Pretty Things - [Ellion_Eickman]

[Azaria]

So, he was a traveller, she figured. She could travel. What else would she do with her life? This water city was not her thing, for sure. Azaria didn't like water, much.

"You there! Boy! My friend here tells me she saw you stealing from my stand. Is that true?!"

Azaria's cat eyes broke away from the man, though she remained near him, sharing his warmth in the cold air. Her ocean-coloured eyes flitted over the white-haired woman who was accusing her new friend to fix upon another. She was beautiful, with soft features. Her skin was pale, and was lined here and there with pretty scales. Like a fish, Azaria thought. Her light blonde hair looked soft, too, and Azaria reached out to touch it.

Before she could, however, the man claimed her attention, pulling her abruptly away from the pretty women. Presently, her mind was occupied with the joys of running. She found herself following the man into the forest beyond the city, and was overjoyed by the scent of living wood. While the man caught his breath, she brought the blueish needles to her nose, smelling them happily. She closed her eyes, shivering away the slight goosebumps at coming home. The forest was home. Not the Darigan, where one was trapped in the middle of endless water. Nay, her home was in the forest where one could roam free.

Azaria twirled in her happiness, her dark cloak whipping around her. When she tumbled onto the forest floor on her back, her eyes set upon the man, alive with simple joy. She sat up, smiling in her innocent happiness at him and told him, "Loads of fun."

The Kelvic looked about her, wondering if they might make shelter, here. She gracefully rose to her feet and wandered, running her hands along the trees. She had never seen trees, before, but she liked them. Azaria glanced back at the man curiously, wondering what he was called.

Slinking through the trees, she approached him again, coming up mere inches from him. "Do you have a name?" She asked him softly, at peace with her surroundings.

[Ellion Eickman]

Ellion placed his hands in front of him defencively as he backed away from her. He had a kind smile, but his face clearly showing he was a little uncomfortable.

"Hey now, I need a little personal space alright?" After he had put a few feet between them, he leaned against a tree.

"My name is Ellion. Ellion Eickman. Sorry I had to drag you all the way out here," He laughed a little as he spoke. "Heat of the moment I guess." He looked around at his surroundings. Breathing in the cool, crisp forest air. He hadn't been out of the town since he had arrived and decided he liked it much better out there. The only problem is that there wasn't anything to take.

[Azaria]

Though his discomfort amused her, she gave him his space, remaining where she was. She studied the way his lean, young body curved slightly against the trunk of the tree. He looked very simple, as if meant to blend in, yet his eyes stood out. They were alive and bright, and Azaria liked them.

She twirled again, her arms stuck out.

"Ellion." She tasted the man's name, rolled it along her tongue in a purr. Azaria liked him. She liked him very much, indeed. He had fed her, and brought her to this wonderful place. Yes, she liked him.

The Kelvic shifted her small backpack under her cloak and looked into the distance. The winter sun was setting quickly, and the sky, along with the forest, was darkening. "I don't s'pose you've got, say, a tent handy, Ellion Eickman?" Azaria asked, pulling her mother's silver dagger from her pack. It was a pirate's dagger, and looked like one with its slight curve and sharp, jagged edge. She went over to one of the trees, set her pack down, and began to saw off a few thin branches for a fire.

[Ellion Eickman]

Ellion watched as the girl danced around among the trees. She made him nervouse. She was too energetic, and draws too much attention to herself. As a thief, attention was the last thing that he wanted. But here, in the middle of a forest, Ellion decided it was not that big of a deal, and relaxed a bit. This girl is like a child! he thought.

"A tent?" He said, somewhat taken aback by her question. "No, I don't have anything like that. Then his eyes fell on her dagger. Benieth his cloak his body tensed. He wrapped the cloak tighter about himself and reached with his right hand around to his back. He slid his fingers into the glove portion of his weapon. The Bagh Nakh. It looked like a normal fingerless glove, but with one major difference. This glove had three long blades, shaped like claws, protrudig from between the nuckles.

It was not untill the girl began sawing the wood that he relaxed. But he did not disarm himself. Living with bandits, he learned that trustworthy people in this world were difficult to come by. And altho she is childlike, he had no idea who this girl really was.

"I've never really had the need for a tent. Never spent much time outdoors I'm afraid." He said.

[Azaria]

Azaria gave him a strange look. Who, she wondered, doesn't spend time outside? She loved outside. The Kelvic tossed the small branches she collected into a small pile carelessly, gathering them on the forest floor. Forgetting his need for space, she approached him, circled him closely as she would as a panther.

"And where were you intending to spend the night, Ellion?" His name rolled off of her feline tongue in almost a purr as she tousled his hair playfully. Her mother's dagger was held loosely in her left hand. Natasja Redwood had been left-handed, and had thus taught her daughter to wield her weapon likewise. Azaria did not, however, intend to use her weapon against the man. He was good to her, after all.

[Ellion Eickman]

Ellion stiffened again as Azaria approached him. He did not like that she still held the dagger. He eyed her closely as she circled him. It was not untill she touched him that he did anything.

His right hand snapped out cloak, knocking her hand away as he steped back. He left his weapon revealed as he slowly backed away.

"Really Azaria!" he yelled, "I don't believe in hurting women, but you need to back away. It makes me VERY uncomfortable when you do that!"

Then he relaxed a little. "I-I'm sorry I yelled at you..." he said timidly as he wrapped his cloak back around him.

[Azaria]

Azaria pulled her lips back in a snarl, baring her teeth, raising her dagger defensively. Her eyes fell upon the weapon with both distrust and curiosity. It was like her own claw.... but not. Her dagger slowly lowered as she studied it from afar.

She wondered, vaguely, why she made him so uncomfortable. Was it that she was different? Did her nakedness, earlier, unsettle him? Nay, that couldn't be it; Azaria was clothed, now. Perhaps he simply did not like having people close to him. She didn't understand why that would be. She liked it when people touched her, ran their fingers through her fur, her hair.

Ellion Eickman was strange.

As he apologized, Azaria's lips returned to normal, concealing her sharp incisors. She kept her eyes carefully trained upon the man as she made her way around him, about a good few feet away. Her dark blue eyes never left his face as she pulled her pack over to the pile of sticks.

The Kelvic slowly dipped her hand into the backpack, feeling around for her flint and steel. Her dagger was out, laid out upon the forest floor beside her, ready to be of use if the man made any sudden movements. Her trust for him had wavered the moment he had pushed her away, and she was wary of him, now.