[The Cages] Lovely Conversations (Ximal)

[Ana Sol Starris]

The Cages Spring 84th, 512AV; Afternoon What a day.. Ana thought to herself tiredly. Still damp from the earlier mornings washing antics at the paddock, still, she had made a promise inwardly to see Ximal later in the day. It hadn't taken long for word to get around that the giant had landed himself in the cages after an incident involving axes and trees. Trees! Of all things to get upset over, Ana was quite amazed really, people got upset over.. trees.. Chopping a tree up? Shaking her head at the sillyness, trees weren't sentient beings so why did the Spirians care so much about them? Being a Sunberthian, as well as a Zeltivan, she had never liked trees very much, or forests.. Rather for the sea or the urban, rural areas of life in Mizahar. Still that hadn't kept her from traveling to the land of big trees.. Huge ones really. Pure curiousity, as well as a goal to become stronger had brought her here in hopes... Hopes of what? She was depressed, why was she here in the first place..? Not to reclaim the Spires, oh no, nothing so bold.. She just wanted to tag along, for what.. She had trouble remembering now. But she would do her part, there had been loss on the way of the trip and she wanted to make up for it by helping capture residents once she had more money. Oddly her initial goals and ideas had swerved off to another path, only to be achieved on the side lines later on. Ana halted, just a few meters away from where the cages were. Taking a deep breath as memories flooded in about their last few encounters, none of them had seemed to be pleasent. Gripping her hand, clenching it into a tightly bound fist to the point it began to shake lightly the little thief moved onwards and waved to the gaurd next to Ximals cage "just visiting," she stated curtly. Standing, with the fisted hand on her hip, she seemed to be much more relaxed at the thought of Ximal being in a cage.. These were strong enough to hold the giant Jamoura after all and he was merely human. Ana hoped. The gaurd nodded and watched her carefully for any signs of plotting of the such, but Ana would do no such thing, she was simply just.. Curious.. The small woman just wanted to talk with him a bit, to question, it wasn't a complicated idea nor was it simple as she took a seat in front of the cage on the ground. Crossing her legs, Ana had made sure to stay out of arms reach. "I see you've landed yourself in a pretty little dilemma.." The little thief said, rather than asked. Demeanor of boredom and face of sleeplessness, she stared at the man with an elbow resting on her knee and said fist to the side of her cheek. At Ximal, who she had stolen from all that time ago- and lived to tell the tale about it.

[Ximal]

Even after his stupid antics the other day Xi would't give up training. the bar which as loose he'd slid out again. Using his right arm, his left in a sling orders of the healer who'd attended him. Xi flipped himself back upside down and started to pull up his weight using his legs. Shirtless again leaving it in the middle of the floor. His arm stung as he hefted his weight upside down. The cool air of the spires filtering through the cage. Lifting his weight up and down slowly pausing in random placed to put as much strain on his body as possible but he was feeling the pain from the torn ligament of his left arm. Xi held himself inverted as he heard a familiar very...unperturbed voice. Xi let his weight dangle down again and stared her in they eyes as she spoke. Her yellow honey eyes meeting his black blue pools of liquid fire. His hair hanging down almost touching the floor of the cage. A dilemma? Please this was down right trouble. "and what brings our humble little camp thief to the cages? I would say be careful or you'll end up in here too. Not necessarily this cage but still. Though i'm confused as to why your visiting me. It's not like i've done anything to warrant a visit from your thievishness." Xi continued pulling himself up a look of pain on his face from his arm. Otherwise he gave away nothing about his current condition. Xi flipped his weight over on one arm before pulling his weight up on it. He was now puling his weight on just his right arm. Before returning his posture back to how it was before. He'd been training hard and fast, before now he was going as slow as he could to actually build more muscle instead of just define it. "Hows your other self doing? After all It wast hard to notice. And i'd like to know what you've done with my ring." Xi looked back into her eyes. His calm for a change, though still alight with the liquid fire of motivation. Even a torn tendon wasn't going to stop him.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Looking him up and down, what in the world was the idiot doing? Ana wondered to herself, he was shirtless and working out, was it really that hot out? Naw, she was in a petching black cloak, how could it be remotely warm.. That wasn't all that caught her gaze though, the brand on his skin rose some specualtion within her mind as well as even more curiousity. Then there was that sling his arm was in, how ever did he cause that? Bah, more and more questions rolled through her mind as she lifted her eyes to his blue ones, feeling the whispers rise up, behind her mind, grimacing she shook her head and looked away. Those eyes of his unnerved her, especially what had happened at the docks.. Motif.. Tensing up, she took her hand away from her cheek and began to twiddle with her thumbs, looking at them whilst he spoke, thief, he had called her thief.. Thievishness... Snapping her gaze up she said in a rather irritated but hushed voice "shut up, don't call me a thief here.." Ximal had hit a nerve in the little thief. It took her a moment to realize she had sounded like she was begging... To have the title of 'Thief' in the camp.. Well, Ana couldn't begin to understand the horror what attaching such a stigma to her name could do to her health. So far she had been keeping her sticky fingers to the minimum, as best she could, if she had taken something without realizing it.. She put it back. Simple as that, looking nervous she kept her chin towards her chest, but her eyes glancing up at him "..just wanted to talk.. Work things out.." Mumbling to him still, "..er..I.. hrmm.. Well," she gave up. It was hard to voice what she wanted to, especially with that gaurd who was most likely listening in "I swear I've taken nothing around the camp, and even if I could, theres nothing worth taking.. What would I ever do with other peoples posessions out here?" Looking him in the eyes, straight, directly, she felt a shudder run up her spine as she did so, she needed to affirm it verbally lest she be accused later on. Locking, holding his gaze were honey hued eyes to his dark blue ones that seemed to shout a determination she wouldn't be able to match. For what seemed to be a few moments of silence, Ximal spoke up again and this time about her other.. self.. Anas face turned to that of muddled up confusion, he was speaking of Motif, a mask she had slid into.. No, she was real, she was an alter of herself.. One that was far more mature than herself and alot more riskier as well as confident, casually Ana spoke "I wouldn't know, she hasn't come out.." pausing, images flashed through her mind.. she began to rephrase her sentence carefully, slowly, with hesitation "well, I'm certain she has.. But I'm not sure, I don't remember much of anything that happened if she did.. Just blurry.. But otherwise we don't really talk.. So I wouldn't know.." Shrugging, she tried to remain non-chalont, conversational and casual "as for your ring.. It's safe.. I wanted to apologize for my other selfs behaviour I guess.. You had the right to have it back after catching me.. Multiple times.. When you're out of the cage, I'll give it back to you.." Anas eyes strayed from his to the mark on his chest again, staring hard at it, in hopes of avoiding his eyes again. "Thats an awful looking scar you've got there.." Commenting on it, she looked to the scar then to the sling, as if to attempt changing the subject.

[Ximal]

His arm started to ached so before long he'd righter himself and sat back on the floor. The burning sensation from his left arm causing him great pain, almost as if someone had poured fire-ants into it. Still he took a slow breath and calmed himself. Slightly chuckling to himself, as ashe snapped at him fro calling her a thief. A small aura of jesting loomed about him he was a little happier today still seeing she could still face him without cowering in fear was something after all since their last meeting he's become even leaner even harder and slightly more muscular than before. Sliding the bar above him back into place as he sat his eyes re-fixed into hers as she tripped over her own words whilst trying to tell him about how she'd been avoiding thieving. She wanted to work things out. A soft smile fell upon his face a she looked into her honey yellow eyes now catching a little glint from the sun."Hey i meant the thievishness thing as a joke. Though it's good to hear your not stealing from around the camp. Still you wish to work things out with me? I'm happy to hear that, after all i do kinda still fel bad after the incident at the docks..." Listening to her speak about her other side as well. It was somewhat relieving to hear that she was not being influenced by her other side yet. Xi sighed as she spoke about not talking to her. After all Xi tried to avoid it liro was right. if he met others odds were they'd be different from him yet similar. XI hated how liro was always right. "It's good that you don't talk to your's, Imagine having to live with the voice of insanity day in day out with no respite. No pause, no chance to collect your thoughts regroup and then assault the problem head on. And any time the other side chooses he can put you through immense pain until you give up and he gets control. That's what happened that day at the docks he took me unaware and slipped through. Which is why i'm utterly sorry." Then she mentioned his ring. It wasnt worth much but it held great sentimental value to him. "Thank you for not pawning the ring off. I'd be much appreciated if you returned it. Heck i might even teach you how to subdue your other side, or channel it a little better... Then he noticed her starring hard at his chest. He knew exactly what it was she was looking at. His brand. His shame. The one thing which still and forever would remind him of what he was. Then he heard her ask about it. "It's a brand. Slavers put them on slaves. Various points. Various ages...I've been dealing with mine for the past ten years... His shoulders slumped. A hint of melancholy and sadness, filtered into his voice. "It's strange how people don't value freedom until their deprived of it. Being forced to do as asked. No if's and's or but's about it. You either do it or you get beaten." The fire in his eyes re ignited burning stronger fiercer. "So Ana...Have you had any 'Defining points' in your life? Any moments when it was either do or die?" XI's arm sent a pang of pain straight into his brain and all he could do was mutter curses about the pain. That's all he would do.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Listening to him as she directed her gaze to her hands once more, he didn't sound angry to her.. In fact he seemed to be quite jovial. Happy at the thought of working things out. Relaxing just a tad now, she inhaled deeply and felt the maddening whispers recede. He said it was good she wasn't able to talk to Motif, Ana wished to object but remained silent. It wasn't that she couldn't, just her otherself ignored her when ever she had tried.. Only dreams at night seemed to be the form of verbal communication between her and Motif. Sleeping at night was far and inbetween many days and weeks, so even if she wanted to speak to Motif- it was petching near impossible to do so. Unless Motif actually wanted to tell her something.. Then she would.. But there had never been such an instance that Ana could remember. Just awful whispering, buzzing noises filling her ears whenever something bad was about to happen, warnings, alarms and bells that richochete against the walls of her mind. Then there were instances where her body moved without hesitation.. Without thought.. Rubbing a temple as she thought abut it, he had spoken of.. Of... She floundered for the name, snapping her fingers to remember. Liro! Yes, that was the name Motif had aquired those days in the docks. Did Liro really cause such trouble for Ximal? ..It wouldn't suprise her if he did.. He had after all, managed to bring Motif out of the outer shell that was Ana. As Ximal spoke of slavery, being a slave, she shuddered.. Not for him, but the image that lodged itself in her head of Motif.. The creatures true form was the stuff made of nightmares, quite litterally. If Ximal mistook the shudder for slavery, that was all fine and dandy for Ana, she didn't want to express what popped into mind at some of the most random of moments. Now she had wished she hadn't asked him about the mark, it brought the whispers up once more, the thought of incarceration, freedom, freedomless, brought them to a buzz. Then to a pounding roar as he asked her about a defining point in her life.. What was she to say.. Fear worked its way into her demeanor, causing her to shake ever so lightly, warnings, was she to say something.. Say nothing? "We-well.." Anas voice cracked, staring at the ground before her, taking interest suddenly in a rock before she could regain her voice. Taking but a few moments to do so, the silence was deafening "I'm.. I'm sorry to hear about that.. About the.. Slavery, stuff.. and.." she hadn't been a slave, but she had been locked up in a different way, her gaze went to the side to another cage.. Her gaze nonexistant, becoming far as she tried to work a way around his question.. He had given her information of his past, it was only right that she should do the same "I guess.. You could say I was a bird in a cage," she felt an overwhelming urge to facepalm and she did so without thinking, grumbling "..er..I mean, yes, yes there has been but I don't think it was a 'death sentence' ...er..well maybe it could have been if I stayed but.." she was rambling, terribly, how could one explain that her father was crazy? That she wanted revenge against the man for killing a beloved older brother? "I don't like to talk about it, but... I'm going to get back at the bastard for all the pain hes caused.. The lives hes screwed up.." Who was she talking about? Certainly not Wrenmae, nor Shroud. Twas Gerron, her father she was talking about.. By the context of her sentence, she could have meant a number of different people.. Ana couldn't help but feel.. Angry. Rageful at the stupid parent who had caused so many problems, she stared at Ximal now, a look of stubborn hatred, determination filled them "same for you, what about your defining points between life and death? I think I've had enough of them while in Sunberth, I can't even count how many spiffs I've gotten in to in the last four years and lived to tell about it.. Well, if I had anyone at the time to tell but I didn't, not for a long, long, long time. Not until I joined the Crimson Edge last winter.." Freezing, a look of horror passed over her face, it had just jumped out of her mouth, as if.. As if.. Well Ana didn't want to ponder about it, looking away, eyes wide.. What had come over her to spout such information? It was as if the whispers had driven her to say those things.. But.. No, no, they had ceased.. She felt a wave of aproval at such a handiwork, Ana went back to twiddling with her fingers and staring hard at them. It was a diversion away from what she had first said..

[Ximal]

Xi Watched ana, her slight moves her tempered motions, her minute glances. Everything was in an effort to keep something off of her mind Xi knew it well after all, he was the same. Xi looked at the minute motions that she was making each and everyone an attempt to hide and temper back something. There was only one thing she could be hiding that he knew of but he didn't ask her about it. After all he hated when people asked him about liro. The sheer bone chilling terror that monster evoked when it reared it's ugly head. SHe shuddered whether or not it was from his talking about his past or her dealings with the monster within her. Either way he wouldn't being it up it was hard enough dealing with that monster at the best of times even worse when it was being drawn to the top. And then he felt it, that surge of madness, the creeping pain of sheer terror clawing it's way up his mind. Xi gritted hid teeth as he felt the fiery hot talons of liros influence clawing throughout him but as they reached the tendon he's ripped the pain was excruciating. It felt as though she'd dunked his arm in oil and then set the whole damned thing ablaze. The slow maddening voice of liro reverberated throughout the whole of Xi's skull. As the influence crawled down his arms and through his legs the words getting louder as the onset was slow and grating. OH...If it isn't our little thieving friend, ana. Nehehehehe. Oh let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out. LET ME OUT. This one has a mind that's worth corrupting to see the façade she erects. That other side of her her inner wall against all foreign invaders. Let me seeee it once again. Let me look in to the eyes of a best not of madness but of resolution, into the gaze of a creature like me. One with no fear I want TO see IT. Let me burst forth and corrupt that which has a sliver of hope of remaining uncorrupted. i want to see the light die from her eyes before i break her fragile mind into such small pieces it can fit through the eye of a needle. Now Xi was not only battling the pain of his arm, and liros influence. Now had to contend with liros screaming voice. He heard her speak again, her voice cracking as he mentioned his past, her responses to his questions were vague. Random, fragmented. Some semblance of a greater whole story and all this randomness intrigued liro more pushing him closer to the fore front of his mind. Xi took a deep breath as he both listened to ana and fought off the domination and all encompassing assault of liros twisted mind. She had someone she really wanted to get back at a much as Xi did. Though Xi had already taken back power once. He knew the feeling of reclaimed strength that he felt. His dark blue eyes met her yellow honey gold ones. the darkness of his eyes now filtering with both madness and resolution. He was not going to let his psychopathic other half take control. then she asked him or rather berated him about his situations like that. Xi sighed as he force and wrenched over control with liro. "Life and death situations are all i've faced the last part of this season. Six solid days of running away from a lynch mob that someone set on me. A meeting in the hot springs with your fearless leader whose now dead, cade. And his apparent right hand man. The same one who set the mob on me. Then to top that off a brush with death from a group of mage catchers when i'm not even a mage...Yeah i think i qualify for shyke season of the year...If you can top my past season then feel free to pull your cards." He was irritated and highly on edge from the force of liros onslaught against him. the sheer blazing power liro had over him here was staggering but Xi still had a firm grip and was not going to be shaken easily...

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana did not reply for the longest time, she had listened to his words.. His words.. His motions and breathing patterns. Could she top him? Probably not, nor did she want to get into a battle of words with him.. Not with.. Others listening in. Remaining shut, her mouth ceased to move and remained firmly set in a line. Taking in a deep breath, she had to remain calm.. Calm, she shut her eyes slowly only to open them again and stare him in the face. Ana did not falter when she did so, "...as I said.. I don't want to talk about it... I don't really know you, if I did, better, then maybe I would tell you.. But I don't, I won't let myself be jibed into a verbal war.. Especially with.. With.." Ana paused, glancing at the arm in a sling again "With your 'Liro' voice.. Shard of self.. behind your eyes.. he.. I guess.. Unintentionally brought her out further than what you had.." clasping her hands together and rubbing them, she let them hang limp for a moment as she stared at them, harder, harder, concentration, focus, she felt the rolling feeling beneath her skin bubble up.. Djed. Ana wasn't going to do anything with it, it just acted as.. as a relaxment. The feeling brought forth an even better calm to her mind. After what Wren had taught her.. She had become slightly addicted to the feeling of what morphing had brought her. After the longest silence, Ana could speak again.. She let the feeling remain under her skin, at the ready but not to be used openly. Ximal had mentioned a right hand man of Cades in the Hotsprings, did he mean Mok or Wrenmae? Both had been of a higher status in the Crimson Edge.. "When you said right-hand man.. Did you mean Mok or Wrenmae?" She stared at him now, calm, relaxed, despite the circumstances she had been feeling before.. Ana wondered about his arm as well, looking into his eyes again, he seemed to be in pain from Ana could tell.. But he didn't show it outwardly, only the glint of his eyes.. "I personally didn't know Mok very well.. But I can't say the same for Wrenmae," she smiled with ease "pity they couldn't both come to the Spires with us, its really amazing here.. Despite the circumstances of trying to reclaim the city" more distraction from a topic that had now passed. Down to her hands again, she began to grip, grasp them slowly and release, as if in thought, as if to exercise control over her fears of what lay beneath Ximals mind and out of it. To remain there and talk, make conversation "I also heard you got in trouble for chopping a tree up.. and thats why," she gestured to the cage "you are in there." Ana raised an eyebrow, a glint of mischief resonated through her demeanor.

[Ximal]

Silence. Xi was met with silence after his remarks about liro and his experiences over the last half season. At least she had the sense not to feet the fire that was liros madness. Xi sighed as he listened to her respond after a long pause. She dint want to be brought into a verbal war with him. Good he wasn't the best at talking but liro could talk a miser out of his last coin. Xi dropped his gaze as he listened to her talking. Liro had drawn out her dormant side. He other side her motif was blank within her until liro drew her out with the rays of madness he emitted. Xi shook his head as all liro did was laugh with in him. Xi spoke slowly with a slight edge of regret. "Liro has that effect, he's good at waking up the dormant beasts that lie within others. Madness breeds madness. And from madness spawns the beast that is insanity. I understand you do not wish to get into a verbal war with me but i must stress. Do not feed the other side. The more you allow your dark side out the stronger it gets. Right now though here. I'm having a seriously hard time holding liro back. This fog is...Well i think it brings out a beings more primal nature. LIros my most basic instincts corrupted by madness. In this place my survival instincts along side my primal ones are going insane. That it's dangerous. I see why we were advised to spend double the amount of time out of the fog as in. Then ana spoke bout cade's right hand man. Remembering something saph had said earlier it couldn't have been mok as he'd been missing for a long while...Wrenmae...Now he had a name to put to the face. His smile turnd a little dark. "Ana thank you, you've just told me the name of the person whose been hunting me...Wrenmae. When i next see him i'm going to kill him so slowly by the end he'll beg for death." The muscles of Xi's huge right arm bulged as he flexed them lightly and subconsciously. He had a name and a face, every thing he needed was coming together. His anger resurfaced. Hard fast, like a flash of lightning his face changed from immobile to glistening and roaring with anger then returned back to normal though the blazing aura of fury still hung about him. Even the animals around him seemed to feel his anger as they fled or retreated in theri cages. All but the still maddened jamoura, who simply continued their crazed roaring. "The spires are beautiful but it's kind of hard to appreciate their magnificence from the confines of a ten by ten by thirteen cell. And as to that chopping wood question yeah that's what i'm stuck here for. And from what i heard from one of the locals. I got of petching lightly." Xi sighed, as he thought abotu what to ask ana with the reverberations of liros madness still clinging to his cranium. "So ana, what exactly are you doing here? Before the whole, tree incident i was and still am applying for a guard job after all what better way is there to learn about what your guarding than from inside of what your supposed to be guarding, eh?" Xi shot a sly grin, warm and friendly but some what jokingly too. Right now whatever his face show it was dwarfed by the all consuming feeling of rage emanating from his black blue eyes. The fire there turned from a small spark into a raging inferno at the mere recollection of the events that had taken place.

[Ana Sol Starris]

The conversation was pleasent, it was nice, there was simple humanity going on between the two and for what Ana thought could have been a blossoming, sucking up, friendship; her mouth had turned it for the worse. Incredibly, it did, so far down under the sea that for a moment all she was seeing was Ximals cold dark blue eyes, freezing, pausing, her conscienceness fell ever deeper into the dark abyss of her own mind, ruled by fury. The change, there was no sublty in her features, it was sudden, fast, harsh, it made the string pullers teeth clench, grit, and grind against eachother. Fire lit in her eyes, figuratively of course, something ruled by the emotion, an anger quite the match for Ximals own menacing aura. Tightening her fists, she felt every muscle contract inside her arms, tensing, down her spine and through the rest of her body. Locked by some unknown force to remain calm, breaking such a concentration would be untimely, her breathing, forced, through her teeth she wanted to bash his bloody skull open, she wanted to see him torn apart, dead, in the ground so she could dance upon it in the most ludicrous ways. Hatred, seared through her mind towards him, bringing a calm malicious smile to spread across her lips. Motifs body seemed to lock even further, what did it matter? He didn't need to know anything about her, not anything more than what she had blabbed, blathered nonchalontly without consequence beforehand to him. Despicable. Truely, utterly, such an idiotic move, reckless, confident that such information hadn't been detrimental to others healths. The chuckle was quiet with her shoulders going quite lax, leaning to the side a little, her hair covered most of her face, eyes shut, the laugh had been thoughtful, perhaps a little too thought out. What Ximal had been talking to, was slowly fading without a fight "forget anything I said, Ximal, forget it all, I could be lieing to you once more, twice, even thrice" her voice began to sharply incline upwards, an almost booming qaulity about it, a constrained rage roiling beneath its languidity "because if you don't," she paused, letting in the dramatic effect lol against her tounge before rising just as slowly, to stare down at him. Eyes, golden, warbling, she stared at him and smiled broader "I will rip you limb from limb, I will cut you apart, so much as you TOUCH Wrenmae" voice, tripling in depth "EVEN LOOK" her body shook ever so lightly; From what had been an inability to move quickly, slow, deliberate movements her hand reached to grip a wooden bar and stare further in, promises upon her own face "at him, I will be your demise, completely, utterly, YOU'LL WISH YOU HADN'T EVEN SO MUC-" as she had begun to yell, the gaurd, ever attentive hopped into action with a trusty club to the string pullers head, swinging, she hadn't taken into account of the gaurd that was next to Ximals cage. The impact was enough to make her vision blot out in a sudden flash of white, when it cleared, blinking, the crack, the pain, the throbbing was enough to make her eyes water. Reverting back into that scared little girl, confused where she was, what had she been doing? Gripping her pounding head, she looked up, then down.. How did she get on the ground again? "..wha..Whys the ground pull me to it.." Her voice had returned to the quiet, paranoid thief, she gasped as an almost blinding pain made her want to hurl, what had she just been doing, she grasped for moments before, it had felt like mere seconds, not even. "No taunting the caged," The gaurd grunted at her, a rather strict and disgusted look on his face. Taunting? She had been.. Taunting Ximal? How? She was sitting just a minute ago before something collided with her head! Ana squirmed away from the cage on her side, glancing at Ximal quickly, cringing, feeling a wave of hate rise up for whatever reason "I..I.. What?" She had to look away from him and back to the gaurd who was yanking her up, hard, and away from the cage "you heard me, I saw you, petch, possibly even most of the residents had heard you, don't play dumb" he scolded, warned her. Ana couldn't do a thing, she let herself be grabbed from the ground to be yanked up, her pulsating skull wishing to pull all contents out with a sledgehammer, for a moment, the grip on her arm was comforting, stable, tight and somewhat painful but secure enough to keep her from stumbling over "s-sorry, d-didn't realize what I was doing," all she could do.. Was apologize, almost doubling over as another blast of pain lounged about her cranial, she almost groaned as she kept a trembling hand, pressing tenderly where it had been struck, the gaurd could have possibly thought she would have dodged, was this assault? Was talking to a prisoner against the rules? N-no.. Ana was confused.. What.. What had just happened..?

[Ximal]

As Xi sit in his cage he endured the nipping winds. The rage within him seething into a cauldron of fury. He kept that event at the fore front of his mind. Blotting out his words and picturing Wrens face. Xi could feel his knuckles turning white with the strength of his grip. Liro now sat quietly watching Xi's spiral down in to the world of a monster. Xi rose from his seated position at ana's berating. Xi towered over the now threatening girl. Xi could feel his muscles tense. So i'm not the only one that Wrenmae has corrupted. She was defending a monster like him? Xi shook his head. His rage only growing, like putting oil onto a fire hoping to put it out. It just grew and brought Xi's thoughts ever so much narrower. His mind brushed the idea of grabbing her throat and cutting off her speech there and then. that was untill the bruteish monkey came over, a swift thud and the bow staff cracked against her head. Now she sprawled out on the floor and returned to her scared ways. Pleading ignorance. Xi's rage swelled further but now he had his mind set on other things. "Guard, please let her go i upset her. Go back to your business, please." Xi smiled in, a friendly well meaning manner. [/colour] [color=#000040]"Just keep it down, i don't care about you being here, i just don't want the jamoura in the cages upset. She acts up again and i'm removing her." With that statement the monkey wandered off. Good riddance, Now Xi focused his gaze back onto ana. He rage in him swelling, The muscles on his right arm pronouncing heavily as they tensed and contracted with rage. He was restraining his urge to rip her off the ground by her shirt. As the guard retreated back out of ear shot Xi waited for her to get up off of the ground. before speaking. "First of all. Now i know whose fractured your mind, or at least sew the first seeds of chaos within. our mutual acquaintance, Wrenmae." Xi's eyes now froze over. The air of anger roaring out of control but masked behind an icy wall. Looking straight into his eyes was like staring at a frozen inferno. His light tone he'd been using sharpened, focusing it'self into a blade far sharper than any steel. Coupled with the icy demeanour about him. The words he spoke would now cleave deep. "Tell your darker side i say hello, and if she rears her head again. I'll crush your throat, and watch the life leak out of you slowly, one slow painful breath after the other. Anyone who gets in the way of my revenge. I will kill. They defend him, and i will send their severed head to his feet. If she stay's back we have no issues." Xi's body fell lax. Light and easy the tension in his muscles receded. The frozen fire in his eyes still there burning brightly. He leered down at her. The rage there building and focusing itself into a cannon poised to fire. " I save him from being killed by mage hunters, from getting hung at dawn, and how does he repay me? He chains me to a cage of steel sets the place e was being held ablaze and leaving me to die. So if you can defend him for doing that with good moral implications. Do so. I want my revenge...and i will have it" He took a step closer to the bars. the seething fiery cauldron of anger about him leaping out. "Draw your sword towards me and I will do some damage you won't walk away from. Know this as well. I don't make idle threats. I make promises." His darkened eyes stared straight into her amber ones. The rage subsiding the cold thawing. He couldnt help but feel a pain of sorrow for her. " I was hoping we could be on better terms. Wipe the slate clean, we still can be. Just stay out of my way when i see wrenmae next. I don't have any thing against you, but i don't feel anything towards you." He knew what it was like living with a mind like hers was. His rage towards wrenmae now had more grounds than his own standing towards wrenmae. He now had another's cause to champion. Whic had just turned his quest for vengance. Into a path for justice. Gods almighty that sounds corny, but now i have grounds other than my own to have a hatred towards wrenmae. "I don't want things between us to stand badly, however i will not be stopped when i see wrenmae next. If you get in my way, I will kill you. His last sentence was a set of ten simple words but their meaning was clear. It was an ultimatum. No leeway.