Private Tales Kill Our Way to Heaven

[Zephyrine]

This was reckless, she had thought to herself for the umpteenth time this morning. She had only met Ivan Skender for the first time last night, at the party Thraah threw for her. Before he had left, she vaguely remembered him telling her to meet him not too early in the morning, and so she had settled on mid-morning... or rather, she felt her most human in that time. There was still an ache in her head, causing her some grief as the sun shone down on her, but still Zephyrine moved towards the training grounds in the forest. Caddel knew the path well, having trained here on her own and with other Proctors over the years, unseen by her peers.

She could have not gone to meet him, but there was something so... intriguing about the idea of seeing the handsome boy again, especially getting to watch a little snippet of his magic at play the night before. That was the reasoning she gave herself after bathing the alcohol out from her pores and washed her long, copper hair until it no longer smelled of the fire that burned after Thraah relit it. She would be cleansed and refreshed today, ready for anything.

Zephyrine's hand absentmindedly went to the pouch at her hip, scraps of metals and wood creating an unique melody with each step she took. She was never without it, always doing her best work when there was something to base her creations off of. There would be no awkwardness from last night in the Zephyrine that woke up today. No, she would not be blushing, and smiling like some young lady being wooed and courted.

All that thought was forgotten the moment she turned up the small incline, and caught sight of the tall Anirian Initiate waiting for her. At first, her greeting was caught in her throat, her boot almost catching on a rock embedded into the path. "You did make it here alive." She played it cool, but her light brown eyes stared at him a little too long as she approached, small smile twitching at her lips.

"Well... I don't know if you had asked me out on a date date, or a training date..." The training grounds was a bit of a trek from the Academy, but was designed for testing one's ability in wielding weaponry on uneven terrain. Zeph had dressed for something in between, had even managed to brain her hair nicely but would say it was for practicality and out from her face.

 

[Ivan Skender]

A reflecting stone was an old sleight-of-hand at the Academy, well-known to the most proficient of tricksters in the school. With the help of an illusion mage - of which there were a few - one could enchant a specific type of stone to project an uncannily similar reflection of oneself. A pretty neat trick that helped many initiates to do away with some of the most boring, useless classes in their repertoire.

This day however, Ivan had used it for another purpose. So it was that, as Zeph walked into the small clearing, overlooking the Academy below, what she thought she saw was not so much Ivan himself, but rather a reflection of him, sitting quietly under a tree.

The real Ivan stood in waiting instead, perched upon a thick branch of an ancient oak that grew by the opening of the clearing. Hidden by the spring leaves that had already begun to sprout, he stood ready, his form concealed from any prying eyes.

Unlike Zephyrine, the blonde was more than used to the after-effects of heavy alcohol, which meant that - even as soon as the early morning - he was fully recuperated, fresh as a lettuce, and well prepared for the new day.

As the girl walked further into the clearing, he dropped from his roost, silent as a cat, his boots rustling through the green grass as softly as a breeze, as he closed the distance to Zeph's back.

Once he was close enough, he drew two knives from his form. One he pointed below, against Caddel's belly, aimed at her liver and stomach. The other came to a halt further up, as he pressed it to her neck, locking her in a tight embrace, as both his arms enveloped her form, keeping either of hers from making a brusque movement.

- “Why not both?” - He whispered slyly in her ear. - “I gotta say Caddel, I expected a bit more from you.” - This last bit had a slightly different undertone, one of playful challenge to it.​

 

[Zephyrine]

She was much too late to react once she saw the telltale signs of the reflected imagery of Ivan, blinded by her own stirring feelings that seemed to manifest into something after spending some time with him last night. Despite the knives resting against her, her back pressed at his front as his tall frame locked her in place, Zephyrine smiled. "Tricky." One could hear the smile in her words. "I never thought I would be distracted by you... by your own doing in a million years, but alas, I was thwarted."

If this were to happen to her a year ago, she was sure her anger would fuel her to train hard so that she wouldn't be caught in such a position again. Zephyrine heard the playfulness in his voice, a tone that made her smile wider. She bit her tongue on admitting she liked it, that he had succeeded in creeping up from behind and leaving her unable to fight back. Of course, she had not been in such a position before in her training or on the few missions she had gone along on, but neither did Zephyrine create a weapon to parry away the threat of blades. She was too comfortable to stand like this, but ready to work off the lingering effects of the drinking she had done the night before by sparring with Ivan.

"This blade feels a little loose..." She tilted her neck to indicate which one she spoke of. "Could cost you in the future if you don't get that fixed." Zephyrine could break it with a few good blows if she wanted to, knowing exactly how it could loosen some more within that hilt.

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "I'm very distractive, I know." - The tone on his voice was so overtly smug, that Zephyrine would be able to feel the smirk that now adorned his face... A smirk that died down into a frown as she mentioned his loose grip.

- "Careful now, Caddel." - He said playfully, as he walked towards the tree he'd been perched upon. - "You're starting to sound like Proctor Gamble." - A grimace flickered through his features at the mention of the grumpy, old Proctor.

As he reached the trunk of the oak, he snapped his fingers. A black swirl erupted then from his fingertips, corroding away the tip of one of the higher branches. A few seconds later, he caught a small pack as it fell towards the ground.

Rummaging through the inside, he took out an apple, bright and red as the blood of the Falwood elves, and threw it over at Zephyrine.

- "Come on Zeph," - He motioned her to follow, as he headed towards the edge of the clearing, further away into the forest. - "This circuit is much too easy. Let's try something more challenging, shall we?" - ​

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine caught the apple with ease, following the taller Initiate deeper into the trees as they trekked to the other circuits. They were a few she preferred to use in honing her skills, but she allowed Ivan to take his pick on which course to settle on.

"I may sound like Gamble, but I do insist on fixing your knife for you." Any excuse to use her magic, and perhaps gaining his admiration for it again like he did with the glass she had fixed the night before. "I learned some forge skills when I stayed in Vel Castere for a month... I want to keep up the practice at least. Maybe if Viret has a blacksmith, I could work on your knife?" She asked, turning to look up at Ivan.

Her extended invitation to join her on mission was still on the table, perhaps curious to see Viret with Ivan's guidance. If his concerns were the Proctor's giving him leave to join her, she would handle them.

"Maybe not this circuit... if it's a challenge you want?" The Recreator began to lead them both past the second circuit, and the next, determining that the type of course better suited to them was one of the deeper ones. Of course, walking may take close to an hour, but Ivan had given her an apple to keep her going for a little longer. A small carving knife came to existence in her hand, and Zephyrine cut a slice and held it out to offer him.

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Viret?" - He asked, still rather oblivious to the fact he had been - somehow - corralled into going on a mission - for free - last night. The realisation did not take long to hit him though, and yet again, a grimace flickered momentarily through his features.

Now, how the fuck would he get out of that?

- "Well, hey, I've never said no to someone fixing my gear for me." - He beamed. Though Ivan knew his way around a forge, his metallurgy skills were rather limited to whatever was sufficient to repair his weapons and armour... and even then he almost always tried to get out of the gruelling slog that was hammering metal.

Even he couldn't stop but admire the craft, however.

Metal-working built some of the most amazing innovations humanity had ever seen, from armour to jewellery and everything-in-between - and that was only just for metal. There were forgemasters the world-over that - beyond iron and copper - could bend even the most exotic of materials in their quest to forge some of the most powerful artifacts Arethil had ever seen.

In short, it was a useful skill to have, indeed.

He glanced over the circuit Zephyrine had pointed.

- "Agreed." - He said, as he took the apple slice. - "Have you ever been to the Old Stones?" - He asked. A fair distance after even the furthest of training grounds, beyond the very edge of the Academy grounds, lay the place that some initiates - those brave few that were courageous enough to make the hours-long trip - called the Old Stones. These were the remnants of an Anirian religious complex, predating the fall from grace of Vel Stratholm. The ruins offered an excellent mix of urban terrain - even if decayed beyond habitability - as well as some wide courtyards they could spar in, if they chose to do so.​

 

[Zephyrine]

Oh, what if he couldn't remember agreeing to tag along to her mission? And her offer to stop by the seaside Viret for dinner with him. She looked down, and pieces of her red hair fell loose from her lazy braid and hid her red cheeks. "Don't worry about Viret, I might not have the energy or time to visit after doing the repairs to that town..." After all, this was a replacement date, wasn't it?

But Zeph would look up at him, doing her best to keep up with his long strides, but she found it with ease. Her month is Vel Castere helped her become stronger, and her endurance improved too with her daily runs with Dreadlord Nevarre. After the night she had, she felt it wise to skip her run this morning.

"Old Stones? Do you mean the ruins?" She asked, brows furrowed slightly. "I know it." Explored too much of it on her own. In the months after her guardian had been murdered, she had made the trek to the ruins and unleashed her anger in some places. She scarred the stone, rebuilt some walls for her to demolish for her own gain, and became lost. She had visited in the past, but it had been at lest a year now since she was last there. "I think some Initiates don't visit the ruins anymore. Last time I was there, two Initiates wanted to... uh, consumate and I could not leave without them seeing me. Used magic to make them think the place had some spirit or something..." And it became her quiet place again.

 

[Ivan Skender]

He let out a hearty chuckle at Zephyrine's... misadventures at the Old Stones.

- "I don't doubt that." - Indeed, he himself had brought girls aplenty there. No spirit had shown during his...  consumations, however.

He then noticed her red cheeks, and, thinking them to be the product of fatigue, slowed his pace slightly.

"Cute, though."

- "I think after the Revolution, the place became more deserted." - He said of the Old Stones. Indeed, post-Republic, some of the more aggressive competitiveness at the Academy had died down, which had removed most initiates' need for a private, secluded training ground away from prying eyes. This, allied to the fact that one was less likely nowadays to be brutally mauled in the formal training grounds by the School meant the long hike to the ruins had become less and less appealing for most.

- "Though if you prefer, we can still stick to one of the tracks closer to here." - He glanced at her slyly, his brow furrowed in antecipation as he tried to gauge whether the girl really was as tired as her complexion hinted at.

Maybe this girl was just a delicate flower without much past pretty looks after all? Well, only one way to find out. He waited for her reply.​

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine threw him a look of incredulity, snorting at the suggestion to settle for the tracks in their area. "The track over that way suffered a fire few months back, and I am in no mood to repair that. The other track up ahead? I thought you were here for a real challenge." She shot back, smiling at him.

And to prove her point, she skipped ahead a few feet, careful of the uneven terrain as she turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Put those long legs to use and catch up."

Zephyrine was fast, but running such a trail meant she had to be careful of where her feet would fall, lest she injures herself. Small scratches and cuts were the basics she had learned to heal with her magic. Her hair fell out from the half arsed braid, the ribbon catching in her hair before flying off in her wake.

She came to rest at a crossroads in the woods, a good ten minutes of their time taken up by getting the run in. Her cheeks were now a soft red, the girl grinning to herself as it had felt good to loosen up. Of course, she hadn't stretched before hand, but it was a good short spurt that left her energised to continue.

"Looks like we have... less than an hour to go." She stood up to take in a deep breath, peering at Ivan and giving him a smile. "All uphill from here." Kress, there were some parts to the track that were quite steep, but would it look like she was taking the easy way if she used her magic to create something to help her climb better?

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Yes Ma'am." - He complied, as Zephyrine skipped past him and started to trek up the slope.

The next ten minutes he'd spend in silence, as the two of them warmed up for the hardest part of the hike, which they both would know was soon to come.

When Zeph at last ground her march to a halt, Ivan's features were also tinged with a hint of pink, though he remained in nearly perfect vigour. The assessment of an hour's duration to their little walk seemed accurate, and he flashed the girl a smile before they moved on.

- "Hope you're not scared." - He taunted. Many girls he went on hikes with alone usually did not make it past the third training ring, making up excuses about this and that before slyly suggesting they retire back to the dormitories instead... an offer he was always more than happy to take them up on.

Somehow though, he got the feeling this one was different.

In any case, he started walking again, this time at a more leisurely pace, as the slope slowly became steeper.

- "So," - He started again, trying not to let them spend this entire trip in sepulchral silence. - "Miss antisocial. What is it that you do for fun?" -

He cocked his head to get a good glimpse at the redhead.

- "Besides training, of course." -​

 

[Zephyrine]

"Antisocial?" Zephyrine laughed, her hand straying to the side of the track to catch a few leaves through her finger before catching onto one and pulling it free from it's thin branch. Two leaves from one twig, she twirled it absentmindedly. "I guess that is warranted. I, uh... I like to read... the adventure sort." She snorted, looking at him. "Gods, I must be so boring. I also write stories of my own too."

She had only read literature written by Anirians, but on a mission to Vel Zrada, where she had been told she was born, Zephyrine had bought a book about the fairytales of the Falwood.

"I tried to get into Anirball, once. Thraah dragged me to a game in Vel Anir, and afterwards, tried to teach me how to play. It is much different than I thought. The players that played the game made it look so easy..." She thought she would be too quick for Thraah, but her enthusiastic friend surprised her out of the blue and tackled her to the ground. Hard.

 

[Ivan Skender]

It was his turn to chuckle.

- "Never apologize for being boring." - He said with a smile. - "I like to exercise and do math homework." - He shrugged. - "Some people would call that boring. You like what you like." - Reading though was pretty boring, but still, he'd invited the girl out for a date in the woods, not to chastise her on what she did with her free time. Besides, reading on adventures could be interesting... even if only mildly.

- "I remember there was this really good book on the library here." - He said, a brooding look on his face. - "It was written by some Forbarr nobleling some time ago. It was based on myths from Amol-Kalit, with God-Kings, Djinns and the sort. Pretty fun read." - He continued, trying to see if he could remember some further details that he could make a conversation out of.

He would quit these musings however, when Zeph mentioned Anirball.

- "Oh?" - He furrowed his brow in amusement. - "Yeah, Anirball has a bit of a learning curve." - He smiled. - "But when you master it, it's pretty fun." - Like everything in Vel Anir, it could be rather brutish... but then again, that was - in and of itself - part of the allure of the game.

Zephyrine​

 

[Zephyrine]

To hear Ivan speak of such a book, one she remembered reading in her younger years, had made her wish to find it again for fresh eyes to bring the story to life. Perhaps another time, she would offer to recount the tales told in that book to him.

Yet the conversation settled onto Anirball, something she had not much understanding of to hold a full conversation. "I see it as a challenge." She declared, smiling all the while. "Another weapon to perfect in the forge over and over until I get it right."

Her tawny gaze assessed him once more, this time giving him awareness she was doing so. "You look as if you could play well. If we were to play a game, I would like to have you on my team." Where she did not excel in being fast on the field, there had been one concept she was rather good at. Zephyrine knew where one ought to be on the field to gain an advantage, to be well placed and able to secure a goal.

"I am sure having you on my team should make Thraah weep." She imagined, grinning to herself.

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "To have me on the opposing team would make quite a lot of people weep, I imagine." - He quipped, quite pleased at being gouged in such a manner. Girls' compliments on his physique, or athletic prowess, had always gone a long way to inflate his ego.

- "Though," - He said, leaning his head slightly sideways to get a proper look at the girl beside him. - "you look like you can handle yourself in a squeeze. In sports that's about as good as actual physical talent." - Especially in one like Anirball, where one really needed to think on his feet.

He then proceeded to take a good look up-and-down her form. - "The two of us would make such a team that it would make Thraah, and all the other Proctor's pets, squirm." - ​

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine found herself grinning, turning her gaze forward as they began to ascend yet another steep incline. Step by step, they took it slow so as to keep the conversation flowing. "I put on a lot of muscle when I was in Vel Castere. Had a Dreadlord train me to keep up in the forge but I am yet to put my new strength to use."

She chuckled, pausing as she took the last steps that reached a bend before another ascent. They were closer now to the training space they were headed for. "I am fast, that much I know." Zephyrine huffed, catching her breath. "But I will need more time to really assess winning maneuvers and put them into practice. Maybe you can show me one day?"

Her eyes found him again, catching the moment sunlight lit his face. Stunned, she watched as his hair looked golden and his eyes turn to purest silver, glittering to and fro from his natural colour and the enhancement from the light.

"I like your eyes." Her cheeks were already pink from their uphill climb, but the way her hands found each other and began wringing told him as much that she was being shy about her admission. "They are so... well... they change in different lighting... and I... like that..."

Zephyrine gave him a sheepish smile before laughing. "You must hear that a lot."

 

[Ivan Skender]

Maybe you can show me one day?​

- "Why not today?" - He grinned. - "Kress knows we'll have the time." -

He was preparing to go on about Anirball when the girl's comment on his eyes caught him by surprise.

Though they both seemed winded from their hike, this time it would be Zephyrine - staring into his features as she was - that would see an abnormal tinge of pink taking hold over Ivan's cheeks.

It had never happened to him to have a girl giving him compliments. Usually it was the other way around, with him showering whatever girl had earned his fancy with praise and adulation.

Sincerely taken aback, he also started having flashes of the night prior when he had mused about whether the red-headed girl might've felt something for him. The memory had all but evaded him until now, though - fueled by alcohol or not - he did wonder if his drunken self might not have been onto something after all.

- "Not really." - He replied, running his hand through his blonde hair in a somewhat timid fashion. In fact he reckoned he'd never heard it before. - "Though I appreciate it." - He gave her a warm smile.

- "Thanks." - He continued, still somewhat unsure about what to reply with. Fuck, what did girls usually tell him when he spun his honeyed praise? Truth be told, he was always too distracted imagining what he'd do afterwards, behind closed doors, to even pay attention to their replies.

- "I like your hair." - He said after a short break, trying to sound more self-assured than he really was.

It was also as obvious as it was true. As the Sun shone upon the both of them, its golden rays illuminated Zephyrine's hair, giving it a truly fiery hue.

He took a step closer to her, and realised his heart had started racing. He reached out with his hand, and tucked her dishevelled braid behind her ear.

- "You're very pretty." - He said, his heart pounding so loudly he was afraid she might hear it.​

 

[Zephyrine]

Kress, if she knew Ivan was going to be this close...

Even if she had readied herself, prepared for how devastating he would look this close and in the daylight, Zephyrine still would be staring up at him with a nervous smile. In all her life, she had never thought the boy she had watched from afar would be here, putting up a good jest with conversation with her after meeting the night before.

"Thank... you." She breathed, finally releasing that held breath. It was the first time someone had said that to her, the very words out loud and plain as day. "You... you too."

You know what? Fuck it! Life was meant for seizing what you wanted!

Zephyrine took that last half step towards him, a hand going to rest at his bicep. She remembered how her lips turned upwards in amusement when she felt how solid his muscle was beneath her gentle hands that created so many things, but before she could try and tilt her face to his, and lean in, a disturbance could be heard up ahead.

Caddel's head swiveled towards the sound before turning her body to stand still and alert. She listened, catching another sound as there most definitely was something happening in the ruins that once housed as a dangerous training field for Initiates.

"Perhaps there is a ghost in the ruins." But as she turned her head back to Ivan, there was an excitement in her tawny eyes.

"Shall we go investigate?"