Post by Enuyu Suhishi on May 28, 2013 8:53:37 GMT -5
Enuyu's touch was, for the first moment, hesitant; as if she were afraid the man sitting in front of her was some sort of illusion that would evaporate upon first contact. But he wasn't and he didn't. Her hands, conditioned and hardened for combat, here found themselves applied to a more delicate task; soothing out aches and pains instead of causing them.
A different sort of warmth, something as primitive as the joy of fire and good food and probably related to them both, began to suffuse her. It was the warmth of easy company and companionship, the feeling that a simple hug had reminded her of earlier. It was depressing to think she'd forgotten it.
Her hands worked across the length and breadth of his shoulders and back. Her fingers sought out the tense and weary muscles and eased the aches of the day away. It was close contact, but she kept it chaste. She did not draw him into her chest and wrap him in her arms nor fall prey to other temptations that would have been just as easy to indulge in. And they would have been, given how good it felt to have his well muscled frame under her hands. But no, for now, at least for tonight, they were friends, new student and new teacher. She certainly hoped more might come later; but for now, this was enough, to feel a human connection again.
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Diegis gave a low sigh of pleasure. His shoulders were stiff from keeping his horse reined in the last few miles among the foot traffic to Wistvale and his spine had developed any number of knots during the ride before that. Enuyu had said nothing else to strike his thoughts and her hands were doing a fine job of soothing his body.
In fact, much more of it and he would probably end up in a boneless heap of limbs on the floor, uncaring as to where he woke up in the morning. That made him think of other places he had woken up and that made decide to speak before he went straight to the thoughts he had been trying to ignore all evening.
"Do all your students find your hands so enjoyable?"
Oh, hell. Don't go there!
"Err... I mean... practiced."
God! That was worse!
"Such a good masseuse."
The groan was all inside and so were several expletives directed at himself.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Post by Enuyu Suhishi on Jun 6, 2013 13:45:30 GMT -5
Enuyu found his awkward response to be familiar. How often had she felt the same? Actions were easy for her. But words? Trying to maintain a conversation, especially with someone that stirred up emotions, made her most complex katas seem like child's play. She could feel the way his shoulders hung a bit more, the way his head drooped just a bit, as if he'd done something wrong after he spoke. It would be too easy to say something wrong. So, despite the little imp of mischief that wanted to tease the man under her hands, she did no such thing.
She tried to keep her voice as soothing as her hands seemed to be. "It's okay. I think I know what you mean. And you're welcome."
Her hands lingered, if only because she did not want him to think his words had driven her off. The warm skin and lovely body underneath them had nothing to do with. Nope. Nothing at all. When she was finally done she got up.
"Hold still another minute."
She retrieved something, and after a moment she sat down behind him again then began running a comb through his unruly hair. It was her comb. It was something that was a little too elaborate for its function; and her hair hadn't been long enough to really benefit from its use in many years. But she had held onto it, because it was a gift from her mother. In retrospect it might have been a subtle attempt to get her to be more feminine.
Memories of her mother doing this same thing to her when she was just a small child danced in her head. There was no pain now, instead it left her smiling. When she was satisfied that the dark mass of hair in front of her was as tamed as it was going to allow itself to be she was done.
"There."
And she was still smiling.
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Diegis gave a sigh that was ninety parts relief and ten parts enjoyment. No, that was wrong. He definitely enjoyed the touch more than just ten parts out of a hundred. His brain was shutting down. That was it. He could not think any longer. He gave up thinking to settle deeply in the chair.
Several images skittered across the surface of his mind. Fantastical pictures that had Enuyu dressed in the clothing of his people and standing on one of the high cliff ledges, while going through the series of moves he had seen her perform earlier. Those images were painted in all the colors of the sunset giving her form the golden tone he had witnessed next to the fire.
He was so caught up in those thoughts that when her hands fell away he never noticed. When she started to brush his hair, though, his eyes snapped open.
"...You don't have... to... you shouldn't... It's okay..."
He sighed. It was a nice gesture and he couldn't tell her that it was a wasted one. He could never keep his hair combed himself. It reminded him way too much of his sister.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Post by Enuyu Suhishi on Jun 17, 2013 21:49:05 GMT -5
Enuyu gave a bit of a mock frown. Diegis' locks remained steadfastly unruly, despite what taming the comb had enforced on them. It seemed even a neater hay stack was still a hay stack. However, she was sure there were no knots nor tangles, and that was enough.
Her voice was close, and quiet when she spoke again. "Thank you, for being my friend, and having faith enough in me to give me the chance to be your teacher. I promise I will do my best not to disappoint in either role."
With that she got up and disappeared into the little side room for a few moments. She could feel her energy waning, and that meant it was time to call it a day. The sound of rustling cloth could be heard, and when she emerged again she was wearing only a long nightshirt that hung to her knees.
She was already crawling into her sleeping roll when she spoke again. "As is obvious, I am turning in. You are welcome to continue to make yourself at home and stay up if you like. I only ask that you keep the noise to a minimum if you do."
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Diegis blinked before giving her a slow appraisal. His lips twitched until he realized she was actually serious with her first statement. She was thanking him for being her friend. His throat closed up. He came from a line of people who lived in a harsh world, death was always around the corner. But, counter to that they were quick to laugh, quick to love, and full of life's vibrancy. He wanted to catch her up in another hug; one that lasted far longer than the hug he had given her on the street. Diegis swallowed hard.
"I shall probably turn in as well. Though, I will avail myself of your front yard for a little while. Oh, and do not thank me for being your friend. I do not believe friendship requires a thank you, though it is appreciated. Sleep well, lovely raptor."
Diegis left the small home before his mouth got him into trouble. Once outside he took a long breath of the night air. She was so self contained. It amazed and angered him at the same time. He wondered briefly who had ruptured her trust in simple friendships before shaking the thought free of his head.
He needed a bout of violence or some burst of physical energy to sooth the rush of anger. But, there was nothing here to battle. He snatched up his falx by the front door and decided to take a walk.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Post by Enuyu Suhishi on Jun 19, 2013 7:04:16 GMT -5
Enuyu snugged down a bit in the sleeping roll even as Diegis spoke to her. The straw padding kept her off the earth. The soft wool and the fire kept her warm. All in all it was more comfortable than one might have expected. It wasn't a futon, but it was close enough.
The warmth, comfort, and easy company was quickly lulling her to sleep. But that didn't stop her from mulling over Diegis' words, even if she had no immediate vocal response to them.
To her friendship was a gift; a marvelous, wonderful, and precious gift. Experience had taught her though that her view on the matter wasn't necessarily shared by many others. It seemed most other folk made and lost or even abandoned people they called friends, easily. She simply couldn't do that, and didn't understand how others did. No. Such a gift always deserved thanks, and should always be cherished.
She may have mused on friendship to avoid thinking too hard on his last words. Lovely Raptor. Was this the beginning of a nickname? Or perhaps a slip, a mistakenly uttered pet name, something he hadn't meant for her ears? Or did he? Did he wish to be so familiar?
She sighed and did her best to cast such musings from her mind. There was nothing for it at the moment anyway. Half formed dream images of wings and talons danced behind her eyes before she finally dropped off and found sleep.
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Diegis whipped the falx back and forth through the tall grass; not that it helped diffuse his anger. He was on the tip of a dilemma. He should be looking for his nephew. It was his responsibility. Diegis stopped dead in his tracks and brought one hand up to the necklace at his throat, dropping the weapon he held. He wrapped his fist around the carved wood tightly.
"Tisia. Please forgive me. She needs one to trust badly."
He bowed his head and a solitary tear slid slowly down his face. He would give his life to have his sister standing beside him now. Maybe Tisia and Enuyu would have even been friends. Diegis took another long draw of the cool night air his eyes were gleaming with the tears he could no longer shed. The necklace fell back to his throat and he recovered his weapon from the grass.
At first he thought it was his blurred vision. He wiped his eyes twice just to be sure but the fog was still there, or rather it was bobbing along the area Enuyu had pointed out before showing off the inside of her home; the shunned and forsaken graveyard she had mentioned. He told himself it was the cool night air meeting the warm ground. Purely mist. No, it was way too uniform for that. He shook his head. His imagination was running rampant tonight. Still, the fog continued to pour over the broken headstones and a low sound was building louder.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Post by Enuyu Suhishi on Jun 20, 2013 18:14:37 GMT -5
Confusion.
Her mind was as fogged as the forest she was in.
A dank mist was obscuring her vision, and she could see nothing more than indistinct outlines beyond several paces. The trees were nothing more than dark shapes until she drew close.
When she did she wished she had not.
The tree, if such a thing it could be called, was made of fire blackened and blood crusted bones. The leaves were flaps of rotting skin. Fear and bile both rose in her body. And yet she was fascinated as well.
She reached out.
And saw her hand; a decomposing, half dessicated, bony claw of an appendage that could not possibly be her hand. Yet it moved when she commanded it.
Though fear became terror, she still managed to master herself.
Until she became aware of her feet.
She thought of them, of planting them firmly in the earth in order to either stand her ground or run. Whatever was under them was warm and wet. She knew she shouldn't look down. But she couldn't not look.
Dirt stained a color that only a sea of blood could create squelched up between her toes, between the holes in her feet that were being eaten away by the maggots that were working their way up her legs.
The terror consumed her and she broke.
She tried to run, but everything was slow motion.
She screamed.
It was the keening of a dying hawk.
*****
Enuyu woke with a start. Her terrified scream cut off instantly. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she knew she had not been asleep for more than a few minutes.
Something was terribly wrong. She didn't know what it was, but it was more than the nightmare, and it left a feeling like cold oil slithering down her spine.
Where was Diegis? She didn't see him inside. Concern and residual fright overrode her instinct for caution and she called out for him.
"Diegis!"
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Diegis moved toward the tiny garden of the dead without realizing it. The peculiar fog sucked the air right out of his lungs. He was gasping for any replacement within seconds. The sounds had become groans; angry groans if such could be said, that surrounded and confused him. Diegis heard the shout of his name from inside Enuyu's house. His head snapped around like a startled deer. The confusion was gone.
Diegis took off. The half a dozen paces it took to reach her door seemed like a hundred. He never slowed down, either. He hit the door with his shoulder his weapon swung around as soon as the latch snapped and popped open. What was wrong? His slate blue eyes went straight to where he had seen her curl up to rest.
"I'm here. Enuyu. It's okay. What's wrong?"
He saw no enemy. He dropped the falx and shoved the table and chair out of the way, skidding down on his knees beside her.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Post by Enuyu Suhishi on Jun 22, 2013 19:02:19 GMT -5
She was instantly relieved to see Diegis come charging inside. Seeing him unharmed allowed her anxiety to evaporate. But the uneasy feeling of wrongness remained; even as the short burst of adrenaline her nightmare had infused her with faded and left her in a more calmed state of mind.
"It's okay. You're okay. Just... a nightmare."
She got up then, the unease still gnawed at her and she turned a tight circle, searching the shadows of her home. One hand went to the back of her neck to check if there was something physical there causing the tingling in her spine. Her fingers came away with nothing. There was nothing unusual to be seen in her home.
Yet the feeling lingered.
"I feel as if something is wrong Diegis. I can explain it no better than that. Something just feels..." She searched for a better word, but the sense she had of it was too vague. "Wrong."
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Something was wrong. The undead were gathering among the broken graves outside. He had to tell her. This tiny house that she was so happy to have was inhabitable. No wonder the workers were salting the ground.
Diegis recited what had happened to him outside in the graveyard hesitantly. It was difficult to even say the words, considering what they had talked about previously. But, he managed and explained that had been her voice which had yanked the stupor he had fallen into free of his mind.
"I do not know what would have happened if you hadn't woken up. I might have stood there until suffocation."
And that was the truth. He had not forgotten the battle with the succubus creature and her pet ogre. He had survived them. Yes, the ogre had been undead too. But, it was a corporeal being. He could attack him. Here having the air sucked straight out of his throat by a variety of wisp-like creatures impossible to grasp? Diegis was at a loss for what to do in this situation.
Enuyu was safe now. Eventually, though, she would need sleep.
"You cannot stay here, Enuyu."
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Post by Enuyu Suhishi on Jul 2, 2013 11:18:04 GMT -5
Enuyu listened to what Diegis had to say about what had just happened to him outside. Her feeling of wrongness turned into a profoundly troubled sense of disquiet. With all her heart she wanted to rail against his last words. This was her home. Her _home_. Something she had just come to accept and treasure. And now it seemed as though it would be stripped from her. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair.
But she'd come to accept that was the way of things a long time ago. The best she could do was try and make her corner of the world a bit better.
So she took a deep breath, mastered her feelings, and did her best to begin to do the right thing. All she knew about spirits in a state of unrest said they were dangerous. The best thing to do would be to find a priest, someone who knew the ceremonies of the dead. Hopefully they could lay the spirits back to rest.
Assuming they were confined to the little graveyard. If they were spilling over they could be a threat to the entire town. Then the sentinels would have to be warned. People taken off the streets.
She sighed. This could be a real mess. A mess that her moving into the little chapel might be the cause of.
She was not still while her mental deliberations went on. In fact, she was something of a small whirlwind of motion. Her long nightshirt came off while she got up and moved to retrieve her Gi. Modesty was not a priority in the face of the undead, and for the moment she was uncaring of the fact she gave Diegis an eye full of her naked physique. The Gi was not armor, nor physical protection of any kind. But it was familiar and comforting, she had worn it in countless combats and sparring matches. In a way, that familiarity helped her calm and provided her with a sort of mental armor. She donned the semi-coarse cotton with alacrity, her fingers and hands knotted the belt in motions that no longer required thought.
She did her best to convey her thinking to Diegis. "I believe we need a priest, someone that can lay them back to rest. So long as they are confined to the graveyard. If they are spilling out we need to let the Sentinels know. Either way, I do not think we have the means to stop them."
She went to the front door and stepped out, intent on investigating exactly what the situation was, only to find herself knee deep in mist. Before she knew it was happening there were wisps in front of her. Then she heard the angry ethereal moaning, and just as Diegis described, her breath was being stolen from her.
Her breath.
Her ki.
It was being drawn from her body, against her will.
Unlike most, she knew control of her ki. In a heartbeat, she felt it, grasped at it, fought for it, tried to drag it back. But the wisps would not be denied, and they continued to pull. She became desperate.
Time slowed down. She could feel the slow thud of her heart even though it was certainly racing; hear the whoosh of blood in her ears over the spirits. If she could not stop them from taking her breath then she would drown them on a torrent of it.
Her heart beat once, like a great bell resonating in her chest. She closed her eyes and reached for her ki in a way she had not done so in years, a way she'd only succeeded at a handful of times. She managed to inhale, felt the ebb and flow of life energy within, and grasped as much of it as she dared.
These things trying to kill her had to be extinguished. To save herself and Diegis, to save innocents on the street, these spirits had to be destroyed. She could see no other choice. The intent was projected from her.
But it was a desperate intent, too ardent. The moment she released the gathered energy she knew it was too much, that she had over reached. But it was too late.
She shouted a battle cry, and with it came a violent wind in every direction, like the chaotic gusts of a cyclone. The power in the air tore at the wisps, driving them from her, and battered the disembodied entities like leaves caught in the breeze.
It left Enuyu drained. She dropped to her hands and knees, but the world kept spinning. Her heart fluttered, her mouth was dry, and she was gasping for air. Her head throbbed, she felt like she was going to be sick to her stomach, and every inch of her was weak.
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Lily [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=546&page=1#19046][b]Zombies are the new vampires, didn?t you know that?[/b][0:Dead][1:Alive]
Lily had spent most of the early evening ensconced in the arms of the mighty oak she found in the park. But, as the blacker night began to creep into the dusky, purple sky her chaotic mind went whirling about. She slid out of the tree and gave it one last spinning dance before darting off.
There were dozens of voices Lily ignored, for they were day people and she a child of night. Normally, she would have left Wistvale's streets but this eve; at the hour of midnight, another tongue held her attention, or a surfeit of them. Renquist's ballerina had heard a melange of morbid sounds. In truth, such horrors were rather commonplace. Nevertheless, Lily's reborn heart beat with a fascinated delight.
Why! There were haunts about! Lovely, lively, lustful haunts about! She clapped her hands to the vibrations inside her defunct chest. She had to see. Her delicate, bare feet flew over the pebbled ground Wistvale's evening revelers walked upon. Lily only came to a halt when in sight of the ancient chapel. The inhabited, ancient chapel; a grand old derelict of death. And wonder of wonders the crumbled remains of a tiny graveyard was attached. Even better!
Lily sucked in a breath she did not have and watched from the edge of the property. The haunts swirled up from the broken stones. Their screams for air were wonderfully awful. She saw them attempt steal such from the dark haired man. She heard the shout for help that sent him back inside, too.
Then the female. Her stalwart shout tore threw the flighty haunts. Her hurricane breath broke up this evening's companions. Lily did not like that at all. The female was bad. Very bad. And if Lily needed any other reason to believe such, the proof was right before her eyes. The terrible woman was pleading on her hands and knees.
Lily walked forward.
Living Dead Girl
“It's hard for me to stay in the moment. Without the past, where is the guilt? And without the future, where is the dread? And without guilt and dread, who am I?”
Diegis scrambled up off the ground. He was a split second too late to stop Enuyu from opening the door. He had not meant to send her outside. He was beating himself upside the head for not making that clear enough. But she was already out the door now and all he could do was follow.
He did not go very far in this endeavor. The mist captured Enuyu before she had taken more than a few steps. What happened next he did not believe. He had witnessed several bizarre things in his life. Bears fitted with leather and iron saddles and ridden like horses, wild boars that would run right over a cliff after prey, insane men willing to pay more than their weight in gold for a single female slave, a crazed ogre and a demoness that, even now, haunted him during his nightly visits in the halls of the Sandman.
But, this? This beat them all for pure insanity. The mist that held him breathless mere minutes ago was torn to pieces by Enuyu's shout. He saw it with his own eyes and still was not convinced it occurred.
"No! Don't!"
The words were out of his mouth much too slowly. And when she fell to the ground he ran to catch her. But, like the words he uttered, his feet were too slow. Did time stop? Was it running backwards? The questions ran around his head without end. Then he noticed the woman walking from out of the darkness.
"Enuyu! Get up!"
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.