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Post by Vyn on Dec 19, 2008 22:42:14 GMT -5
Vesper awoke in a sputter of blood, gagging on the result of her own wounds. None of the men that had attacked her were anywhere to be seen, but Vesper wasn't really looking for them. She rose to her wobbling paws in a half-daze, aware that she should be dead... but wasn't. She would have been happier dead. The rat wheezed for a moment, hocking up the blood that had begun to pool in her mouth again into the pool of her own blood that she found herself standing in. Something about the crimson puddle was oddly humorous, and Vesper laughed again as she started walking. This wasn't the first time she'd been in this situation, and wasn't going to be the last. It never was. Swaying like a drunkard, losing blood with every step, Vesper made her way home in a cloud of confusion. Everything was hazy and dark at the edges, but oddly funny. She'd never felt so light before. Even when she tripped and collapsed at last into a gutter, nearly inhaling a nose-full of foetid liquid, everything was still funny. Like she was floating away. And then everything went black. |
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 21, 2008 23:36:50 GMT -5
Lior's first visit to his new 'therapist' had resulted in a no-show, his distraction with the skunk costing him the only open slot in the day. Xiven hadn't exactly been thrilled to hear that he hadn't made his appointment, and had made her displeasure very plain. His second visit had been more successful, meaning that he had actually made it and awkwardly introduced himself to the Tulgey swan for about an hour. It was a very selective introduction. Now, on his way back from his even more awkward third visit to the Capital in as many months, Lior felt as though he was dragging. Parrying words with a man who seemed to choose his so carefully, while still maintaining a disarming sense of openness, was exhausting. He didn't really want to talk to the man. About anything. He just had to satisfy the whim of his Queen. It made him feel like a delinquent child all over again, trying to figure out how to rephrase something without lying or revealing the whole truth. There was construction on the route he would have normally taken out of the city, forcing him to detour one of two directions. He chose to move closer to the edges of the Bazaar, near the outer rim, and suddenly his ability took over, as it was wont to do. He ended up near the side of a street, people skirting around him in the falling evening, with his aura radiating like something from a waking nightmare. In the gutter, he found the corpse that had summoned him. Damned city. It killed everyone and everything with a large degree of discrimination. The Lowland child was absolutely disgusting, but something in him knew that he could save her, once he came back to his senses. Another, more selfish and guilty part of him, knew what resurrecting her would mean. Mind-blowing pleasure. Taking a few deep breaths, he closed his eyes and let his cloak do its work. ((If you need a note on what the characters see during death, poke Xenon. She's done it twice now and has notes from Nat. xD)) |
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Post by Vyn on Dec 22, 2008 0:30:51 GMT -5
In the darkness, something pulled at Vesper.
Even in death something was pushing her around, telling her where to go and what to do! Vesper wouldn't have it, she wouldn't budge. The pushing grew more insistent with every passing moment, bording on physical pain... but Vesper ignored it with the very force of her hatred.
And then, very suddenly, there was pain.
Reality snapped back in a sudden avalanche of pain. Her body ached, her wounds stung, and the air itself seemed to crackle with death. Vesper lurched backwards, hissing sharply as she tried to regain her shaking balance. It didn't work. Vesper teetered and fell, still attempting to write out of the way of the looming feline before his, his black cloak of feathers fluttering around him in a way that was entirely normal and yet utterly horrifying.
Not even on the brink of death -- something she had experienced many a time in her short years -- had Vesper ever felt something like this.
It was looming death, horrible foreboding. Vesper snapped her over-sized front teeth, emitting a strange mixture of growls and hisses as she attempted to simultaneously right herself and escape the feeling pressing down on her. "What do you want?!"
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 30, 2008 21:11:55 GMT -5
Lior lost control of his mind and senses for a little while, feeling the cloak doing things that he didn't rightly understand, but at the same time... the knowledge was buried somewhere inside of him and he could feel it. So bizarre. He slumped forward once it was finished, claws digging into his palms, and then fell backwards at the sudden movement beneath and in front of him.
The ugly little thing he'd just resurrected was on her feet already? That was... fast. Most people tended to react with slow grogginess. Only one had ever sprung first and thought later. Now two, he supposed. Golden eyes opened and stared at her, still a little hazy from the aftershocks of the spell.
Immediately on the offensive. Belatedly, he hoped that this hadn't been a bad idea. He never really thought in terms of the people he brought back harming him. He could only see them as corpses before they were alive once again. "Nothing...?" he said in a spacey voice, and then something in his head seemed to clear a little bit and he blinked. "No, wait, that's wrong. I want... hold still."
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Post by Vyn on Jan 1, 2009 11:19:47 GMT -5
Vesper was far from 'on her feet', but she wasn't about to take any of this weirdness laying down. The rat flailed momentarily, snapping at nothing in particular, just trying to clear space from the stranger near her. Act first and think about it later. Really, it was the best way to survive. Especially when dealing with weirdo psychos.
At least, that's what this guy looked like. His tone of voice didn't help to change that opinion, either.
Spacey and distant... maybe a little confused? The rat bristled furiously. "I've got nothin' to give ya!" She scrambled backward, trying to get away from the approaching feline, only to stumble over her own disoriented paws.
She went down hard.
For a moment the air rushed out of her lungs and, despite herself, she was still as she tried to suck in air. This wasn't the way she wanted to go!
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 1, 2009 11:45:15 GMT -5
Lior bit the inside of his cheek as he stared at her, the same compulsion he'd felt with the drowned skunk rising inside him. It was similar to, but ultimately different from, the urge he'd gotten first with Rhiannon. He couldn't just let them go. It was itching at his mind, even so early as now. Something in him couldn't even imagine letting this Lowlander escape without fulfilling its purpose. His breathing hitched and he half-closed his eyes. Her stumbling struggle went mostly unnoticed.
"I really... can't leave without it," he murmured, slowly pushing himself off the ground and getting to his feet. "Your soul's been places I haven't. I don't know why, but that means I need it. Like last time. I'll keep it safe, though. I promise. I always do."
He always felt so disconnected after he brought someone back, as though he hadn't fully reconnected with reality just yet. It never really clicked until he got what he needed from him. Then his mind was satisfied and let him be fully himself again. He walked over to her, and then lunged, his hand reaching out to puncture her left eye and remove his prize.
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Post by Vyn on Jan 1, 2009 11:52:09 GMT -5
As much as Lior was blind to Vesper's struggle, Vesper too was oblivious to Lior's internal confusion. She saw only the aura of death and the looming prospect of whatever it was he intended to take.
...her soul?
Vesper was shocked, absolutely shocked. Not only was she not entirely certain that she was even worthy of having a soul that someone might want to steal, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted them stealing it if she did. "Like last time? What are you?!" Was this freak walking around stealing souls? How did you even go about --
The feline had abruptly risen, his movement somewhere between jerky and far too fluid. He lunged before she could properly find her footing, before she could dodge, and plunged his finger into her eye. The rat screamed as half of her world went dark and an intense pain filled the rest of it. Oh suits! Oh bloody effing suits!
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 1, 2009 12:05:44 GMT -5
Completely ignoring her question, Lior slowly extracted his fingers from the ruined mess that had been her eye, pulling along with them a thin, shining orb. The scream made him flinch, but it was only a reflexive jerk as he drew back from the writing, bleeding girl. He cupped his bloody hand with his other and stared at the pretty thing, resting in the red-stained fur. His first had been so beautiful. This one... also lovely. He would have to study it next to his first soul to see if there were any differences.
Carefully, he reached for an inner pocket in his cloak and pulled out a jar, sliding the orb into it to join the first and several small bones. He then closed it and tucked it back away. His most prized possessions. He never let them far.
Only after that had been accomplished did he pay any attention to the Lowland mix in front of him. He blinked and flinched away from her pain. "An eye for a life isn't so bad an exchange, is it...?" he asked nervously. Death and injuries didn't bother him much anymore, but the loud pain...
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Post by Vyn on Jan 1, 2009 12:18:41 GMT -5
And then, as if to add insult to injury, he ripped out the remainder of her ruined eye. She couldn't tell the difference in the two qualities of pain, but something about seeing her ruined eye in someone else's hand made her stomach churn in the worst of ways.
"You... You..." Vesper felt exceedingly dizzy just then, her mind reeling as the blood gushed. The rat rocked back, flopping onto her rear as she surrendered to the absolute need to clutch her lost eye... to hope of stemming the blood flow. Shock was setting in, even she could feel the intense coldness sweeping her up. "Why???" This question lacked her usual paranoid and hateful edge and rightfully belonged to the child that she still was.
Everything had been bad enough as it was! Why did he have to take her eye too?!
When he spoke again, Vesper found herself halted mid-wail. ...An eye for a life? ...Her life? Her reeling mind swung back to that darkness, to the gutter she'd collapsed in, and she felt a whole new wave of sickness wash over her. He was right, an eye for a life wasn't that bad of an exchange... but Vesper couldn't even be sure she had wanted one.
Too late Vesper realized that she'd begun to hyperventilate. Not until her remaining vision was blurring and she found her dizziness increasing triple fold. She crumpled as she fainted, on paw still clutched over her ruined eye.
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 1, 2009 12:31:57 GMT -5
Lior didn't feel comfortable saying anything more to the trembling child, guilt gnawing at his stomach. He tried to assuage it with the thought that she would have been dead without his assistance. She was still so young. She had a lot to live for. Didn't she?
Maybe not. She looked very Lowland, even though he could see something else mixed in there. Morganberry? Still, any Lowland was like a curse. He understood curses all too well.
When she passed out, it was like being granted a reprieve and he released the breath he'd been holding, relaxing slightly. She'd been brought back to life with her health. Hopefully the missing eye wouldn't kill her. Hopefully someone who wasn't a Josiggy would find her and tend to her. As of this moment, though... it wasn't his problem. He was done.
Swallowing heavily, he stood back up and walked away with a slightly unsteady tilt to his gait.
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