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

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim stayed slumped against the tree, having no intention of moving. It was obvious she didn't want to be around him. It was obvious she hated, feared, distrusted him, or some combination of all of the above. So he simply sat, not feeling ready to face the world alone again.

It was strange. He was meant to be stronger than this. In reality, he had lived his entire life alone. But now, after less than a fortnight's acquaintance, he was devastated because this goddess had left him. He'd never been one for divinity before...

He watched the fire, crackling, consuming the wood. He reached out, feeling it pulse. It would easy to make it flare up as she had done...make it consume the entire wood. And him. Release was so easy. So close.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven stared back at the direction in which she had come. A light flared in the distance, and died. She turned back to the ocean and waded into the water up to her calfs, weeping uncontrollably against the wind. He hated her, they all did... this was why she was alone.

Wading out deeper, she threw herself in the water and closed her eyes to oblivion. If the tide was going out, she may reach the other side. If it was going in, she might have a chance to see her love again. It was a fifty fifty chance, and a decision she was too scared to make on her own.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]He sighed and let the fire die. He couldn't do it. He got up, and stated running, towards Raeven, towards where he thought she was.

He found only a beach and footprints. He screamed mindlessly, and ran into the water, swimming rapidly, keeping himself afloat through magic more than skill, feeling through the water esoterically for a body, for anything. He found her, a long way out, on her back, staring at the sky, completely oblivious. Her face was wet, her eyes showing it to be with tears as much as water. When he touched her, she started, then resumed crying, soft, almost whimpering. Solidifying the water around them slightly, he took her in his arms, letting her grief run its course. When she settled slightly, he held her closer, saying the only thing that really mattered.[/I]

Vyrim: I love you.

[I]They slowly returned to shore, Vyrim carrying her most of the way back to the campfire. When they reached it, he layed her down, and slowly kissed her.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven kissed Vyrim back, passionately, a silent thank you for his saving her life. When Vyrim broke the kiss and collapsed beside her, curling up and sobbing, she curled her arms around him and kissed his forehead, realising the damage she had inflicted. The salt water dried on her back, facing the fire, and made her clothes stiff and salt-ridden. She didn't care, she wasn't moving again for a long time...

... ten minutes later, Raeven got up, swearing at the uncomfort of her clothing. Thinking of nothing better to do, she took it off and watched the firelight dance over her pale, damp legs for a while, as they dried in the firelight. Soon enough, she felt soft, tearstained kisses across her back, begging forgiveness and attention. Laughing, she turned back her her love and returned his kisses.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim smiled up at her, then slowly let his eyes drift downwards, taking in her body. Gods she was beautiful. The scars did nothing to detract from her magnificence. He traced small patterns over her neck with his tongue, shivering as she gasped softly in his ear. His hands ghosted over her back, feeling her skin warm up the closer he got to the fire. As he reached her lower back, he skipped down to her upper thighs. She pulled her head back slightly, a questioning look on her face. He looked at her gravely for a moment, then started tickling her.

She giggled almost girlishly, and squirmed away from him. He didn't let her go for an instant, until she started on him. He tried to pin her wrists with one arm, and she stopped a moment, scared. He grinned at her, and tickled her amazing ribs, and she got over it and fought back playfully. When she lightly ran her long nails over the backs of his knees, he fell backwards, and she surged upwards, and was on him in an instant. And in that instant, the playing died, and Vyrim's mouth was locked to Raevens. Their arms were around each other, tightly. Their leg entwined, Vyrim let his hands run all over her. A second later she sat up, and in a blur, his clothing was also off. They kissed again, gasping at the feel of their skin touching. Again, Raeven broke off and sat up, and then they were fully joined.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven gasped and clutched at his wrists, his hands firmly on her hips as he moved her over him. Closing her eyes, she used a slight whisp of magic to enhance the feel of their skin together. Throwing back her head, she moved with him and drank the feelings he gave her, moaning with him.

Feeling him move, she looked down and opened her eyes. He had sat up, and raised his knees, bringing his feet closer in. She now sat nesled in his lap and, to bring him closer, she laced her legs under his arms and crossed them behind his back.

Vyrim stared up at her face, his expression one of pure amazement. She put her arms around his back and pulled his head in towards her breasts. Running his tongue over her skin lightly, she laughed. In this position, all they had to do was breathe, and he moved within her.

The act lasted for hours, sometimes furious with passion, then slowing to a slow rocking motion, Raeven cradling her love's head in her arms, tears of bliss running down her face into his hair. Sometimes they sat completely still, silent, for minutes on end - Raeven resting back against his thighs and letting her head fall back, watching the stars, as Vyrim let his eyes roam over her exposed form. It was the happiest Raeven had ever been in her life, and she made silent promises to never run away again. But by the way he was looking at her, and the grip he held on her waist, she didn't think she'd have a choice... not that she was complaining.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim leant back again, drawing Raeven down on top of him. He slowly moved so that he was on top of her, again trailing his mouth down her neck, kissing her softly, but passionately. He increased the pace slightly, mainly at her urging. Her eyes fluttered slightly, her breath dropped down into lower moans. He matched them, moving his head back to look deeply into her eyes.[/I]

Vyrim: I love you Raeven....

[I]That was the last coherent word either of them managed for a long while. Their voices mingling in the sweetest music either of them have ever heard. That music enraptured them, reaching a new high, Vyrim's eyes closed again on Raeven's, his mouth on hers... The ecstasy knocked the breath from him.

They lay together a long time, bringing each other's happiness in.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven stared out at the ocean, glistening in the afternoon light. They had lain together for a whole day and a half, and finally decided it was time to keep moving. [/i]

Raeven: This isn't right.

Vyrim: What isn't?

Raeven: This isn't the ocean I crossed. The ocean I crossed was clear. You could see right through to the bottom - this you can't. This one is blue.

Vyrim: All the oceans I've seen are blue.

Raeven: Well, I've seen green ones, blue ones, clear ones and one red one. But that was after a whale harvest.

Vyrim: Hmmm... so, what are we going to do?

Raeven: Go across it anyway. I would like to see where it takes us.

Vyrim: This is an ocean we are talking about here, it could take weeks, even months to cross it. I've got things to go back to, you know.

Raeven: So do I!

Vyrim: Oh yeah? Like what?

Raeven: Your house.

[i]Vyrim raised an eyebrow artfully and cocked his head at her.[/i]

Raeven: What? You really think that after all this, I'm just going to say, "Well, nice falling madly in love with you, but I'm going to go off in another direction now, and probably die of unhappiness and mad animal attacks."

Vyrim: I'd not throught that far ahead, actually.

Raeven: OH! Oh dear! You'd not thought that far ahead! Oh no! Spirits save me! The sky will fall and crush us all! What shall we do if our masters do not think of the future?!??!

[i]Raeven danced a crazy dance around a bemused Vyrim, kicking up sand and laughing insanely. Vyrim put an end to it after a moment by pulling her into an embrace, and whispering into her ear. [/i]

Vryim: What was all that about?

Raeven: My love, even if it never occured to you, even if we came to parting our ways and you were on the cusp of saying goodbye, and even if along the way you casually mentioned you had a wife somewhere, out on a duty or whatever, I would still follow you home and never stray from your side.

Vryim: I need my privacy, you know.

Raeven: It's a big house, and I need more sleep than you do.

[i]She kissed him on his collarbones, the place directly in front of her lips. Vryim spun her around so he could hold her and stare out at the ocean.[/i]

Vyrim: Who are you? Where did you come from, and why me?

[i]Raeven didn't hear the whisper through his heartbeat and the sounds of the waves.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]He hugged her a while more, contemplating exactly how they would manage to cross the ocean.[/I]

Vyrim: I have an idea of such unsurpassed brilliance that it will surely dazzle you my love!

Raeven: Oh?

Vyrim: We steal a boat.

[I]Raeven sat silently for a moment, then started laughing.[/I]

Vyrim: Well, I thought it was a good idea.

Raeven: I'm sure it is my love.

Vyrim: Where can we get one?

Raeven: That's your job.

Vyrim: Oh joy.[/font][/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Vryim stands, staring out onto the ocean. Five or so minutes pass by. Suddenly, Raeven grabbed Vyrims hand and pulled him into a rapid embrace and quick kiss, then running off across the beach, with him in tow.
[/i]

Vryim: What are you doing?

Raeven: I didn't think you knew what to do. I thought it would be easier to walk around.

Vyrim: What?!?!

Raeven: Come on! I've never had time to waste before. I love you, and it will be an adventure!

[i]Vyrim stopped to talk sense into her, but she was already running with ease over the waterline, kicking up sprays of water and laughing. Grumbling, Vyrim followed.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=crimson][I]Vyrim allowed himself to be dragged along, eventually jogging an easy lope to keep up with her. He gave her a slight smile, and waited a few minute before finally asking.[/I]

Vyrim: Where are we going?

Raeven: I'm not too sure yet. But if we walk far enough, we should find something.

Vyrim: Can you ride?

Raeven: Yes.

Vyrim: Then I suspect a horse would be our first bet, unless you have more interesting choice of steed in mind.

Raeven: If it can bear both of us, I'm happy with it.

Vyrim: Another factor I hadn't considered.[/font][/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven looks around, annoyed, that she has yet again been left to find out how to continue to plot. First a boat, now a horse... what next?

She grumbled something about contributative writing and kept walking. It was getting dark, and there were lights a fair way along the beach, at the peninsula in the distance. The sunset was fantastic, and the night was very warm.

Vyrim and Raeven walked along the waterline hand in hand, slowly, the perfect picture of a fantasy in some other, unknown land.

All of a sudden, a dark flew whistling out of the dark treeline and hit Raeven in the neck. She frowned, touched the dart with her fingers, causing the wound to spurt. Vyrim grasped her around the middle as she fell, lowering her to the ground and weaving a protective sheild around them with the salty air. No more darts came... a very bad sign. If there was only one, it probably was meant to kill, as there would be no other reason to target her if she could not be retrieved. Twitching, Raeven went limp and closed her eyes.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]Vyrim swore, and checked the dart. It hadn't taken the artery, a good sign. The wound had yet to darken, and was in no other way immediately affected, showing that they had some time yet.

He tapped into his old druidic lore, poisons having been a part of it. With no visible symptoms, he could not match it to any known agent. Still, reconfiguring her aura into a natural alignment was a possibility. Chances are, the poison was no inert thing, but a geas of malevolence.

Her aura, sure enough, was snarled with disharmony, rending in front of his eyes. Almost an unbinding, but not quite.

He placed one hand in the centre of her chest, over the solar plexus, the other over her throat. The flows he channeled were a careful mixture of air, fire and electromagnetism, with a hint of illict blood flux thrown in for potency. Raeven gasped, stiffened, but the dissonant corruption in her aura ceased its malicious attack, and slowly started to fade.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven awoke to sof candlelight, and the sound of the ocean. She lay on a soft pallet on the floor of a wooden hut, thatched roof and split bamboo blinks over the doors. Vyrim must have carried her to the village...
Vryim was asleep next to her. She sighed and rolled over, holding onto him tightly and drifting back into sleep. Then she realised they were not alone in the room...[/i]

Unknown Person: Your love will not wake up for you. He is in a very deep sleep.

[i]Raeven gasped and sat up, finding a black swathed Master sitting in the corner, his eyes glinting. Suddenly scared, she stood and moved to the doorway.[/i]

Master: You shouldn't do that, I've many more outside, and I've ordered to kill anyone who comes out who isn't me. You're palace property, still, by the way, and although I'm in [i]yukosen[/i] you still must hold your place.

[i]Raeven shuddered with rage. The last thing she wanted to do was pay respects to the Master, but she had no choice. He would kill her. She had a feeling that the palace didn't really need her alive anyway... and he was going to toy with her.
Bowing low, she placed her hands on the floor and slid her toes back until she lay prostrate on the ground, her arms outstretched. The Master stomped, hard, on her left hand. She didn't flinch, dissapointing him. He stomped harder, shattering the fingers in her hand. When her breathing quickened slightly, he smiled and motioned for her to stand. [/i]

Master: It's a pity your man there is asleep, I'd rather enjoy forcing you while he watched. Nevermind, there will be plenty more opportunities for that kind of thing. You're coming home with me.

[i]The master whistled and more men slid silently into the room. Two picked up Vyrim, and the Master attatched a thick leather collar around her neck, chained to his belt. The procession silently made it's way out to the beach, where a craft waited bobbing on the water. [/i]

EDIT: Well, it's obvious this RPG is going to die, probably because Raiha is much more of an interesting writer than I am. So i'll just keep writing in this post until I finish the RPG myself.

[i]Raeven wasn't looking forward to the journey... she'd never been on a boat before, and had heard the experience was not a pleasant one. The Master relieved her of this torment, however, by hitting her in the back of the head with something hard, just as she reached the gangplank. Raeven crumpled to her knees, head back, her last sight of the sky glittered with stars.

The next thing she saw was the familiar red-brick wall of the Palace. She was in a room unfamiliar to her, a cell of a few paces each side, and a straw-woven floor. She was alone in the room, and chained tightly to the wall, arms outstretched, so that she was unable to move her upper half. She was dressed in the grey cloth of a warrior in training.

A noise after a while... the sound of the door being opened. She could not see it as it was to her immediate left, opening outwards. Her training master stepped in, and greeted her by kicking her hard between the legs, and three times more as she winced.[/i]

Kelahin: You've become soft, I see.

Raeven: I assume you've brought me back to rectify that?

Kelahin: In a way. We don't like our property running around before we're done with it.

Raeven: How come?

Kelahin: Because our country needs it's warriors.

Raeven: I was hardly in your country anymore. It seems like an awfully long way to go to bring me back, jsut to complete my training, when you know once I'm finished I'll leave anyway.

Kelahin: Perhaps.

[i]A pause. He was inspecting her legs, and wasn't pleased with what he saw.[/i]

Kelahin: I thought I'd taught you better than to let yourself become soft? If you had continued your exercises, we may not have caught you as easily.

Raeven: Why would I want to do that? I hate this place, and I hate the training. I don't want it anymore, that's why I ran away. I don't want to do any of it anymore. Exercising will defeat the purpose.

Kelahin: No matter, you are back now. And you have brought someone with you... interesting. I will like to see how he turns out after some training of his own. He is a mage, no?

Raeven: An elementalist. A dangerous one. He'll burn the place down before he has anything to do with you.

Kelahin: Perhaps, but we've dealt with his sort before.

[i]He turned to leave, but paused, as if remembering why he had come.[/i]

Kelahin: You will be released in one hour. I will expect you to be back at your previous level by next week.

Raeven: Before you go...

Kelahin: Be quick.

Raeven: Why did you bring me back? Honestly?

[i]Kelahin sighed, rubbing his temples and smiling.[/i]

Kelahin: Don't fish for compliments, Raeven. They won't help you here.

[i]He slammed the door as he left, leaving her in silence and in dark. She smiled slowly, glad she had a friend on the inside.
[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]Conscious all through the ocean voyage, but not willing to show it yet, Vyrim dropped his body into a lower state of existance, relieving his need for food, water and even oxygen. The ones who kept vigil over him was obviously familiar with the technique, enough so that they didn't disturb him, but not familiar enough to know he would still be conscious through it, for they talked far too freely. The idea that they didn't care did spring to mind, but he dismissed it. Either way, he had a rather crushing advantage over them.

As the ship slowed, the lines slackening off and the boom of the sails transforming into the snake slick slither of them being furled up, and sharp, sudden blow struck the side of his head, and at last he was truly unconscious.

When he awoke, he was chained hand and foot to the wall, a foot above the floor. He immediately tested the chains, and found he had two inches slack either way. Enough, but he'd leave it for now. The room around him was surprising, as prisons went. The floor was smooth, and the walls were, asiding the area he hung, not hard stone. If anything, the place looked more like an arena than anything else. His eyes narrowed in that suspicion, and someone chuckled, a metallic, grating laugh that exuded confidence.[/I]

"I see you've seen enough prisons to know a strange one"

Vyrim: Oh, quite certainly. I did, after all, spend a week locked up by a tree, you know.

"You were a druid. Elementalist, I believe"

Vyrim: Indeed. Which should hint to you the folly of this course of action.

"Try it"

[I]Vyrim looked around, but the room, more than twenty feet either way, was dark enough that he couldn't be seen. A rampant suspicion that either the chains or the room itself had a magic dampening aura, a common practice in fighting schools that wanted to assure honesty. He let his aura bleed into his surroundings, until both the room and the chains could not differentiate between themselves and their captor, as he could not actively discern which held the dampening effect. Either way it was now irrelevant. A touch of electricity to the bonds, and they fell away from the wall, molecular bonds severed en masse. He landed easily, and performed a similar thing to the schackles themselves. The man stepped forward, nodding as if unsurprised. He was swathed in black, his face visible as a pale line. Vyrim retracted his aura into a single pinpoint of existance before any counter attack could be made.[/I]

"It normally takes them a few weeks to figure that out"

Vyrim: You live long enough, you learn a few things. So, who might you be?"

"My name, for what it's worth, is Siodhan. More importantly, I am one of the senior masters here. Your talents interest us. I'm in charge of your training."

[I]Vyrim smiled, nodded courteously, and dropped into an easy stance.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]The door opened again, and Raeven was ripped from the wall by her neck. The shackles cut her, but came away from the wall easily as her assailant had fed some force into the walls before he came in. Her hands, however, slipped right through, breaking both her thumbs.

Raeven went limp as she had been trained to when someone was dragging her. She made the mistake of thinking he was going to right her when they made it to the anti-chamber, but she was wrong. It earned her not a kick to the shoulder, as she anticipated, but a ride on her captor's shoulder. She was relieved and lifted her weight with her gift as a show of thanks. He made good use of where her backside was in relation to his face, but she was glad anyway.

Closing her eyes to pass the journey swiftly, opening them once she found fresh air on her face. They were in the Central Courtyard, a huge open area where assembly was held. She still didn't know where they were going, so she closed her eyes again.

Her captor suddenly dumped her on the floor again, rather harshly, and she opened her eyes to see an elder peering out of a window, and understood. She twisted once the elder was gone, standing easily and running to keep the deathgrip on her throat worse by being dragged by it. Looking up into the face of her captor, she saw it was Drienl, someone she shared a dorm with last year. He smiled at her and tripped her, dragging her across the red dirt once more. He was very, very tall... non-human ancestors. Her ankles were the only thing touching the ground.

Once they had passed the glare of the open courtyard, and into a cooler hallway, Dreinl swept her up into his arms and hugged her tightly. She laughed and struggled, he was far too strong to put force into her bones. He put her down and she stretched, flipping backwards till her hands touched the ground and bringing her legs over, standing again. Then, as she heard footsteps, she stood obediantly still as Drienl swept her up again and over his shoulder. She went limp, appearing unconcious. The footsteps faded and they were alone once more.[/i]

Drienl: Where the hell have you been?

Raeven: Around. I didn't like it here.

Drienl: We all thought you were dead... they usually just assassinate escapees.

Raeven: I think I'm something special, though...

[i]He laughed with her.[/i]

Drienl: You definately are. And from what I've heard, you've brought someone in with you. Is he anyone special? To you?

[i]Raeven went silent. Drienl knew where he was taking her, and fell silent also.[/i]

Drienl: Well, don't do anything stupid. You are an amazing fighter, and I don't want you to leave without getting everything you can from this hell. Including your man, you hear?

[i]She clutched at his back, nodding against him.[/i][/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]The man in front of him, Siodhan, merely stood there, amused. Vyrim understood why when suddenly Raeven was dragged in, and chained to where he had hung. He turned to the man who had brought her in. That one left, rather quickly. He quickly assessed Raeven. She seemed more or less fine. He slowly nodded to her, and turned back.

Now Siodhan was in a fighting stance. Front leg 45degree in front of him, straight. Other leg curled behind him. Fingers stretched and stiff. Tiger stance. Vyrim simply put one foot behind the other a decent amount, and raised both hands, keeping his hands loose.[/I]

Siodhan: Your lack of discipline will kill you.

Vyrim: Perhaps.

[I]Siodhan was the first to move. He sprang forward into the air, spinning and kick out with his right leg. Vyrim simply stepped back. Siodhan landed easily, but didn't relent. He came in quickly with a front kick the melded, liquidine, into a turning kick. Vyrim again merely stepped back.[/I]

Siodhan: If you don't attack, you can't win.

Vyrim: True.

[I]Puzzled by the response, Siodhan came in cautiously. He flicked a left jab, pulled back, shot another, faster one out, and putting his weight behind the move, sent a right arm palm strike towards Vyrim. This time, as Vyrim stepped back, he spun. His right leg came up in an outer crescent, lightning fast. The blow took Siodhan in the head, Siodhan's hand striking Vyrim's thigh. Vyrim axed his foot downwards, and tucked it under Siodhan's shoulder, trapping his arm. He abruptly straightened, and with a huge crack, Siodhan's arm was wrenched out of its socket. Admirably, he didn't scream. He pulled away, breathing strained, and dropped into another stance. Vyrim took a single step and leapt. He spun, a left sidekick and a right back kick in the air, both striking Siodhan in the chest. He stumbled back, winded. Vyrim landed and continued to spin, a spinning hook took snapping Siodhan's head to one side. Vyrim touched ground with his foot and skipped forward, a palm strike to the chin glazing Siodhan's eyes. From there, he took a single step left, and brought his leg up in an amazingly flexible twisting kick the took the back of Siodhan's neck. Siodhan fell, unconscious. Vyrim made no movement...merely waited.[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven hung there, amazed. If only her training had gone that well... well, it had on a couple of times.

Vryim turned and faced her.[/i]

Vyrim: You know what goes on here. Tell me what happens if you need another instructor?

[i]Raeven laughed. [/i]

Raeven: It's not meant to happen, so there is no real procedure. I've done that only once, and the consequence was one month without sunlight.

Vyrim: Ah. So, what now?

Raeven: As you're not a guest, they will probably kill you. I don't know how.

[i]Vyrim walked to her and let her down. She lay on the floor, regainin her strength. [/i]

Vyrim: This is a blessing in disguise, you know.

Raeven: How so?

Vyrim: We were walking here. We got a lift.

Raeven: We were not meant to get in this way though...

Vyrim: Why did you want to come back?

Raeven: I wanted to destroy this place. I wanted it gone. I couldn't have done it on my own, though... I thought you might help.

[i]Vryim laughed, stretching and walking to the doorway. He was thinking about something, something distant. He didn't hear her at first.[/i]

Raeven: My love?

Vyrim: What?

Raeven: I said, let's get out of here.

[i]Vyrim walked back to her and helped her up.[/i]

Vyrim: And how do you plan on doing that?

Raeven: Preferrably through a large hole in the wall.

[i]Raeven walked to the door where a guard stood, carving something into his thumbnail with a dagger. When he saw Raeven, he stood and walked over, menacingly.
Raeven, motioning for Vyrim to get back, lay on the floor at the Guard's feet as if for a display of respect. She seemingly misjudged the distance, however, and her head lay between his feet. While the guard was busy keeping an eye on Vyrim, Raeven quickly bit hard into the guard's achillis tendon while cutting the other with her nails. He dropped the dagger, cutting Raeven's hip. Quickly, she grabbed it without moving her head and severed the tendons in the guard's knees. He crumpled forward and Raeven slithered forward, escaping just in time.
Then, wiping the blade on her thigh, she motioned to Vyrim and ran down the hall, the first obstacle to her dream overcome.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]Vyrim, rather than simply blow his way out as previously suggested, wrapped himself and Raeven in liquid stone,bubbling and somehow clear, and moved as silently through the halls as possible, Raeven using her keen memory to lead them unerringly to the exit. He was rather tempted to let the stone tent solidify....

The only encountered one guard, who was too surprised at the sight of moving rock to do much. Vyrim simply moved so that he was inside the pillar of liquid stone and solidified it. He then re-liquified it and kept walking. The man fell, dead, behind them.

The doors were unguarded. When Vyrim stepped outside, he realised why. They stood in high altitude. And despite that, the sand around them appeared hot enough to scaled. They stood exposed on a sharply rising peak, a mammoth pinnacle of rock that proudly existed in the middle of a swarm of sand and death. The desert around them was immense, the heat waves rising off the sand obscuring any real judge of distance, but Vyrim could tell that trekking out of here would take at least a week. No wonder these people were so tough. They had to be, to survive here. The mountain itself was almost sheer in most places, and a careful touch to the stone revealed that it was too hot to touch. There was only one likely path, and that was guarded. Vyrim motioned to Raeven, and they edged around to the far side of the complex, giving Vyrim a sobering view of just how harsh this wasteland was. He walked gingerly up to one of the edges, trying to find one that wasn't straight down. When he found one, he concentrated again, and turned the rock into another viscous mass. He motioned to Raeven, and they lay down, and the rock-sled moved downwards, carrying them with it.[/I]

Raeven: How do you do this?

Vyrim: Well, it's actually a mix of earth, fire and water. Fire to make the rock molten, earth to keep the molten rock with the consistancy and solidity of rock, and water to cool it down.

Raeven: You cool it and heat it at the same time?

Vyrim: It's a difficult balancing act.

Raeven: So this doesn't help.

[I]She kissed him slowly. Vyrim moaned in appreciation, but didn't let her continue. They reached the bottom in fairly short order, and quickly started to walk away, before any kind of chase could be mounted. When they were around 100 metres away, under the pounding sun, Raeven stopped Vyrim. Her voice was quiet.[/I]

Raeven: I wanted to destroy that place.

[I]Vyrim grinned at her rogueishly, and turned back to the mountain.[/I]

Vyrim: Did they ever tell you that mountain is volcanic...Which is why it smells like sulphur so much.

Raeven: What has that to do with-

Vyrim: - Watch and learn my love.

[I]He closed his eyes and knelt, hand to the ground. For nearly an hour, he stayed there, leaving Raeven to endure the blistering heat. At last, Vyrim stood up, strangely refreshed, not to mention limber, for an hour without moving. Raeven simply glared at him.[/I]

Vyrim: Turns out this place wouldn't have lasted a year longer anyway, but I got it to hurry up anyway.

Raeven: What are you talking about?

[I]She appeared to start to say more, but was cut off by a loud tremor. She rolled her eyes, apparently used to them. She started to grow nervous however, when after a minute it hadn't subsided, in fact, it was intensifying.[/I]

Raeven: What in hell did you do!

Vyrim: This area is so barren because there is a major fault line along here, and there is a lot of magma much closer to the surface than normal. If it ever got overcast here, you'd notice the sand was hotter than the air. It's a freak of geography that can't really go on long anyway. It was going to well up and burst that volcano quite soon anyway. I just hurried it up...which means the explosion will be less controlled.

Raeven: You told the earth what to do?

Vyrim: No, I lied to it and said that I was here on behalf of the druids, and that this was the preferred course of action.

Raeven: And if the earth mentions it to the druids?

Vyrim: Then they'll agree with me.

[I]They retreated quite a way back, and sat down to wait. The shaking took about half an hour, and when it was done, the sand was rapidly cooling. They looked to the mountain, which appeared to be quivering.

When it blew, it surprised even Vyrim.

The mountain simply ceased to exist. The sonic boom that took its place deafened them even at this distance, and raised a huge duststorm. Vyrim raised his hand, and a shield of air deflecting the worst of the stinging particles. Magma erupted in a stream hundreds of metres high, and struck earth as close as twenty metres away from them. Raeven and Vyrim were thrown to the ground, and they both crawled away, awed and frightened. They didn't look behind them. There certainly wasn't anything left.[/I]

Vyrim: I think I won't do that again.
[/font][/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]Raeven cried with joy and resumed the kiss they had started on the way down the mountainside. It didn't finish until the sun had lowered past the horizon, making the sand pleasant to walk upon again.

After they had regained their breath, Raeven held him tightly a while before getting up and looking around.[/i]

Vryim: Where to now?

Raeven: Home. No shortcuts this time.[/font][/color]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][i]Vyrim absently squinted at the sky, attempting to orientate himself by the newly risen stars. From where he thought he was, they had to go east. But then, going east would quite probably end up with them heading in the entirely wrong direction. Not that, all things considered, that would be all that much of a problem. After all, "home" was a fairly general term. When he thought about it, the place they'd come from was somewhat ....appetising, but a change, he had lived their a few decades now, would be welcome. And he'd need to do some serious ....relaxing with Raeven for quite a while afterwards. He wondered whether pointing them in the wrong direction would prove to be a fish idea. He attempted to remember the last map he'd seen, but realised that he had no idea where this place was anyway, so a map was useless. So, technically speaking, if he chose north, south, east or west at random, he had a theoretical one in four chance of getting it wrong, assuming they wanted to go somewhere different to where they'd come from, so three out of four directions held something new, interesting, probably painful, and perhaps slightly tasty....[/font][/color][/I]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic][i]They had started walking a few hours ago, in no particular direction, it seemed, although Vyrim insisted he knew where he was going. The desert was horrid to walk through, but Raeven was used to it and walked infront of Vyrim to disturb the hot sand for him. Being incredible, however, he didn't seem to mind.

Raeven hoped to reach the end of the desert by dark, however, they didn't make it. It was within sight at dusk, though, so they continued to walk, planning on stopping at the edge of the sandscape.[/i][/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]Vyrim barely noticed nightfall, merely taking it as a lessening of the intense heat, and the sand was now slightly less reflective. Good enough.

Eventually, of course, it got cold. Vyrim wordlessly created a small glowing ball of flame, for heat and light. He moved closer to Raeven, placing an arm around her. They walked like that for a while, before Vyrim suddenly halted. He turned Raeven to him, and kissed her, softly.[/I]

Vyrim: I love you.[/font][/color]

[Ravenstorture]

[color=darkgreen][font=gothic]Raeven: I love you too...

[i]Vyrim transferred the flame to the sand, heating it beneath the first layer so it wouldn't sap their body heat during the night. Lying down together, they carved a soft bowl in the sand and curled up together, Raeven falling asleep to the feeling of her love's breath in her hair.


A hundred paces away, in the thicket of ferns, eyes watched. Intelligence hung behind those eyes, and cold hatred. Slowly, silently, the beast approached the couple, sniffing the air and cutting his trail with a long, thin blade...[/i]

OOC: Don't kill him/her. I want another charecter.[/color][/font]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo][I]Vyrim heard the sand shift and scrape, and turned to examine whatever approached them. He couldn't tell if it was humanoid, but it looked vaguely bipedal. It also carried a weapon.

Vyrim rolled to his feet, hands in a stiff knifehand position. The thing stopped, its weapon moving in a menacing, low arc. Raeven rose to her feet, her stance also ready for combat. The thing sniffed the air again, Vyrim becoming quite certain it wasn't exactly human.

He conjured another ball of flame, to get a better look at it, but also to employ as a weapon should the situation require it.[/font][/color][/I]