Closed [Sunset Quarters] Bleeding Hearts (Aider)

[Kaie]

There had only been one other man that openly declared his love for her. He'd been strong in body and overwhelmingly fierce upon the battlefield. It started rather innocently, her trips to watch the fresh soldiers go through the crucible that was the Training Yard. Day after day the young woman would venture from the jungle to Taloba to observe. One man in particular had been bold enough to call her out on it among other things. Then there came the time she realized he had been right. No longer was she just watching recruits beat upon one another for the sake of conditioning. She had been watching him too after all despite her out right denial.

Their progression from simple friends to something far more was as easy as breathing. They trained together, hunted together. When a pack of Akila Hounds left her stranded and lost for a couple days in the jungle, it was him that pushed on and found her when her clan was ready to accept her as dead. Him that had taken her innocence and said the words the night before she departed from Falyndar. She'd left him in the night by the waterfall with his question still lingering on uncertainty. A question she'd avoided to this day. The very memory brought back that overhanging feeling of guilt. Another promise broken. Her silent prayers went to Myri that he'd survived the Djed Storm and continued to thrive in their jungle abode. Perhaps if, no, when Kaie finally returned she would be able to answer his question. If he hadn't moved on to claim another woman. Nonetheless, an apology was due. It felt like she was repeating the same mistake. The only difference was another man and another place. A whole different world.

It is so much easier to declare change than be changed, she speculated with a frown as she listened to Aider's reasoning. It was a sad thing to think the man had no such love for his parents. She'd go as far as to consider selling her very soul to Uphis if it would bring her father back. Kaie couldn't help but wonder if his affections were something more like infatuation, the same way an outsider to Taloba might look at a tiger. From afar it could strike one as beautiful, wowing an on-looker with its stripe pattern and obvious strength. Such a person would be ignorant to the animal's true nature. Any Myrian would be able to share numerous occasions when those feelings of admiration quickly turned to terror, when claws and fangs were turned upon them. Kaie still had the scars from her childhood to prove it.

"Fine then," The young woman replied when he'd pulled from their kiss to elaborate on his intentions. She rested her hand on the inner part of his shoulder, thumbing the flesh on the side of his throat softly. "Become the man you want to be. I won't say another word against it. Just make sure you're doing it for you more than you are me. When everything's gone but you and whatever goddess or god you follow, who you've made yourself into is all you have. Just remember that." And with that the Myrian leaned forward opposite her thumb, massaging from the base of his throat up behind his ear with kisses. Then she met his lips with hers softly then like a sealing of their understanding. "You got your way. Now are you satisfied?"

[Aider Silander]

x

Family and friends were far gone from the man. Once he left Nyka he had signed the contract that would keep him from his parents. His father would look upon him with shame and dishonor. His father was already displeased that he did not follow in his path. That he was nothing more then a civilian instead of taking up the title of monkhood like the rest of the males in his family had. His eyes looked up Kaie with a familiar curiosity, the same way they did when they first met. A burning affection and passion was lit behind them. A mixture of feelings that he could not really explain to her or himself. The hole that he felt within him seemed filled. A sensation that he had not felt since he was a child running around the streets of Nyka.

"I shall. I'll become something strong and wiser." There was no resistances to her kisses. The softness of her lips embracing his skin sent shivers down his spin as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the moments. "I wouldn't say satisfied. I need to figure something out first. But that is something that will take time" he said. Returning her kiss. His arm slid around her waist while the other pressed against her arm. "Taking comfort in Dira would probably be a foolish thing for a normal man to do. But I do have to say, aside from knowing that she is the only certain thing in this world. You bring me more comfort." An odd statement but one that could not ring any more true. A man like Aider prided himself on knowing and being certain and this city provided little to ether.

Even with Kaie there was an uncertainty if he would see her the next morning or the morning after that. She could leave upon Syna's rising and disappear from his life completely but she still brought him a great comfort. He mimicked her motion. Pressing his lips across her collar bone and slowly up her neck and onto her jaw line. Each kiss becoming a little more firm as they moved towards her lips. His hovered above hers for a few ticks as he stared into her eyes. Seeing the passionate gaze returned. Her strength and exotic nature showed in her eyes. True strength that could not be shown with muscle or blades. An emotion that he had not seen within her eyes before. He still wondered if she was protecting herself or maybe him. But for now he just wanted to accept the situation as it was. A small victory in proving that he was worth her time.

He laid back into the bed with her in his arms, a smile played across his face. "Are Myrians the strongest race? Is all they know war?" He asked. A question from almost no where that had been hidden inside of him since the day they met. "I've been meaning to ask you that since day one. Humans are weak... Knowledge is all we have and even then there are other races that know more. The Myrians are they stronger then humans? More skilled in the art of war or is it brute strength? I've heard rumors of a purple race out there. One that's strength rival most.... I wonder if all they do is fight?"

x

[Kaie]

She couldn't help but offer a soft smile in light of his reassurances. As he'd pointed out her unique desire to keep her own secrets, she in turn had to understand he had some of his own. Those parts of his life in Nyka that he found unsatisfactory had impacted him in a way she would never relate. She wondered what kind of pressure he must've been under in his homeland. If his mother pressured him to be more religiously driven than violently adventurous as hers had; or maybe it was his father asking him to be something different than he believed he was. There was that lingering question in the back of her head: why did he scorn the gods so? His comments about Dira gave her hope he'd see their roles in the world a bit differently.
"Dira draws many followers in Taloba for the same reason. Death is final. She never lies and she always guides souls back where they belong," Kaie added with a nod of her head, smile widening when visions of previous festivals in Dira's honor filled her memory. Suddenly another thought came to her as she thought on the topic further. "There used to be talk of an island off Falyndar's coast drifting in the Suvan Sea. An island ruled by the Goddess of Death herself they call Black Rock. Maybe one day we can visit there, and you may decide on Dira for yourself." It was no secret Aider loathed the place they occupied now. She could see it was a crucible for him just as it was for her. It was evident in that change in his eyes. That new born will to survive and thrive against adversity. If he believes he can become this man he claims he's evolving into, maybe we can travel one day together.

His shower of kissing along her own flesh brought a soft laugh from the savage, and a sigh of pleasure when he finally found her lips again. Kaie let him take her down with him upon the bed. Her head found refuge upon his chest and her left hand splayed across his abdomen. She should've known his curious prying would come again, just as it came when they'd met again and again in the wilderness. Amber eyes closed and that smile remained. Behind those lids drifted images that went along with his questioning. The first time she'd laid eyes on the massive midnight-skinned men of Riverfall, the confusion when she'd seen humans and wondered how such a race could thrive across Mizahar, and of course the memories of her own homeland and kin. These were the questions that always reminded her that despite the complications in their relationship, they were still those travelers genuinely curious about each other and the world they lived in. It was perhaps the only trait she shared with his race, that perplexity about what laid beyond.

"The strongest? I suppose it depends on how you define strength," She mused to herself aloud first as she considered his points, aiming for accuracy rather than condemning all other below her own people. There was always an honesty between them. Raw and unyielding. Like Dira's kiss, there would be no lies told here. "Physically, no. From the races I've met there are many who can rival our physical strength. Some Kelvics can be stronger depending on their animal half. Jamoura. Dhani Constrictors. The Akalak, some of whom are the purple men ones you mentioned. All physically strong. Myrians are stronger than humans, but what makes us powerful goes well beyond that. We are organized, disciplined, and focus heavily on tactics and weapons of war. That's why we hold the jungle and the races we've exterminated from it don't. Our very mother slew the God of War and usurped him when she was a mortal. Still, even then Myri was no ordinary woman."

She tilted her chin up to look at the man. There was a clear pride that was ablaze in those amber eyes of hers when they fluttered open again, that genuine grin finally weaving across her lips at last. Despite the ethnocentrism that was usually so evident whenever she spoke of the Myrians, she did her best to keep it to a minimum for him. So easy was it for her to gush about the prowess of her people. Sometimes it made her forget all together the surprising strengths she'd seen in the races abroad. "It's true, the Akalak are probably our closest rivals. At least they would be if they dared cross to our shores. They're tough. They train hard and fight well. They know their advantages well. But none can match us in Falyndar. We know the land and the animals too well. If someone were to wage war, they'd feel the weight of the entire race fall down upon them. We're all soldiers. We'll fight and die until there are none of us left."

Kaie moved just then, lifting from his embrace to stare down at him with a mischievous turn to those lips. A shifting of her body and she was straddling his waist. "And no. War is not the only thing we know," The woman murmured before dipping her head down to venture the expanse of his prone body. Puckered lips took their time leaping from one bruise upon his torso to another. "We have healers, builders, tailors, and farms." Kisses were brushed along the valleys of his collar bone. A nibble given to his ear lobe before she was murmuring beside it again. "Everything any other society needs to make a city work. We just have a different...focus." And with that she sat up upon him to conclude the teasing. The Myrian fell back down beside him, finding comfort again on his chest.

"And what of you humans? I've heard you all say 'knowledge is power' but when it comes down to a book or a sword, I'd pick the sword any day. How is it your people have lasted so long? I swear there's not a corner of this barbarian world I'd seen that doesn't have your lot running all over it. It looks like every other race out there rivals yours...but here you are anyway."

[Aider Silander]

x

Her eyes were filled with questions and wondering, a look that he was sure she had seen in him when they had first met. He wondered what she wanted to know, what it was that the Myrian sought from the deep caverns of his mind. A soft smile on her face gave Aider a sense of warmth and comfort within the room he called a home. "You should ask any questions you have. I do not mind answering them." he said softly, filling her mind with the knowledge she sought would be a pleasure if it were possible. He wondered what it was that made her ponder. The distancing of him and his parents? The displeasure with his homeland? Or maybe the gods? The curses' he had laid upon their names as he stayed in the city. He wondered even with his hate if they had given up on him, if they truly wanted to give him nothing but pain. That they may take the very thing he cherished away from him, the tan skinned woman that laid by his side. Her words echoed in his head, her homeland housed followers of Dira. It was an interesting note, and one that was not much of a surprise. A race born of war and survival the Goddess of Death would be a powerful ally. "An island? Near your homeland in the jungle. Maybe we can travel there one day. Hopefully while we both still breath. But deciding on Dira is not something I am looking for."

"If it happens it happens, I suppose but I still am not sure I should rush into serving under someone whom has goals I do not know" Going towards her home maybe more dangerous to him then staying in Sunberth or even returning home. A race he did not understand, with goals and a way of living he did not quite grasp yet. Even with the aid of the Myrian he called his lover he was far from knowing it all. He was taken back from his wandering mind when he felt her head upon his chest. "It would be an honor to follow death itself. But I do not believe that I am fit for this honor. One such as yourself might be. One more attune to fighting and surviving in the world outside of a cities walls." The chance to follow death. To act as a servant to the one true thing in the world. Death was unavoidable, even by those who claimed to be immortal. He churned the thought over in his head as he looked down at her. Listening to her explanation to his question.

The definition of strength changed from person to person, or so Aider believed. Many believed that true strength was found deep within the mind, while others looked towards the physical aspect of it. "Jamoura? I have never met a Jamorura... What are they like?" It was an empty question that only served to fuel the flames of conversation. The more Aider heard about the Myrians the more his interest grew. "Tactics. My father was very focused on tactics." Slightly mumbling under his voice as he spoke. "How many races did your people kill? Is there anything left of them? Relics?" The chance to learn about a dead race may not be the most useful thing. But it was something that interested the man. History was one of Aider's favorite subjects. Everyday more history was formed and more was found hidden beneath the dirt and rocks that covered the world.

She spoke of the Akalaks and the strength they possessed. It was all new information, he had never truly met of them. Had seen them in passing but never had actually talked to one. A recurring theme in his life. Everyday there seemed to be a moment for him to learn and gain more knowledge. But every day he seemed to miss those moments. Watch them fly by and disappear beyond the horizon. The same way that Kaie had the second time they met. A feeling that lingered inside of him every time the two were separated.

His body twisted and arched as he held back the sounds that would escape his lips as hers met his body. Even kissing over the sore and bruised skin, a rush of ecstasy rushed through him. She answered his question while teasing him. Causing his focus to split between both feelings. Only when she fell back by his side, did he release a long drawn out sigh. "The reason we are able to fight and survive is because we are weak. We know we are weak. Many humans have died in fights and ancient wars and for what reason? Money or power? Who knows. Its just one of those things I guess. We know we are weak and we use that to our advantage. Because of our weakness, we trained our eyes, ears and the ability to think. Learning how to survive, that's our trait as humans. We adapt and we struggle until we final have a foothold on whatever it is that we are fighting against. Then we take it to the ground. No human is the same as another, we are some of the most talented people in the world. Precisely because we were born without any ability, we can achieve anything." He shrugged and looked down to her on his chest. "It is like this... whatever this is. I didn't give up and run away. We met again and again. Each time I stood my ground, even when I wanted to crumble and here we are now."

x

[Kaie]

The Myrian's brow furrowed as she considered the philosophy of her human lover. It made such little sense to her before. The bestial, abdominal races her people had conquered and exterminated in ritual, wholesale slaughter were more formidable. Each had its own unique traits, its own terrors for Myri's savages to behold as they bloodied them in battle. Even the Symenestra, frail as they were, had their own attributes to cause their enemies caution before their collective retreat north. The Humans that littered Mizahar? They were ordinary. Nothing more than meat expertly sown up with flesh and structures with bone. They had no natural defenses. No claws, extraordinary strength or speed. Even when Aider had given his explanation, it was as if her own logic could not accept it.

It was strange to truly see a slight overlap between them. The battle-hardened Myrians, concentrated in the hostile jungle and lustful for the spilling of foreign blood; and the mediocre yet persistent humans the rest of the world couldn't seem to rid themselves of. Yet both were determined and hard for Caiyha's monsters to kill off. They held their grounds, adapted to barbaric environments, and survived in spite of repeated devastation. She supposed it must've been somewhat nice that they were allowed to chose their own destinies. No pressure. No haste. But how could they see any other light than Myri's? came that ignorant voice in her head called forth to question the notion.

"I guess that makes sense when you put it that way," Kaie allowed, the hand upon his chest tracing small circles with the soft pads of her fingers. A relaxed sighed escaped through her lips. Perhaps that's why he struggles with the gods. He's not obligated to follow any of them. Not unless he chooses to do so. "You're all like a blank slate...and you still don't have any idea what you want written on yours? Not at all?" That circling stopped, and instead she drummed a gentle rhythm. If there was a god who kept track of such things, she wondered what might've been written on her own.

"I guess it hardly matters. No matter how much we write, it gets wiped clean again when we die and live again...well, us Myrians anyhow." An almost apologetic glance was given toward the man. How was she to know the fates of sacrilegious humans? "Our people have a strong slate though. How many we've killed off? I don't know. My mother used to tell me their names, all the important victorious, the legendary leaders, where the battles were fought," Kaie reminisced distantly with a small smile. "Tupahi, Waorori, Gwanah...I know there's more if I could only remember. They're all gone now. Sometimes someone stumbles across some ruins in the jungle, but that's all. It's the way it should be. The jungle is ours now. Only the Dhani in Zinrah stand in our way of total control. They too will fall. Just like the others."

There was a small bout of silence as if it were a time for reflection, a time for her to remember her duties and the war that truly mattered, rather than the small, insignificant squabbles she'd participated in in the Sunberth streets. Kaie turned her head upward upon his pectoral to look up at him, one brow cocked in perplexity. "What's wrong with your father being a tactician? Tactics win wars among other things. Don't they matter? What matters to you at all?"

[Aider Silander]

x

"Does it make sense though? To one such as yourself who grew up in an environment of kill or be killed. Grow to be stronger or return to Caiyha or Myri. Humans are no more then a pest to most races, though of course not every member of every race feels the same. But the point still stands. We, humans, are sculpted by life so much differently then most races. Most races have a place that is their home, their starting point in the this new world. A world reborn from disaster and chaos... " He sighed shifting so he could sit up a bit without distrubing her to much, his fingers dancing on the soft, tanned skin of the Myrian woman laying by his side. His eyes were locked with hers for a time, a look of being lost in though filled his as he wondered what was developing between them. "My people are so different from one another that I don't know if you could really call them my people. Other then the fact that we are all born from Caiyha one way or another. Humans are everywhere from Nyka to this petching hole of a city and we thrive. We do not have a starting point like others. Why is that? We are not guided by one main god or goddess. We all follow a path that we chose or one that is chosen for us."

He paused again wondering if she even cared for what he was saying. His words rolling off his tongue like the waters of the rocks from the second time they met. "I asked you before why you didn't kill me. You said you wished people saw things the way I did. I wonder if you still feel this way, my rampage with the gods and not being able to trust them. For someone that you said trusted to easily, I wonder if this city has removed that from me. The random scraps that I have found myself in. Muggings, jumping's and random gang beatings. Hiding inside this place with that simple lock on my door. I have not developed much in the way of a fighter nor a survivor... I see things in a different light then most, but I am blinded by distrust and hate with the gods. God's that I know little about aside from those in Nyka, who are not truly gods. They have not reached that level of power though they are stronger then me." He sighed and slid his hand to take hers that was tapping on his chest. He lifted both of their hands into the air and arched his fingers so the tips would touch hers. He stared at the connection, the rubbing of skin between their finger tips before his eyes traced down her arm and up her shoulder to her face.

"The way I see things... I see that you are strong, beautiful and brave. One who is not likely to back down from a challenge. A great ally to have in battle and an enemy to fear. That is how I first saw you. With the spear pointed towards me, ready to strike out in an instant for your own safety... And what did I do? I spoke to you, not as if you were any different from me other then where you come from. Every race is different... But that doesn't mean that we do not think alike. Maybe some part of me could survive in that jungle you call a home. My body may change to adapt to the climate, grow harder and stronger. My strength may improve and I could be more willing to fight for what I believe in... But I am already ready to fight for what I love and even though I do not know you to the existent that I would like to, our lives are still very young. The way I see you now, with the anger and the harsh words that have been spoken between us and the tender and loving moments, as well as the ones driven by pure lust. I would not chose to leave your side even to save my own life." he said.

A long silence drifted between them, as he interlocked their fingers. His breathing was slightly heavier then normal, a though crossing his mind of her leaving the room. He had given her the choice before ether to stay or go and she chose to stay, he wondered if she would choose the same again if it came to it. He shook his head and mumbled under his breath.

"Maybe I'll find whats written on my slate by traveling with you." he said simply. For all of his long drawn out answers this was the only one he had for that question. He did not know what was written on his slate, some predetermined journey he did not know about. Though he was in no rush to find out. Her voice was sweet to his ears, he relaxed a bit as it was her turn to talk and his to listen. He raised and eyebrow when she mentioned a Dhani, hearing rumors about them in the city. He closed his eyes and sighed lightly. It was a few ticks before he opened them again, the scrapes and cuts at his side stung. "Nothing is wrong with him being a tactician.. His methods of teaching were bad and I never really caught on to what he was teaching me. Tactics win battles my dear, strategies win wars. But they matter, not much to me because I have never had a need for the tactics you speak of. I have not been in many fights up until I came here. They matter, just not very much to me in this instant."

He paused as she asked what mattered to him. He looked up at the ceiling for a few chimes before looking back to her. "You do" was all he said a small smile on his face.

x

[Kaie]

Their talk had been utterly absorbing. Intriguing. Each time the Myrian was sure she had it all figured out, the man would counter with something for her to consider. While it didn't change her perspective all too much, it continued to encourage the cogs in her mind to turn on the topics they discussed. She watched as he lifted their hands together, fingers pressing against one another as if he were trying to make a point. As if the connection of their flesh alone was enough to prove their similarities outweighed their natural differences. As if Myrian and Human were one. When he moved to words again, she realized that was exactly the message he was trying to convey.

"You're a tragic person, Aider Silander," she accused without bitterness in her voices, watching his hands as they explored down her arm. "Still watching, still learning. Still searching for his place in the world. You're still the damned deer, Aider, just...with a little more scruff." Bronze fingers toyed with his chin, brushing against the facial hair he'd let grow in there. Fiery eyes seemed to glaze over, distracted by something other than differing philosophies. She bit her lip, and then lunged back in.

Finding herself over him again, brown curls cascading like a curtain over her shoulder, her lips found his. They moved hungrily, her intentions clear in the growing aggression of her movements. One hand wandered his torso. The other hand wandered below to his trousers, fingers working the string that tied them free. "Enough talk of the future. Tomorrow is never assured. Let's live in the now." Hips rocked upon his, her breath brushing against his skin as she whispered against his neck. Hands continued their work, the string tugging free.

"Take me now if I matter so very much to you, before Dira catches up with me and you'll be forced to follow after someone else." She sat up upon him, eyes teasing in their lustful stare. Careful as she was around his wounds, the savage would not be deterred. She grabbed him below with a wicked grin, locking lips with him one last time before she set out on her sinful mission. One that would last the whole night through.

[Shakune]

 

Kaie

Skills
Philosophy +4
Socialisation +3
Medicine +1
Rhetoric +5
Flirting +1
Anthropology +2
Seduction +1

Lores
Myrian pyres versus Sunberth burials
Philosophy: The rebirth of a soul
Medicine: Recognising the signs of infected wounds
Aider: Not a killer
Aider: Stupid, but brave.
A sworn oath for Aider
Love versus infactuation
Power: more than brute strength
The human mantra: Knowledge is power
Humans: Survive through weakness
Humans: Born completely plain
Aider: A blank slate

 

Aider Silander

Skills
Socialisation +3
Observation +3
Interrogation +1
Rhetoric +5
Philosophy +2
Flirting +2
Anthropology +2

Lores
Kaie: No point in arguing with her
Kaie: Worth the risk
Interrogation: Asking lots of questions!
Kaie: Well travelled
Being drawn to Sunberth
Philosophy: Upon the Gods and their games
Power: more than brute strength
Myrians: Not just ruled by war
Humans: Survive through weakness
Humans: Born completely plain

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