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Post by starrea on Feb 2, 2020 19:04:00 GMT
Surprisingly, despite living in a cave for who knows how long, the exertion of walking down the mountain was invigorating. Cyra wasn’t entirely surprised. Whatever she had become didn’t abide by the same laws that governed human bodies. While most would have wasted away in the cave, Cyra looked nothing short of healthy. She focused on the scenery around her, appreciating the beauty in it all. She heard Destrian catch up behind her but she didn’t acknowledge him.
Cyra didn’t immediately respond to Destrian after he asked if she seriously wanted to stay with him. The easy answer was a hard no. But whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed him. Cyra didn’t know how to function in society and she’d never lived alone. She didn’t know the first thing about money or jobs or anything really. “I’m your responsibility, aren’t I?” She shot back hotly, but then softened just a little, “I don’t know how to... do anything. I’ve never lived on my own.” The admission had obviously been difficult for her and picked up the pace a little, happy that Destrian was behind her and couldn’t see her face.
Destrian kept speaking and it provided a reason for her to be angry at him again. She just scoffed at his words, the cold mountain air chilling her. She was still wearing the same outfit he had left her in all those years ago - a simple, loose long sleeve and jeans. Cyra considered what he had said before responding. “You’ll never be able to make it up to me.” Cyra said after a long moment.
Even if she believed that, though, she was stuck with him and they were going to have to make that work. “So, what do you want me to tell people? And what do you need protection from?”
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Post by Val on Feb 2, 2020 22:44:04 GMT
Destrian studied her from behind, wondering how exactly he was going to explain himself. The truth sounded absurd, even in his own mind. Aside from the obvious suspicions that her appearance would bring, she also didn't exactly categorize as human. She didn't appear to rely on food or water or sunlight. Taking care of her would either be a breeze or an absolute nightmare. But she was right; he was responsible for her, which is why he had locked her up in the first place.
"We'll tell them that we're childhood friends. You're down on your luck and need some help getting back on your feet," he decided, knowing full well they couldn't pass as family, "Just...avoid talking about the past. Keep it vague." She would be better off not talking to anyone, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.
"Let's see. I need protection from a reality altering mage...a king as cold as ice...a skilled manipulator..." he ticked off the biggest threats he could think of in Raevaryn- people he'd been loyal to up until recently. He decided not to attempt to dive into politics, aware it would be overwhelming, "I have a feeling none of them would stand a chance against you."
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Post by starrea on Feb 2, 2020 23:10:09 GMT
The first smart thing Destrian had done since he had let her out was play to her ego. It was hard to imagine being afraid of something or someone for Cyra, who had spent most of her life being able to completely destroy anything in her path. It felt good that even Destrian’s greatest enemies could be obliterated by her. So far, the only thing she had met that was stronger than her was the curse that kept her tied to Destrian.
She waved her hand dismissively, “Please, that’s easy. I haven’t had a chance to play in so long.” The thought of wreaking havoc was too tempting, even if it meant protecting Destrian. Nothing could come close to that high, that moment of unmatched power, and it was something that since she had been cursed had been severely restricted.
Silence fell between them again as she pondered the lie. Cyra had always thought of herself as a decent liar, but she had rarely needed to lie. Before Destrian, she simply took what she wanted. After Destrian, she rarely got what she wanted and it didn’t matter if she lied or not because Destrian hadn’t given a fuck.
“So am I staying with you?” She asked, since he hadn’t given her a straight answer. She didn’t want to - and wouldn’t - come out and ask to stay with him, but she silently hoped he wouldn’t just leave her in the streets. “And how far do we have to walk? You know, if you let me, I can move a hell of a lot faster.” She grumbled was they pressed on. “You know, you tricked me up this mountain once, but I’m not walking back up willingly. This must have been a bitch to walk up.” Her tone was awkwardly light as she tried to approach the subject of what he was going to do with her when he was done. She hadn’t meant to ask, not yet anyway, but Cyra felt unsettled whenever silence fell between them.
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Post by Val on Feb 3, 2020 3:30:08 GMT
Destrian had been reveling in the silence, although he didn't expect it to last long. He could sense her anxiety and knew what she was hinting at, but decided to play dumb. For now, it was better to keep her guessing. He didn't have a real plan yet, anyway. He'd come up here impulsively, out of fear for losing the life he'd just started to build.
He quickened his stride and caught up to her swiftly, stopping at the edge of a cliff to gaze down the side of the mountain, "My horse is down that way," he pointed toward the base of the mountain, where the steep trail began. They would be back in Raevaryn by morning.
While he had her attention, he turned to face her, "Yes, you will stay with me," he confirmed and then appeared to hesitate, pushing a hand through his ink black hair, "I have a girlfriend," The word sounded strange and inadequate, but it was the best he could do, "I'm going to tell her the truth about us. But only her." He gauged her carefully, wondering how she would react to the fact that a stranger would be in on their little secret. And the fact that he'd fallen in love while she'd been trapped in a cave.
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Post by starrea on Feb 3, 2020 3:46:13 GMT
Cyra didn’t miss the way he ignored her comment but she let it go. She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear the answer. Anyway, she didn’t have that much of a choice in the matter. She could voice her opinion all she wanted but between the two of them, Destrian called the shots.
Cyra let him catch up only because she needed direction. Once he pointed out the way, she took the lead again. Talking to him was easier when she didn’t have to look at him. She could almost pretend that it wasn’t her jailor she was speaking to.
She didn’t make it far because he caught up to her again and forced her attention squarely back on him. She scowled and tried to rip back from him but didn’t immediately turn away. She could tell by the look on his face that what he wanted to say was important.
At first, Cyra just stared at him in shock when he admitted he had a girlfriend. She didn’t give a fuck about his personal life. But then the admission sunk in, really sunk in, and she stumbled back from him. While she had been up on this fucking mountain, trapped, he had been falling in love. All of the anger that she had quieted suddenly exploded back up and she clenched her fists because there was nothing else she could do.
“Well, good for you. Sorry that I had to disrupt date night for you to come free me.” She snarled at him, turning and stalking towards the horse so he couldn’t see the hurt that she was desperately trying to hide on her face.
The unfairness of it all made her want to scream. She was so powerless to change her situation. She knew that Destrian had been out there living his life, but she hadn’t imagined that he had been enjoying it or falling in love - something she would probably never get to do.
“So, am I going to ride behind you or should I just walk back like a good slave?”
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Post by Val on Feb 4, 2020 0:01:05 GMT
Destrian heaved yet another heavy sigh and followed her as she stalked off, not taking it personally. She had to find out sooner or later and she was going to have to get along with Ari whether she liked it or not. He had suffered for a long time after locking her away, and had to grow up alone in an unforgiving world that feared and shunned him. Finding love was something he had never expected or even looked for, but it had changed his life. Now, Cyra would have her chance.
He remained adamantly silent for the rest of the long trek, until they finally reached his horse at the start of the trail. He strode ahead of Cyra and tugged the reigns of the sleek black mare, urging her forward, "Just get on the damned horse," he responded impatiently, fixating her with an annoyed glare. He wasn't sure how long he could put up with the begrudging comments, "You're stepping into a new life. It wouldn't kill you to start out with a bit of positivity...for your own sake."
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Post by starrea on Feb 4, 2020 3:50:53 GMT
Cyra didn’t immediately approach the horse, instead stopping several feet away and watching cautiously. In the past, animals had seemed to be able to sense her dark, stormy energy and generally didn’t like it. She had seen reactions anywhere from wariness to straight up aggression. It was sad because Cyra really did love animals. But all of them saw straight through her, straight into the curse that allowed her to do powerful and terrible things.
The horse snorted when Cyra took a couple of steps forward and started dancing around nervously. She ground her teeth together in frustration and paused, allowing the horse to look at her before slowly advancing.
Trying to get near the horse was a welcome distraction to Destrian’s words. What he was asking her to do - to completely get over years of imprisonment at his hands - and to just be positive was such an outrageous and mind blowing request that she couldn’t even entertain it with an answer without killing him on the spot. And since she couldn’t kill him, she focused her attention on the horse.
It took several long minutes of Cyra slowly creeping forward with outstretched hands before the horse didn’t spook away from her. It was still nervous but it allowed Cyra to reach out and touch it and she gently rubbed its nose. She smiled, really smiled, for the first time in who knows how long.
It was another couple of minutes before Cyra worked her way to the side of the nervous horse and carefully tried to pull herself up into the saddle. She was halfway up when the horse suddenly shot sideways, sending Cyra flying backwards back to the ground.
“Motherfucker!” She groaned, picking herself up slowly. The fall hadn’t actually hurt that much, but she had been so close. She really didn’t want to walk but she wasn’t sure if she should try again. She was about to ask Destrian but then decided against it because fuck him, she would do it herself.
She carefully walked back up to the horse, patting it softly before putting her foot in the stirrup and hauling herself up. The horse jumped again but this time she grabbed on and held herself steady until the horse calmed. She grinned, reveling in the small win. It would have to be enough for now.
“Animals don’t really like me, so there is a high chance I’ll fall off again. Or you could let me shift and then this will be a whole lot faster.” She offered but seriously doubted he would take the bait. She didn’t mind riding the horse anyway, even if she did fall.
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Post by Val on Feb 5, 2020 23:11:36 GMT
Destrian had taken a few steps back and crossed his arms over his chest, observing the scene with curiosity. Clearly the creature sensed danger from Cyra, but animals had never had that reaction toward him. In fact, he would even go as far to say he gravitated toward animals, like his black panther, Jinx. He wondered briefly how the cat would take to Cyra.
He almost interjected a few times during the ordeal, but ultimately decided to keep his mouth shut. He had noticed her smile and hoped that moments like this would be able to quell Cyra's hatred over time. When she finally succeeded, he strode forward and stroked a hand down the horse's neck in praise, "Not a chance," he replied. Her smoke form was anything but under the radar and he was not prepared to handle the uproar that would follow upon her discovery. Times were tense in the kingdoms, especially toward those will supernatural abilities.
Destrian hoisted himself onto the horse in one swift movement, seating himself in front of Cyra. It felt strange to be so near her, not just because of the tension between them, but because of the unmistakable power he felt at her presence like a current of electricity.
"Hold on," he advised and, without looking back, he gave the horse a firm kick before they set off at a trot toward Raevaryn.
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Post by starrea on Feb 5, 2020 23:27:52 GMT
Cyra was mildly surprised when Destrian swung himself up in front of her and she hurriedly scooted back to give him some room. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, maybe for him to walk the horse on the ground, but she hadn’t actively prepared herself for their close proximity. The curse was an invisible leash that even when she wasn’t pushing her boundaries, she could always feel. It was subtle and over the years she had basically tuned it out, but sitting behind Destrian made it charged, for lack of a better word. It was hard to describe the sensation because it was neither painful nor pleasurable, but definitely more noticeable. It made her painfully aware of how she was linked to him and she wondered if he felt it too.
The horse trotted forward and Cyra was forced to wrap her arms around Destrian’s torso out of mere necessity. She wasn’t keen on falling off and he looked like he had been on a horse enough to keep upright. Cyra had never ridden a horse before and it took her body awhile to move with the rhythm of the horse.
The beautiful scenery and tranquility of riding on the back of a horse quickly got boring. It had only been 20 or so minutes before Cyra started asking “are we there yet?”, partially because she wanted to get off this damn horse and put some space between her and the person she both hated but needed and partially because she knew it was annoying.
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Post by Val on Feb 6, 2020 2:48:17 GMT
Destrian considered this mission to be a surprising success. He'd gone in expecting the worst, but Cyra wasn't as horrible as the image that his childish mind had conjured up all those years ago. Even if she never forgave him, he had hope that she would be able to move on once she was introduced to the real world. Just the fact that she had her arms wrapped around him was a step in the right direction, even if it wasn't exactly willing.
He had hoped they could complete the trip in silence, but was not surprised when Cyra eventually interjected. "No," he replied shortly, gaze focused on the starry night sky, "You should take this time to prepare yourself. People can be...overwhelming," he mentioned, remembering when he'd first reentered society. He had struggled to trust people, or even speak to them.
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Post by starrea on Feb 6, 2020 3:11:08 GMT
Destrian’s words had their desired effect and Cyra realized that she hadn’t really thought about what re-entering society would be like. Even before her time in isolation, she was fairly sure that the place she had been with Destrian wasn’t ‘society’ and that meant that she hadn’t really ever lived in a community. Anxiety that hadn’t been there before settled in the bottom of her stomach like a rock.
This was just another reason she needed Destrian. He took everything away from her and now she needed him for even the most simple things. Her anger bubbled just below the surface and the horse, probably sensing her swirling emotions, danced nervously beneath them. The sudden movement caused her to tighten her arms around Destrian.
Cyra had never given too much thought to what her life might have been like. It was hard for her to picture something normal when she had so little experience with a normal community. She only had caught glimpses of them before she came down on them like the hand of God, destroying their little perfect towns into piles of tinder and ashes.
“You’re not going to leave me, right?” Cyra couldn’t hide the nervous pitch in her voice. The thought of him abandoning her on the side of some street was equally as terrifying as him abandoning her back in the mountainside. “I can do it, though,” She added hotly, “without you.” They both that wasn’t true, but she would rather die than be any nicer to Destrian than she was right now.
“Where are we going? When are we going to be there?”
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Post by Val on Feb 6, 2020 4:40:04 GMT
Destrian noticed the hitch in her voice and felt compelled to glance back at her, but she was clinging too closely to his back. Ignoring her defiant second hand comment, he sighed and slowed the horse, sensing that it was reflecting her nervous energy, "I'm not going to leave you," he assured her, leaving it at that.
By now, they had crossed into Raevaryn territory and set off down a well traveled path toward the castle, "We are in the Kingdom of Raevaryn. I am a soldier here. You'll get to see the castle soon, but be wary of that place and the people you meet," he warned, figuring it wouldn't hurt to instill a bit of healthy caution in her, "We're going to have to find a new place to live. The soldiers barracks are no place for you." He was talking more than usual, perhaps to distract himself from the idea of having to explain all of this to Ari.
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Post by starrea on Feb 6, 2020 5:27:50 GMT
The more Destrian talked, the quieter Cyra became. The information Destrian was feeding her was useful and even though she would probably never forgive him, she trusted that he wouldn’t lie to her. After all, she was his form of protection. Whatever was his enemy would probably be hers as well. And she wasn’t too keen on letting anyone figure out what she could do. Last time that happened, Destrian became a permanent fixture in her life.
The idea of other people caused of swell of excitement and anxiety that resulted in nausea. Being whatever she was, she hadn’t been afflicted by illnesses so the nausea, even though it was mild, rocked her. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead on Destrian’s back. The horseback ride was no longer fun - it was boring and now she was starting to feel sick and sore.
“Are there parties?” She asked, her eyes still closed. Cyra remembered hearing about parties somewhere. She had always loved music when she had been allowed to listen to it but never had the opportunity to share it with other people. “And alcohol?” Another thing she wanted to try. She had a lot of living to make up for and despite Destrian trying to instill some fear in her, her restlessness and excitement were winning out over her anxiety.
“Are we there yet?” Cyra whined again.
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Post by Val on Feb 6, 2020 5:58:34 GMT
Destrian's face contorted with something close to distaste, not that she could see. Parties and alcohol? Things that had never crossed his mind, even as a teen. Instead, he had focused everything he had on becoming a formidable soldier so he could protect himself from his enemies. Cyra, he realized, didn't need to worry about that.
"You're asking the wrong person," he told her. He was about as straight edge as it got. He avoided alcohol and avoided crowds of people even harder. He found himself beginning to warn her again, but even he was giving himself a headache with the lecturing. He never signed up to parent her to death.
"Stop asking," he snapped, glaring at the trail ahead. But they were close, and the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon.
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Post by starrea on Feb 6, 2020 17:37:42 GMT
Cyra would have rolled her eyes if they hadn’t still been closed. Of course Destrian didn’t party or drink. She wondered if the group that cursed her to Destrian had intentionally meant to pair her with the world’s lamest person. It bothered her a little that he hadn’t seemed to fully take advantage of the life he had been given. He was given a second chance, one that she was maybe only just now getting - it was yet to be determined. Unlike him, she wasn’t going to waste hers.
Cyra had never given much thought to the group Destrian had been apart of when they captured and cursed her. All she knew was that one day, her and Destrian walked up a mountain and only he came back down. Even though he had refused to tell her what was happening, she sensed that he had been scared. “Do they know that you got me?” She asked. She had a gut feeling that Destrian would know exactly who she was referring too.
The long trip and long silences meant that she had nothing else to do but think. The more that she thought about, the more she realized how little she knew. About Destrian, about the group he had been in, and about the actual curse on her. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought more about this before.
“Do you feel it, the link between us?” She was sure that if he did, he certainly didn’t feel it in the same way she did. The choking, the burning, the feeling of not being able to move... those were meant to control her and not him. She wondered if he felt anything at all. “I feel it,” she continued, trying to fill the void, “Every time I tried to leave the cave, it burned. It felt like my blood was on fire. And then, if I pushed far enough, my body just stopped working. My legs wouldn’t go. And if I were smoke, I would just collide into this wall that wasn’t there. And even now I can feel it. It’s like something wrapped around my neck, ready to squeeze if I do something wrong.”
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