Dreamwaking: Chimera - Sacrifice.

[Raveness]

After Lavender had finished, she gazed upward at the knight towering over her. She never felt so vulnerable as at that very moment and brought a delicate hand up to wipe her mouth with the back of it. She pondered apologizing, but to whom? For what? He had done this to her and it was all his fault anyways, so she bit her lip instead as she pulled her body up onto her feet once more.

Studying his coldness for a moment, her eyes drank in his form and realized that he had seen. The darkness of her island skin drained from her face and she felt her knees wobble a little. Oh no. He knew .. he had seen. She backed away from him again, shaking her head, but even Lavender wasn't sure how to explain to anyone, let alone someone who had taken her without her permission. She would wait and see if he asked about the feathered protrusions from her shoulders.

Her voice cracked and was barely above a whisper, but she spoke anyways. "Please, I want to go home."

There was no reason to think he would just agree, she expected him to deny her, but something made her tell him anyways. People like him, who wanted what others had and kidnapped people while they slept didn't care that she wanted to go home.

With a sigh, Lavender began to walk not even knowing where she was headed and not caring if he was behind her now or not. Her mind danced with dark thoughts as her feet stumbled against the wooded terrain and the skeleton trees bent in the wind to capture them. Her stomach rumbled and fear gripped her tighter, and she knew.. she knew.. she was his prisoner and he was going to kill her.

[Vanidor]

"Actually. Jons' thing was to see who would be a problem first, then stick a knife in them so they do no be a problem later. There would be no fight. He would simply drop a wagon load of brick on your house, or find some way to be making a horse crap on your head while it did be sitting. Something. And it would look an accident. A fanatic, Feul be. You and I. We are both lucky he perceives no ill will from either of us. But. On the surface, he do operate within the law. Moreso than I would." Aeryn sighed softly, resting his wrist against the hip whilst the other hand adjusted the makeshift loincloth that circled his waist.

"You are wrong though. I did no provoke him. Not in the way you do be thinking. He did be slandering myself, and more importantly Agnieszka. Do no look at me like that, Calomel. Whatever you be thinking of her..." He stopped a moment. Stopped fully and looked outwards. For a moment he thought the gem set into his collar bone was getting... warmer? Was that even possible? But then he turned his head and looked towards the other man fully. Set those ever curious eyes upon him. Strange, the gem seemed to cool. As long as he was doing... something? "She do be a wretch. A filthy peasant woman, who do no know the meaning of restraint. But beneath it? Ah, fuck me in the eye, Calomel. Can you imagine what there could be if she did but have the proper training? The right teachings? To take the good and the ill and do the best one can with each, and no to blame others for mistakes?"

"She could rule the world, I think. Or a portion of it, if she did but have the chance. If she could but elevate herself out of this place. I tried, you know. I asked her to come with me, I would take her to Ricathair, or perhaps Razasan, even Collingford. I care for her, Calomel, but never did I -say- it. For her, Governor, I would burn the world." A slight smile. A sincere smile. Disturbing, perhaps, but there it was. There certainly was more to Karolinger than the murderous, rebellions bastard he presented.

He gazed down at his feet, stilled for the moment for this was the crest of that hill. They sizzled the ground beneath him. He could smell the sickly-sweet scent of roasting flesh. It reminded him of Orvere. Of the caverns that the Order of All had sequestered themselves into, after he had ordered them filled with pitch and oils and set aflame. Reminded him of Haberdashers. That had been a quick affair, but that didn't mean that people hadn't died.

"It is good to no forget. If you forget what has happened to you, you learn nothing of your past. Or of what comes before. Better to die, than to forget. Because doing the latter can be leading to the former." He said nothing of forgiveness, though. He didn't expect it. Truthfully, he didn't want it.

"What now, then. Do we stand here at the top of this fucking hill of smoldering skin and feces, or do we wander on?"

[Cinnabar]

"The surface doesn't count for much. Still, it's useful to know." Jons the fanatic. It figures, from all he's heard of the man. Information noted, filed away for future reference, perhaps. Assuming that there was any future beyond this stinking wasteland for either of them. A steadily-paced circuit around the hilltop, gaze distant for all that he speaks with the mercenary meanwhile.

"Slandering? Hard to believe it possible." A wry grin at that, though, the barb not having any great feeling behind it. For form's sake, as much as anything. "You got in the way. Deliberately. Obstructed a murder investigation by quoting that shit-rag charter, then threw a tantrum and sulked like a child when it got terminated. You threw away the Brotherhood for the sake of your prick. They weren't even arresting her." But... ha. Burn the world. Where has he heard that before?

"Agnieszka's angry at a lot of things, and justifiably so, for most of them, but just needs to learn the right way to fix them. She's got potential, certainly. So has the rest of her family, in truth; they're a curious lot. But in all honesty, I don't think you're good for her. She's no restraint, you say, and yet you've not helped her learn it with your actions. Maybe you can show her how not to blame others for your mistakes instead, hm?" Take responsibility, that is. Turn yourself in, do the right thing.

"Forgetting can also give you a fresh start on things. A second chance, no? If you're nimble on your feet and can learn the important things fast enough, that is."

A pause, then, some small frown of uncertainty.

"There again. That shouting." Louder, closer and he looks around for its source; a moment later there's a hand lifted for quiet, head tilted to listen, and then turned to follow the direction of the sound, grey eyes narrowing. Shouting, a girl's voice... and there, amid the landscape of warped flesh and twisted bone, something moves; a few steps taken to gain a better angle around some protrusion of cartilage and sinew, a moment's squinting across the intervening distance, and then Calomel's grinning, raising a hand overhead to wave. That figure is distinctive enough, fencer's poise and dark hair, and behind... more difficult without concealing layers of veils, but Calomel's a keen enough student of body-language to work it out before too long.

"Fellow travellers, it seems." Perhaps he ought not be so pleased at this, perhaps he might be more cautious given their surroundings, but to have encountered anyone in this forsaken place is relief enough; perhaps there'll be others, too. Either way, he's cupping his hands about his mouth in the next moment to shout a halloo to swordswoman and trader down below.

Maybe things are looking up.

[Lent]

Huh. Kurt thought it all over as they walked through this ... this place. Elf like Seth probably lived for hundreds of years. Still seemed to have some personality to him. Downright likable actually. Wasn't some sort of stoic zombie like some of the ones he had dealt with lately. "If I didn't know better, Bloodmoon, I'd almost think you were human. That's a compliment, right. So here's what I think."

The flask was handed over again. A little bit of that elfmead, or whatever it was, went a long way, even for him. "You live a long enough time and you're bound to do some bad things. You're also bound to have some new starts. My life is a new start. I could have done anything with it. I held the course because it's a damn good course, see?" He had decided to stay a Constable, to try to make sure that the law was upheld, that people did not end up like he and his family had.

"Looks to me like you used your new start to do some good. Maybe you can't ever erase the bad you did, but I'm selfish enough to be glad for it. Shaped you into who you are today, yeah? And who you are today is the likable bastard who's going to help me through this place to ..." There was a pause. Far, far off in the distance he had seen the flash of movement. "Hey, Bloodmoon, out there, half a mile away, maybe. You see something moving?"

That's the thing about dreams, even the most twisted ones: you want something badly enough, long enough, hard enough, and you just might get it.

[Glenn]

And Glenn did look, but there was one rather large problem with all of this. He still couldn't quite keep his eye open. Oh, the swelling would go down in a few minutes but right now he had the depth perception of Patchouli. "Agnie, I can't see shit. How could I? You clobbered me right in the eye!" Oh wait he had started it, physically at least, hadn't he? There was a bit of a misplaced snort. Hell, she was going to hit him again if he didn't get his act together. It had been just what he needed with her, though.

She thinks she's better than him. He thinks he's better than her. That's the way of it, right? It was one of the many things they had in common. "Just this wretch-worthy landscape as far as the eye can see."

[Vanidor]

"Been thinking about that, actually. Kerrak... reminded me what my duty did be." A slight smile about that. "Just before he fucking did stab me, crazy bastard. But dreams, you know. They are funny, in showing you what you already do know. I would just like to stay alive, there do be this allergy I have, to gallows and cells you know. And I will no be collared like some animal. Better to just go away. The forests, you know. They are peaceful if you do find the right place to stay."

He wasn't really bartering for his life. He really didn't care that far ahead, to tell the truth. Perhaps Cinnabar could tell from the half-hearted manner in which he spoke about it. "Neither one of us is good for the either, Calomel. Me for her, nor her for me. Myrken threw us together. Chaos keeps us together. Perhaps... it may be time for it to separate us. She stabbed me, you know. The last time I did have a knife like this in my hand." A thought for that. That last time, it was real too, wasn't it? Was it a dream? No. No dream could be this... lucid. This realistic.

"In any case. I do hope that it will no take getting stabbed again to make me realise that there do be things that you should do. Meh. What do you think this do be meaning, eh. You. Me. Ariane, Rhaena... I would wager, yes, that there do be others here. Should we be... more wary, perhaps?" Karolinger adjusted the hold of his knife here. Adjusted the shirt that hung 'round his waist. He was ready to discard the thing, because it would get in the way of his legs if he had to move unhindered. That could be a defense all on it's own.

[Seth_Bloodmoon]

Almost human, huh? Thinking those words as Lent spoke and this would bring a quiet chuckle from him and a slight nod but no words spoken in return. He would take it as a compliment, indeed.

The flask is readily accepted, sipped from and then passed back to Kurt. There is a nod or the man's words and when Kurt finished speaking the tall elf would talk, "My thanks, Kurt... For what you have said just now..," the words helped keep Seth from slipping further into grim thoughts. A slight smile finds its way to his face and he shakes his head, "You're quite the likeable bastard as well, my friend..."

Now he's asked if he sees something moving out there in the distance of this fleshy landscape. Brilliant blue eyes are now focused in the direction of the possible movement. There is a slight nod of affirmation, "Indeed... People, perhaps... Shall we investigate..?" a silvery brow raised as he glances to Kurt. They had seen no other life, well unless one counts the scenery, if one could consider that life. Hopefully it would prove to be people and not some sort of freakish creature that lived in this hell.

[channe]

"Well, if you hadn't clocked me, I wouldn't have clobbered you back; it's your own damned fault. This is how it works: we don't attack each other from now on. It won't get us out of this," she grumps, picking her way up the hill, looking rather green. "But that trick with the blood -- that was pretty neat, you know, how'd you do that? It didn't hit me, but --"

She blinks, and stops for a moment, whipping out her knife and pushing up her sleeve. Carefully, she makes a small nick, frowning as the blood wells up slightly. With a grimace, she lets the sleeve fall.

"That's real, at least."

[Elfling]

And who didn't sleep fully armed when there was a presence of drow in their house? Not Rei Rivahn, that was for certain.

One touch of that drow's foot was enough for Rei to be rolling awake, almost instantly -- if not completely aware. Staring up at Selenthis, blue eyes finally took in the sight of the drow male that had..

"You broke her jaw!"

From toes, the pale elf sprung towards the towering drow male. He had a knife in hand, and yet, it was his weight that he meant to topple the other with. Nevermind that the knife requested using; Rei never needed a knife to request it.

And the note in his hand fluttered to the ground, unnoticed for the moment. Selenthis had the moment to observe the surroundings; Rei had waking instinct that told him that there was a drow next to him -- wherever he was -- and that it needed to be dealt with *first* before he could deal with anything else.

[ShadowRose]

As blue found cold and hard gray, and as the accusation flew from the other's lips, Selenthis Kenafin allowed the repose of a cold grin to settle on his darkly handsome face. As Rei rose quickly to meet his opponent, knife in hand yet didn't move to bear it to strike, the drow's arms shot outward to brace long and slender digits, as well as palms, against shoulders that threatened to barrel into his own. It was then that the two men, both startling opposites in contrasting color and demeanor, began a dangerous dance of a grapple that would either end in life.. or death. With one leg forward and bent, and the other back, Selenthis steeled his posture and leveled his heartless gaze against the oceanic blues of his pale-skinned rival.

"It was not only her perfect body I broke, elf." the drow male responded with a cool tone so unwarranted in the heat of this moment, ".. but her spirit, her will, and the very confidence in her ability to please a man. No, dear -friend-, I have caused her to doubt the very essence of her true being, and the only thing she knows in her wretched and worthless life; to be a slave who wishes nothing but to serve. I took that from her. And what concern is it of yours what I choose to break? She is my possession, and I am her god. You are just envious that I am man enough to take what is rightfully mine, where you, my little weakling, have certainly not. Think hard, Rei, and realize she chooses to belong to me because -you- are sorely lacking."

From this, with strong and muscled legs steeled against the weight the other continuously pressed upon him, Selenthis brought the leg that had been drawn back maliciously forward in essence to deliver a well-placed knee to the stomach of his opponent--and it was the drow's hope that it would render the other breathless and stunned.

"It is beneath me to fight over a whore who, to solve her problems of self-loathing and hatred for the world, would much rather spread her legs than weave a conscious thought. Look around you, elf!" Selenthis widened his arms to indicate the gruesome scenery, ".. learn that this is quite beyond us and our hatred against each other. It is time to survive and put aside our ills. For we are no longer the hunters, but the hunted. And only -together-, in this mutual hell, we will be victorious."

[Elfling]

"Lies." Rei retorted heatedly to the insults and assumptions. "You only think so, because it is what she wishes you to think!"

Had he been more awake, perhaps he would've kept his tongue. But there was a fury at Solace's being hurt that ran deeper than simple emotion -- or his lack of ability to tame a drowess. Weight pressed against weight, but that fury was also a downfall.

It left him on his knees suddenly gasping for breath. Breath that was putrid, unpure. Breath that was rank, and the ground underneath him was a writhing, hated thing. It coiled and moved not unlike human flesh, and that in and of itself was enough to make him wretch.

Widened eyes looked up with a jerk of his head, and the rest of the obscene scenery was taken in.

And then, another look of loathing at Selenthis.

"If that is the way it is, then I will see them all dead so that you can die by my hand last."

[ShadowRose]

Selenthis lifted the sculpted line of his chin and chuckled at the pale-skinned elf's words, extending a strong hand in mutual, yet temporary, alliance. "I would not have it any other way, -friend-. Come, then, let us rid this treacherous land of the filth it has accepted into its festering womb." And, should Rei decide to take the hand offered, the drow would no doubt hoist him to his feet and without any means of threat.

"Ambition, if used correctly, will lead to ascension." the drow male said, repeating a proverb learned while young, ".. and as the note said; if you die, I die. And if I die, you die. I will see to it that neither occasion arises."

[Elfling]

If the treacherous drow thought the elf was going to *accept* his help for anything.. he'd have to think again. Hands stubbornly planted to the twisted ground, and he hoisted himself up with a lingering glower.

"Did it," Rei remarked blandly. He'd never had a chance to see any note. He'd been woken quite rudely, remember?

"You go right ahead. And while you are seeing to it, I will watch your back."

.. To find all the best places to plant a dagger in it, in the end.

[ShadowRose]

In spite of Rei's arrogance and stubbornness, the deep set grin on the drow's face never wavered, and he even turned his back, lifting a finger while his eyes regarded him over an armored shoulder. "I have no doubt you will, elf, and well. For, if you disappoint me, your precious little princess will be returned to you in pieces. Trust me when I tell you that you do not wish to see me angered."

"Stay close."

And with that, Selenthis started off, and hopefully with Rei close behind. It didn't matter the direction--for it all seemed to be painfully similar.

[Sherazade]

A dark smirk curved lips of dark bluish blush. They were supposed to hate each other, to be at odds but of a sudden she found herself very much in charity with Sarayn.

"I think I might like you after all" Azale found herself purring