[Flashback] On the Road (Wrenmae)

[Yanessavhanet]

A faint grin touched Vhanet's lips at Wrenmae's reluctance to pull away. His resolve was crumbling, and that meant she could have her fun in the end. A bit of patience was easy enough to conjure up if it meant she could indulge in a rare direct desire for someone else.

"Hypnotisssm? How interesssting," Vhanet hissed softly back to Wrenmae, letting her cheek rest lightly against his shoulder, "I can sssee how that would be a very ussseful ssskill to have. Being able manipulate sssomeone with a look," she gave a delighted shudder at the thought of the possibilities.

Whrenmae's next words caused Vhanet to pause for a moment. She wasn't used to granting the requests of others, at least without a cause, "You're interesssted, hmm?" she whispered softly, leaning up a bit to brush her lips against Wrenmae's ear, "Perhapsss we could work out sssome kind of deal? An exchange of sssortsss? I would be interesssted in learning sssome more of thisss hypnotisssm you ussse."

Perhaps, if he was enough fun, Vhanet might even show Wrenmae her true form without the exchange. Not that she would tell him that yet. It would be a poor game to reveal her desires so early on.

[Wrenmae]

A cool wind crept along the pass, raising the ends of Wrenmae and Vhanet's hair. Dancing, they fell back along their respective foreheads as the icy grip of Kalea crept into their veins. Wrenmae looked away from her, ahead to the spiderweb of crevasses and paths scattered in the rock face. Somewhere there was the remnants of a wagon.

Somewhere there were two bodies.

When Vhanet's lips brushed his hear, he flinched, suddenly unsure of where he was or what he was doing. Inside him, a little boy sickly and afraid ran to that wagon down one of these paths, ran and sobbed his mistakes to the cold blue sky.

"Hypnotism is dangerous," he muttered in answer, smiling softly at her advances "Most have gone mad under its influence, are you sure you want to learn?" She was beautiful, exotic bronzed skin and ample curves swaying sensuously inside a layer of furs. Maybe he would lay with her tonight, maybe not. He was young, too young to be thinking about the far future. Children grew up somewhere, smiling somewhere, laughing somewhere. Maybe Kit was happy today, maybe she was practicing reimancy. So many unanswered questions, mere ghosts upon his consciousness.

Seidaku had always said magic was like a sword, that one could use it to protect or to hurt and more often it was used for the latter. Could one blame magic for the tragedies of the world? A thousand mistakes and overgivings?

Perhaps it was true that magic was, in a sense, evil. A sword can be used to protect, but only by harming...in the end a blade was always a weapon...so was magic.

But he wanted to know more, desired to have more.

Kit would understand perhaps, although she likely didn't know.

Stiffening his back against the carriage seat he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He breathed the Kalea range, the ghosts of his past and the shades of his future. After a moment he looked to Vhanet again and grinned, slipping a hand into her furs and round her waist.

There was mischief in his eyes.

"There will be time to learn what we want," he said quietly, a private conversation for only them, "But if you're cold, perhaps I can lend you some of my heat before we part our ways."


Darkness came swiftly on the mountain and Wrenmae set his tent a ways away from the rest, from Brunswick, from the caravan master. He shared a short meal with the rest of them, laughed and told stories of the ranges and mountains that moved before taking his early leave. His tent was cavernous to him, easily size enough to fit more than just himself. He could feel the emptiness there, resonating.

In the black he waited company, Vhanet, who he doubted could keep abated in her curiosity for too long.

[Yanessavhanet]

"Living is dangerousss," Vhanet replied to Wrenmae's question on learning with a soft hissing laugh, "If you're ssscared of being hurt then you missss out on the bessst fun."

For a few moments it seemed Wrenmae was distracted by something, and Vhanet watched his face for signs of what it might be. Her curiosity and desire to pick at what might be a deep emotional wound were strong, but not enough to overcome her combinations of desires regarding Wrenmae. Perhaps if he proved to be not as fun as she anticipated she might push for it, but for now she could set aside her usual tricks and fun for something that could prove much greater.

Any further thoughts on what Wrenmae might be hiding were pushed aside as the man turned and grinned at Vhanet, wrapping his arm around her, and Vhanet replied with her own grin that mirrored Wrenmae's. Perhaps a bit more mischief sparkled in her eyes, but it was not mischief to be directed at him, "That sssoundsss delightful," she cooed softly up to Wrenmae as she slid in close to him.

~*~*~*~

As darkness fell and the caravan stopped to make camp Vhanet set her tent up a little ways off from the others, but not as far as Wrenmae. She also made sure that it was closest to Brunwick's tent, so that she could more easily pull off her plan for tonight.

She did not join the others for dinner, but appeared only briefly to whisper a reminder to him to meet her in his tent when he was done. After that she quickly made her way to Brunwick's tent, and once inside she began to strip off her clothing and quickly putting it all safely into the corner of her tent. Once completely naked she gave several satisfied groans and sighs as she underwent the transformation to her Dhani form. Coiling up in the back of the tent, obscured by the darkness, she waited.

Without clothes to help warm her the cold was even more unpleasant, possibly deadly if this went too long, but she figured from the eagerness in Brunwick's eyes that he wouldn't keep her waiting long. Luckily she was right, and the cold had only just started to drag her towards drowsiness and hibernation when Brunwick called her name from outside the tent.

"Come in Brunwick," Vhanet called, grinning as she caught the faint outline of the stupid guard opening the flap and coming in, "I'm in the back, in only the blanket. Come warm me?"

Vhanet could hear Brunwick's eagerness as he fumbled his way forward and began to remove his clothes. Once he was halfway into the tent she sprang forward and latched onto the front of his neck with her fangs and sharp teeth.

Brunwick only managed to get a startled gasp out before Vhanet tackled him to the ground and rendered him incapable of breathing or making a comprehensible sound with a twist of her head. Hearing his dying gurgles Vhanet sat back and grinned at him, whispering in the dark, "Poor Brunwick, you ssshould have jussst left me and Wrenmae alone... Then you might have lived."

Once Brunwick had finished moving Vhanet sat atop his body contemplatively. As much as she would love to just devour the fool's body he was large enough that it might keep her from changing back to her human form, and that wouldn't do. Still, it would be a shame to waste all the body, and so she settled for gnawing off one of his arms.

Once she had eaten her meal Vhanet turned her attention to the tent and set about making the scene she had planned out. Using her bloody fangs she pierced and tore at the fabric of the tent, making it look like some horrible beast had torn its way into the tent, and then she turned her attention to the inside. Tossing about and tearing things she completely the almost artistic scene, and with a final look over she shifted back to her human form and redressed in her warm clothes.

Making her way away from Brunwick's now ruined tent Vhanet made her way toward's Wrenmae's tent. Without announcing her presence she slipped inside the tent, eager to escape any possible notice and satisfy her desire, curiosity, or hopefully both. Once the tent flap closed she softly whispered, "Hello again Wrenmae..."

[Wrenmae]

He heard her behind him, turning to strain in the darkness. Calling to the Djed within him, he called his eyes to thin and dilate, and once more peer easier into shadow with cat eyes. It was one of his easier transformations, but he still took a moment with his eyes closed, touching the edge of manipulation to shift the cones and lenses of his eyes to accept the new ambient light levels.

She was smiling, a radiant healthy glow echoing off her skin.

"Hey," ambient moonlight filtered through the tent to gleam off hi skin, unrobed in the privacy of his own domain, "How are you this evening?" It was a question to fill the silence between them, the air ripe for possibility but holding itself just beyond action.

He stretched, adding seconds before he fully settled on her, mirroring her dangerous smile with his own. Dhani...snake people, the details of her were a mystery to him but her eyes gave dark promises, her body language confident and strong.

His daggers were away, but he felt he didn't need them. Not here, and not now. They both held something the other wanted. For a moment Wrenmae just marveled at the irony of their meeting. He was the least dangerous by default, but held a miasma of disease circling his body, waiting and alive, tempting and caustic.

"Show me, if you can, your true self."

He layered the suggestion with Hypnotism, letting his Djed flow out as before...a snaking spear to pierce her own aura, poison its consistency like ink into water. He drove her emotions to show him, to feel the desire to reveal herself, to hasten her own revelation and find his own. He'd used Hypotism too much lately and this may be one of the last times...he was pushing it.

[Yanessavhanet]

"I'm quite happy," Vhanet replied pleasantly to Wrenmae's question, faintly smirking as she noticed the light touch upon his bare skin, "I had a deliciousss dinner, and now have sssome enjoyable company for the night," her eyes traced along his form as he stretched, a look of desire plain upon her face, "And you, Wrenmae?" though her words were typically polite her tone was playful, and with just a hint of teasing.

Wrenmae's next words caused a faint shudder to travel through Vhanet's body at her desire to comply. She'd never met someone so persuasive with words as Wrenmae before, every time he spoke to her like that her building desire was almost pleasurable.

Without hesitation Vhanet began to strip off her clothing for the second time that night. This time there was no careful folding or putting away, each piece was roughly pulled off and tossed aside in her eagerness to give Wrenmae what he wanted so she could get what she wanted. Soon she stood naked and proud, and with a grin and a wink she softly spoke, "I hope you enjoy the show."

With that Vhanet began her transformation, her body slowly stretching and twisting into her Dhani form, and she gave soft groans of delight at the pleasant feeling of the change. She stretched luxuriously as her legs melded together and stretched out to her tail, and her scales sprouted along her arms. A exuberant shake of her head accompanied her hair vanishing into her scalp, and the sprouting of her hood at the sides of her head and neck.

She gave a rather erotic sounding sigh as the transformation finished, and she slithered towards Wrenmae slowly, his form now clear in the darkness to her enhanced senses, "What do you think?" she hissed softly, a playful smile on her lips as she reached out to lightly stroke his cheek, "Isss it like you expected, or completely different?"

[Wrenmae]

Transfixed, the fledgling mage watched as the Dhani slipped into her transformation. Scales edged their way across her flesh, her curves augmenting or shifting with the alignment of new bone structure. She grew in size, bled new skin and bone, curled and enjoyed it all.

In the dark, Wrenmae would have been blind. He corrected the issue with the slight release of Djed, his own eyes shifting in their sockets till he looked at her with a feline gaze. The low light visibility of cat eyes allowed for him to observe the change in her, follow the lines of transformation in her body till it was complete.

He would have to thank her for making it slow, demonstrating proper morphing to a boy who had scarcely begun to touch the craft. Even as she crawled to him, Wrenmae called bleak and blackened scales to the backs of his hands and along the sides of his body, firming the skin and patterning it in lines of Djed. Her transformation had given him the perfect means of demonstration and now he yearned for more, to change as she did.

There was something unrelentingly free about morphing.

"Magnificent," he breathed, forcing his heart to remain calm as she lifted dangerous fingers to caress his face, "Simply magnificent." Words, as always, seemed to fail the storyteller, leaving him with the impression that until he harnessed that sort of power for his own, he would be left without a means to truly understand it.

It was foolish to say he was not excited, his own lust for her before simmering in his gut like a guttered fire, a warm reminder of his initial attraction. He smiled at her in the darkness, catching her eyes with his.

"One favor for another," he murmured, letting calming waves of Djed lance from his eyes and into her own personal aura, feeling the chemistry of it, embracing the changes his power provided..."You want a lesson?"

[Phoenix]

Yanessavhanet

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Seduction	4
Storytelling	1
Observation	2
Persuasion	2
Unarmed (fangs)	1
Socialization	3
Skill Name	XP

Lores

• The intrigue of a stranger
• Attempting to inspire Jealousy
• A look at Avaldas through story
• The Human Act
• To Kill and eat a man
• Tit for Tat: A secret for a secret

Wrenmae

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Hypnotism	4
Riding (horse)	2
Storytelling	2
Persuasion	1
Wilderness Survival	2
Socialization	3
Morphing	2

Lores

• The yearning for companionship
• Suffering from an Addiction: Hypnotism
• A short history of Ahantep
• A show of great willpower
• Dhani Shapeshifting

The Order of the Phoenix

I greatly enjoyed this thread! I loved the character interaction, it seemed very real and not as wooden as it can sometimes get when players aren't sure how their characters should act. Well done.

I tried to give lore and XP for everything without going overboard. If there is something you specifically wanted that I didn't give you, ask and you shall receive.

Any other questions, send me a PM!