Knight in Shining Armor (Andre)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

89th Day of Summer, 512 AV Late Night A few hours walk from Zeltiva... Tock trudged through the hills, wandering in a daze. Night had fallen, but she hadn't even noticed. Her eyes were unfocused. Her mind was blank. Empty. She had her arms hugged around herself, and even Handy's gentle stroking of her hair wasn't enough to soothe her. Her feet moved as if she were one of her own Automatons, without any understanding of where she was going or why. She didn't even know if she was headed in the right direction. She just moved, one foot after the other, one step at a time. She stumbled, not noticing nor caring when she pushed through a thorn bush and scraped her skin. Branches smacked across her face, she trudged through mud, she got leaves and twigs tangled in her hair. And she didn't care. Sounds came from the distance. Wild sounds. Dangerous sounds. But they fell on deaf ears. She didn't know what was out there. She didn't care. Let it come. Let it kill her. What difference would it make? She stumbled and fell, sliding down a rocky hill, not even trying to catch herself. At the bottom she just pushed slowly back to her feet, unaware of the scrapes and bruises. Her clothing was ripped, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything. She just couldn't believe what she'd done...

[Andresciel]

Camped at the base of the hill down which Tock slid, was Andresciel, enjoying a quiet fire. He could hear the sounds in the distance, but paid them no mind, since Velenor was spread out overhead in his smoke form, watching over him. It was the pattering of rocks that first alert him to the sliding female, causing him to look up as she stood once more. He vaulted up, shoving himself off the ground with a burst of Wind Reimancy to move to her side. "Miss? Are you hurt?" He asked, moving to her side.

Though he wore his lighter armor, the standard blazing on his chest, he didn't speak like a Knight, didn't even move like one. And the glyphs that decorated his gauntlets spoke of magic as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Miss, can you tell me your name? What are you doing out here."

Almost at once, from overhead came the telepathic call, "Andre! Mountain lions! Coming fast from the south.". Andresciel couldn't believe his luck as he turned, his sapphire eyes set as he stood between the oncoming beasts and the woman, tightening his gauntlets. His breathing evened out, his magic coming to his call as he began to transmute res into twin bolts of fire that danced just above his outstretched palms.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

At first Tock didn't even see or hear the man. She just kept walking, one foot in front of the other. Her eyes were on the ground, though she didn't even really see the earth below her. Her eyes were blank. Lifeless. She didn't stop until the hand touched her shoulder. Slowly, with great effort, she turned and raised her haunted eyes up to look at him. Unfocused, she didn't really see his face, her eyes drifting over him and then past him, off into the distance. It was the sudden flames that snapped her back into focus, instinct causing her to draw her blood-stained dagger into her hand. Dried blood was on her hands and staining her clothes, the flakes several days old. A bit of it was clotted in her hair, though it was hard to tell against the red strands and the other filth that covered her. She heard a loud roar from the direction the man was facing, the sound settling into her hearing for the first time. She gasped, drawing Grippy from his holster on her hip. A touch across his handle extended the metal arm a few inches, the criss-crossed strips of metal unfolding into wide X's, the flat metal claw at the end snapping open. A little voice in the back of her mind told her she needed to build a better combat Golem one day. With all the fighting... all the killing... She swallowed a lump in her throat. Her mouth was dry. How long had she been wandering? She didn't know. Her mind could barely wrap around what was going on. Slowly she started to focus on the man before her, wondering where he came from, and why he was on fire...

[Andresciel]

"Starting to come back to the world are ya?" Though he never looked back, he heard the sounds from behind him. The gasp as the round sounded, but it wasn't until he saw the flash of movement that he, himself moved. His right hand, extending outwards, shot forward like he was slinging a ball. The fireball of his right hand flew away from the two, into the night, only to cause a pained whimper, and a flash of light. The Firebolt exploded, causing light to fill the night, and reveal the three lions that now circled them.

"Great. Well Miss. I hope you know how to fight. Because I don't think I can handle these guys by myself." The Knight chuckled, glancing back at her with those soft blue eyes. "Names Andre by the way. Andre Magius, from Syliras." He smiles, a flash of white in the darkness before he turned around facing the lions again. "If you don't mind me saying so, Miss, what are you doing out here all alone, with only that cool thing to protect you." Another swing of his arm unleashed a firebolt that would send a lion creeping closer back. He focused his res again, drawing it around the closest lion in a vortex. He unleashed the wind within the Res, hearing the snap of bone as the creature was forced to the ground. He watched with eyes cold as ice as the beast wheeze.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Her head still struggling to pull through the cotton and weight upon her, Tock had a hard time understanding what the man was saying. Her eyes watched the flinging fire with the same instinctive reactions as a dog tracing the flight of a thrown stick. She was barely aware that this was combat. That danger was approaching. She watched the lions coming at them, and her dagger became limp in her hand. It would be so easy to just drop it. Just let them come. Let them eat her... Mikey... She grit her teeth, breathing in sharp gasps through her nose. She stepped forward, eyes locked on the lion that was being pushed into the ground. It was vulnerable. Exposed. Her eyes narrowed. She stuck the dagger in Grippy's claw, tip pointed forward. The claw snapped down, closing over the hilt of the blade, then she extended her right arm forward. "'Is name's Grippy," she growled, never liking it when someone called her baby a 'thing'. From his perch on her shoulder, Handy shook a wooden finger at the man, as if to accentuate Tock's words with a Yeah! Her finger touched the handle, and Grippy's arm shot forward. The large gears on the handle and claw spun, connected by the guiding chain, as the arm extended, the metal strips unfolding into wide X's to push the claw out to its maximum twelve foot reach. The dagger blade stabbed weakly into the beast's hide, but the strength of the Automaton wasn't in the force of its thrust. It was in its mechanical power. All Tock had to do was flick her pointer finger up and down, moving rapidly from the control spot to retract the arm, to the spot to extend it. The Automaton thrust back and forth, far faster than any human arm could have, since it could be controlled simply by the rapid shifting of Tock's finger. In and out, the dagger pierced again and again, each wound shallow but still deadly. Within moments a dozen stabs had pierced the cat's hide, the wounds peppered all around its face, neck, and shoulders. It collapsed, bleeding from multiple stab wounds, and Tock retracted the metal claw, the gears spinning to coil in the chain and pull back the arm, the metal X's folding back in on themselves until the device was reduced to its original length. "I 'ate cats..."

[Andresciel]

Andre could only smile at her words, the first she had spoken so far, as he looked back at the little creation of hers. "Ello Grippy. Nice to meet ya. I'd offer to shake, but I'd have to get my gauntlet and hand repaired." He turned as the last of the large cats bolted away, allowing him to breath a sigh of relief. He looked to the sky for a moment, and spoke in the ancient language, "Velenor. You may come down now.", The Mage Called, as he moved past her, "You still haven't told me your name, Miss." The Knight stated, moving into the light of his fire, revealing the shining silver armor of a Syliran Knight.

From the sky, came the beatings of wings as a small black hummingbird shot down, to hover over Andresciel's shoulder, "Shift Velenor." Andre muttered, poking the little bird. The black bird slowly vanished, turning into its natural state of smoke. "This here be Velenor, my familiar." He stated as he sat down before the fire, unconcerned with any danger. "Will you come and sit. Maybe tell me what troubles you so?" He looked up, at her face, her eyes, tilting his head. "I have no desire to recruit you, just so you know. I'm not here on Knightly duties, and even if I were, I have no care to recruit to the cause those who do not wish to serve. People join willingly, why recruit or force someone." He shrugged, knowing of the forced recruitment of Zeltivans.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

The man treated her baby like a person. The last time that had happened, Tock's reaction had been to grab the man and kiss him. And the last few days had been horrible. Filled with violence, fear, pain... Tock had been wandering in a daze, because she couldn't feel anything but hurt. She'd been through hell, and it had left her drained. Empty. Alone. Mikey was gone. She was all alone now. She had an emptiness in her soul, and she didn't know how to fill it... She sheathed her dagger and holstered Grippy, looking the man over. "S'Tock..." she muttered when he asked her name. He was pretty. The fact that he was a knight barely registered. He was a man. A kind man who had just protected her without question. Who treated her baby like a person. And who might just, if only for a short while, be able to fill that void inside her. She wasn't remotely thinking straight when she grabbed the man and started kissing him. Her mind was nowhere near in a good place right now. She just wanted to feel something other than pain. She just wanted a night where she didn't feel alone... She didn't even know his name, not having heard it when she was in her daze. She also didn't care. He was there, and she had a need that she wanted filled. She pushed him back and pinned him against a tree, hands clawing at his pants without a thought for tenderness or foreplay. She just wanted what she wanted...

[Andresciel]

He smiles, starting to speak, "Its ni..." Was all he could manage to get out as he felt the woman press into him, his lips pressed against her own. Instead of pushing her away as most Knights might, his arms came around her, gripping her waist in arms strengthened by years of unarmed combat. He pulled her tight against him, no need for thought, his pants coming undone with the first swipe of her clawing hands. Still, he pushed her back, panting as his head dipped down, lips pressing to soft flesh, tasting the female before him. How could he refuse her, even with the buzzing presence of his familiar.

He slipped his armored gauntlets off, undoing the straps that belted them onto his forearm and wrist, tossing them to the ground as he looked at her, panting. His arms free of the gauntlets and her waist, he moved closer, pressing her downwards, towards the ground. "Not like me to make out on the first date, but far be it from me to refuse a beautiful woman." He grinned, a flash of desire beginning to heat his eyes. He could hardly believe his luck, that such a beautiful woman would look twice at him, would touch him. "And in case you didn't hear before. Names Andre."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock didn't want to talk. She didn't want intimacy. She didn't want to get to know the man. At least, not in this moment. What came later, perhaps. Maybe there would be friendship. Maybe something more. Who knew? But right now, his words were a cruel reminder that he was a person. Tock didn't care about that right now. She cared about her need, and he was a means to fill it. Nothing more. So when he tried to press her downwards, she quickly stripped her own pants off, tossing them aside. She grabbed Handy and tossed him onto the discarded pants, and told him, "Stay!" The wooden hand froze, unable to move now until she gave him another command. And instead of allowing the stranger to press her down beneath him, she grabbed his shoulders and pushed, roughly shoving him down onto his back. He was trying to flirt. Trying to flatter her. Calling her beautiful. She growled, "Shut up." Then she straddled him and lowered herself atop him, taking what she wanted. What she needed. Grasping the moment in order to push away the fear and the pain with the throes of passion. Raw, impersonal, animal lust overpowering any other thoughts in her mind as she began to ride him...

[Andresciel]

He felt her pants get stripped off, thrown aside and heard the sharp barcking command. He followed her pushing almost willingly as he drew her atop him, allowing her to take what she needed. He wasn't in this for him, as she rode him, enjoying her passion. His hand slid up silky thighs, gripping her hips as she rode, watching her eyes. Gods, was she a fierce one. Andre felt his heart speed up as a groan passed his lips. She's done it. She's taken your heart.. The words of his familiar managed to get in his head as he felt her dancing upon him, drawing him closer and closer to the end. However much he did not wish for the dance to stop, he knew that she would continue until she was spent.