Of Knights and Forest Sprites (Markus Andres)

[Aello]

Summer 13, 512 AV Light filtered through the trees, reflecting off crisp pools of mud. Darkened eyes; cold as shadow, as inky in obscurity as coal plucked freshly from the earth. Beams wove between frayed strands; circling hairs that tumbled down the head of a maiden whose flesh was as light as the moon. Lockes which bounced with each of her fluid steps; akin to skipping, as she eased herself through the line of trees. The tips of her brown suede leather boots falling into each of the rising red; tracks of a man she had been following for several chimes, perhaps even a bell by now. As her toes touched down, the wisps would scatter, returning only when she had passed on. She could see the mist swirling about the indentations she had formed; that which was left in her wake. The soft scent, nearly indistinguishable when coupled with the flavors of the forest; the pungent odor of a man's sweat, shed after a long day of travel. A hard day at work. It was enough to make Aello's nose scrunch up with displeasure, to make her eyes tear a little, to sting despite the lack of sunlight bombarding her almond shaped eyes. Enough to make her nudge her bow's frame higher up onto her shoulder with her chin, and tighten her grip around her dagger's hilts as she made her way along. Oh, where could this one be? Aello wondered as she continued down the illuminated path her magic had cast. Her thirst for contact with another human being, now that it had been several days, mounting rather swiftly. These tracks have gone on and on endlessly for ages now. Where in all of creation could he possibly have hidden himself from the likes of an aurist? With lips tightly veiled, pressed firmly against one another in both frustration and concentration, she rounded an old oak as her thumbs idly stroked the hilts of her weapons. She hoped it wasn't long now before she found him. For at the rate she was traveling, she felt as though she may simply give up searching soon enough.

[Markus Andres]

It was the wilderness. One would think Markus would have grown weary of the sight of trees and the never ending forests of Sylira. But it was quite the contrary. After returning from his quest, he had felt trapped in Syliras and the caves. It was quite small and claustrophobic after witnessing the vast world. So at first freedom he had, he went back out. Live in a place where he can stretch his arms without hitting someone or a wall. He stopped briefly. Looking at the hill before him. Finding the best path up the side. A smile crossed his lips as he suddenly took off. His powerful leg muscles propelling him up the steep hill. The bastard sword he carried by his side made it a bit hard to sprint, but what hindered him the most was the backpack with supplies, including arrows, and the heater shield tied in a way that made him able to get it in a moment’s notice. His bow was over his shoulder. But he hardly had a care in the world as he sprinted up the steep hill. A tree at the top had several thick low hanging branches. He had an idea. At the top of the hill he stopped and found a suitable tree. Without much thought he removed the backpack from his back and placed it on the ground. Heater shield on top so animals would have a harder time getting to it as he got his bearings. Bow placed as well and his bastard sword moved from being attached to his hip to across his back. He still had the dagger as well, below his left armpit. He was ready. He bend his powerful legs and jumped. Shooting straight into the air, his arms reaching out and easily catching the branch. He looked down. With arms straight he was about a foot and a half from the ground. For a moment he hung there. Still, taking in a deep gasp of air. Before he heaved himself up His biceps and triceps flexed and his arms looked stronger than ever. Muscles clearly outlined. It was much too warm in the summer to be wearing any armor beside the essential. Unless one sought trouble, on purpose. But that was far from his mind. Rather, he focused on getting to the top of the tree. Branch by branch he got closer to the top. His massive arms pulling his large body up. Finding a foothold before pushing the rest of his body up. His arms strained and he paused halfway. Before he continued again. Making sure the branches he planned on continuing on were safe for climbing. Tree climbing was a good exercise. It gave strength and agility to get through the narrow branches and twisting oneself to find the best way to the top. The tree climbing was not an exercise, but rather to see if there were any landmarks in the area and to get a feel of the topography. He would rather not be heading into mountains. Getting nearer the top of the tree things started getting interesting. Some branches were too delicate or thin to support him. But it seemed he had chosen a poor tree. A tree that was smaller than most other trees. So all he could see was taller trees. He sighed silently as he contemplated going Jamoura style and jump to a different tree. But then a more rational sense of him figured that was probably suicide. Instead. He sat there for a moment while letting his arms rest a little before he would descend again. It would be a couple of chimes. Watching the green leaves and the position of the sun. Guesstimating the time of day. Then he remembered he had left most of his stuff on the ground below. Best get down there and make sure bandits or animals hadn’t taken off with all of his stuff. He started the descend. Something that was as demanding on his body as the climb up.

[Aello]

The colors followed a winding path, leading on and on until they came to the base of a tree. One whose limbs sparkled with Syna's light. The source must be somewhere around here, the girl thought, as she shielded her eyes with her right hand and looked up to find Markus making his way back down. She smiled weakly as she took in the sight of his coiling muscles, rippling beneath his flesh. Pale skin which shimmered with a thin blanket of sweat. His mane of deep blonde hair. "Well hello," she called in a rather friendly tone. "Suppose I shouldn't be too surprised to find you in a tree. Your trail was more than a pain to follow for the last few bells." She paused a moment, as a mysterious glimmer sprang into her eyes. Making the muddied irises seem more like pools than unappetizing heaps. "But no matter. Here we both are now. In the middle of the Wildlands, several day's travel in any direction to many a nearby city or town." Aello's lips widened into a smile as her eyes continued to rake over the knight's form. She tilted her head to the side, allowing her long brown hair to cascade down the length of her shoulders, past the middle of her back. "You must be wondering who you're speaking to," the aurist wore on. "The name's Aello, and I suppose you could say I've made this forest my home for several seasons now. Considering how so few have want nowadays. Use for a huntress, more or less." She shrugged. "Strange to see such a clean shaven man around these parts. Don't suppose you call this place your home. You seem far too civilized for that, which leads one to wonder just who you are, and where you came from. If you'd care to tell that tale of course. There's no making you do anything, is there?" she asked as she pressed her left hand into the tree's bark, allowing her fingertips to settle into the diamond backs. Allowing dirt to wedge itself behind her nails. "But then again, we do have all day, hunting being easy enough this time of year. With all the young and injured game and such."

[Markus Andres]

The descent was going well. He did not run into any major trouble as he carefully climbed down. His left foot was carefully placed on a branch that seemed thick enough to hold him if he was careful about his weight. But he should soon be down safely. Well hello Markus hated that feeling. Shock. Surprise. Terror. As a shiver went down his spine and neck hairs went stiff. Suddenly a different terror washed over him. The loss of gravity. For his left foot slipped on the branch. For a brief moment he was in free fall. Before his right arm clenched tightly around the branch it had been resting against. His left shoulder slammed against the tree. Markus let out a little grunt as he hung there briefly and recovered. Searching for a new branch he could place his weight on. He soon found one and he looked down at the newcomer. A woman. Looked friendly enough. At least when she wasn't trying to murder him by saying hello. He continued the descent and soon landed before the woman. "Well hello to you too. Gave me quite a scare." He said with a simple smile as he beat some dirt off of his left arm. There was something odd about this woman. Seemed friendly and talkative enough, but how had she followed him for bells? Better question would be: Why? For company. Perhaps? For Markus had been desperate for human contact when doing his knighting quest. Going from a large city with people everywhere, to a large forest without any people at all. Only trees. It was freeing at first. Then it grew dull. Soon it was maddening. With no one to talk to. Markus was quite certain he would have gone mad had it lasted any longer. He could understand her desire for company. He looked to his items. Had been left undisturbed. So, she was not a bandit. At least not interested in his stuff, or she would just have run off with it. "Name is Markus, Markus Andres. Pleasure to meet you, Aello, although I must admit it is rare I run into friendly folks in the forest. Most of them either want my life or my items." He said with a hearty laughter. "I look civilized? Well, I suppose that makes sense, considering. I am from Syliras the capital of civilization, or so I hear. I spent some time travelling and when I returned to Syliras, it felt a little... Cramped? With so many people." He repositioned the bastard sword on his back to his side again. Never making any quick motions. "And you? What brings you out here and what made you find my tracks particular interesting?" He asked casually, yet interested in the answer. Scout for a larger host of bandits? Not unheard of. A single attractive female getting the attention while others sneak up on the unsuspecting victim.

[Aello]

Aello chuckled. "Another knight then," she commented. "A large improvement over the last lot that came out here. Petching assassins and 'stryfe alike. Can't get enough of them after leaving that wretched city." Which, ironically, we have to head right back to. A soft smile crossed her cheeks. "Everything seems cramped after spending nearly a year out here, just traveling," she paused. "And they weren't interesting per se, just notably human." With that her smile widened as coiled muscles sprang. Rippling against a bed of pale skin. Her feet shifted, heels pressing into the ground just enough to release the occasional grain of dirt. Her heart skipped a beat as she pushed up against the ground, propelling her body forward, with arms swinging so as to press her along a little more quickly, Aello ran. Within a chime, the girl's body had crashed into Markus' sending them both sprawling. Arms flailed as they stumbled back. Eventually falling to the forest floor; hard. With Aello firmly on top. Her fingers hungrily circling the knight's wrists, and pushing them back. High over his head as her body rested firmly in the saddle. Legs bent at the knee, and pressed up against his sides, holding the man tightly in place. The girl leaned in. Long brown hair cascading down the length of her shoulders, and falling across her face. Loosened strands tickling plump lower lip of rosy shade. Muddied eyes sparkled at the sight of their prize; their triumph. "Do you know an Akalak by the name of Xalet?" Aello asked before pausing a moment, allowing struggling knight to answer. "We trained together once. Dira only knows how much he needed it, to remain on the other side of her realm." The girl's eyes glimmered as she leaned a little closer, allowing their lips to dangle no more than four inches apart. The frayed edges of her hair tickling bare neck, caressing stubbled hairs. "And now, it seems she about has her hand on you. Considering how easily you tumbled." Aello smirked. "Shame, I've only half the heart to do the same with you. Train, so you might not be such easy pickings the next time you venture into the wood." With a final, satisfied smirk Aello gave the man's wrists a squeeze before letting up. Unfurling her fingers, and allowing her hands to slide casually up the length of bristling arms. Coiling against muscle as limbs fell against lithe form. With another moment come and gone, she swung her right leg over the side of his body, as though dismounting a stallion. Seconds later, Aello pushed up against her hands, still firmly pressed into the man's center. Smiling wickedly, she helped herself up and brushed herself off before offering the knight a hand. "You coming, or do you intend on staying down there forever?" she asked as sparkles radiated against the surface of her eyes.

[Markus Andres]

Markus' eyes went wide went the girl suddenly leapt at him. He tried to step back and away to catch the girl, but she was darned quick and something caught his foot so rather than take a smooth step back, he lost his balance and stumbled. For a moment thinking he had it again. But then nature decided to have a slightly difference in elevation and he fell. With a girl who seemed to weigh no more than a hundred pounds pinning him to the ground. Had he misjudged the girl? Was she a scout meant to ensnare horny travellers? He looked into her chocolate brown eyes. Something told Markus that a girl half his weight would barely be able to hold him down if he really wanted her to. He tilted his head, if she had meant to ensnare him, such a direct method would be foolish and the girl didn't seem dimwitted. She must have had some idea with tackling him to the ground. Kelvic. She could be a kelvic. Ready to transform and eat his face. Panic crossed his face briefly before she mentioned Xalet. Then it was only confusion that was painted upon his face. What were the odds? "I do." Markus simply said without clarifying. Feeling quite annoyed with all the hair in and around his face. Perhaps it was time he put the charade to an end and just use his greater strength and simply power his way out of the hold. But she continued. Had she trained with Xalet? He knew that Xalet's master, mistress rather, was a female. But he also knew that she was a Konti. Certainly not this woman. He found it hard to believe. But why would she lie? Would be a strange lie to tell. He was very confused. But he understood all too well that she was insulting his honor by insulting his abilities. But before he could react to the insult, she squeezed his wrists and let go. Her light touch upon his muscles felt odd. Her pressure on his center of mass felt annoying and it took all his knightly discipline to not strike out at her when she used him to push herself up. She regained a little standing when she offered her hand. He grabbed it and sat up, pretending to be about to get all the way up, when instead. He did the most unknightly thing. He violently pulled the woman right down on him again. His free hand catching her free arm. He would twist his own weight over so she would be the one on the ground. "Do tell me, what do you have to teach me?" He said with the tone clearly showing that he was quite angered by her behaviour. "And if Dira was determined to claim me, then there is nothing I could do to deny her will."

[Aello]

Aello's eyes shimmered as the knight took her hand; but they faltered as soon as she could see how he'd changed. She felt a sudden jerk and then nothing, for she was temporarily weightless. Falling through the air silently, and without grace, guided by the stranger's hand. She landed on top of him a few heartbeats later, only to find his body twisting so that his form rested above hers. His vibrant green eyes glimmering as she looked into them, her lips curling into a satisfied smirk. "What?" she asked. "Don't like a girl on top?" Aello added as muddied irises shimmered with Syna's radiance. A controlled chuckle escaping her lips a moment before she pulled it back. Reined it in. Aello's body shifted uncomfortably beneath that of the knight. Trying to get her a better spot in the mud. "There are many things that another could teach you knight. For one, how to hold that temper, lest you fall to darker temptations. The second, is how to fight properly against certain weapons, both ranged and near. How to escape arts which are not of this world; and beings as well. Of course, there's the counter. Being taught how to fight with all of those things to be the best of your ability." The aurist paused as her tongue slipped past her lips, and circled them lazily, whetting the surface before drawing past a veil kept tightly sealed shut. The girl squirmed beneath the knight, trying to loosen his hold on her wrists, but if anything, Markus' grip seemed only to tighten. But Aello wasn't annoyed by this, as she leaned into him a little. "Or even," she whispered, "how to get out of this mess without so much as lifting a finger," she finished as her gaze swept over his neck. Taking note of the neon blue and green veins which pulsed just beneath the surface of his skin. The way his muscles coiled against the adam's apple as she came closer, extended her tongue, and swept it up the length of his neck to the underside of his earlobe. Where she tickled it gently by flicking her tongue as her right leg inched closer to the knight's. A moment later, and her leg had tangled beneath Markus' limb. Aello offered a slight tug as she whispered, "you see?" and pulled herself out from under him, rolling onto her side, before jostling her wrists and fighting with her hands, so as to pin him down, so that she could mount, and keep him beneath her while she ended her short speech. "Don't be upset, ser knight, for there is nothing worth being so for." The young spiritist chuckled as she continued to shift her weight, trying to seek the upper hand in their minor spat. "You have a lot to learn you know, and while the sentiment is appreciated about the lady Dira, it doesn't explain the existence of the undead." She paused a moment as she took a deep breath in through the nose, and out through her mouth, to help calm her mounting irritation. Having stemmed from the frightful word. "Or rid their vile filth of this world." With that, Aello would roll away, and attempt to gain more of her composure. Brush herself off, while she kept her eyes peeled on the knight. Taking note of his actions, and any lingering emotions.

[Markus Andres]

Markus looked straight down at the girl he had pinned. She did look attractive. That much was true. Don't like a girl on top? Markus had met many people in his life. He had killed a few of those as well. But never in his time had he run across someone as strange as the girl he was pinning to the forest floor. His commonly rational and logical brain could simply not understand what drove this girl. Her actions seemed incoherent in comparison to her goals. Unless her goal was to keep him confused and constantly second guessing everything that was happening every moment. In that case she succeeded quite efficiently. He was determined not to let her go so easily. At least until he had gotten some answers. Her tongue travelled up his neck to his earlobe. Something that had a mixed reaction from him. His juvenile reaction was to flush his entire brain with hormones. The other reaction was to become even further confused. Adding arousal to the confusion did not help him to think any clearer. Nor did it help that her body was that close to him. He did not take notice of her other movements. So imagine his surprise when suddenly he was flung back by a sharp pain in his leg. Immediately seized by the girl and she now had him pinned. Markus was thoroughly confused. Markus tilted his head when she spoke of the undead and the tone of voice. It did not take an expert psychologist to know that the girl harboured some hatred for the undead. She rolled away from him. He was confused and still holding resentment towards the strange female. "Practice what you preach. You seem mighty upset over the existence of the undead." He said as he tested his leg she had used to get him back with. No permanent damage. That he could feel at least. "And still, does not change. If Dira was determined that I was to be claimed, even turning undead could not deny her her will. I am a man, she's a goddess. It is the same that an ant would deny me water." The talk of gods reminded him of a particular god of discipline and conviction. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, Markus visibly calmed down. Still red cheeks from their close contact before, but his eyes held none of the anger. "I do not fall for dark temptations, I am a knight of Syliras!" He said with pride in his voice. "You said you could teach me. You showed me a trick. A leg lock or manipulation of sorts. Anything else you can teach me, follower of Dira?"

[Aello]

Aello chuckled, of course he couldn't. Unlike the Ebonstryfe, his mind was far too grand for such things. "Depends on what you should desire to learn, now doesn't it?" Aello asked before pausing a moment. Retrieving the cursed blade from concealment. She twirled it idly between her fingers then, nails scarcely digging into wire hilt as the faded silver sparkled in the sunlight. "For one, you could be taught how to fight with a shorter blade, or perhaps, how to properly defend against it. Deflect when it is raised towards your flesh, and dodge when it is hurled at you." She paused a moment, considering, as her muddied irises raked over his sun baked skin. "Or, you could be taught the art of the bow, how to hunt with a ranged weapon, and keep yourself alive in a desolate place such as this." She paused. "Surely a city slicker such as yourself hasn't quite mastered that." She offered a small smile then, "there's always the artful dodge, if not other more, base pursuits... such as becoming well versed in seductive games. Surely, such a thing would come handy in your profession, would it not?" she asked, as she forced herself to stop twirling the dagger and grasp the hilt firmly. The girl's eyes danced over the knight's bristling arm, seeking an answer. If not a series. "If nothing suits, you are always welcome to make suggestions," Aello wore on, as she twirled her dagger once last time, and drove it home, to its sheath. It stuck with a hollow ring. "So what will it be?" she inquired, smoldering coals fixated on salty beads, which trickled down the length of Markus' skin.

[Markus Andres]

Markus' right arm instinctively went for the hilt of his bastard sword she drew her dagger. His eyes narrowed. Until she explained herself. Or, offered to teach him how to use a dagger. In that context, it made sense. But still. Markus was wary of the woman. Markus couldn't shake the feeling that this girl was driven by the first impulse that entered her head. What if her next impulse was to plunge that dagger deep into his unarmored heart? He was not afraid of the final meeting with Dira before passing on, but he did fear that his death would hold no meaning. A pointless death. To have trained so hard, for nothing. Would be a waste. That did scare him. She appeared to be interested in teaching him a lot of things. Markus could not help but to be quite intrigued by several of her offers. But one thing stood out more than the other. Seduction. Markus knew what seduction meant. If she had to teach him. She would have to show him. And Markus knew for a fact that there were no test subjects, but him and her for miles. Could be quite pleasant. Markus was at a dilemma, he did not really trust the woman, but she did seem knowledgeable and despite his larger physique, she had been able to manipulate him around on the forest floor. His lust for improvement won. His hand slid down to the dagger by his side. He drew it slowly. Last fall he had taken a life with a dagger similar to the one in his hand. In order to save a girl from misguided souls. He looked to the dagger, then to the woman. Try and insert some of what he called, his charm, into the conversation. "Although your offer to try and seduce me does sound quite tempting. But, and do not take it the wrong way, you are quite a beauty, I have a vested interest in getting better with the dagger. But what do you require in return for this training?" Markus said. Something for something. He was the son of a merchant, after all.