Flashback The Young and The Ageless [Rayage]

[Nickolai Marin]

8th Day of Spring, 503 AV

With yet another day come to a close, the springtime warmth of day was replaced by the bitter chill of night. Even though the time of year denoted the return of departure of frigid temperatures, the evenings within Sunberth obviously did not ascribe to this trend. In fact, by the estimation of the young larcenist, it was just as cold now as it was during winter...if not more so! Striding along the streets of the sordid city, the adolescent thief had little more to do than seek lodgings for the night. He, who had accompanied his sire to visit some extended kin, had decided to step out on his own as opposed to sleeping inside the cramped tent that was offered to him. After all, he felt as though he had a better chance of pilfering enough coin for a bed; and would much prefer warmth over cold anyday.

As such, Nickolai spent the entirety of his day prowling the busiest portion of town. Although the city was vastly different from his home of Zeltiva, the art of swiping purses and apples remained the same. However, the youth was perceptive enough to note the pronounced difference in prosperity between the two cities; for the pickings were relatively slim compared to his home. Regardless, Nickolai managed to fill his belly twice and procured just enough coin to secure himself lodgings for the evening. Now, just as the sun made its final dash for the horizon, the young larcenist strode briskly towards the so-called "Aquillar Hot Springs" and admitted himself within. Immediately upon crossing the threshold, warmth washed over the teenager and began to shake the chill from his bones.

Not bothering to sit, bathe, or mingle, Nickolai headed straight for the main counter and paid for his lodging. There, he was provided a key and directions on how to reach his room on the second floor. With a gracious nod and a polite "Thank you ma'am.", Nickolai promptly made his way up the flight of stairs and found his room. The space was not overly large and was nothing fancy; and in fact it seemed dismal compared to what Zeltiva had to offer. However, having spent hours upon hours in the sordid city streets, this made for a fine alternative. Having locked his door, Nickolai strode over to his bed and plopped unceremoniously down upon it. The mattress was not the softest in the world; nor did it smell particularly nice...but it would do.

For a solid span of thirty minutes, the young larcenist began to doze off; but sleep decided to evade him. This was due to the racing thoughts that permeated his mind. He fretted over what might transpire on the morrow and complained to himself about having to prowl for lodging funds again. He thought about his friends, Shalita and Cecilia, and wondered what they were up to. He even debated going downstairs and swiping something to munch on from the kitchens...However, his random assortment of thoughts ultimately returned to his primary concern: tomorrow. Ultimately, the prospect of prowling the streets once more for coin did not appeal in the slightest; so Nickolai decided to take on a different avenue: the one he knew best.

Rising from his "comfortable" bed, the young larcenist departed from his room and quietly stepped into the hall. As he had practiced a solid few times before, he then lowered himself into a half-crouch and began to "sneak" along. Tonight, he would attempt to make his coin in advance through swiping a purse or two. After all, this was Sunberth: land of the thieves and home of the lawless; and as such, Nickolai had no qualms about his trade. After moving along as quietly as possible, he ultimately settled upon the third door down from his own. Coming to a halt before it, the young larcenist then produced his trusty lockpick and set about breaching the door. Of course, between the chill of evening having worn upon his fingers and his current inexperience, the process of picking the lock was a long one.

Fortunately, he was at least quiet all the while.

After a small eternity of effort, the lock opened and Nickolai quietly turned the knob. Giving the door a gentle push, he then opened it just enough for him to peer inside...but was announced by a ridiculously ill-placed creak. "Oh...petch..." he breathed, attempting to stay as still and quiet as possible. Perhaps whoever was within was asleep...he hoped.
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[Rayage]

The days seemed to pass slower in Sunberth. The ways were dangerous and the people untrustworthy. A nuit did not belong in Sunberth any more than a Sunberthian belonged in Sahova. He had found employment at the Majestic, ran by a strange man with an affinity for Shielding. The wizard had noticed the magic in the air, but didn’t recognize it until he had ran into the mans shields. They were strong, the strongest that Ray had ever seen or witnessed. Kinship had brought them together, with a bit of hypnotism, he managed to haggle himself a job.

Now, however, the nuit needed a place to rest his bones and to work on his real job. He had come to Sunberth again for a reason, he wanted passage to Sahova. However, he found that obtaining such things was harder than he had first assumed it to be. So it was now that he was biding his time, waiting for another ship to arrive. He had held out here winter long, what is a couple more seasons to someone so old? What was the haste to getting to the Undead Isle when there was so many interesting people here in Sunberth? He had been saving what little miza he made for passage, but there really was no haste. The nuit did not require food or sleep, but the undead does require a place to hide himself from the elements. The cold winter was glorious for the nuit, and the bitter night air didn’t bother him at all. In fact, the cold was a comfort, as bodies did not go as fast as they do in warmer seasons, like summer.

It wasn’t long before the nuit had found the place again, the place where he had been paying for rooms seasons at a time. The hot springs offered a place of solace for the in transit wizard. It was relaxing, inviting, and had a gentle feel to it. Not to mention that here he could take as long of baths as he wanted, making sure that his body was cleaned from the slug and street trash that was in Sunberth. This place seemed like it shouldn’t be in Sunberth to begin with. It was far too peaceful, and that was what Ray loved about it, it was one of the reasons he wasn’t fond of leaving so quickly. He could easily envision himself here until the elderly couple that ran the place died. However, deep down in his soul, he knew that it wasn’t a possibility. He had a mission, a goal to accomplish, magic to carry out.

It was a good while, but the wizard took a bath, scrubbing his rotting body meticulously to get the grime off of it and to fight away decay. It was only after his extended bath did he redress and retire to his room for the night. Nuits did not need sleep, no, the night simply held more time for doing what needed to be done. All day long in the shop the nuit was daydreaming about his next magical breakthrough, his next magical venture. He thought that he had finally cracked the code to life itself, that he could create life where he could not hundreds of years ago.

A grin crossed his face as the door closed behind him. Alone at last, finally, alone. Moving across the room he lit a couple candles and strode to the small table where he would take out a book and begin writing down his ideas and theories. The quill scratched the page as it glided across it, it was almost music to the nuits ears as he wrote, and wrote. Dipping, writing, repeating. The page soon filled with his ideas and doodles of alchemy circles. He looked upon it, eyes wide, almost entranced in his work… That is until he heard something behind him. A creaking sound, but the nuit did not move. He sat there in his chair, facing the desk. Who was here so late at night? Was it the old couple checking in on him or perhaps someone else? He didn’t notice that he was followed, was he perhaps too single minded on getting back to the place?

Summoning up his courage the wizard turned to face the door, watching it to see if anyone would come through. The candles flickered in anticipation.

[Nickolai Marin]

Perhaps if the young larcenist was the slightest bit more perceptive, he would have thought to place his ear upon the door before breaching. Through this simple act, he could have gleaned vital information regarding the individual still inside the room. He would have overheard the thump of footsteps upon the floor, followed by the light creak as the occupant settled into his seat. He would have heard the rustle of paper and the scrawling of ink upon its surface. However, Nickolai was simply too young to have thought ahead. Like any boy his age, oversight was common; a fact which led to many mistakes. Even now, having not performed this act had led to the exposure of his presence outside of the door. This left Nickolai with a choice: proceed or retreat.

As he stood there, transfixed before the door, the young larcenist weighed his "options". If he retreated, it would mean another day spent prowling the streets of Sunberth. This option did not appeal to him, but it also meant that he would evade the notice of a potentially awakened occupant. On the other hand, he could proceed and take his chances. If the occupant was still asleep, this meant an untold sum of mizas was his to claim. Now, being that Nickolai had no fondness for the cold nor the streets of Sunberth, he eventually steeled himself and proceeded. Having learned his lesson about the creak of the door, the young larcenist decided to get the second din over and done with. This time, he placed his hand flat upon the door and gave it a light shove, allowing it to part just far enough for him to enter.

At first, he was greeted by the sight of candlelight, which was a terribly bad sign. This was due to the fact that most patrons did not sleep with sources of light still burning. However, it was far too late now to go back on his decision; and as such the young larcenist slipped through the door...and instantly regret his decision. Not only was the occupant of the room awake, but dressed. Not only was he dressed, but he was seated at the desk with a quill in hand...and worst of all, he was looking dead at Nickolai. Indeed, this was an awkward, "oh petch", moment. Immediately, the young larcenist's heart began to thud away rapidly within his chest whilst sweat began to form pretty much everywhere. He swallowed hard, for his mouth was suddenly dry, and looked upon the man before him with fearful eyes.

"I-I..." he began to stammer, attempting to back up a step. Of course, "luck" would have it that he trip over his own feet. Descension gripped Nickolai and tumbled him onto his rear, resulting in a prompt "Ow!" erupting from his lips. Looking up, the young larcenist began to literally shudder. He did not know who this man was...but to see one characterized by rot was something that terrified the boy. It was quite obvious that he had never encountered a Nuit before; and he was not taking it well. "I-I'm sorry. So sorry. Please don't cut off my hands!" he cried, stuffing his hands into his pockets...as if that would protect them.
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[Rayage]

The nuit watched the door intensely, waiting to see who or what might come through. He was mentally preparing himself for a fight, drawing upon the djed inside him, calling it to action. He was no fighter, he could barely harm a fly physically. Mentally, however, was a different story. His powers in hypnotism allowed him to project thoughts, feeling, and even images into a person’s mind. If nothing else he could distract the person enough to make an escape if they proved too harmful. A person, not people. A person he could easily deal with, a singular threat, but if it were people, multiple persons, it would be much a different story.

However, what came through the doorway was very unexpected. A boy but a child in the nuits eyes, what was he doing here? The flickering candle light didn’t help augment the undeads appearance; instead it probably made him look even more frightening. Decay specked the body, and the smell of death, even though he just took a bath, was hard to wash off a corpse. The boys first reaction was appropriate, shock and fear. He stumbled over his own two feet and hit the ground, saying how sorry he was for disturbing the nuits night. Children, even here, could not be trusted. They were all thieves much like this one, hoping for some easy miza. He could teach the boy a lesson, but he could also try to help him.

The nuit didn’t move, even after the boys confession of guilt. He just stared at him for a chime, unmoving, unbreathing, unblinking, unnerving in a way only a nuit could be. The corpse he had inhabited was that of a male, head and all hair shaved from the body, for the nuit didn’t like having clumps of his own hair fall off because of the decay. If he would have left the hair on, it would quickly become patchy and so unbecoming of an undead of his stature. Around billowed an ancient looking robe, a patchwork of colors and shapes sewn hastily in it. The cloak itself was once black, but time has eaten away at the fabric, forcing the nuit to patch it up with whatever was available at the time. It was a precious object that he has had for hundreds of years, and he was loathe to give it up.

”Child,” the nuit called to him, eyes locking on the fear ridden boy, ”you have nothing to fear from me. I won’t cut off your hands.” he said, the words coming from the undeads mouth, were they trustworthy? ”Please, do come in.” he said, trying to be polite, ”You wanted in bad enough to pick the lock, why not stay a while and keep an old, lonely soul company for a while?” he asked, ”You must be cold and hungry, I can get you food give you some place to stay where it’s warm.” The nuit tempted the boy with worldly pleasures and securities.

”Though, the choice is yours.” he said, waving a hand to dismiss some of his other thoughts. ”I’ll be here for some time yet, and you…” the nuit leaned in, eyes looking the boy up and down, a small smile spread across his face, ”you remind me of some of my former students.” he said, ”In appearance.” he quickly added, taking some small comfort in the familiar look of the boy.

[Nickolai Marin]

In that moment, Nickolai wanted nothing more than to defy the laws of physics. If it were up to him, he would have evaporated on the spot; only to manifest far, far away from the Nuit. However, fate would have it that the world was built in a particular way...and as such, the young larcenist was stuck in the room. He couldn't exactly run away at this point, for the man had seen his face. It was only a matter of running after him in order to force justice down his gullet. No, there was no other option but to simply sit there; slowly growing more and more anxious as the seconds rolled by. To be honest, the silence was not helping Nickolai's nerves at this point, as evidenced by the slight trembling which began to claim his body. However, to the one observing, this might very well have been one of the unfortunate affects of the cold.

After a small eternity of quiet, the Nuit finally broke the silence...and relief washed over the young larcenist. Of course, he was simply too anxious to contemplate whether or not the words uttered by the man were true. After all, he were a thief and deserved no more than the same deception that made his occupation possible. However, one so young did not think in such ways; and as such the shuddering began to cease...albeit slowly. Now, it was no question that the young larcenist could use a bite to eat and a dip in the hot springs, but the coin to do so evaded him. Those were luxuries that he simply could not afford; nor did he wish to prowl the streets in order to procure the means to get them. However, since it was being offered, Nickolai entertained the thought...

...Before his body spoke quicker than his mouth...

As the Nuit's diction came to a conclusion, the young larcenist's stomach reared its ugly head. So long ago had its last offering been received that it now demanded more to sustain itself. The growl was loud and echoed across the quiet space; so much so that crimson consumed Nickolai's face straightway. At this point, there was no point in attempting to decline, for his body had given away just how hungry he was. "I-I suppose I can stay." he began, gently pushing himself up from the floor. He took a moment to close the door behind him, as it was letting in a draft, before looking upon the Nuit once more. "A-And I could go for a bite...I haven't had much lately." That was indeed the truth; and the sad tale of his life.

Nickolai then paused before addressing the most...odd...part of what the Nuit had said. He resembled his former students? That meant he was an instructor of some sort...Now aware of this fact, a tsunami of inquiries consumed the young larcenist's mind; so quickly that he forgot he had intruded upon the Nuit quite rudely. "So, you're an Instructor then?" he asked, taking an apprehensive step forward. "Like at the University back home? What did you teach?" This duo of inquiries would have been complemented by several more...but alas, Nickolai remembered basic tact and introduced himself. "Also...I'm Nickolai Marin. I'm so sorry about breaking in, I was just...I just needed some coin for lodging tomorrow and thought this was the easiest way..."
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[Rayage]

The nuit heard the growl of the boys stomach. It rolled over the silence after the offer the nuit had extended. An amused smirk crossed the nuits mouth, ”Ah the living and their needs.” he said, ”I don’t miss it.” He laughed a bit, mostly to himself, before straightening up in the chair he sat in.

The boy had a lot of questions, questions about him and his past. To that the nuit smiled, and nodded briefly, and then the smile faded as the boy admitted his guilt. He was trying to steal from him, but every city had their street rats, and this must be one of them. He felt a tinge of pity for the boy, especially since from his voice, words, and tone he didn’t quite seem to be from Sunberth. ”That is ok, Nick.” the nuit took the extra thought to shorten the boys name to something easy to remember, a pet name of sorts, ”We all have been in tight places before and it aches my dead heart that you have to suffer so, my dear child.”

”I am Rayage, Professor Rayage,” he introduced himself, ”I used to teach at the University of Zeltiva, and by some unseen circumstance I have ended up here, of all places.” The nuit laughed, ”Who would have thought a Professor in this rat hole of a city? Its pretty funny, isn’t it boy?” He asked. He eyed the to-be thief and stood up from his chair. He moved slow, walking over to the bed only to sit down and perch himself on the very edge of it, ”Come closer.” He said, waving the boy over, ”Id like to get a better look at you in the light.”

Whether the boy did or did not advance didn’t stop Ray from continuing, ”I used to teach magic at the university.” He said, ”A wizard in Sunberth, another uncommon sight.” he told him, ”But despite the public’s belief, magic is still here. It hides in plain sight, easily overlooked. There are wizards even here, of all places. But Im getting off track again.” He cut himself off.

”I used to teach at the University of Zeltiva, magic, I left in search of answers which I never quite found. Now Im here, and you are here too. You are not afraid of an old wizard, are you, kid?” he asked with a playful smirk, ”My appearance, at times, can be quite frightening, and for that I apologize. I cannot help it, for this is who I am. Surely you can understand that?”

”Now, how would you like to get some food? Im sure I can get Mrs. Natlana to heat up some of her famous Shepard’s Pie, and perhaps some Redberry Juice?” He asked, motioning the kid to the door, ”Im sure its not too late.” he said, ”We will discuss a bath afterwards, but when I was alive I found conversation to be more inviting on a full stomach.” The nuit wasn’t going to let the kid out of his sight. He would be sure to try to keep in him in front of him at all times, never beside, never behind… One could never trust a thief. Though the same could be said about wizards.

[Nickolai Marin]

For a moment, the Nuit's initial words glossed over the young larcenist without his understanding...but upon looking upon his deceased body once more, Nickolai got the message. His appearance denoted exactly what the young man had thought: he was dead...yet alive. Decaying, yet still mobile. The calm that had managed to wash over Nickolai was instantly abandoned; and in its wake emerged the same anxiety which had captured him previously. "S-So you're...Dead? How is that even possible...?" he inquired with his voice suddenly as meek as a mouse. However, as the words escaped him, he immediately regreted it; for this was the definition of prying into another man's business. As such, the young larcenist held his peace and listened to all that the Nuit had to say.

And found himself amazingly surprised.

Like a coin being flipped, the sensations which characterized Nickolai fluctuated rapidly. In one moment, he was all but terrified...but in the next he was intrigued. The amalgam of these two emotions was nothing short of the "wonderment" of being so young. Upon hearing that the Nuit was from Zeltiva, the young larcenist could not help but blurt out a response. "I'm from Zeltiva! My house isn't far away from the University!" he began, quickly beginning to ramble. "I came to Sunberth with my dad. He wanted to visit his brother, but he lives in the tents. I hate the cold and I hate being hungry, so I...I steal." Nickolai looked down after admitting this particular fact. He was not, by any stretch of the imagination, proud that he was a thief...in fact, he was ashamed of it.

If it were up to him, he would have liked to be like the other youth in Zeltiva; with their only concerns being what they would do for fun. He wanted to live without worry, but instead had to focus upon where his next meal would be coming from. After catching himself in the midst of his rambling, Nickolai caught himself and held his tongue. However, at the mention of being a wizard, the young larcenist just had to ask even more questions. "So...What sort of answers were you looking for? And how did they end you up in Sunberth of all places..." he said, calmly stepping forward into the light. Although he was quite frightened by the Nuit's appearance, there was no point in denying this request. After all, if he was a wizard...then surely he had the power to squish him quite easily.

"And...I'm not...afraid." he lied, shuffling his feet slightly. "I've just never met...well...a dead man before." Looking up finally, the boy's piercing eyes of blue met those of the undead before his stomach growled again. "That...That sounds delicious, Professor Rayage. Thank you!"
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