[IC] Children of Light and Darkness at War: Can Love Bloom on a Battle Field? (Still unsure of the title) (no longer active)

[Lord Zee]

It was all hazy, was he really being dragged over land to a another place? Nevertheless by a dog, no, a werewolf who had a fascination with him? It was all so foggy, Lucius felt like he was drifting on a breeze, but he felt strangely at peace, knowing that wherever Mozu was taking him, he would be safe. Once again, the Knight of Angels drifted back into sleep.

He did not dream, least not any that he could remember and when he awoke in a strange room he could taste oranges, how odd. He was tired but did not want to rest anymore so he sat up, looking down at himself he was in fresh clothing, all of which was pure white though he had no shoes on. He wondered where is old attire was, then remembered it was basically useless. Jeeze, he must have looked like a dead man when Mozu dragged him in here, covered in blood and all manner of grime. Speaking of which, where was Mozu?

Lucius got up slowly, his head hurt slightly- probably from being dragged across bumpy terrain and he felt shaky. How long had it been? A couple of hours at least, no more or less as he looked out the window to see a bustling town. That was odd, there was a lot of shady looking individuals out there, then it hit him- he was at a border town.

"Damnit Mozu, I guess that's what I get for fainting." he said weakly. He saw a pitcher of water next to the bed he had been laying on and a cup. He poured the water and let its blank taste fill his dry mouth. It felt good to be replenished but Lucius knew he was in no condition to leave. He was so cold and miserable that he got back in the bed and tried to get warm. Right now would be the perfect time to have a cuddle buddy he thought but then realized the only one who would probably do that was the werewolf.

"Oh gods, get warm get warm Lucius." he said nervously before gripping himself.

[Narcotic Dollie]

“Hm…,” she hums as they make their way through Minora. The other citizens give them a wide berth, one older gentleman even going so far as to spit at Naya’s feet before starting to cross to the other side of the road. The witch just grins at him, all teeth, before blowing him a kiss just to irritate him. The stranger shudders and hurries along at a brisker pace than earlier.

“...Witches believe enchanted objects have...” Naya pauses here, her face going red as she floundered to find the correct words to explain it. Most people she had told this to in the past had laughed at her because it was so sentimental. “...erm, I suppose you’d call it awareness? Empathy? I don’t know, I can’t explain it,” She grumbles, rubbing her hands over her face as they come to edge of the Deathwood, the hemlock trees swaying ominously in the winter winds.

“Anyways, what I’m trying to say is they have favorite people,” the green eyed woman tells him, reaching out and letting her fingers trail over the old wooden ’WARNING: DANGEROUS TERRITORY, KEEP OUT!’ sign as they started past it. “Like your armor,” Naya stops, letting Uriel catch up so she could tap the coal colored plating of his arm. “If I put it on it might still serve its purpose, but it wouldn’t be as strong as it is when you wear it. There is no one living that your armor would rather serve...It is very happy to be in your service, Uriel.”

““It’s the same for that pendant,” the witch explains, hanging close to the wingless demon’s side as they continued further into the woods. She was pretty helpless without her spear or grimoire, so she really was relying on him completely to keep her safe. “Well, it would have been most compatible with the man I made it for. I used his blood in the spell, afterall. But it seems very content to accompany you.”

Actually, the pendant told her that there was one other that it would protect and love with all of it’s being, but the chances of Naya finding them was slim, given how huge the kingdom of darkness was. Uriel was a close second though and the witch could practically feel the magical energy from the little necklace undulating in joy.

The path splits and Naya steers the armored man down the left one. ““Not much longer now,” she murmurs, her breath coming out as a fog in the chilly air. They’d already been walking for an hour now, the burdock thicket would be in sight soon enough.

@Polaris North((Uriel))

[Cuccoruler]

@ace of flames01
Rida was a bit angry to have her own logic used against her. "Your more annoying than you think." Rida added as she continued to follow the princess around, at least nothing bad had happened so far, though she could only follow the princess around for now. Steve followed close behind stopping to land on top of a booth form time to time to keep a look out for anything suspicious. "Well since you dragged me out here, why don't you buy me something sweet? It will make us look less suspicious if we are hear acting as friends." Rida said going back into the logic of keeping the cover low. It was also a great excuse to get some kind of pastry for pretty much for free if the princess was paying.

@Lord Zee

Mozu finished her short bit of shopping. At one point though she stopped to bark at a pigeon for no reason other than to bark at the pigeon(steve). Mozu then returned to Lucius once more this time still in her dog form. She saw him shivering in the bed a bit. Her instincts kicked in and she got up onto the bed with him, using her own fur to try and help keep him warm. "I like you." Mozu said with a smile as she did her best to keep him warm. After a few minutes of cuddling with him to make him warm she got down from the bed and changed into human form again, this time with clothes on as she had transformed into some clothes that she had just bought.

Mozu then turned to Lucius and took out some rather plain looking cloths for Lucius. "Here this will make you warm." Mozu added giving him the clothes. They weren't anything special but just enough to keep him from freezing to death. One of the apothacaries soon came by to ask Mozu about payment. "Oh right, I guess you guys have been using werewolf fur lately." Mozu said changing into her dog form for a moment to show what was a patch of missing fur on her back. Mozu didn't have much to pay but this certainly did work, though it made being in the cold harder for her. Mozu then picked up her paw for the apothacary as they trimmed her nails and kept the clippings. Aftwards Mozu went to human form again.

She had been paying tooth and nail literally to help out Lucius it seems.

[Polaris North]

@Narcotic Dollie

Uriel looked around. Was it just him or was the citizens further away than usual? Sure he was a legion general but most just gave him enough for personal space, this was more than enough even for the both of them. Then one of the citizens spat at Naya's feet before crossing the street. Naya, however, did not respond in the likes and blew him a kiss. In all honesty, the armor clad fellow never really saw anything like it, well he wasn't one for accompanying witches anyway.

Naya started to explain the nature on why she thought the pendant was meant for him. Well, he certainly couldn't relate to the what the witch was saying. Things are just things to him, no special qualities. To her though, they had... er feelings, for lack of better word, and was happy to serve only one master. It was an odd way of thinking but really Uriel couldn't simply argue with a witch when it came to things involving the magical arts.

He looked at the things he was wearing, both the armor and the pendant. So that was how it is. Well he just had to trust Naya on this one. One could take it for an exciting thought, to have things that would actually want to accompany you and help you in the future. It feels reassuring too. They may not be sentient enough to move on their own or speak but their 'feelings' were clearly conveyed to witches such as Naya. He let out a one-syllable chuckle and said, "Interesting concept. An odd explanation but an explanation nonetheless." He was satisfied, for now.

Time passed by as they walked, the general not really minding. He walked from one point of the border to another as a patrol and that lasted for hours so he has built up the stamina. Of course he didn't do it without taking any breaks. How could one fight while they've run themselves ragged by walking continuously right?

Finally, they were able to reach the clearing everyone was in just the previous day. It still looked like a battlefield though. "Seems nothing has been touched." Uriel said before starting to look for the beloved grimiore of Naya's. He wasn't exactly sure what it looked like but it should be the only book around the clearing unless someone did pass by and just randomly dropped a book of all things. That was possible but highly unlikely. He kept his ears open for any disturbances though. Wouldn't want someone sneaking up on them after all.

[Ace of flames01]

@Cuccoruler

Octavia looked at Rida suspiciously then sighed. "If you wanted a pastry, you could have just asked. Not come up with a terrible lie." She replied then rumaged through her satchel. After a few moments she pulled out some change and handed it to Rida. "This should be enough to get you something, right? You go on ahead and look for a treat for yourself, I'm going to keep looking at the booths. "

With that said, the young angel continued on her way and eventually found herself at the town's library. For even large cities, this library was massive; it was a collection of books from both sides of the border come together in one place. Curiously, Octavia entered then aimlessly wandered around the corridors of literature. With no real book search in particular, she would occasionally stop and read a few pages of a random book then put it back, and return to stroll around the aisles of books.

[Sarcelle Renard]

Linore was an oddity in the world. It kept one foot in the Land of Darkness and one in the Land of Light, a fact that could be seen with its mash up of architecture and people. And even then, there was no clear division between what was Light and what was Dark, as the buildings all seemed to incorporate both styles in a seemingly random fashion. Sure, there were some houses that were rather traditional in their design, but by and large each one was unique to the person that made it. Asher found the sense of individuality the houses gave off remarkable, but remained skeptical that such a place could truly remain at peace as long as the war raged on.

The prince made his way through the crowds discreetly, the hood of his dark cloak pulled almost past his eyes. There were plenty of other cloaked individuals like him, those that did not want to be recognized fraternizing with the enemy, but Asher hardly gave them a second thought. Rather, his attention was focused on the monumental library looming in the distance. It stood brilliantly against the twilight sky, its walls sheer white and simple. Even in a city as large as Linore, the place was hard to miss. Opening the

To Asher, the smell of books was oddly comforting, which made wandering down the aisles of books a rather pleasant experience. And when he picked up a book, thoughts about the war, about his duty to his people, about his father’s expectations, all seemed to fade away. It was a respite that he knew full well he could not indulge in for long, but one that he welcomed nonetheless. As much as he loathed to admit it, Valentine had been right about his body's need for rest. Besides, a little reading wouldn't make him lose his edge. And more than anything else, the place reminded him what he was fighting for.

-----

Asher looked up from the pages he had been engrossed in. What was meant to be a quick trip to grab a few books had turned into several hours of reading, as one book became two and so on and so forth. The prince found himself in a relatively secluded corner with several stacks of books surrounding him, as if trying to shut him out from the world around him. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head, unintentionally pulling the hood away from his face. A small tinge of embarrassment crept into his expression as he realized just how easily he got caught up in his reading, as he realized he should have already been on his way back to the castle by now.

”Screw it,” he muttered with a small shake of his head, his eyes returning to the pages once more. ”What’s a few more minutes going to hurt?”

[Lord Zee]

Lucius did not say anything as Mozu hopped up on the bed with him. Her body warmth stopped him from shivering and it felt oddly satisfying. When Mozu said that she liked him, Lucius did not know what to do. The notion of liking another person was not beyond him, but he had never thought someone from the other side would like him and this confused him greatly. How could something like that ever work? One could not stay on the other's side for more then a day and even then, they would grow weaker by the minute. Lucius frowned, a life like that would be incredibly difficult to live. There was only one viable solution, and that was him becoming a werewolf or a weredog. He still wasn't so sure about what Mozu really was.

As she stood up and changed to her human form again, Lucius realized that she was young. He had never really looked at her in great detail, mainly because she was always naked so it was awkward but now, she was quite cute. Mozu even got clothes for him, much to the wizard's surprise. He changed, all the while watching her give the apothecaries her fur and nail clippings. All of this was for him? He could have payed but realized his money was in the banking system and he did not know were one of those were in Linore.

Lucius sighed, feeling much warmer and a bit flustered. The werewolf girl before him was just full of surprises and even the Knight of Angels was at a loss for words. It could not work he told himself, pain would just be inevitable so why was he walking closer to her? He stood behind Mozu and gave her a hug, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"How about you show me around town? I could use the fresh air." He said softly to her. Perhaps there was a chance, slim as it might be but who was he to change fate?

[RiverMaiden]

Aurora bushed some leaves from her hair, sighing as she picked herself up from the ground once more. Ever since she had left Hale's cottage, the fairy had been struggling to get through the Deathwood. Even after the applications of healing magic on her wounded body, the injuries from the wraith still affected her person. The numbness of the left wing has caused her multiple instances of crashing into scenery, her body not notifying whether or not it was still in motion or not. She was usually much happier when she flew, but this inconvenience was making it real hard to find any enjoyment in flight.

She took off for the umpteenth time that day, floating off the ground and moving forward at a slightly starboard manner. Aurora course corrected herself, and kept her focus on the task of getting through the woods. It was starting to become more familiar to her, sighting some of the trees that she had cut in her chase of Basil. Inevitability caused her to reach the clearing where the battle from days before took place, markings of the lightning and fire used on that day still apparent on the ground. The fairy raised an eyebrow when she noticed a sort of book on the ground near the edge of the clearing, picking it up and looking over the cover. Who would leave a grimore on the ground in the middle of the woods?

A rustling sound alerted the brunette of the approach of presences to the clearing, the muffled sound of metal on thicket reaching her ears. Great, a heavily armored soldier, and she was still considered to be in Dark territory. Crap. She tried to fly from the area as fast as she could, but her wings took this moment, as it had many times earlier today, to not respond to her commands, sending her straight into a tree instead of around it. As she fell to the ground, landing on her back, Aurora saw two familiar figures come through the thicket. The general fron the invasion, and the witch from that day. Double crap.
@Polaris North@Narcotic Dollie

[Cuccoruler]

@lord zee
Mozu was quite surprised when she found herself being hugged. This wasn't something she was expecting at all. Maybe he would accept to becoming a weredog afterall. Mozu onlly need to push a bit more it seemed, and soon enough he would be the one to offer becoming a weredog for her. Mozu took a loud deep sniff of his neck. His smell was like an ecstasy to her. Something that she couldn't get enough of. "Never stop smelling like this." Mozu added in a moment of calmness, which was actually quite rare for her.

Mozu couldn't help but get all giddy when Lucius asked to go for a walk with her. She was practically jumping in place. Her ears had even sprouted from her head at this point. "Of course!" Mozu said with joy going out the door with cloths on and in her human form. Truth was though, Mozu had no idea where things were in this down. Only where the best smells were. Mozu had never been to Linore before now, she had found the apothecary but asking around when she first entered the town.

As Mozu walked around the town with Lucius she held onto his hand leading him. Though Mozu had no idea where she was going, she was just going towards what she thought was the best smelling booth. Soon enough she found what seemed to be a booth full of rocks with moss on them, the booth had variouse other strange odds and ends but it was the mossy rocks that got her attention first. She could stare at nothing else but the rocks. The owner of the booth just smirked as he watched Mozu stare at the rocks. "Weredog huh?" The Booth owner said to Lucius as he looked between Mozu and Lucius. "She seem's to really like you, must be a pretty special guy to have one of these guys liking you, especially for a human at that." The Booth owner from the looks of things was an elf, he looked to be a pretty young age, for a human he looked to be no more than 25.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rida took the money she was given and flew off to a booth and used it to buy a single cookie. As she happily ate it outside of the library Steve was on the ground eating up whatever crumbs were falling to the ground. Rida was quite happy with what was going on it seemed, for once the Princess wasn't trying to get herself killed. Would be better if she had stayed in the castle but atleast no one was sticking knives in her.

"One of these days that princess is gonna learn the cold facts of this world, specifically I hope she learns that she's more mortal than she thinks." Rida said talking down to Steve who was happily eating the crumbs.

[Ace of flames01]

@Sarcelle Renard

After about 10 minutes of wondering through the vast halls of knowledge, Octavia quite literally stumbled upon a fellow, knee high in a diverse and large collection of books. Octavia tripped over a pile of books, which in turn caused an avalanche of the large quantities of literature to fall and bury her alive.

"You have quite the love for literature I see! I must say, it's quite an admirable quality you poccess, good sir! Though I do believe that you may have gotten a tad bit overboard!" Octavia said laughing at her own clumsiness and at the ridiculous amount of books that piled ontop of her. She looked at a few titles ontop of her. "I do say, you have a wonderful taste in literature. I have read some of these myself! " She said picking up a book and reading a few pages then placed it back ontop of her.

" What beauty of the darkness of a demon's wing reflect that of the purest of sunlight, can only be rivaled by that of the purity of an angel's wing against that of moonlight most serene." The angel quoted with a smile as she lay on the floor. She then heaved herself to a sitting position and kneeled to pick up the books she had knocked over, her hood no longer covering her head and resting on her shoulders. All the while, she was completely oblivious to whom the fellow really was.

[Narcotic Dollie]

Naya finds her spear first, then her dagger, both weapons lying by the tree Livia had speared her to. The witch winces at the memory as she gazes at the trunk of the tree where her blood still painted the bark in a macabre display. “...stupid wraith,” she grumbles as she continues searching, coming across her satchel beside the remains of her bonfire. She sifts through the bag and finds that Skellington’s skull is still safely tucked inside, but where is her grimoire…?

That's when she notices the vaguely familiar faerie in the clearing. Had she been here yesterday too? Naya couldn’t quite remember, all she could really focus on was the book in the other woman’s hands.

“Hello Fae-thing,” Naya starts, shifting her weight anxiously as her eyes darted down to the worn book in the light creature’s hands before flitting back up to her face. The faerie had beautiful, expressive eyes. “I am Naya and that is my spellbook,” the witch explains, not daring to take a step closer and risking the other woman destroying it in a panic.

“It seems like you’re struggling a bit to get free of the Deathwood,” the brunette states, nodding towards the different bits of leaves and earth that were still stuck in the other’s hair. “We could take you to the border,” she offers, shooting Uriel a look and hoping he was okay with it. “...you could even hold onto to my grimoire, j-just until we get there,” Naya adds, stumbling over the last bit. The last thing she wanted was for the child of light to continue to hold the warn book, seeing as how most of them looked down on that sort of magic as being unclean, but the witch felt like she didn’t have much of a choice.

@RiverMaiden @Polaris North

[Sarcelle Renard]

Asher didn’t truly appreciate the comical amount of books he had piled around him until he heard the sounds of some poor sod getting buried under them. But it wasn’t until he heard the person quoting one of his more interesting reads that he took his attention away from the book in his hand, his head perked up in curiosity. Worlds Apart, the book the stranger had quoted, took a look at the similarities and differences between the Dark and Light and attempted to establish a sense of common ground for the reader. Personally, the prince found the book too overly idealistic, but even he couldn’t refute some of the points the author had made.

From his position, the stranger was invisible behind one of the stacks of books he had gathered, so he leaned his chair back and craned his neck to try and get a better look. A glimpse of red hair made him stop dead in his tracks. Asher blinked once as he realized that he had recognized the stranger’s voice. Two blinks this time, as it occurred to him that it was the same creature from yesterday. Another blink, as he questioned the odds of running into her in a city as large as Linore. His expression must have been a delightful mix of disbelief and astonishment as the ridiculousness of the situation fully dawned on him. The prince didn’t realize he had lost his balance on the chair until he found himself falling backwards, but he was honestly too shocked to try and catch himself.

There was a loud crash as the prince hit the floor most ungracefully, but his face still illustrated just how dumbfounded he was. Asher found himself pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes shut tight, as he considered his options. Unfortunately for him, they were all terrible. ”You have to be joking,” he finally sighed, but even he wasn’t sure if his remark was directed at the strange creature on the floor next to him or to whatever cruel being that appeared to be in charge of his fate. ”What in the world are you doing here?”

@Ace of Flames01

[Ace of flames01]

@Sarcelle Renard

Octavia flinched and hurriedly crawled over to the stranger. Upon gazing at the stranger's face, fear, shock, surprise, and slight happiness overcme her. "It's you." She whispered surprised, her eyes stretched open wide with shock. Suddenly, another avalanche buried her underneath hundreds of books.

Octavia groaned and tried to get up, but slipped on her own blood from reopening a wound from yesterday, and fell back down with a tiny, startled scream. She groaned again. "I could be asking you the same thing, Ash. " She replied painfully. Eventually she gave up on trying to get up and layed on the floor next to him. " You sure like to read, don't you Ash? It's quite admirable how much you have read! How long have you been here, anyway? An eternity?" She ask jokingly with a laugh and a smile.

Octavia then noticed her Star Dust pendant glowing a few feet away, on the other side of Asher. Frantically, she got up and crawled over Asher and grabbed her pendant. "Got it!" She said happily and relieved, only to slip on her own blood again and fall ontop of Asher, knocking the wind out her as she hit his hard, muscular chest. Octavia coughed a bit then laughed as she layed ontop of him. "We really should stop meeting like this...!" She laughed then got up and off from him. "Sorry... I must be a real pain, huh?" Her tone became apologetic as she helped him up."Though... I'm happy we got to meet again." She smiled warmly and gently.

[Polaris North]

@RiverMaiden@Narcotic Dollie

Uriel was searching but he never did find anything that would somehow connect to Naya. Then he saw that young child of Fae that he had fought in the invasion. Well that certainly didn't spell 'good' at all but it seems she was having some trouble navigating out of Deathwood. But of course, by instinct, he went on the defensive and was mentally prepared for a fight. But he didn't take his sword or shield out. He bowed his head to acknowledge the fairie's presence. "Greetings Aurora." He said and then allowed Naya to speak.

When Naya offered that they take Aurora to the border, he nodded in agreement. As long as this fairie didn't attack them, he was more than willing to help, mostly because Aurora was holding the grimoire and they need that. This would be the second time he would aid a Child of Light out of their kingdom. This could be considered a betrayal by some of the generals but he was quite sure that no one would even think of telling some other people about this. "As long as you promise to give us the grimoire back, we'll take you to your end of the border."

[RiverMaiden]

Well, this was quite the conundrum. Aurora's eyes flitted between the two Children of the Dark, slowly processing the information that had just given her. She only had two real options, and neither of them were very appealing. Option one, try to leave the Deathwood under her own power. If she chose to carry out with this one, she has a very high chance of death. There was no telling who else was in these woods if a General of the Dark is patrolling in these parts. In addition, with the high probability of smashing into trees and damaging her body even further, the faerie was surprised that she hadn't broken her own neck yet. As uncaring as she was about her own mortality, the brunette would rather not die in such an unsightly manner. The second choice was just as bad, having to trust the enemy to bring her safely to the Light side of the border... Like they weren't just going to stab her in the back when she let her guard down.

Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Aurora picked herself up from the ground and looked at the duo infront of her with a curious intensity. Why did they care so much about a single grimore, enough to betray their own Kingdom? Couldn't they just buy another one from their witch friends? Her free hand channeled a hint of magic, creating a small tongue of flame on the tip of her index finger. Well, she was going to find out. The last time she was suspicious about the Children of Darkness, they were kidnapping the angel princess of the Light. There would be no lucky guessing this time.

Aurora held the book near the tongue of flame she had generated, the fire not yet touching the book, and not near enough for the wind to blow and catch the object on fire. The faerie focused on the witch in particular as she did the action. Let's make them sweat a little. "Why don't you tell me why you care about a stupid book? What kind of evil secrets are hidden inside?" Aurora asked the witch, completely and totally relaxed as the upper hand within this situation. If they get too close, the book burns, and then she will fight them to the death. If they give their answer... Well, it depends upon the answer, in all honesty.

@Polaris North@Narcotic Dollie

[Sarcelle Renard]

Hearing the creature’s surprised whisper, Asher removed his hand from his face and looked at her with a look mixed with uncertainty and mild exasperation. Words were proving to be difficult to find, especially when she complimented his voracious appetite for books. Usually, he would have simply wrote it off as idle flattery, but something about the way she said it and the way looked at him told him that she was being genuine. And something about that caught him completely off guard and made it difficult for him to look her in the eyes. ”It’s hardly been an eternity, I just couldn’t decide which ones to take,” he muttered demurely in response to her question. Thankfully, the prince knew he wasn’t blushing, but it was still painfully obvious that the creature still had quite the effect on him. But before he could give it more thought, Asher felt her flop on him in a spectacular fashion.

"We really should stop meeting like this...!" she said with a laugh. And with that insufferably infectious smile of hers, Asher found himself smiling as well. Not a small smirk or a mere grin, but an honest damn smile, the likes of which the prince hadn’t made in a long time. ”True, but something tells me you are a bit too clumsy for either of us to hope for much better,” he shot back lightheartedly. It surprised and worried him just how natural it was for him to lower his guard around the angel, but at the same time he was finding the feeling to be oddly pleasant.

But that was when he noticed the blood leaking out of the angel’s reopened wound. It was because you grew soft! Asher’s smile died in a heartbeat as his father’s words echoed in his head once more. His eyes grew cold, focusing on her wound, as he remembered that he was the one responsible for the pain and suffering she went through the day before. The creature was saying something to him, but he couldn't make it out as it felt as if she was talking to him from a long ways off. Or else... They will have the same fate as her, understand?

”We’re not friends,” he said sternly, almost as much for himself as for the angel. The prince got back on his feet on his own and regarded Octavia with an icy expression. ”In fact, I'm the one that gave you those injuries, or did you forget that part?" he asked with, even by his standards, a harsh acerbic bite.

[Ace of flames01]

@Sarcelle Renard

Octavia's smile did not faulter, as if she had expected Asher's cold tone. It was only after she too got to her feet, that it faded. For what felt like the longest time, she was silent and stared at Asher, her bright, blue eyes piercing his very being. However, her gaze did not hold any sense of cold or sharpness, rather it held gentleness, warmth, and a slight tinge of sadness. It had seemed that she was trying to find the right words to speak to him; in actuality, she was reading him just like the literature around them. "Yes... You're right. But... That doesn't mean I don't want to be friends with you. Quite the contrary, actually. I really do want to be your friend. I know that you were the one who injured me and I was honestly scared that I might die... But you didn't kill me, so I know that you are a good person and I'm not afraid of you... Of course... I won't push my friendship upon you... That is your choice." She told Asher. She backed away a few steps and looked at the ground.

"You aren't as weak as you may think you are... You are strong and brave... and beautiful... You love your people dearly and you work hard to make them happy..." Her cheeks turned rosy for a moment then faded. She took another step back and looked back up at him, her warm and gentle smile returned. She then handed Asher the book she had bought earlier. "Here. I don't know if you would be interested in this type of read; it's a bit of a forbidden romance but it's also filled with action and adventure, so you might be interested in it. You can borrow it and give it back when you are finished. That way we have a reason to meet again." Her smile turned to a slight laugh. She took a few more steps back and offered him one last warm and gentle smile "I know I said it before but I really am happy that we got to meet again... I hope... I hope we can meet again soon." She took a few more steps back and pulled her hood over her face, then made for the exit with a quick pace.

[Narcotic Dollie]

“Stop!” Naya begs before she can restrain herself, her voice betraying her true feelings as she stops herself from lurching forward. The witch’s jaw flexes as she clenches and unclenches her grip on the satchel strap, eyes focused on the small bit of fire that flickered close to the old tome. She knows she needs to answer the question, but another part of her also understands that this warrior of the light will likely not take kindly to the sort of magic her grimoire holds and may just turn it to cinder because she finds it impure.

“It's got everything from ‘To Restore Split Ends’ all the way to ‘How to Forcibly Bind a Heart’,” the brunette answers honestly after a pause, her gaze settling back on the other woman’s face. The eyes Naya had thought to be lovely only moments before she now finds to be hateful. “You can look for yourself. It is in your hands, fae-thing.”

It had other things of course, that were much sillier in nature and would be considered useless and sentimental by some. Like her mother’s recipe for newt dumpling soup and all the favorite colors of every witch that had ever owned the grimoire before her, going all the way back to the first of their coven. ’How foolish I am,’ Naya realizes as the lump begins to form in her throat. ’To let myself become so attached to something that can so easily be stolen away from me.’

Naya knows it's a mistake to admit it out loud, but she does it anyways. “...it was my mother’s,” she says quietly, her eyes dropping to stare at her feet.

If the other woman burned her grimoire now Naya would do everything in her power to set the whole Deathwood on fire, using the fae-creature’s body as tinder.

@RiverMaiden@Polaris North

[Polaris North]

@RiverMaiden@Narcotic Dollie

Hm, this should've been expected. The only reason Aurora stopped fighting before was because her captain, the fairie that had accompanied the princess before, let him go. Of course she wouldn't be oh so willing to hand over the grimoire just like that. And what she was doing right now was actually quite effective. To threaten something or someone that is important to another is a great way to get them to follow your every whim. He should know, he had seen it before from his legion's torturer/information gatherer.

Uriel could clearly see how much Naya is suffering just from this. The demon general knew that if he even moved an inch, Aurora wouldn't even hesitate to burn that book. He didn't know what was inside the book so he remained silent, his eyes traveling from Naya to Aurora. It was obvious that the witch was struggling to keep herself from grabbing and then possibly attacking the fairie who was holding her book. Well at least Naya could keep this calm right now.

If Aurora burned the book, Uriel was more than sure that Naya might mangle the Child of Fae's body with her own bare hands. Alright maybe that was an exaggeration but she would attack her and Uriel would be forced to help Naya do so. If Aurora did burn the book and Naya managed to contain herself and just leave, Uriel would probably be more than happy to watch the Child of Fae stumble everywhere to desperately find a way out of Deathwood without their help. Who knows, she might even encounter another General who was more merciless than him.

[Lord Zee]

Lucius smiled for once when Mozu took his hand. He had no idea what he had just started but as long as she was happy then he would be to. How odd it must be, walking through Linore. He honestly did not know how this would work out, he wanted to be a human and she wanted to be a weredog. Yet, there was somehow a mutual attraction between the two of them and one of them would have to sacrifice their entire way of life. Lucius was not sure if he would be able to do it, the thought of being a child of the dark haunted him but for now he would enjoy her company.

Eventually their relaxed walk got them to a vendor who sold odd trinkets and ends. Before they had gotten their Lucius finally was able to grab some money, just in case they wanted anything. His health was not yet at one hundred percent but he was happy and that was all that mattered. The vendor was able to spot Mozu out right away, Lucius guessed it was the ears that gave her away, how adorable they were.

Lucius stared at Mozu intently, watching her gaze at the rocks with a smile upon his face he answered the vendor, " I guess I am." He then looked at the elf and stated, "I'll take the rock she chooses."