Meeting The Evil Twin.

by **Medhozic** on February 2nd, 2014, 3:27 pm

45th Day of Winter, 513AV.

They all knew the stories of those that had lost their love for Syna and Leth. Every Ethaefal knew it - and it wasn't talked about. Just instinct. Some collected knowledge at the back of their minds, bottled away in the subconscious. The Forsaken were something similar, in many ways, to the stories he'd heard of Akalak's that had lost control of both sides of their personality. The same could be said, in some ways, with the Forsaken. And with their horns and hair never changing, it was quite easy to spot one amongst a crowd. The same worked in the other way, however. And the last place that Medhozic ever expected to find one was wandering the streets of Syliras.

He'd been walking through the streets, in his usual attire. A shirt, breeches; a kopis and a short-bow complete with quiver. Horns holding up his curtain of hair, and others passing by with a bit of berth. There was quite a crowd in the markets that day, many humans going about their business with a short freckling of other species blended in. A Kelvic, most unusual, wandering aimlessly with a face of disgust - most likely the smell. Benshira with affable smiles and odd stalls of new wares importing and exporting around the city. But there was one that leaned against the edge of one of the stalls, although he was obviously not the owner, or even closely related. Dark-blue horns, close to an unnatural purple, pushed out of the sides of his head and curled back on themselves much like his, although they were thinner and longer, and tapered to a sharper point. In some ways, they made him look even more dangerous. Not to mention that they contrasted immensely with his jet-black hair, and mostly black clothes. Shirt, breeches, just like him. But more intimidating. Especially with the sheer amount of weapons that he'd garbed himself with. A hand-ax, a short-sword, both on either side of the hips. Over his back, a gladius. He didn't know why he'd possibly need three, but there were three. And numerous pouches with the handles of daggers, some for fighting and some for throwing.

He didn't even know that he was staring until the man suddenly upped and approached with a soft smile on his face. The smile wasn't friendly, though.. there was something off by it, somewhere in his eyes and how his lips curled back to reveal a little too much of his teeth. And the way he glided smoothly across the ground with little sound but the rustling of his shirt. "Well, well.."

"Hello, brother." They were all brothers and sisters. They were once.

"Hello, yourself.. I didn't expect to meet someone else here. Especially someone like.. you." He spoke slowly, choosing his words with caution. It was slightly confusing.

"You mean, another Ethaefal."

"No." He paused again. "Someone who still believes in the heavens, I meant." Suddenly, everything seemed to clear as he stared at the other Ethaefal. It must have taken so much, to make him believe so little. The scars of his mind were thicker than he had ever seen, that look in his eyes.. one that had lost everything and turned to bite back on the hand that had fed him.

by **Medhozic** on February 2nd, 2014, 4:46 pm

A few moments of silence dawned on them. All that could be heard was the gentle chatter of the surroundings - the crowds passing by, groups of family or close friends drifting through the sea of potential buyers. The occasional call of a merchant to guide others to his wares, and the replying hollers of neighboring stores telling them otherwise. A battle for control. Much, in a way, like the two children of Syna were doing as they stared into each-others eyes. The Forsaken seemed almost luminescent, regardless of how dark his soul had become in the time of his fall. His eyes were a pale blue, matching the horns jutting out of the sides of his head. His hair, short and black, stuck out in a way that was bold but seemed to accent the glow of his marble skin. Alien. If he didn't have such a horrible attitude, Medhozic would have called the man handsome. "And you do not, anymore, I suppose."

"Why should I?" His voice was raising, but Medhozic kept his volume constant.

"Becaus-"

"Because they threw me out? Tossed me away, used and forgotten, back to the mortal plane to leave me to rot?" He wasn't giving a chance for Medhozic to argue. He simply pushed in, his eyes wide and his scowl focused entirely on his face.

"They did not throw you out."

"Oh, so what did they do, tell me that? Nobody did anything to stop it. And yet you act as if it was not their fault for what happened to me, or you."

"It was unavoidable."

"Petching shyke." The heated argument flashed from one to the other and back again just as quickly. Their words were quick, and in the case of the Forsaken, filled with venom at the very thought of what was being suggested. As much as Medhozic wished to keep his expression neutral, it was becoming more and more difficult in the face of such a stubborn and self-centered creature as the one that stood before him, blaming all of his pain and anguish on the few that had loved and cared for him, just because he ended up as the result of something so tragic. He'd turned his back on everything that had once been, but he'd gone a step further. He'd decided to live out his entire mortal life loathing the past.

"You were there, like me. We both saw it; all knew and heard the sounds of our Mother struck, and domains rend apart by the power. You are not the only one. You may have not deserved it; none of us did. But it happened. It is life."

"To petch with your blasted life!" Some were stopping now to stare at the two Ethaefal, nearly nose-to-nose. Some were backing away; obviously they had little knowledge in the truth of arguments between the children of Gods. There were no lightning bolts to come out of their hands, and there was certainly nothing to fear. "You know, as well as me, brother," he spat with emphasis on the 'brother', "you know what it feels, to be above life. And to be above death. You know as well as me the joy, even from the vague memories that we have left, that we had." He was close to foaming at the mouth. "And yet you act as if it doesn't matter when all of that is RIPPED away from you!"

by **Medhozic** on February 2nd, 2014, 5:02 pm

He knew this wasn't going to get far. And that if they continued any longer, they were going to end up arrested. Many of the commoners had stopped and turned to stare. Shops had gone quiet to the noise of something that should not have been - a pair of Ethaefal, with horns and all, arguing quite loudly. And both of them quite armed, although weapons had not been drawn. Their fists lay clenched at their sides and teeth were gritting - even horns glinting. But their words were the only blows that they lay, for now.

" Just because of what you had being lost does not mean you are nothing. It does not mean you have to throw away everything for this."

"It was not thrown away by me, I am not that childish and stupid. It was taken when they abandoned m-"

"-You were not abandoned, she still loves you, but there was nothing that could be do-"

"-She is a God! Gods have the power to do mo-

"-A battle between Gods is much more complicate-"

"-If I know so well, why am I here? Why have I been lost, in such treacher-"

Soon their argument had degenerated into a constant sea of statements, each overlapping each-other in a maelstrom that left too little time to truly consider what was being said. They only went with what they could, in an argument that had soon become a battle. If they had drawn their swords, the flurry would have blurred blades into one-another. They were only lucky that there were no knights within earshot or they probably both would have been arrested for disturbing the peace. And as Medhozic drew his mind together, he realized this and decided to suddenly play any way to escape this argument. He didn't care if he looked like a coward. It would be better a live coward than a dead hero.

"I don't have time for this." Suddenly, he was turning his back on the other Ethaefal. He tried to look as regal as possible as he walked, pushing his bunched fists into the pockets of his breeches and keeping his head down so that nobody could see the scowl that marked his otherwise emotionless face. The crowds that had gathered, from outside the entrances of the stalls and shops that marked the street soon parted in waves to let him pass, nearly bumping into each-other and making a clear space for him to leave the street. Which the Forsaken took to his advantage and followed through, afterwards.

by **Medhozic** on February 2nd, 2014, 8:18 pm

He strode briskly through the crowds with less and less care for the way that they stared, the way that some of them yelled and some of them simply made way silently. None of it mattered when the Forsaken was still behind, just as fast, shouting things at his back. He replied with as little concern in his voice as he could muster. He could tell that the pace meant that the other Ethaefal was coming out of breath as well too, though, so it mattered little whether both of them were tired or neither.

"Don't you walk away from me because you know that I'm right, and that being sent to this place was a curse!"

"I know that this is a curse and I accept that, but it was not one that was handed down to you by Syna, or Leth, or any of the other Gods as you would so believe."

"It was neither that handed down the curse, but when it was delivered, they did nothing to protect us from it, you nor me, nor any of our brothers or sisters!"

"She was weakened and so was Leth, there was nothing that either of them could have done without sacrificing themselves."

"Don't be stupid! They could have done any multitude of things to save us, and if she really loved us, then where is she now? Why isn't she here, taking us back to the heavens?"

They were nearly at the edge of the city now. The walls were within eyesight. Many of the commoners had parted way for the two leaving, and although the Syliran Knights watched carefully, they didn't intervene - after all, they were leaving the city walls at a rather fast pace, and there wouldn't be any point in restraining them and having the entire thing break up into something much worse than it could already become. He held his tongue all the same until they were outside - and as soon as they were, he stopped but kept his back to the other, so that he wouldn't see the utter contempt that he now held. He was angry at himself just as much as the other, for having such feelings - not just about himself but about his brother, one that had once been in the heavens alongside him. None could accurately remember such things, but they were there. Hazy, distorted and frayed but they were there.

"There are some things that even the Gods cannot do. You may have forgotten them, I have not. She did what she could."

"You still grasp to such things? You still think that she really tried so hard, to protect her children?" He could hear the Ethaefal drawing closer, slowly, as he talked. "If she cared about you, why has she abandoned you here, in the mortal plane, without even a gnosis. Why has she left you, forgotten and alone, without even a whisper of guidance? There was pure venom in his words, now, and nothing else. He spoke with determination, contempt, and laced hatred at his own mother. His judgement was revised; he may have felt angry at himself for such frayed relations with his brother.. but he felt many magnitudes more at this brother, who was no brother. "She didn't care for you; never cared for you! He leaned close. "She NEVER loved you!

That was it. As he turned, time seemed to slow and his body reacted on its own. All he could do was watch as a hand rose, clenched down into a fist, and slammed straight into the nose of the other Ethaefal.

by **Medhozic** on February 3rd, 2014, 8:37 pm

Something drove his body - something else entirely. He'd never acted out of purely emotion, it was something that made everything rash and illogical. All control left the user, just as was happening to him. But it worked, and gods did it feel like nothing else he'd ever done before. There was blood dribbling out of the stunned creatures nose by the second blow, but the third sailed clearly by as he gained his bearings again and managed to lean to the side. Except he wasn't about to let off the Forsaken so easily, and immediately he was stepping forwards and literally charging himself head-long for the man, crashing into his chest and knocking him down into the dirt of the track leading up to the city. Travelers that would have used the track stood stock-still as the two children fought with all of their elegance and grace lost. This was nothing as beautiful as their faces. It was feral, animalistic, vicious.

Something struck the side of his head, though he didn't know if it was a fist or an elbow. He rolled off quickly and backed up to his feet, looking down at the stunned creature that touched two fingers underneath its nose and collected some of the dribbling blood to look down at it, and then back up at Medhozic. His expression had turned, from the sneering merely moments ago to completely stunned, like a young child. It was almost pitiful how his words had been all he could hold, even when decked with such fanciful weapons. Most likely, he only held them for intimidation purposes rather than actually having any competence in them.

His theory was crushed almost as quickly as it formed. The short-sword was suddenly drawn and flicked twice easily around the fingers of his left hand as he rose up, with a dark tongue sliding across his bottom lip to collect some of the blood before spitting it out. "You think you can hide from the truth that I speak?"

"You speak NOTHING but LIES!" he nearly screamed back with his lips curling and the short-bow drawn from his back, and an arrow from the top. He didn't have time to set it up though because the other was already running at full speed, the blade drawn up with two hands to come crashing down. It reminded him of that boy, in the Fighters Pits.. except this one was real. This man was ready to put that sword straight through his head.. and all he could do was jump back to watch the inferior range meet short and hit the dirt, before one foot trod on the top and the arrow drew back against the drawstring of the short-bow, aimed right down between his horns. "Nothing but lies," he reiterated, "and hatred against the very person that cared for you more seasons than you can count."

Something hidden passed through the other Ethaefal's eyes, and he drew the foot back. The short-sword was resheathed but the arrow still pointed at his head. All it would take, would be the slightest little slip and all of it would be forgotten, forever. But with the emotions fading away again, control regulating itself, his face slowly faded from its dark expression of loathing to simple indifference. The other one wouldn't meet his face though. He kept looking away, to the side, regardless of the tip mere inches from breaking his skin. His dominance was asserted. "Get out of my sight."

"What, no preach service?"

"I said get out of my sight." The other obeyed, at last. He turned and walked towards the forest and the bow and arrow were replaced in his quiver. It was going to be a long day, now. He'd go out hunting and lie low for a few days.. but he'd be fine. Mostly. He hoped.