Fate - First Reply Into Thin Air

[Henk]

Henk valued Ralene's word. In an upbringing where respect was hard to earn and even harder to keep, Henk respected Ral more than he did most others.

He supposed maybe he'd just wanted to hear such a thing from her lips.

"I look at you and I see beauty." It wasn't meant to work as a compliment or as flattery, but as an observation he was making. "But perhaps what I'm seeing isn't your appearance, but the little pieces of you that make you who you are." Showing little of the anxiety he'd displayed yesterday, Henk slides one of his hands to one of the many rune markings covering her skin, tracing the tips of his fingers along it. "Your own scars. The ink that decorates you, and the expressions you wear. I think I understand."

As her thumb crossed over his lips, Henk closed his eyes and smiled beneath the touch.

"Thank you for being part of that story. You continue to teach me things I'd yet to learn..."

 

[Samantha Black]

Henk wasn't the first person, not even the first Initiate to call her beautiful, but he was the first person to relate it to something beyond just her physical self. Ral wasn't sure what he thought he understood, but he was one of the very few that had made any outward effort to get to know her past what her thoughts were on the mission.

His hand had found her bare midriff where his fingers traced the faintly raised black lines of a complex runic formula that hugged the curve of her side just off the base of her ribs, around the area of her liver. It had been one of the first pieces she'd developed and designed herself - an older one that recently Alistair had taken the time to fix and refresh with newer, more potent ink.

"There's not really many people that have tried to get to know me," Ral admitted after letting the silence sit between them. She could count on one hand the number of people who had. Her hand slipped away from his face to rest between them.

"I don't really care what others think about me, but sometimes it's nice to know one or two people at least got it right. So... thanks for making the effort."

 

[Henk]

Her hands left him, and while he didn't display it outwardly he somewhat missed their presence almost immediately. For his own part, Henk's hand still idly traced the pattern on her midsection as he listened to her words, the phantom touch of her thumb on his lips lingering for a moment until he parted his lips a few times. Before this assignment, he'd been relative strangers with the woman across from him, and admittedly he still didn't know too much. Even so, the desire was there to learn more about her, to understand how she thought. In a way, he thought he was making progress in that department.

"Being alone in a room with you is far more difficult a task than trying to understand you." He joked, smiling as his fingers left her as well, resting on the bit of mattress that lie exposed in between the two of them. "We're Dreadlords. In training, anyway. We aren't the type that people typically want to understand. I think, though, that any would see what I see if they put forth that effort."

It was rare enough to get anything so open out of Ralene, at least for Henk. So he didn't push further with more philosophical theory. Instead, he shifted on the bed, leaning slightly closer and angling his head up towards the window. It was still dark, but the shadows were slowly waning.

"Dawn will be here in a little over an hour."

 

[Samantha Black]

That was true, they weren't exactly raised to be approachable or friendly - though there were some outliers in every class when it came to this. Ralene had never exactly presented herself as being open to discussion or casual conversation when in fact she really didn't mind such things. Mostly she just didn't like doing so in public. What she had to say, if she had something to say at all, wasn't meant for everyone's ears or knowledge.

Ral liked her privacy. It had served her well for her entire childhood and she wasn't going to give it up any time soon. Nor was she going to give up a baited opportunity like what Henk currently presented to her. Leaned in close with his head tilted up, he might as well have been baring his throat to a wolf.

A single finger slowly drew itself up the corded line of his neck, following it toward his jaw, "Difficult why..."

 

[Henk]

Perhaps he'd gotten a little too comfortable.

Ralene seemed to think about his words for a little while, and while Henk didn't expect a reply, he also didn't consider that by looking up at the window he'd be craning his neck out and exposing it to her, an exposure she took advantage of, using her finger to draw a slow line up the length of it and pressing on the one thing he'd said thoughtlessly.

She was very good at moving the conversation in the direction she wanted.

"Well..." Henk closes his eyes at the odd sensation beneath his chin, the single word almost a whisper as he thought of an answer that didn't give her too much to throw back at him. "You know..." As she touched him, the hand that had left her midsection rose again, pressing flush against her abdomen. "I'm not used to being this close..."

Then her fingertip brushed that tiny sensitive spot, just beneath his jaw. Damnit, she was playing with him again, and that spot... Henk couldn't help but let out a soft sound that he truly tried to convince himself was a scoff and not a groan.

He was lying.

 

[Samantha Black]

The smugness that alighted upon her expression was understated only by the lingering sleepiness of the morning. Still, a rousing tiger with prey in its grips was still a tiger, and that little groan Henk issued was enough to shake the clinging fog of sleep from her mind. The touch of his hand at her belly only sparked more fuel to that ever-burning fire. Her own slipped back along the line of his jaw, her fingers snaking around the back of his neck.

"Hnnn...what are you so concerned about..." she rumbled low in return as she leaned up into him, slowly drawing her face along the same path as her hand. Tickling along the skin of his neck with the tip of her nose and the barest touch of her lips. It would be the spill of warm breath just over that wonderful spot she'd found that preceded her next words.

"You can always tell me to stop," Ral planted a kiss there next.

 

[Henk]

It was a challenge. A dare to tell her to stop. But she knew she had him, and as much as Henk despised being powerless he didn't see any scenario in which he tried to put an end to what she was doing. Not that he could think all too clearly as she brushed her face along his neck, the tip of her nose leaving a trail of lightning on his skin that was only matched by the feather-light brush of her lips against his jawline.

Henk hadn't ever shivered in such a warm room before, and he didn't remember when he'd reached his hand out farther to wrap around Ralene's waist, but he felt her back against his palm as she taunted him in a low rolling voice that poured out over his flesh like warm running water. "I don't..." He stammered a bit, another low groan leaving the throat she was having such fun paying attention to as he tried to fight through the strange cloud filling his head to find words. "I don't think I want you to."

The hand that had been resting beside her head slid into her raven locks as she pressed her lips to him, his back arching in some attempt to move closer, though they both knew she had all of the control right now.

Henk didn't know exactly what was waiting for him over the edge, but jumping didn't seem like a bad idea anymore.

 

[Samantha Black]

That was just fine by her.

Ralene coiled in the encompassing wrap of his arms, her own hand snaking around his neck as she slowly pressed her lips again along the soft flesh just beneath his jawline. Nevermind the bristle of whiskers there, she roughly nuzzled past them in pursuit of the kiss they'd shared the day before. This time the gesture lacked the force from the time prior, but was a slow and calculated baiting to draw him out of his comfort zone.

After several drawn out moments, Ral leaned away just enough to look at him through a hooded gaze, "What do you want?"

 

[Henk]

The point of any shame had long passed him by. Why the hell shouldn't he enjoy himself for once when the opportunity to indulge was inviting him with arms open wide? Henk stopped asking questions, stopped asking himself why not, and met Ralene's lips without any of the trepidation that had soaked his every action for the last set of days.

The world around him melted, his senses dull and blind to everything but the feel, the taste of her lips as they baited and coaxed him out of his reservations with every moment. He didn't fight his voice now, soft, low sounds of restrained need escaping from his throat and into hers, the echoes of a hunger he'd been holding back for far longer than he realized.

All there was, was her. He wanted more, to feel more of this foreign heat, unlike any that came from the light that coursed through him. When she finally tore away from him, the breath had all but left his lungs. There was just enough within him to give her the most poignant answer to her question possible.

"You."

 

[Henk]

Ralene's last words to him before they left their room resonated in Henk's head even as they mounted their horses, now well-rested and prepared for a long day, and disembarked towards the Twin Arches outside of Maraan's gates. Unlike the last few days of this drawn-out mission, however, his mind felt clear. The pressure and frustration that had plagued him was reduced to the point he hardly felt it now.

Strange, how one can need something so badly and never know until you've gotten it.

Now he could focus on the more pressing issue, locating and dealing with this cursed 'Ihmoen', Killing it, retrieving their wagon, and going home. They had been played with for too long, and even Henk's patience was wearing dangerously thin. Whatever Orsola intended with this meeting, Henk was prepared to take back their property by force if necessary.

The early hours worked in their favor; The streets of the bustling trade hub were comparatively quiet and sparse of life to when they'd last traveled them. The pair were able to make up for the lost time they'd spent on extracurricular activities by not having to deal with the usual deluge of traffic.

In no time, they had reached the southern gate they had entered from, the twin arches looming in the distance. Multiple wagons looked to be parked around them, but Henk could not discern if theirs was indeed one of them.

"Let's hope all of this nonsense leads to something tangible. If I ever feel sand in my boots again it'll be far too soon."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

The Initiate was silent in her morning preparations of the horses, and silent still as Henk joined her. Ralene mounted up with the look of a predator on the prowl, her countenance drawn as tight as her steeled spine. For all the pressure and frustration Henk no longer felt, it now nested snugly inside his companion. She spoke not a single word as they rode through the city streets, expending her effort instead on taking keen mental notes of tactical routes and any lingering patrols as they went. They were fewer and further between than she'd anticipated.

Henk's words drew her attention back as they passed through the gateways to gaze upon the sprawling dunes of the desert and their destination within. The reticence continued as she recounted their prior conversation with Madame Orsola.

"Something dark surrounds you both, and you reek of old magic. A stench that hasn't faded since our first meeting. The Ihmoen tracks that scent like a loyal hound, seeking to kill its target when dawn comes."

Henk furrowed his brow at the sight. more than a little disturbed by the display. It certainly lended to the theory he was 'tainted' in some way. "But... wait. Earlier, you called it an Allita, not an Ihmoen."

A loud cackle coughed up from the Elder's throat and she nodded. "Allita. Ihmoen. They are the same. Ihmoen is what the Korabari called it, you are correct, but to think that there has only ever been one of them is short-sighted no?"

"Then how do you explain entire families going missing on the trade routes into Maraan?" her eyes leveled with the crone, "including innocent children. Traders and merchants, too. I find it hard to believe so many curses would be following so many people just going about their lives trying to make a living."

"Mmm. That I do not know for certain. I have some suspicions, but none I am confident enough to state as fact." Mumbling something under his breath, Orsola's caretaker turns and seemingly departs back to the wagon as she waves her cane again. "The curse I speak of is real, though your belief in it I can not change. Something else is afoot, though. Something foul, indeed. What it is, I cannot say."

"Fine. Suppose the beast is real. Forget the curse and forget about the randomness of the attacks." Henk crossed his arms. If asking 'why' wasn't working, then he would ask 'how'. "Let's put the lingering questions aside. In the end, they don't matter that much. How do we combat it? What can we do to act against the Ihmoen?"

Orsola seemed to tilt her head in thought, though a wry smile crept back upon her face. "Now, that is a different question entirely." Suddenly, she cast a glance over to Ralene, the smile on her face growing further. "Tomorrow at dawn, at the Twin Arches south of the city. We will bring your wagon, you will bring the woman." Henk turned to follow her words to his partner, a brow quirking high. "To what end?"

Henk slowly turned back towards Orsola, who was already taking a few steps backwards, a knowing smile plastered upon her withered features. "To answer your question, young man."

Orsola had asked for her specifically and not given them any inkling as to why. Ralene could spend all day speculating, but in the end she truly could not fathom what the elf elder wanted with her. She merely had to prepare for any eventuality, including a full-scale attack or her witchy frippery. Nudging her horse into a canter, Ralene lead the way to the twin arches and the caravan encircling them.

They arrived just as the sun had fully peaked over the horizon. The day was not yet horrifically warm, but it would be before long. Ral rode right up through the caravan's circle to get a good look at their numbers as well as spotting their own wagon toward the back. Bringing her horse in to the innermost gathering that awaited them she quickly dismounted with a cold glint to her eyes.

She remembered the sound of the old crone's cackle as they left them last night.

"I have arrived as your elder requested," Ralene held her arms out to the elves before her, "I believe we are owed our wagon and our answers."

 

[Henk]

Henk followed Ralene close as she circled the elves, making his own mental notes of his own. The group of about two dozen seemed almost entirely male, and all were equipped for battle. His better judgment vied to convince him that this was some sort of a setup-- A trap to finish what they'd failed to accomplish by leaving them in the harshness of the Savannah days prior.

And yet, that persistent softness within him wished to believe they truly meant well. For now, they would stay the course. The two of them drew closer now, albeit cautiously, to the one standing at the front.

It was that same haughty male who had shown them nothing but hostility from the first time they'd met, his thin face and black eyes bearing down on the pair of them with raw disdain, his arms crossed coldly over his chest as he refused to respond to Ralene's demands.

There was a call in elven tongue from behind the tall, thin elf, and he turned up his nose at them with a scoff before stepping aside to allow them through to Orsola, who waited in the center of the circled wagons with that ever-present smile of knowing on her wrinkled face.

"Thank you for coming, both of you. Forgive Betreff, he has far more spirit than he does patience." Orsola apologized on behalf of the antagonistic male, casting a sharp look his way before turning and beckoning him towards their wagon, which looked to be about as they'd left it at first glance. "Now, our business... You seek to stop this Ihmoen from wreaking any further havoc in the Savannah, and I seek to know why it has behaved so strangely."

Her admission of personal investment seemed to surprise several of her group and irk Betreff, who now looked quite pointedly away from Henk and Ralene and focused on Orsola.

"Admittedly, I'd thought little of it until now..." Orsola mumbled as she retrieved the few belongings the elves had stored on their stolen vehicle, tossing them to a younger elf with waiting arms. "But you've piqued an old woman's curiosity." She finished with a cackle, turning back to them and pointing her wooden cane to Ralene.

"You're a rune mage, aren't you? I smelled it yesterday, I did. You're our weapon. You can fight it."

Samantha Black

 

[Samantha Black]

Bemusement did not even begin to describe the expression on Ralene's face over the duration of this little ... welcome. The old elf was still being as mystical as before and had failed to explain much of anything.

Use her as a weapon?

"I am nobody's weapon," Ralene's lip curled as she barely contained the snarl clawing to be free at the back of her throat, "but we did come out here to kill this creature. So let's cut to the chase if you don't mind and have you get to the point."

 

[Henk]

If Orsola found Ralene's anger intimidating, she didn't show it. The outburst only seemed to make her crooked smile grow wider, as if she was waiting for the Dreadlord to figure out the riddle before she'd been given all of the words to it. Henk tensed, wary of the sudden increase in pressure around them.

"The Ihmoen is weak to rune magic. Its illusion can easily be broken, and its strength hampered. I know the spells we need, but my frail body is no longer capable of performing them. This is why I asked for you to be here."

Henk could practically feel Ralene's patience tearing, and quickly he stepped forward to rush things along before one or both sides decided they were done playing. "And as the Ihmoen always strikes at dawn and seems to have a taste for me, you're baiting it here to the dunes for a fight?" The cryptic elf elder could have said as much and saved them all some time. It didn't matter; They had a chance to end the mission here and now.

He turned to Ralene. "Think you have the tricks we need to pull this off, then? I'm sure the old woman would be glad to give you a thirty-minute masterclass, otherwise..."

Samantha Black