Such a pain in the neck. ( Alea & Yuros)

[Yuros]

The chilled winter air felt wonderful as it pressed against his winter coat. Head held high Yuros breathed deep of the many scents that filled the forest. The smell of trees in slumber, the musk of animals asleep soundly in their dens. Quiet and peace had descended upon the land, and Yuros tread carefully so as not to disturb it.

Flicking an ear Yuros listened to the sounds of the snow fall, gazed at the white of the world as he slowly made his way through brush and trees. His head was held high in a regal mannor, as if he were a king strolling through the domain of his subjects, and while Yuros may not consider himself such the way he moved was with confidence and steadfast resolve. This was, as it always would be, his home.

Something then fell upon his mind, a lingering tingle that set the hairs along his spine to rise. Turning he flicked his ear, listening closely but not for sound. A pull at his soul, the link that bound he and the Huntress together, there echoed a call of... pain. Yuros' heart raced as he felt it, his bonded in distress. Forgetting the peace, no longer caring for the silence the great stag twisted his head about, turning his body as he searched for the source of this call, of this pulling at his heart that would lead him to where he must go. Then it snapped into place, and the sound of his hooves thudding against the ground shattered the peace.

A freedom descended upon the Kelvic as his heart pounded in time with his running hooves. Across the forest, through the trees he bounded, his powerful legs carrying him at speeds that made the world blur around him. Free of his Antlers due to the winter season Yuros gained a new agility and maneuverability. When during the summer season he would have to run with conscious attention paid to his antlers whereabouts, now he was free to spring without fear of their catching upon a limb or shrub. Thus he let his mind fall to the task at hand, finding Alea.

Breath... Breath... The pounding of his hooves upon the white ground filled his body with a rhythmic thrumming to match his intake of air and thudding heart. Sailing across the ground, almost weightless, the Kelvic flew through the trees and grass, eyes forward and mind calling out to the one whom he held dear, I come Alea. Do not fear, for I will be there soon.

He could feel Alea detect his presence, and a confusing mix of signals flew through their bond to contrast with what Yuros already knew. Stay back, do not come. Stay away. It called over and over, words from the Huntress which spoke opposite of the mix of feelings that flooded into his soul through their bond. That human part of his mind slowly bubbled to the surface, fighting back the raging instincts that told him to charge forward into the fray to defend his doe. Slowing is pace Yuros neared where he knew Alea to be, and quickly he let his mind take over for his instincts as he step forth into the clearing.

Stepping slowly from the brush Yuros would eye the situation. Head held high, the great stag stood 7 feet at the shoulder, the length of his neck making his over all heigh close to 10 feet. His foot steps would have proceeded him, the sound of 2000 lbs falling upon the ground in a rapid rate. Though he had no antlers, Yuros still held his head in a regal manner, a forest king that now made his presence known. Alea was upon the ground, a man over her. Rage and instinct fought against reason and humanity in an inward struggle that would be easy for Alea to pick up on. Eventually, however, the human part would win over and Yuros would step fully into the clearing.

A flood of sparkling lights engulfed the Dire Stag, and from it stepped a man with red speckled hair. He had a thin build and thick bands of lean muscle accented his his body, though perhaps most noticeable would be his utter nakedness. Walking slowly Yuros would raise his hands, "I do not know what has happened, but if my bonded has wronged you in any way I would beg your forgiveness for her." He stopped several strides from where the two were, "If you seek blood then I would ask you take it from me. Please allow me to take from her the punishment, earned or not."

[Ximal]

She'd stopped responding ? tch where was the fun in that ? Liro smiled shifting his weight lightly to angle more pressure onto her thighs. Perhaps that would get her to shift her mood. But no all it bought was more silence from her. Liro was getting annoyed now, the pure irridesance of annoyance pained across his face as he pinned her to the ground, a growling breath akin to a wild animals snarl slowly paced out of him. No conversation ? Nothing ? No fun. Xi played with the idea of twisting things in his head, should he push and then get he r to react through screaming should he make her break a slow punishment as he gently edged the shoulder bones from their sockets ? Liro's face smiled into a wicked grin, the plain biting undertone of painfully strong satisfaction danced across his features until. The foot falls, so that was why she was quiet she was calling for help ? How? Not both curiosity and a little bit of disappointment at the "self compared strong" woman beneath his grip. A big over glorified goat ? Seriously ? Was this the best she could call for ? Liro felt himself throwing out a laugh in to full roar, a searing bolt of thunder at the full volume his lungs could muster. Though as the light engulfed the stag, and it transformed it'self into a human. Kelvic of morpher....Liros money was on kelvic. Liro placed his eyes over the "stag" and raised an eyebrow. Did every one have to be naked in the spires. A sigh escaped him as he took down another breath before speaking back out towards the new addition to the area. "Might i recommend a pair of pants ? After all it is the middle of petching winter and I'd hate for you to catch a cold. Or freeze. Especially when i could just kill you and spare you the pain..." The stags words were... Amusing. he would beg forgiveness for his "bonded"? So that's why she was quiet, she was some how calling out for this bonded to come and save her. Liro snaked out a simple poisoned set of words towards alea meant to savagely tear at any pride she might have had. "You really are scraping the bottom of the barrel, when your in trouble you really have to rely on others to protect you, you little coward. You cant even defend yourself, so you call on stronger people to defend your worthless hide for you? You really are a stupid little girl. Still i suppose that cant be helped, after all you are young and impetuous. " Whilst Liro spoke towards alea still firmly pinned beneath him he listened to the "stag's" words. If he sought blood he would take her place. He would take her punishment for her own stupidity? Liro just smiled before turning his gaze towards the over glorified goat. "As much as i'd love to do that, it would serve no purpose, how else do you teach the stupid without a lesson ? They need to learn else they will repeat the same mistake over and over again. And if you offer to take her place every time, she will just continue with the disease of ignorance. Oh and before you step any further forwards factor in three things. One, you take a step and i dislocate both of her arms. Two, you take a step and try to attack me i dislocate both of her arms , and break your neck. Three, come at me as a stag and i'll bury an axe so far into your skull you'll have a new antler, and then i'll kill her. So just think about that before you make your next move."

[Alea Davenport]

A flare of annoyance passed through the bond to Yuros at his words and his offer. If she'd wanted to resolve this situation with apologies and forgiveness, she would have done so herself already. Yuros, offering to take any punishment she might have earned, both defeated the purpose of her actions, and filled her with an otherwise completely unnecessary guilt at risking his life.

And despite her feelings toward Ximal, she couldn't help but let out a quiet snort when he observed the ill logic of Yuros standing naked in the cold. Alea had been trying to convince him of the benefits of warm cloths since she'd met him, with limited success. At another time she might nag him to bring his clothes, but she knew that he was worried about more important things at the moment, which was made all the more clear by Ximal's subsequent threat.

Alea listened to the words meant to bait her with increasing incredulity. She'd learned the last time she met him that Ximal was completely oblivious, but he just kept finding new ways to drive the point home. And with so many baseless assumptions, Ximal had lost any ability to get Alea to take his words seriously.

Even so, she listened to his words carefully, taking the energy that he had expected her to use getting angry, and instead devoting it to thinking quickly enough to come up with a plan.

When she'd sensed Yuros coming, she had stopped talking long enough for Ximal to notice. She had only half been paying attention at the time, but she seemed to recall him making an angry sort of noise. But what did that mean? He had gotten frustrated at her silence? And then when Yuros showed up he was back to his arrogant old self, spewing out baseless remarks poorly designed to get a reaction. In truth, one of the possible tactics for dealing with him that had run through her mind was to try to be as boring as possible. (She'd rejected that at first because that was boring for her as well and only to be used when alternatives failed.)

Of course the silent treatment would not work now that Yuros was here putting himself in danger. She had to get rid of him somehow; she couldn't spar wits with this psychopath if she was worried about Yuros completely tangling her plans. As Ximal talked on, she became more and more certain that getting rid of Yuros was the best way to get them all out of this with limbs and pride intact.

She waited until Ximal's stream of nonsense had dried up, and then she spoke, grunting from the strain of her over-stretched limbs and the discomfort of speaking with her face in the dirt. Despite these minor inconveniences, she still managed to sound like she was laughing at Ximal. "Wow, you really love the sound of your own voice, don't you. All those words and yet you're still completely oblivious. Now if you're finished," she looked up at Yuros, trying to meet his eyes, which was difficult with her head so far down on the ground, "go home!" She filled her voice with as much authority and certainty as she could muster.

She accompanied her command with feelings of calm reassurance. Some part of her might still be scared, but she was having fun despite herself. It wasn't often she got a chance to have a contest of wills like this. Usually her personality overwhelmed others with ease (as in the case of Banir). Or her parents forced her to do chores, in which case eventual defeat was inevitable no matter how hard she fought. But Ximal had neither parental authority or a weak will, which made him an excellent test of just what Alea was capable of dealing with.

All would have been well, except Yuros was hesitating. She understood the fierce desire to protect someone regardless of consequences--she'd gotten that from him--but the sad truth was, she did not want to be protected. It made her feel powerless to depend so completely on someone else. Moderating her tone, she added, "Yuros, please." He wasn't going to leave. He was as incapable of leaving her in danger as she was of staying out of it. "Stand down. You can't reason with Ximal, he's an idiot. I'll handle this."

[Yuros]

Words... words the man spoke, echoing with...

Yuros tilted his head. Were those threats? Were they meant to sway his mind one way or another. Furrowing his brow in thought the Kelvic tried to piece together what was being said to him. A strange mixture of... feelings swelled in his soul, though he was not certain if there were from his own origin or if they coursed across the bond that he and Alea shared. Finally Yuros focused on the one statement that he could recognize... Once more he was told he should wear clothing, yet even so he could not understand the needless obsession the two legs held for the stolen fur.

Perhaps they are simply not comfortable with how they look...? He absently touched his chest and looked down at his bare body. In a way that made sense to him, but with a shake of his head the Kelvic soon realized he was focusing on the wrong words being said, The two legs speak far too much. I fear that will one day speak so much that they forget how to take and inward breath and suffocate. and this of course lead Yuros to worry absently for Alea, and once more he had to force his wandering mind to focus upon the situation at hand once more.

Yes Yuros had grown more human over the past year of bonding with the Huntress, yet still he found it hard to so needlessly focus upon mundane manners for more than a short time. Focusing now Yuros grasped at those words flung at him, piecing together the barest hint of a threat. In truth Yuros was uncertain if the man were truly acting fierce or if he had simply lost control of his mouth entirely, and his mind briefly flickered back to many an instance when he had seen the same with Alea... But no, he felt a pull through the bond form Alea, and now he was certain what the man said was supposed to be taken in a threatening way.

Breathing deeply, preparing to speak, Yuros was suddenly stopped by the Huntress voice, loud and strong that rippled through their bond, catching those words in his throat and forcing him turn to gaze her fully in the eyes. It was an order, a demand, the first time she had ever talk to him as he was... She spoke to him, forced his will to bend, to WANT to obey her order, for it was just that an order, and with every fiber of his being Yuros wanted to follow it. Yet still... In that moment this order was issued something changed in their relationship, something fundamental that set the gears of Yuros' mind turning, and with it something else clicked into place... A deep warmth from the pit of his soul rose up, whispering softly, growing louder and louder... The huntress' voice that had buried itself deep in his subconscious, hidden until now. Suddenly Yuros felt...

Yuros blinked, his brow furrowing, and through the bond would echo something so unlike the Kelvic, and yet so very much like Alea herself. Defiance filled his eyes as he sought to overthrow this command, and through the bond he would send back to this simple statement, I will not.

The feeling of calmness washed over him, emitted from Alea to sooth his quickly growing nerves, and the words Alea spoke next caused the Kelvic to visibly relax.

"Yuros please."

Those words, more than anything, struck the Kelvic. Through their link he could sense in part what she wished. He knew... he knew that she wanted to handle this herself, that she wished to become strong and able to care for herself without anyones assistance. He knew her, perhaps better than he knew himself. Yuros felt it to be her truest wish that he step back from this, and while it tore his heart in two, he slowly nodded. His eyes locked on Alea's before he spoke.

"If it is your wish I shall not interfere, but I will not leave you now." Turning Yuros would begin to walk toward the forest, "I will await your summons, or I will come if he threatens your life. However... as you have commanded I will allow anything short of your death unless otherwise told..." This last statement hurt more than anything else. His heart thudded in his chest, yet that part of his mind which was more human, more intelligent knew that this was what Alea wanted. No... it was what she needed. What use was he if she could not even depend upon him in such times as this? She was right. He could not always be there to protect her, and though he loathed to admit it, he knew she was happier this way...

Perhaps she is... happiest when I am not around at all.

Pausing at the tree line Yuros would speak without turning around, "You are wrong. The Huntress is strong, though those who smell of confusion and desperation know nothing of the strength she holds. I am to her but an extension of her strength. All that I am I am for her, and what power I have is hers to command." He looked back, "Thank her for her mercy in sending me away." And with that Yuros would disappear into the foliage, though he would not stray so far as to be out of ear shot, and Alea would still sense him strong and alert through their bond.

[Ximal]

Liro smiled lightly at alea's words of attempted witty comebacks. Who was he to deny her what little wit she had even if he'd heard that line more than a hundred times already. "Funny, i do like the sound of my own voice but your's ? That i'm not too fond of, though screams of anguish...Maybe." Liro twisted the grip of his hands and pulled alea's arms back and away from her back making sure to be at such a point where if she even breathed wrong they'd do more than just..Dislocate. Though it was now clear that alea hand't called for this over glorified goat. And instead he'd come of his own accord ...In reaction towards her situation...Interesting. What could have caused this little conundrum. Liro would ponder this later. Right now on the other hand, he was too busy listening to the little pain trying to be clever. Well she was right for the most part, so he'd probably best enlighten her. "Well alea you're half right, Xi is an idiot. I on the other hand...Am just hard to reason with." As yuros spoke liro just listened in on what he was saying, that he would leave ? Well this was a surprise though liro just smiled with a grin of malcontent and waved his hand lazily towards the meddling, coat-less sheep. Though the goat couldn't help but say the words that he would allow anything short of her death So liro thought he'd best inquire. "Are you sure about those statements? Essentially you just said to me 'Go ahead rape her and leave her hanging from a tree by her foot, sand as long as she's alive i don't care' And I thought I was a cruel and heartless bastard...Well played my friend, well played. " A rumbling growl of a laugh escaped Liro's mouth as he let his eyes stick to the man before him. Though what he said next was a little..out of place. She was strong ? She was a huntress ? Smell of confusion and desperation ? Liro couldn't help but continue his chuckle along with these words. He was an extension of her strength. Then she was even weaker than he'd thought. Mercy of sending him away? Well he'd have to see about that little incident... Not now though. "Perhaps another time then, i'll be sure to show you what mercy is. When your lying on the ground, defeated. Still until then have a pleasant day. After all, she wont be having one soon. Ta ta, bye now, run along." A pleasant smile still across liros face as he let his eye's bore into the sheep. And then the oversized grass eater, plodded off behind the bushes, though gathering from the sound of the foot/hoof falls. he wasn't that far away. Though his direction Liro couldn't tell. "I can't tell with you alea...do you just attract the weak willed or like me do you have fun in manipulating them like puppets ? Still i must ask. What do you plan on doing i mean the only thing keeping you relatively safer from harm is the fact that i find you...Entertaining. "

[Alea Davenport]

Wow, he'd actually admitted to loving the sound of his own voice. She'd meant that as an insult, to try to throw him off his game. But maybe she could use it in another way. If she could keep him talking, that would almost certainly stall him from doing anything Alea might regret, and the more she learned about him, the better she'd be able to use against him. Of course, listening for actual meaning in the brutes words would be a test of endurance in itself. Alea braced herself, the way she often had in childhood when shoving her hands elbow deep into a fish to rip out its guts...

But the next thing he said was weird... referring to himself as if he wasn't Ximal... wait WHAT?! This whole time, Alea thought she'd attacked Ximal, but now it seemed like she had confused him with someone completely different! Oh this was so embarrassing. Suddenly the position she'd gotten herself into seemed completely justified, even to her.

... Until Ximal--er, not-Ximal--opened his mouth again. Twisting Yuros' words like that, on top of a threat to Alea that he must have known would tear Yuros apart... she was glad she'd attacked this bastard, whoever he was. Whatever he said, he was at least as much of an idiot as Ximal. Every word the man said, she felt as a stab to her pride.

It took longer than usual for her to realize that it was Yuros' wounded pride she was feeling. She wanted him to rip not-Ximal's head off... or was that what Yuros wanted? It took a tremendous effort of will to force the desire back. But if she gave in, she'd call Yuros back to finish off this loser once and for all, and that had the risk of both of them getting hurt, Worse, it would reinforce Alea's dependence on the stag, and keep her a prisoner of fear. Not that Alea understood any of this. She just knew what she couldn't lose this contest of wills.

She forced calmness through the bond by encasing her mind in an imaginary white shell, clamping down and muting the desire to commit violence. Really, if Yuros hadn't been around, she'd have been in trouble, because if she'd only had her own mind to fight, her stubbornness would never let her pride be subdued in this manner. But being able to associate the pride with someone outside herself let her see everything else more clearly. Her more blind and unthinking emotions were with Yuros, and Yuros was forbidden to act. In this way, her own mind was free to bend all her resources to outwitting not-Ximal.

She still flinched when he made the completely off-base crack about weak wills. But she was in control of herself now, more-so than she had ever been. In truth, this would terrify her later, but for now she needed that clarity. With a bit of pain hissing through her voice, she said, "If you're not Ximal, why didn't you say so in the first place? I'd apologize for the case of mistaken identity--I mean you looked just like him--but you're easily as much of a jerk as he is. But you said you wanted entertainment? Well, I can probably manage something."

She had been looking for a chance to show off her wonderful singing skills, preferably to someone who would appreciate them. She wracked her memory for a Vantha song she had learned last Summer. She did not quite remember how it began, but she doubted this brute would notice if she started in the middle. She took a deep breath, and sang.

A skilled or knowledgeable musician might have been able to tell that the song was supposed to have been beautiful, and in the voice of any other singer, it might have been. But the impossible singing posture Alea currently suffered was the least of her songs problems. She was so off key that some of the words were on completely different notes than they should have been, giving the whole song a painful dissonance. Her Vani accent was horrendous enough to give anyone with an appreciation for the language a reason to cry. Not two lines into the song, she forgot some of the words, and sort of mumbled along until she remembered again.

She was thoroughly enjoying herself, and fully believed that she had quite a talent.

[Ximal]

Liro awaited some form of wormy way out or flagrant insult., it was... amusing to watch the ramblings of someone stuck in a situation and trying to weasel out of it. Still at least he was enjoying seeing that there was someone who didn't just crumple at the first sign of hardship and he meant truly not crumple hold fast towards her guns and and hot relent. Should he let her out and have a chat with her ? Or should he keep her where she was and let her squirm a bit longer ? If i'm not ximal? Well if i was then this wouldn't have trickled on as it did he would have just tossed your ass in jail and gone about his day. As much of a jerk as xi? Please "That comment hurt alea... As much of a jerk as Ximal ? It's like you haven't been paying attention. I'm by far and away worse. But then again i don't expect you to hold onto that fact." Though her form of entertainment was... for lack of a better term...Painful, well he'd said he'd wanted entertainment and now he was getting it. Even if it was akin to a hammer hitting crushed glass in an off timing to nails on a chalk board. Liro smiled and laughed back at alea. Perhaps this was an tenter training situation. Much more so than he'd originally thought. He'd expected her to cave in and submit to his will however she'd done a marvellous job of holding his attention. "I get the picture you want me to let you go? Well how about i make you a deal. Oh it's simple, i let you up and then you don't try to attack em then i don't have to put you back here and we start eh whole cycle over again. After all it's not you your really worried about, or rather should be worried about. It's not like you've much strength. But i can see quite clearly that your not one to give up easily. Especially from the fact your now trying to assault my wears with what sounds like the last death throws of a eagle eating a rat. So if I let you up, you leave ? we forget all this nonsense and well no one needs to get hurt. Least of all you. then again i could just be lying right now and tempting you into a false sense of freedom only to break both your arms and then kill that over sized goat when he comes back to help your sorry ass out. Who knows i After all it's not like ive got anything to loose right now. That searing grin appeared on liros face as he glowered down at trying to pull as much information out of her as possible every action told a tale, and liro was reading them piece for piece.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea couldn't get over how much nonsense one man could spew. Some of his phrases were so complicated she couldn't get her head around them before he was talking about something else. She wasn't sure how eagles and rats entered into the picture. And the threats and insults to Yuros were becoming more empty and meaningless the more he spouted them. It was probably only because she couldn't see his ugly mug from her vantage point that she was able to pay attention to anything he said at all.

From what she gathered, not-Ximal was proposing he let her go and they part ways... was he calling a draw? "Heh, you think I'm done with you? You're not getting off that easy. You can let me up if you want, but I make no promises about what happens after that. Maybe I think you owe me a bit of entertainment now."

[Ximal]

Liro Smirked lightly towards her but alas she was getting boring. Colossally so Liro rotated his grip around ehr arms as he reached behind him retrieveing some rope from his body pack. Loping around and tying it off around her arms he slashed the cord with his hand axe stuffing the rest back into his pack and re sheathing his axe. He then smirked saying lightly as her hoisted her up by her arms. "Well it's been fun chatting to you my scared little mouse, however i think it's time we parted ways. Feel free to come have your overgrown goat come and retrieve your sorry backside. Ta ta, bye now. " As liro rose off of her he let her writhe about on the ground before he put his boot to her back side and kicked her along the floor with a thrust of his leg luch like a push with his arm, and turned to walk away from the continual pain in his backside. Whilst facing away from her he phased out of control before telling Xi to do two things before she could spot him. One, change his hair colour to blonde to confuse her, and secondly not look back.

As liro phased out Xi slipped in, damn liro always making situations worse than they needed to be. Xi raised his hands focusing on controlling the djed flow around his body focusing on the colour of golden sun rays, the light of a crisp new dawn and ana's hair colour. Dragging his hands up and over his head he brought then over bis brow and down the length of his hair the colour change starting at his roots and following his hands down the length of his hair never overtaking his hands but sometimes in danger of falling behind. Xi's beard accompanied his hair colour change. Until he looked like a giant but of a completely different sort. more a sevefran giant than his old self.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea did not exactly consider getting tied up to be ALL that entertaining, but she could work with it. It was actually something of a relief that this Ximal look-alike was finally getting tired of her, because she wasn't sure how much longer she could convince herself that there was some entertainment to be gained from suffering his presence. She gritted her teeth at his kick, but managed to keep still until he walked away.

When she was sure he was out of range, she exhaled deeply and relaxed. The conflict was over, one way or another, and she considered it a draw, since they had both lost interest in torturing each other. Now she could see whether she could get out of the ropes before she gave in and called for Yuros.

She wiggled around a bit, testing the bonds. They were rather tight, but not-Ximal had been in a bit of a hurry to get away from her, so she thought maybe he hadn't done his best. She wriggled and pulled and pushed, but mostly that only made the skin on her wrists raw. She tried reaching her hands to where the knot was, but even if she could see what she was doing, she just did not have the dexterity or the patience to coax it loose.

After a short few chimes, she gave up, and called for Yuros to come rescue her. After getting untied and packing up the rope, she spent the rest of the day with him. She briefly reflected on her encounter with the man who looked like Ximal. He was slightly less good than Ximal at making her want to punch his face in, but the downside was that he just wasn't fun to be around. In the end, she decided to just try to avoid anyone looking remotely like Ximal (so basically any Jamoura-sized humans). On the bright side though, hey, free rope.