The Hearts of Men (1x1 with Eternal Chronicler)

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

A'isha○○○○○○○○○○○○○
○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Queztikial

I dance, and I see things.
This goes hand and hand.
Come, walk in my nest and see your future.


A'isha watched her leave before collapsing, the power from the Sinchi draining her. A great commotion then began in the nest as the Serpiente crowded around her, and in the commotion a shadows slipped away from the dias, and began following Tessa. It shifted into a raven and flew high above her, and away a bit to not be pestering. It let out a croak and a mass of ravens flew up to meet it. From there they flew in a swoop towards the Half Elf before rising again and disappearing.


"My lady," A voice hissed in a distant cave, far in the mountain where sunlight is forgotten and the wind is unknown. "There comes a challenger,"

A chuckle sounded and a feminine voice replied with a grin and flash of teeth in the darkness, "Let her come and rot in the caves. Nickini is hungry again,"

In an oasis, a man awoke and brushed off his face, a camel nosing him in the shoulder. "I'm awake, I'm awake," He grumbled, standing up. He squinted against the light and freed his mouth from a white cloth. He drank from the oasis pool before straightening and watching someone run by. A grin found his lips as he splashed water over his head and mounted his camel, digging in his heels and setting his provisions jostling as the camel lurched into motion.

[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

When the world cannot even see,

it's doom, our doom.

Here I stand,

Here I see...

The hope for mankind, falling.

Slowly falling...

Tessa's ears twitched at the sound of the camel's movements, and for a moment dismissed it as unnecessary for terms of her attention, but in her experiences there was hardly any such a thing as coincidence, and even those begin to link after a time. The fact that the sound of the mount's footfalls were growing louder did not ease her thoughts, and before twenty seconds had passed she halted, turning to regard the man and lowering her arms at her sides. Her left hand fell shortly below the hilt of her blade, more by habit than any intent.
"Is there some particular reason you tread the same path as I?" She asked, seemingly disinterested.

 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"Let us rephrase the question dear. What business does a pretty little elf such as yourself, a Moon-elf by the looks of it, have in the land of the sun? Treading on my path?" Jack asked, pulling up his steed short, causing the camel to groan with irritation. Jack grinned, and tapped on the reins of the camel with a ringed finger.


This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats:---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

When the world cannot even see,

it's doom, our doom.

Here I stand,

Here I see...

The hope for mankind, falling.

Slowly falling...

"Half..." Tessa protested.
She stood slightly straighter and leaned back slightly, shifting her weight onto the hand at her right side against her hip. Her inquisitive stare continued, while inwardly she contemplated using this strange man's choice of wording against him for purpose of information, in fact toyed enough with the thought to cause a significant delay in responses.
"Is it so wrong for me to travel?" She asked, "Am I wrong to see the world about me in detail? Besides..."
She made her decision, slowly stepping up to him and shifting gracefully about to stand off to his side, still facing him with a small smile.
"You hardly seem outfitted for the life here; what claim do you have on these lands?"

 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack chuckled and leaned sideways off of his camel, bringing his face to her ear. "Piracy lays claim to everything," He retracted with a grin on his face, forcing the camel to move so he was facing the Half Elf. He had learned not to let his guard down. "So an adventurer, huh? Not often that you see many elves around here...alive at least," He looked over to a dune, behind which he knew lay a dead elven horse, its ivory hide tainted with scarlet.


This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats:---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

When the world cannot even see,

it's doom, our doom.

Here I stand,

Here I see...

The hope for mankind, falling.

Slowly falling...

Tessa remained perfectly still, calm despite her inward debating on how long she could hold a bluff - although in turn she suspected even failing her bluff he would fall for an unlikely intent.
"I might even be so bold as to ask if the two weren't related; your insistence of owning the world and the lack of living kin to my own, however I imagine either way you have a lot to explain. It is far more difficult to pirate a sea of sand such as this than to do so on the oceans. Pray tell, who are you anyway?"

 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"I," He paused and proceeded to dismount, and fell off the camel. He scrambled "Damned camel!" He shouted, causing the animal to move away nervously. "I am Jack Cortez, and I indeed have a ship, I just seem to have lost it in the terms of my banishment," He glared off in the distance. "At least I have no claim to be man, huh? Vampires however do not get off lightly in their court," He let his scowl fade. "And yet you haven't truly answered my question,"Jack peered at the Half Elf.


This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats:---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

When the world cannot even see,

it's doom, our doom.

Here I stand,

Here I see...

The hope for mankind, falling.

Slowly falling...

Tessa attempted to stifle a small giggle at Jack's evident clumsiness, and altogether failed in her own detainment. She shrugged, surrendering to the evident priority in his insistence, and smiled.
"It's simple; I'm finding the quickest - or at least most direct - route to the mountains there," she indicated the range in the distance, "and evidently quite a bit more, but most of it I'm still unaware of."
She stepped back, again leaning on the hand at her hip and stretching back over it slightly, as if bored by the situation at hand.
"However, I still fail to see ownership as fair reason to follow me. What's your interest anyway?"

 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack's face grew more serious. "Do you know what it is like, to feel the wind on your face, the sweat on your brow, and the freedom of a ship, to have that taken away? Do you know the intense boredom of one who has lost everything and is stranded in a place so desolate, it is worse than Hell?" He asked, before he chuckled, looked away, and grinned. "Here is what I propose. I could be your guide, and you let me tag along for entertainment sake, savvy?" Jack said, leaning on the camel and taking out a shining silver flask. He drank from it before letting it disappear inside of his coat again.


This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats:---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

When the world cannot even see,

it's doom, our doom.

Here I stand,

Here I see...

The hope for mankind, falling.

Slowly falling...

Tessa laughed nervously, certainly uneasy with her prior plans, but she could find no better way to find answers, nor any faster means.
"Perhaps I should make something clear, then." She explained, "I have no particular love for being followed by those I have yet to be honestly acquainted with, and I believe my blade far outdoes my bite - or yours for that matter."
She drew her sword, holding it in display for a long moment and looking up the slender craftsmanship admiringly, the sharp metal possessive of a faint oceanic blue aura attached to the metal itself.
"This is Seriel, translated by the higher tongues as 'Holy Sea'. Fitting, almost for the situation although I doubt a fallen goddess' weapon alone bears much interest for you... unless..."
She stepped up to him, moving the edge of the blade to the back of his neck as she stood directly in front of him, her free hand at his throat a short ways from herself. She eyed him inquisitively, almost with a curiosity that often betrayed her integrally adventuresome nature.
"Unless it were to be used against you, and I have several questions. For one, what do you know that might be any use to me and another, what's in it for you?"

 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack grinned. "Don't be like that love," He said softly. With a quick move a hidden blade slid down from his sleeve, a poisoned dagger, and he had efficiently placed it against her throat, holding her sword wrist with his free hand. "I can assure you that my bite is far worse than my blade," he said in her ear. "Or your blade for that matter. Have you felt your life leak preciously from you before?" His pinkie touched her neck gently before recoiling around the blade. "Have you felt burning poison tear apart your heart? I have, it isn't very nice, not very nice at all,"

"One, you won't survive in those mountains alone, goddess blade or not, two, you obviously are not prepared for mountain and three, even if you do survive you would still have to face Nickini and quite honestly you would do little better than a snack for her," His tone was partly laughing at the end and he released the Half Elf.




This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats:---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

When the world cannot even see,

it's doom, our doom.

Here I stand,

Here I see...

The hope for mankind, falling.

Slowly falling...

"Ahh..."
Tessa's face paled, every ounce of confidence she held for her tactic failing her as she withdrew Seriel and sheathed it at her side. She remained where she was though, holding to what remained with every ounce of determination she had within her, and she smiled half-sweetly with a watchful stare at his choice of weaponry.
"Again, then; what's in this for you? Being who I am, I can at the very least say you do not own me, nor anything of mine, so I would refrain from making any assumptions there, however strange of a position you've left me in."

 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"I repeat again, I am bored, unsatisfied, left alone here in this wasteland," Jack said, flipping his dagger back into his sleeve, watching the Half Elf's eyes and he chuckled.

"Why don't we move past this? Here, tell me your name," He said, fixing the cuff of his sleeve. "And then maybe we could start moving. They say darkness is growing, those serpents, but other things lurk here, and the day is going to grow old some time. I am doubtful that you would want Jacklins on us at night,"




This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats:---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Orinae__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

When the world cannot even see,

it's doom, our doom.

Here I stand,

Here I see...

The hope for mankind, falling.

Slowly falling...

Tessa nodded slowly, surrendering to the inevitable fact that traveling on foot would do her little good for measure of time. Still questions piled atop doubts, but a single thought dismissed the entirety of her personal objections; not all were unreasonable to know, and judgement was not in her favor either way. Still practicalities plagued her though. She looked to the camel for a moment and sighed, giving it a waving indication as if to suggest he climb up first.
"Alright, you win," she said with a shrug, "but if I were to land myself alone as hardly a notice to this 'Nickini' what exactly do you plan for such an encounter?"

 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"Leave that to me darling," Jack replied with a grin, touching the cutlass at his waist before climbing up the camel and wrapping the rein around his wrist. He looked down at her expectantly while the camel picked its head up from the sand and looked at Jack with large eyes. "No food until dark, you know that," Jack grumbled.




This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats:---]