too nasty, so it didn't look all that threatening.

It did look solid though, and half a second later, Vyrim found out why its legs were jointed so much. The thing suddenly leapt into the air again, it's wings billowing out. As it fell, and touched the ground, the legs curled right up, and it sprang forward again, directly at the stunned Vyrim. It's legs came up, it's body rotated upwards, and it latched onto him as if it were catching him in some vile embrace. Vyrim didn't have a chance, he figured he was going to be crushed.

The wings again billowed out however, slowing its flight, and the lower, or back, pair of legs suddenly hit the ground, the many joints absorbing the shock. Vyrim was held motionless, his head a few inches in front of the suddenly dangerous looking mouth. That would really, really hurt.

If it wasn't for the shape of the weapons he held, he would certainly be dead. His axes had a foot long handle, and crescent moon, almost glaive like blades, that attached at the top of the handle, three quarters of the way up the blade, making for a long hook on the underside. Vyrim still had hold of them, and he brought them downwards, slowly digging the blade into the creature's sturdy legs. He had no illusions about cutting them off, but he was running into something that felt like a tendon...

The thing suddenly let go, and backed off. It sprang away, disappearing quickly. Vyrim turned around, fairly certain that meant something large and nasty was behind him. To his surprise, he was wrong. Ah well, there was a first for everything...[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven awoke to the feeling of a knife being pulled through her back. Her outercostals protested, but quietly. She was beginning to get fed up.[/i]

Raeven: I don't know who you are, but I have a feeling you know who I am.

Fionohr: Fionohr.

Raeven: Didn't help, sorry.

Fionohr: My boss's name, to you, is Dellam.

[i]Raeven smiled. Dellam was the training master of her sector. Fionohr must have sucked cock to get his position, and thinking deeper, she realised that Dellam had a son with the name Fionohr. How very, very sad.[/i]

Raeven: So you are a tracker then.

Fionohr: Alpha tracker.

Raeven: Well, how long have you been "alpha tracking" me then?

Fionohr: I worked hard to get this task, *****,

[i]He accentuated this by pushingthe knife deeper between her ribs. She didn't give him the satisfaction of a response. [/i]

Raeven: I bet you worked dad real hard, you f*cked up piece of sh*t.

[i]Fionohr made her make up for the response she denied him earlier. When her voice gave out through screaming, he decided that he was ready to begin on her again. This time, he left the dagger in her back as he raped her. How very appropriate, she thought sadly as her tears wet the dust before her.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim heard the scream from nearly a hundred metres away, and was far less than happy. He recognised the voice, distorted as it was. He redoubled his pace, discarding his handaxes, pulling his quarterstaff off his back. There was a messed up creature somewhere that was really in for it.

When he found out the creature was human, he stopped in amazement. For about half an instant. Then rage overwhelmed him, he rushed forward, dropping his weapon and grabbing the bastard, who ever he was, by the back of the neck, one handed, and throwing him against a rock. The depth of the anger in him surprised him, in that small rational corner of his mind that simply watched, like this was some kind of visual book.

The man stumbled forward, fists swinging. Vyrim simply caught the man's right arm with his left, pulling him inwards and slamming his right elbow into the man's neck. From there, he grabbed his head, and brought it down onto his rising knee, leaving his nose an interesting shade of broken. He dragged the man upright again,slamming the heel of his palm into his collarbone. As he stumbled several feet back, he seemed to gather himself, and lunged forward again, catching Vyrim's ribs with a snap kick. Vyrim walked right through it. His right hand came upwards, fingers stiffened, into the sensitive area under the man's jaw, triggering a gag reflex. As the man's mouth opened and his eye's bulged, Vyrim slammed his head forward, staggering him. Several left hooks later, the man slumped against a boulder, and Vyrim drove his right hand into the man's stomach. He stiffened his finger again, and drove his nails into one of the man's eyes. As he screamed, Vyrim relieved him of several teeth. Again, he stabbed upwards, knocking the remaining roots high up into the man's mouth. He screamed again, and Vyrim uppercutted him, allowing his own jaw to sever his tongue.

The man basically lay slumped against the boulder, sickly gurgling moans emanating from him. Vyrim took a step backwards, then lunged forward, stabbing knifehand into the man's solarplexus. It penetrated, and Vyrim casually ran his fingernails over the man's spinal cord.

The envoked a response. The man's remaining eye bulged, and he somehow articulated a rattling scream. Vyrim's hand shot upwards, grabbing the man's heart. He felt it beat, stuttered, a few times, then tensed his fist and yanked it out, stuffing it down the man's mouth.[/I]

Vyrim: Blood loss of suffocation, it's your choice.

[I]He flicked some of the blood off and turned to Raeven, his manner changing dramatically. He cupped her head in his hands, stroking her face softly, a tear running down his cheek. He picked her up, she smiled weakly at him. Tearing off a strip of his tunic, he bandaged some of her wounds, hoping he'd be able to stem the now trickling blood flow.

As he carried her away, he caught a glimpse of the man's face. It would have been purple, but there was no blood in it, so it was merely withered, drawn, stretched taut over bones. And set in an expression of quintessential agony.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven swallowed the pain as she was carried back to safety. She tried to speak, to explain, but he didn't seem interested. She wondered if he was angry at her, for running away. He should be furious, as she practically belonged to him for the times he had saved her life. And although she was kidnapped, that wouldn't be how he saw it. He would think she ran away and consented to the things he did to her. After a while, she simply gave up. It was too hard to speak anyway.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Raeven was unconscious. He needed shelter, somewhat desperately. Going back down the mountain and then through the forest would be impossible. He needed something closer.

It took him nearly a quarter of an hour, but at last he found a small cave, currently unoccupied, but certainly showing signs of being recently inhabited. Bones and such littered the floor. The cave was only about eight feet high, which made it somewhat safer. He layed her down, and she stirred slightly. She looked up at him, tears rinsing her eyes.[/I]

Raeven: I'm....I'm sorry.

[I]Vyrim just stared at her in astonishment.[/I]

Raeven: I swear...I didn't let him, I didn't run away, I'm yours...I swear.

[I]Vyrim, suddenly understanding, laughed softly.[/I]

Vyrim: You, my love, are your own person. You know that.

[I]He leant down, and kissed her forehead softly. His head came back up, and he smiled at her, letting her know how he really felt.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven was confused as to why he wasn't angry, but at the same time incredibly relieved. She wasn't used to so much emotion.[/i]

Vyrim: Who was he?

Raeven: A tracker. He'd been following me since I left.

Vyrim: So, he's from the palace?

Raeven: Yes... he's my commander's son, actually.

Vyrim: What does that mean?

Raeven: It means I'm incredible important, but I'm not, so I don't understand.

Vyrim: Will there be others?

Raeven: I don't know. The strange thing is, if I were tracking someone like me, I would have captured them within two or three days. It took Fionohr weeks. And I've crossed about five lands. Big ones.

Vyrim: You're right, it doesn't make much sense.

Raeven: What do you think we should do? I would hate to think you could never let me out of your sight...

Vyrim: How did he capture you? I saw no sign of a struggle...

Raeven: I didn't struggle. I had my eyes closed, and I thought it was you. He... must have been watching us.

Vyrim: Is he more experienced than you?

Raeven: Slightly. But it is a school, so experience is nothing. He was on my level. Fighting with someone goes a lot deeper than just hitting them, though, it was the preparation that caught me.

Vyrim: Will it catch you again?

Raeven: I used to trust no one. Then I trusted you. I trust no one but you still, but I regret not checking to see if it was someone I trusted or not.

Vyrim: And what else is there?

Raeven: I would like to know why Dellam sent his son to get me. I want to know why I am so important. If there is another, we can ask them I suppose.

Vyrim: I don't want to wait until there is another.

Raeven: And so what do you suggest we do?[/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Vyrim: Allow long, heated strands of barb wire to placed down their throats and be yanked out?

Raeven: Will we let them speak first?

Vyrim: Elsewhere then.

[I]Raeven looked at him a moment, not too sure about the feral gleam in his eyes. He absently stroked her face, the gleam dying slowly.

Suddenly, he swept her up, holding her tight against him, burying his face in her shoulder. He shook slightly, for a second Raeven wasn't certain what was going on.[/I]

Vyrim: I thought...for a moment there...that I'd lost you.

[I]Slightly wary, Raeven held him against her, at last relaxing her body against his, as his arms tightened around her. At last, he released her and sat back, a slightly sheepish look on his face.[/I]

Vyrim: We need to get off this mountain somehow. How long until you feel up to moving?[/font][/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven tried to move and nearly fainted with the pain between her legs.[/i]

Raeven: We can go now, if you like, but we have to walk. [/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Vyrim: I don't think so. I have enough provisions for three days for both of us. You think that will be enough time?

Raeven: Certainly. Why?

Vyrim: You'll see.

[I]Vyrim turned, and stood up, stretching slightly to touch the roof. He dusted his fingers across the black stone, lingering slightly where he found imperfections. At last satisfied he knew the character of the rock, he closed his eyes and held out his hand. With a soft, almost liquid bubbling, sound the rock in front of him rose up, forming an impenetrable black wall of stone. There was a single hole, in one bottom corner about three inches from the ground, and only about two inches square. The hole was too low and small to emit any light, but was visible as a grey patch against the pitch darkness.[/I]

Vyrim: Close your eyes.

[I]Raeven did so, and felt a flare through them. When she cautiously opened them, Vyrim was holding up a hand, fingers splayed, a fireball dancing off each tip.[/I]

Vyrim: We have three days to fill my love. First, to make you comfortable.

[I]He reached into his pack and pulled out what appeared to be a piece of black material. He placed his hand over it, and it suddenly inflated. He took his hand away, and it stayed like that.[/I]

Vyrim: That's why I'm an elementalist. So much more practical. We have three days to fill my love...

[I]He lay down, and put out the light.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven lay back in the pitch darkness, suddenly scared. It would hurt, if he took her like Fionohr did. Isn't that how it really was meant to be?

She could feel his breath on her neck, as he lay beside her. She was shaking, and he seemed to know. She didn't dare move, and nor did he. Rather, he relaxed so he partially lay ontop of her and lay silently for a long, long time. Raeven fell asleep.

She woke up some time later, with no light through the hole near the floor. Vyrim was awake, but still where he was. His fingers were stroking her stomach, still bare. She felt safe, but still apprehensive. She had stopped shaking, at least. Until Vyrim suddenly sat up.[/i]

Vyrim: Are you alright? Why did you flinch?

Raeven: Are you going to... hurt me?

Vyrim: What? No, why would I?

[/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson]Raeven: When he...Fionohr...did it, it hurt.

Vyrim: That, my love, is because he had no idea what he was doing.

[I]Not strictly true, but something Raeven could understand. To her, incompetence was bad, thus pain. Vyrim though, had three days to dispell that misconception. and quite a few others that were probably back in force. He'd been too merciful to the bastard...

He suddenly realised Raeven was holding her breath, as if waiting for something. Without really thinking, he simply drew her to him, holding her firmly, but not tightly, in his arms. She shook a few times, but quietened as he merely stroked her hair. His next action wasn't exactly moral, but it was done through expedience. He gently cooled the air around them, causing Raeven to shiver. Without thinking, she drew up against him anymore, and he drew up a blanket over them. He slowly warmed her up, and kept lightly stroking her hair, everynow and then moving down to stroke her neck or the side of her face. When at last she was warm again, she moved slightly. For a moment he thought his effort was wasted, and she still didn't trust him, but she was merely shifting her position slightly. Her arms went around him, and he could feel her smile as he fingers traced the skin of her cheek. He lightly kissed her forehead, elicting a small moan of contentment. Then one of his hands slid down to her back, and slowly starting massaging her spine. Within minutes, she was asleep. Vyrim put a dwoemer of heat in the blankets and bed roll, and in his fingers, and followed her into somnolence.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven slept lightly, but was constantly awoken by the pain in her abdomen. Her training of injury was that pain was a cry of help. Sitting up, she spread her legs slightly and pushed her fingers into herself, feeling for damage. Apart from a tear at the entrance, it was minimal. She realised that Vyrim hadn't actually entered her in such a way, and that this might be the reason she was hurt. It was new to her. There was no more bleeding, so Raeven removed her fingers and placed the palm over her hand between her legs and began to meditate, sending healing energies into herself. The tear was repaired, and the pain dissapeared. She was whole again, and sighed with relief. It was as if the incident had never occured. Raeven lay back down to Vyrim, a smile adorning her face.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim awoke when the auric flow of the chamber was redirectedly slightly. He shifted in his sleep more than anything, but eventually reached conciousness. Raeven was sitting up beside him, and he hugged her tighter, he realised what she was doing. He waited until she was finished before speaking though.[/I]

Vyrim: Reiki my love?

Raeven: Don't worry about it for now.

[I]Why would he worry? That though, not to mention his breath, suddenly stopped as he felt Raeven's lips press against his own. Fleetingly, there for an eternal second, then gone. She laughed softly at his reaction, then returned to his arms, and her arms to around him.

They awoke sometime later, sunlight streaming down upon them. Vyrim slowly stood up, stretching. The wall was completely gone. Raeven stood up a little more cautiously, but found herself to be in good shape.[/I]

Vyrim: Well. I'd say it is about time we left.

[I]He took her hand, and led her out of the cave. Without the present tension of someone bleeding to death in your arms, Vyrim found it fairly easy to work out where he was.[/I]

Vyrim: Which way to the palace?

[I]Raeven pointed. Vyrim noted the direction, and sighed. It would take them half a day to get off the mountain, but at least they wouldn't have to cross the forest again.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]They had been walking for three days. Raeven's legs were beginning to tingle, but she ignored it. Vyrim seemed in a good mood, so she tripped him and 'accidentally' landed on top of him.[/i]

Raeven: Oh! Fancy seeing you here.

Vyrim: I take it you want a rest.

Raeven: Sleep. You forget that I need sleep.

Vyrim: How are you nest building skills?

Raeven: Pathetic.

[i]Vyrim sat up and began sprinkling light kisses all over Raeven's neck. She felt the pull of sleep drag her under and the last thing she saw was the ground rushing in from the side...[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim caught her easily and laid her down gently, letting his lips linger on her neck some more. She looked so peacefully beautiful asleep, a slight smile on her face as he kissed her and held her close. He wondered at whether finding shelter would be advisable.

They had left the mountain and all its horrors and annoyances far behind, along with Vyrim's home, and were now in a very different type of forest. It was open, the trees far apart. And although this too was dark, it was cool and serene, not bidingly frenzied like the one they had fled. It was unlikely anything dangerous was running around, excepting humans, and it was unlikely anything even remotely shelter like would be around anyway. Vyrim ignored the idea and simply carried Raeven to the nearest clearing, lit a small, well contained and well hidden fire, lay her beside it, and let her sleep. He'd join her in an hour or so, after finding them a deer or other hapless wood creature.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven awoke to a lone clearing. Vyrim was nowhere to be seen or heard, and the fire was untended. She was afraid, for a second, but then assumed he had gone off to perform primal male duties of hunting.
She stood and stretched, looking around. Their environment had changed quite considerably, and papery barked trees dominated the landscape. The tall grasses were already damp with dew, and the pungent scent of leaf oil hung in the air. It was warm.

No sound, nowhere. Nothing. It were as if she were deaf.

Raeven slowly began to walk forwards, away from the light of the fire, with no clear intent on her mind, but to get away. She didn't know what she was moving away from, but a minute or so later, she heard animal sounds at the place of the fire.

Sitting at the base of the tree, in a state of near mental collapse, Raeven cast a camouflage charm over herself and blended herself perfectly in with the base of the tree and the grasses she sat on. There, she huddled, shivering despite the heat of the night. She had no idea where she was, who she was, or what she was meant to do.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]When Vyrim returned, the place was deserted. And Raeven knew enough not to leave footprints. So Vyrim had to do it the hard way. He wandered aimlessly for a good half an hour, finding absolutely no sign of her. At last, in frustration, he simply sat down and leant against what he thought was a tree. And it jumped. The charm broken, Vyrim stared in astonishment as Raeven looked at him a moment, then broke down crying. Instantly he had her in his arms.[/I]

Vyrim: What's wrong?

[I]Her response was mainly incoherent, but he caught something about inadequecy, and how she was so untalented he had found her even without resorting to magic. At last, she murmered "If I'd been stronger, it wouldn't have happened." Vyrim wasn't sure he understood, but as he attempted to calm Raeven, she suddenly broke away from him and stood up.[/I]

Raeven: You can't understand! You have no idea what this weakness is like.

[I]Vyrim stood slowly, arms out from his sides, fingers stiff and splayed. It didn't take magic to show he was nervous.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven stared at his outstetched hands, and his tense expression. This was her God, her Divinity, her Protector. He could not be afraid.

Scared out of her wits at the evidence that the end of the world was nigh, Raeven turned and ran screaming into the forest, wildly sending flares of magic into the air, igniting trees and conjuring strange, scaled birds that flew for a second and fell burning to the ground. Vyrim's convective died in his hands as he watched the bright flares fade in the distance.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim sighed, and started following her. It wasn't particularly hard, but it did take a while to find her. When he did, she was leant against a tree, collapsed. Overextension. He sighed again, he was starting to do that a lot, and picked her up, carrying her back to the fire. She'd wake up some time soon, and probably be very hungry. And probably upset.

He'd deal with that then.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven awoke next to the fire, again. Again, Vyrim was nowhere to be seen. Feeling incredibly confused, Raeven stood dizzily and looked around. She was sure she had run away...
Vyrim was there all along. He sat behind her, his back against a tree. He would have been mere centimetres away from where she awoke.[/i]

Raeven: Why am I here again?

Vyrim: Why did you run away?

Raeven: Why do you care?

Vryim: Why can't you tell?

Raeven: Are you keeping me here on purpose?

Vyrim: Have you gone completely insane?

Raeven: What do you think?

Vyrim: Why can't you tell me? Don't you know?

[i]Raeven stalled, thinking. She didn't. But she was very scared. Very, very scared. And she had forgotten what that felt like.

Turning, she screamed at the fire, making it flare. As Vyrim sheilded his eyes from the white blaze, Raeven ran off yet again.

Three hours later, she reached the ocean, and collapsed against the white sand. She suddenly wished she hadn't run, or that he would find her. She loved him. But thinking back to the thick rainforest she had run through for the last hour, she wondered if getting back would be at all possible. Too exhausted to cry, to sad to move, she lay there, watching the black ocean and burning up inside.[/i][/font][/color]