Closed A Reef and a Croft

[Linie Moonreef]

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He was so close. And so handsome it made her nervous for a tick. So close she could smell him. He smelled strongly of steel, faintly of body odor and... was that seawater? Definitely seawater. She'd recognise it anywhere. In the back of her mind she wondered why? But he smelled good and it made her blush. Buckeye would be wildly jealous if he saw the two of them. Any contact with a male and he was all... hackles raised and howling at the moon like some forlorn dog.

He had barely gotten up and into the dome when lightening struck the top, illuminating the once dark atrium. She clapped happily at the display, though it made her jump, once she recovered from Alex's protective grasp.
"That was neat. We can't get hurt in a dream can we?"
She was none the wiser to Alex's specter lurking in the shadows, waiting to toy with Alex.

"C'mon. Let's see where this path goes. I hear water."
She began walking whether he followed or not, through the foliage and down the path. She only walked for a few chimes before being met by an open area, stone paving and a large pond with koi in it and a part on the side with rocks where a small waterfall was trickling out of it. In the middle of the pond was a woman in a flowing dress with a helmet and a sword at her side. She was beautiful and carved from marble, glistening in the newly illuminated atrium. Behind the fountain was a bench and Linie sat there, motioning to Alex for him to sit down too, assuming he followed.
"So here we are. It be beautiful here. I could stay here forever."

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


It was a dream. That may have been the truth of it but that didn’t mean he could turn off instinct. The feeling, that deep seeded and embedded need to protect people. No matter the cost to himself. One day that was going to cost him. But for the time he was going to stand by that feeling no matter what. Even within the blackness of the dream he lingered waiting a moment allowing the storm to pass. Another bolt struck out in the distance flashing the dome into a brilliant white briefly. A Pathway through the blackness even with only the glimmers of moonlight around her she could see so clearly whilst he had to strain to see through the mire. To see through the darkness.

He trailed behind her slowly, and in the distance there was the slow shuffle of that figure. Amidst the swirling of what he now saw was a small pond full of clean and clear water. At it’s heart the stone statue. A picturesque scene made even more beautiful to behold as Linie sat upon the edge of the bench and the moonlight in its soft pale glow stretched out to cover the full expanse. Alex smirked lightly and watched from the edge of things. Arms folded and lightly against his chest not keeping to himself but trying to not destroy the serenity of the view.

A small smile crept across his features almost with a genuine lightness behind it however it swiftly died as a voice called out from behind him. Tinny and hollow. The reediness something he hoped never to have to hear again.
“Well, well, look what we have here…” Alex froze like he’s just been hit in the stomach with a steel bar. He turned slowly to glance over his shoulder and spotted the source. Long scraggly hair and a sharp sneer that pierced the veil between their distances. The only thing that stood out starkly was the light brown almost amber eyes seemingly burning through the distance.

“It can’t be…” The only words Alex managed to get out softly before he took a step in retreat and the fissures on the ground began to spread so far and so deeply that even the ground beneath Linie started to crack.
“Lovely to see that you’ve a new friend. Hope you don’t mind if I have some fun with her first, then I’ll see what I can do with the pair of you…” The figure sneered with the long hair falling in front of his face as he lifted a thick and jagged curved knife. The same one he’d watched the man he now remembered by the name of smiling Kenny carve up an entire group of five thugs within seconds.

[Linie Moonreef]

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She was enjoying her time sitting here in silence with Alex. The man who destroyed. The woman who made things whole. Quite the pair. Just then another man spoke. Lazily she swiveled to look behind her to see who it was. He was ugly. Evil looking. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Alex freeze. Something was wrong. Was this man real too? She stood up but slipped as he unshoed foot tripped between the crack that was just made. She began to feel frightened. Could she get hurt in a dream.

His comment about "having some fun with her" made her stomach drop. Defensively she went for her cutlass but it was no where to be found.
'Dammit.'
Just as she came to the realization she was defenseless he pulled from somewhere a long jagged knife and her pulse started going crazy, she could feel the color draining from her face. Reactively she stepped closer to Alex, who seemed to be having a similar reaction as she.
"Ye ain't welcome here."
She spat and took another step closer to Alex. Perhaps she could conjure a sword, like they conjured the steps and like how she helped Alex up the ladder. It seemed too easy.
"Alex," she whispered out of the side of her mouth, "Conjure a sword."
Either that or run. But run where? They could possibly lose him in the mirror maze, Linie was sure she could as she felt at home there, but Alex would fall down the steps without her to buffer his reaction to the glass and they were enclosed in the atrium.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


Poking a bear was never a good idea… However with her words towards Kenny Alex could feel his fist balling up at his side. His fingers tightened as he could feel her sidling up behind him, almost using him as a shield. She called out to him to conjure a sword. But would that even work, after all everything he touched seemed to just fall to pieces in his hands. He spoke softly towards Linie as he never took his eyes off of Kenny.
“I can’t do that…It’d just shatter the moment my fingers touched it.” As Kenny drew closer to the pair of them Alex instinctually stepped infront of her and closed the distance towards Kenny. The ground shattering further and starting to cascade up into the dome.
“Big lad now aren’t ya? Perhaps I should cut you down to size…” Kenny began to smile almost unnaturally the corners of his mouth seemingly pulling out wider than his eyes. As he began to play with the knife in his fingers. “Perhaps I should show you how I got my nickname, boy.”

“I know perfectly well how you got that name. After all I saw the corpses…” Alex now stepped up squaring off with Kenny. Hands wringing as the ground beneath him fissured further, the ground behind him cracking and forming a gap between himself and Linie. He may not have had a blade on him but he’d spent over a season learning how to handle himself should he find himself without a weapon.

“Come now boy, that aint fair, separating me from your lady friend? Or perhaps you can’t stop yourself doing that? And fighting me without a weapon are you stupid son?” Kenny brought the knife across in a swift slashing motion before even finishing his sentence.

Alex stepped back and watched the blade catch nothing but empty space.
“You’re part of my memory. And that’s all you’ll ever be.” Alex’s voice grew firmer that light airiness that it often carried with was now replaced with resolute volume a weight to it but still quiet. Kenny simply smiled and brought the knife back and then followed with a second knife out of nowhere catching Alex across the upper arm before he could avoid the second strike.
“Memories don’t catch people off guard. Do they boy.” Kenny began to smile as he struck out again and again littering Alex’s torso with small cuts. “Y’know the term death by a hundred cuts boy? You’re on about thirty.” He cackled with a thin reediness that called out and cut through the empty space as Alex refused to move. He wasn’t letting him take another step closer to Linie. He could fight and he could protect someone and damn it he’d do it!

As Kenny swung his blade in from the side Alex snapped a hand out and clocked him square across the jaw sending him rolling back lightly and forcing him to catch himself on his leg. And that smile didn’t disappear instead it grew wilder. “I was wondering when you’d start to fight back!”

[Linie Moonreef]

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He was right, it would probably just break. Shit! And she barely knew how to use her weapon!
'Shit, shit, shit.'
The ground began to quake as a large crack formed between she and Alex, he stepping in front of her to protect her from this man. Someone he seemed to know, as their dialogue progressed. Her brow furrowed. Was this someone from Alex's subconscious? Someone from his past, lurking in the shadows of his mind. Something he regretted maybe. Thinking about it, if this man was from his past then he had one Hai of a past. This man looked like a monster, evil was plain on his face. He looked to be some sort of rat-like vermin man, a face only a mother could love. If he hadn't sold her to slavery or something.

The fight waged on and Alex seemed to be losing as the rat-man sliced at Alex's skin, a second blade being produced. Alex came back with some gusto though as he punched the man in the face, only earning him a grin. It made her skin crawl. Enough was enough, she was tired of waiting on the sidelines like some helpless girl. Women were leaders in her culture, her mother would be ashamed to see her letting some man take the lead on this. Especially if she let him fight without a weapon against a man with two weapons when Linie was capable, though not very good, at using a cutlass.

She stood there and attempted to mediate. To draw that inner most part of herself, and find within her the cutlass that she owned. She held her hand out in front of her as a place for it to spawn and began focusing on the qualities of her blade. Cold steel, sturdy handle. After a chime eventually it zapped into her hand in a with a bright light. She hoped the rat-man didn't see that as she leaped over the crack and brandished her weapon.
"Avast!"

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


Alex shifted his footing motioning to move for a strong right when the ground beneath him shifted, the fissures caused by this uncertainty knocking him off balance lightly. Kenny smiled and stepped in and went to stab him in the stomach with the blade. Alex’s hand snapped down to grip hold of the arm just behind the blade. As Alex was about to strike out and Kenny was about to try and stab Alex in the throat a blinding light emanated from behind him and caught Kenny of guard briefly as Linie jumped over the gap pointing her blade towards Kenny.
Avast… Really? Alex wanted to say something anything but at that exact moment he was a little too close for comfort with this squirmy slime. His left arm came across again and socked him square in the jaw snapping his head around from the force of the impact. He stumbled backwards and then began to cackle.

“Little boy no different. Still need someone to fight your battles for you.” He burst out laughing as he hurled a blade towards Linie pulling another from his belt. “Only difference is this time it’s a woman fighting your battles for you! And she’s going to pay and die for it!” He smiled sadistically and began o tear the space between them towards Linie. Despite the wiry and thin frame he moved with an almost unnatural speed. As he lashed out with the blade towards her Alex stepped into the gap between them cutting the space with his fist and driving it into Kenny’s nose and sending him reeling backwards.

“Your fight is with me. Or did you forget who killed you the first time!” His voice now didn’t just sound loud, it was loud. Almost like the sound of rolling rumbling thunder. Ir roared out with the pride of a lion and the power of an elephant. He stepped between them once again this time glaring over his shoulder towards Linie. His stark green almost lightning filled eyes spoke a single word to Linie. Run.

His foot stomped into the ground, shattering it from the point of impact however instead of the ground staying cracked it began to glow slightly. Alex closed in on Kenny his arms bleeding the crimson rivulets of liquid falling on the ground each drip causing another crack from its point of impact.

“Oh it’s such fun seeing someone so noble get cut to pieces.” He smiled and snapped his head up rising from the ground, rolling his body up from his feet first his head leaving the ground last. Another dagger shot towards Alex, the blade searing across the space, the blade embedded itself into his left shoulder. Alex winced and stalled his motions as Kenny descended upon him again with both blades drawn.

[Linie Moonreef]

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Linie jumped back from the blade and clumsily almost fell into the fissure in the earth that Alex had made before that had closed her off from him. She spat at him and his comments about her dying.
"Dirty rat bastard." She said in Fratava.
The boom of the voice from the otherwise quite and reserved Alex made her jump and she about dropped her sword. She missed the warning look fro Alex to run in the attempt to grab it back into her hand. This man was going to go down. It was now two against one. Linie readied her stance and armed herself, breathing in deeply and calming her nerves. Still in stance she stepped forward to him, slashing in 'X's in front of her. As she drew nearer to the man she jabbed out with the sword, trying to stab at him.

Luckily for her he was more focused on Alex. Now was her chance. Step, step step, jab! Her sword landed a hit between his collar bone and his shoulder, sending the man reeling back in pain. She pulled the blade out of his flesh with a flourish she didn't even know she could do, and despite herself grinned deviously at the man. Though in the back of her mind she was panicking, he was way more skilled than she and she had never gone up against two weapons at once-- this was only going to piss him off. After that she went on the defensive. Any attacks the man wrought on to her she defended, with some difficulty. This was the fastest she had ever moved, trying to defend from two knives at once. She remembered to keep her elbow in towards her so as not to let the blades slip past each other but she was very much beginning to get tired out. As much as she loved defending her honor this type of defense was wearing on her. He had struck three times and she successfully guarded them, but after that her guard faltered and she was open for attack.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


It was a strange thing to see when Linie leapt in front of him. Her blade biting into Kenny’s shoulder. A deep enough cut to make him reel a little. Though bot Alex and Kenny could see it. She didn’t know how to swing the blade she held. And that was going to get her hurt. Ale reached up tp pull the blade free from his shoulder with a firm tug he wrenched the blade free luckily it had hit mostly the meaty part of his shoulder and nothing serious. However the feeling of pain was definitely there. And now Alex was watching Linie get wailed upon by the blades. By Kenny.

“Well girly didn’t I tell you we’d be having some fun!?” He cackled as he pounced upon her unloading a vicious flurry of strikes each time he simply toyed with her swinging the thicker blade into her cutlass and forcing it a side before stabbing in with the smaller blade. Trying to litter her with the same cuts he’d laden over Alex. However there was a distinct difference instead of aiming for her arms he went straight for her torso, each time ripping a new cut into her white corset and watching the crimson that bled free from the new wound shift it’s shade to a slowly darkening pink.

“That’s a much better colour. Red makes everything better don’t you think?” He began to cackle as he swung the blade again. Pressuring her, toying with her. Alex wanted to dash in but without a weapon he was simply getting walked over. He grit his teeth and ran towards him. His mind now overtaken with one thing. He’d said he’d handle this. And after all this was a spectre from his own past. He almost had a duty to take care of it. Nobody else should have to suffer under the weight of his past. Just him.

“I thought I said you’re dealing with me!” Alex reached out his hand before he could register what was happening his had burst into light. A light which began to bust from the cracks in the ground as he closed the gap. The light in his hands began to form a cross shape. One he knew very well. Both of his hands gripped a hold of the handle of the blade. And then the light began to crack and fragment away leaving him with something he knew well. His blade. The fully sized bastard sword familiar in his hands.

He darted in and stepped into the space the tip of his blade finding purchase against the edge of Kenny’s blade before it bit into linie’s stomach and opened her up. However it didn’t meet fully in time and instead of cutting deep it simply ripped the fabric, with just the very tip biting into skin.
“You’re my problem…one of myy nightmares and I won’t go forcing you on others.” Alex kicked Kenny back and stood between him and Linie now. Sword in hand now. His body heaved with his breaths despite the fact that this was a dream it felt so real. The pain, the urgency, the need to act. He held his footing as the blood began to run down his arms feely now.

His hands gripped the blade tighter as he glanced over his shoulder towards Linie offering a small reassuring smile. Again practiced and well thought through but to him hollow. Just a gesture to show everything would be alright, even if it wasn’t.
“What happened to the toothpicks boy? I see you’ve finally graduated into a man’s class of weapon.” Kenny began to cackle however as he did Alex now stepped in closer and began to apply the pressure now.


OOCI got the OK from Linie to have Kenny inflict some injuries >.>

[Linie Moonreef]

¤

Linie was in pain. The flurry hit her right in the abdomen and she was surprised to actually feel the pain. It hurt in a dull roar sort of way. As if the pain wasn't really there, but still she could still feel it. The more he hit her the more intense the pain got. Try as she might she was unable to block any of his strikes. In the back of her mind she was getting pissed he was messing up her nice corset. If only she had one of these in real life. It was beautiful but now it was sullied with blood. It made her angry and she got sloppy, allowing him to cut deeper into her skin eliciting a small cry from her mouth. This would hurt much more if she wasn't dreaming. What a pleasant thing turned nightmare.

The bright light surprised her, coming from both his hand and the cracks which he had wrought. But once she saw that shape, the shape which was so recognizable, she felt a wave of relief. It would seem Alex's increased temper allowed him to summon a blade. Alex stopped the blade from gutting her with his own and she sighed with relief, wondering if she would die in the dream would she die for real. She stepped back as Alex kicked Kenny out of the way and watched the blood drip from his ripped open arms. It made crimson droplets on the ground, a soundless reveal of Alex's inner workings.
'One of his nightmares?'
The smile he gave her was charming, not picking up at all how hollow to Alex the smile really was. She felt reassured. It was now she decided to step out from the fight, allowing Alex to do his work. Something told her he knew how to hold a sword. Perhaps it was the skilled way the blade sat in his hands or the way he seemed to have a new found confidence now that he held the blade.
"Git em Alex!"

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"


Admittedly Alex didn’t have the skill that Kenny did with his daggers however Alex had one major advantage that he didn’t. His mind. He stepped up in a single line placing himself as a firm bulwark between both Linie and Kenny. And now seeing the damage she’d suffered over his shoulder from his inaction his eyes grew cold. All the fire that was there replaced with two things ice, and electricity.

The fissures in the ground grew deeper and more pronounced, and let of a pale light akin to the glow that the moon traced over Linie.
“You’re about to see what I can do with it.” The only words Alex spoke in that moment. Laced with anger and cold enough to freeze fire. He stepped forwards the cracks in the ground from his footsteps spreading like he was the epicentre of an earthquake. Kenny in the distance just smiled and waited almost like he was toying with Alex. However now Alex had the advantage, he’d seen everything Kenny had to offer and all of his tricks. Alex gripped the blade now with only one hand was a thin layer of frost seemed to gather on the blade and slowly drip off like a soft mist.

“That’s a good lad face your death like a man. It’ll be the first thing you do as a man.” Kenny began to cackle and then darted towards Alex. Kenny who hadn’t taken more than a few punches and a single fairly deep swing from Linie now was on Alex in a heartbeat. Both blades coming in from above and below simultaneously, well skilled and well versed. Alex blocked the first one with the tip of the blade and then the second with the cross guard. That cold glare enough to signal it was over. Alex swung hard catching Kenny square in the gut. A firm hit but one he was seemingly used to taking. Though as he hit Alex pushed off the twin blades and drew in a single motion a deep cut across Kenny’s torso. And with a single motion rolled around Kenny and instead of going for the kill Alex slashed through both of the tendons at the back of Kenny’s knees.

He dropped like a stone slumping to the ground.
“What the!?” Kenny felt a blinding pain through him and now couldn’t lift his legs to move. And Alex just began to walk away. “Oh no you petching don’t! Come back here and fight! I’ll end you!” Kenny screamed and Alex just kept walking towards Linie. A familiar sound broke the silence as Kenny slid a dagger free of its sheath. Alex spun and with a single swing batted the dagger that had been thrown at him like a baseball sending it flying off back towards Kenny. The blade stabbing into his shoulder. A lucky bat from Alex not so much from Kenny.

Alex crouched over Linie checking her cuts lightly. A rather worried look on his features, it may have been a dream but that didn’t mean he didn’t have to worry. The sword in his hands vanished into light as he hovered over Linie.
“Are you alright? They don’t look that deep thankfully.” He lightly traced his fingers over the cut on her abdomen as he heard something behind him. It was Kenny getting to his feet, the damage vanishing.

“I said come back. And now I’m going to just KILL the pair of you!” Kenny took off running towards them. Alex didn’t move for a moment and instead just smiled at Linie.
“I’m sorry.” All he said as the light in his hands sparked into being again. He turned and with both arms drew back. The light vanishing as a longbow and a single arrow replaced it fully drawn he glared at Kenny who was now only twenty feet away. Alex just fired without a word. The bolt of wood and steel tearing through the gap with ridiculous power as it punctured Kenny’s heart and sent him flying backwards from the force. As his body fell limp against the floor the blades crumbling into black dust along with his body Alex looked towards the ground.
“Memories should stay just that. Memories.” Alex’s voice changed to a soft sullen whisper as the bow faded into flecks of light as a soft wind blew. Returning his attentions he began to check on Linie. He was no healer but he could at least make sure her injuries weren’t life threatening. He spoke to her now with a soft shallow and almost genuine smile.
"Thank you back there. You saved me."